Thursday, February 23, 2012

My favourite paints for kids

I thought I would share some of my favourite art supplies for kids. I love these washable dot paint markers for kids. I can't find these particular ones online but I bought these in my local toy shop. I guess they are kind of like bingo pens but they come in an array of colours. We like to use them to decorate plain paper for personalised gift wrap. We have been using this set for over a year now and they are still going strong.

We also like the Faber-Castell Finger paints which come in a set of six. The small pots of colour are great, but only last a few sessions (if that).


I'm still looking for some good paint in tubes or large format. I did buy some large bottles at my local art shop, but the colours dry dull and are still potentially messy after they have supposedly "dried". They are so successfully washable that the paint will get wet again if you touch the work with slightly damp hands. Please note that my son is using the paint that I am not fond of. I put it in the little Faber-Castell pots.

What are your favourite paints for kids?

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Leaf rubbings


The other day we were driving in the car and my son was talking about the different sizes of leaves on the trees. Aha I said, we should do some leaf rubbings! So a few days later we set off on a walk to collect some different leaves to try. It was still a bit hard for my four year old to get much impression from rubbing over the paper and leaves, so I did need to help him at times. My one and a half year old also had a go.


Sunday, July 17, 2011

Toilet Roll People

Inspired by Playschool and Onegirl. Ok, I did most of them because we were using wood glue and scissors, so it wasn't quite as child involving as I'd hoped. But I'm sure it will work better when the Cat is a bit older. He and I had a ball anyway so that's the main thing. I may have spilt a whole lot of glue on my new jeans but thankfully I got it out in a hurry! Meanwhile the Cat was shouting at me to help him get the masking tape off his fingers.

How cool is "the Monster" that the Cat made!? Originally it had enormous eyes but they were falling off because the Cat kept touching it before it dried, so later he changed them for little eyes. Ok now go read this because Amber Dusick is awesome.




For this activity we used:
toilet rolls
other cardboard tubing
wood glue
fabric scraps
pipe cleaners
old bits of ribbon
googly eyes
felt pens
rope from bag handle
rick rack
masking tape
mesh from garlic packaging

Next time I would get some yarn for the hair.

Winter fun indoors

This winter has been particularly cold. I have been feeling it a lot especially considering that I was pregnant this time last year and I was feeling pretty toasty! So this winter the Cat and I have been enjoying some time indoors doing craft.



Visit to a maze park




Dear Cat - 3 years 4 months


You have recently been very sick with Bronchialitis. We have never seen you so sick. Generally when you are sick it doesn't slow you down, you just keep going at normal. But this time you slept for 3 1/2 days and had a temperature around 39 degrees celcius which hardly went down with paracetamol. Normally you like medicine, but we had trouble giving you anything and you wanted lights off, curtains closed, TV off and you just slept. I slept with you at night to make sure you were ok and keeping hydrated. Now you are much better but clingier than usual, you want more hugs and affection.

Your most annoying habit at the moment is to pick a time when I am really busy and attach yourself to me so I can't move. You know the exact way to make yourself really heavy and hindering. I can't wait until you get over this stage.


You are not sure about your sister "the monster". I think you are afraid of her when she cries or makes loud unintelligible sounds. But we have fun playing together with her sometimes. Today we rolled a ball around with her, we had a lovely time. She just adores you and thinks you are hilarious and also cries if you leave the room if I am not there.

At the moment you favourite thing is space rockets and planets. You love to watch the rocket launch on Apollo 13 (the movie) and also read your books on space rockets and planets. Your first word was star and we have to sing "twinkle, twinkle" every night before you go to sleep as part of your routine.


You like to help me cook cakes, muffins and biscuits and also recently you have taken an interest in watching me cook dinner. Your new habit is to get a stool to peer in my pot to see what I am making. I would not be surprised if you turn out to be a cook yourself.


You like to pretend you are different animals, one day you are a dog, the next a bird, then a cat or a bunny. We nicknamed you Cat because you love your little Kitty Cat toy. It is your best friend.

You are growing up quickly, you have just lost your baby look and you are starting to look like a boy. You are acting more grown up too. You will often help me with things when I ask you to.

You have been doing great at swimming, starting to follow instructions really well, wearing your goggles and kicking and blowing bubbles. We decided to take you out of swimming over winter because you kept getting sick. You might take up soccer in July with your friend Torren.

You are clever and pick most things up very quickly, I showed you how to use scissors today. We cut up some tissue paper for a craft activity. You said "mummy show the cat how to use the scissors" (meaning you kitty cat toy sitting beside you) and I showed you and you started cutting like a pro right away.

You can not stay still, you are not easy to cuddle because you are always jerking around. You are just full of beans. It is hard to get a photo of you that isn't in a blur, it doesn't help that you want to see the photo before it has even been taken!

Thank you sweet little man for being my son.

Mum

Monday, June 6, 2011

Dear little Monster - 8 1/2 months

Just a little note to remember you at this stage in your life. You like to bounce. Earlier we used to put you in a Jolly Jumper, you don't need a Jolly Jumper, you can bounce quite well un-aided. You will bounce sitting on my knee or while being held, or held standing. This will be something about you I think I will remember overall about you as a baby. You have exuberance and joy. You love people - at a distance.


You are definitely Mummy's girl at the moment. You cry bitterly if I leave the room or if someone else holds you... this is flattering but frustrating at the same time.

You have three teeth now, the day you got your last two teeth you were chewing on my fingers like a Tassie devil.


Food You love your Mandarins, they are in season right now. When I am at the shops and you are in my sling you grab for Mandarins while I pick them of the shelf. Your eye's light up when I start peeling one for you and you love to grab and squeeze segments between your fingers. I peel the skin off the segments and tear the segments in two, removing the seeds for you. Otherwise you will eat pretty much anything, but you are not a huge fan of rich creamy things such as avocado or ricotta cheese.


SleepYou sleep well now. At night you will sleep from about 7pm (or when I get you to bed) until about 5.30 - 6am. I am so thankful for this because I value my sleep, I call you my dream baby. By day you prefer to sleep in bed and rarely nap if we are out and about, there is too much to look at and you wouldn't want to miss anything!


Your hair sticks up a lot. I love this, I like to imagine it is a mohawk. My hair was like that too at your age.

You adore your big brother. You will often stop crying if he is around or stop feeding if he is nearby. You follow his every move. You also love to watch Dad when he is home and you bounce in excitement when he is around. You like to "talk", saying "Ahhh" a lot and sometimes "mumumum", "bababab", "dadada", "yeah" stuff like that.

When you were a newborn you would scream if we put you in the bath. Sometimes you were ok with it if we put a warm wet washer on your belly. Now you love it! You kick you legs and splash with you hands and tease your brother. You don't mind to much if the Cat(bro) splashes you. You still enjoy a washer on your belly though.


You are great at sitting up, you can't quite lift yourself up from lying yet but you are very close. You are physically strong but not in a hurry to go anywhere just yet. This is A-ok with me right now. You'll do stuff in your own time. Today I think you waved back at me, but I couldn't be sure.

Love,
Mum.