Rainbow collage

One of my favourite bloggers, Anna, had this activity on her blog and I decided months ago to give it a try!  Here is the link to hers - http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2011/03/giant-rainbow-collage.html

We used a huge cardboard box and painted the colours on -

 

While that was drying we sorted different crafty bits and bobs in to the correct piles.  Chatting about the colours, textures and shapes of the items.

 

Then we glued them on to the appropriate stripe -

 

 

 

 

This activity is good for - sorting objects in to the correct colour group.  Exploring different textures and using describing words for example "the feather is soft and the stars are smooth with jaggy points" 

Further ideas for this activity - We only added a few pieces on each colour, you could do much more! You could do the activity with a different picture - for example a flower, hot air balloon or letters to spell out the childs name, with each letter a different colour. 

 

 

Went shopping in ASDA

Went shopping in ASDA, mainly to get stationery and bits and pieces for my study area as am going back to Uni to do my Masters.  (I may regret this!) Anyway I couldn't resist picking up a few bits and pieces along the way for crafty stuff!

I got Halloween stickers for £1
Wee glitter spiders also £1
And some tissue paper reduced to 50p
And some multicoloured match sticks 50p

Not entirely sure what they will be used for yet but I am thinking of Halloween related things! 

 

I also picked up a few crafty/arty sets as presents which were only £1 each.  Always good to have a wee supply of presents I think.  Also good for rainy days if your imagination is lacking!

 

 

Tomorrow planning to make some black play dough and do some spidery/Halloweeny activities.  I love Halloween (As I have said a good few times!) and am itching to get started on activities!

 

Toddler group Halloween craft

I help to run a toddler group with my friend.  I always like to do a craft or activity with the children.  Last weeks was a rush job as I was also on snack duty and had to count the money etc so not much time for planning and prep.  However the point of this is to show that you don't need lots of time/planning to do a quick craft with toddlers. 

I cut out some orange circles.  And some different shaped eyes, noses and mouths.  We did have some discussion but if  you were doing this one on one there would be more opportunity to discuss shapes and sizes.  Also a good opportunity to use positioning words eg "The nose is underneath the eyes" or "the mouth is in the middle"

 

Here are the pumpkins, glue and bits to stick on all ready for the toddlers to try out!

We also gave them some colouring pens and glitterglues to let them decorate their pumpkins.  We had some weird and wonderful creations, with 4 eyes, 6 noses and a sideways mouth.  But I am all for creativity - rows upon rows of identical pumpkins would be boring!

 

 

Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of some of the finished products, as I said toddlers was very busy! Will try to remember for next time!

 

Halloween playdough

This was using ready made playdough and was from a few years ago.  Will update later in the week with home made playdough! 

We made some Halloween models - witches, witches cats, broomsticks, ghosts and some other monsters! We used some Halloween props we had, tools such as plastic knives, pencils and cutters to mould the dough.  This task is good for hand-eye coordination and for developing fine motor skills.

Halloween mobile

 

This is one from last year.  Very easy to do and makes a lovely decoration for your Halloween parties!

 

Draw round some plates to cut out shapes.  And depending of age/stage of children they can draw their own faces on, or you can draw them and they can colour them in.

 

Good opportunity to discuss shapes, trianges for eyes, square nose, zigzag mouth etc.

 

Holes made with a hole punch and then tied together with gold ribbon.

 

 

This is a variation on the pumpkin one - has witches, ghosts and pumpkins! This was done with slightly older children who drew their own shapes and love to colour in.  For younger children you could draw the outlines for them and they could use paint/crayons. 

 

 

The ghost you can see on the top left was done by sticking cotton wool on to paper and cutting round it - this makes a lovely sticky mess on the hands!

 

 

 

 

No knead bread

So my lovely friend Jen posted this on her blog and both myself and our other friend Jenny have tried this out with great success!  It is really easy and fun to do with children! (Although messy!)

Here is the link to Jens blog where she shared the recipe - http://jensfoodandphotos.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/no-knead-bread.html

Ingredients are -

1lb strong white flour
1lb plain flour/wholemeal flour (you can use either depending on what you like)
1 tablespoon dried yeast (or 2 sachets)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt (use less if you are using table salt)
750ml hand-warm water

 

Depending on the age and ability of your kids they can help with weighing, pouring, measuring and mixing.  For older children you can discuss the way food is measured how many grams in kg etc.

 

 

Here are the rolls we made - they were a bit too crispy, the next time I didn't leave them in as long and we brushed the top with milk and they turned out brilliantly! Seen here with home made soup, a lovely autumn meal! -

 

 

Great thing about this dough is that you can keep it in the fridge for 14 days! And just pull some off as and when it is needed.  So we also made some pizza with it.  KIds love adding their own toppings to their pizzas.  Great opportunity for discussing colours, shapes and sizes of the toppings.  Also good to taste different toppings - frozen sweetcorn is a favourite with most children, personally I have no idea why!  Here are our delicious creations!

 

 

 

 

OCTOBER!

It is now October and I am very excited because that means we can start doing Halloween crafts! I adore Halloween!