Pancake shapes

With Shrove Tuesday last month we celebrated with our usual round pancakes but i had noticed a few products on the market that could help you make shaped pancakes. The products looked great but they were way overpriced so i searched my local Coles and found a Decor brand sauce bottle http://www.decor.com.au/usage/viewproducts.aspx?id=577
to try and replicate my own.

It worked perfectly. The mixture was thin enough to get out easily but thick enough to make delicious heart shaped pancakes that surprised Tara in her lunchbox for morning tea!

Glitter Dough

"Would you like to make play dough today?" ......"Yes, please! Can it be lilac and sparkly?".....
Not the answer i thought i would get but i shouldn't be surprised this little fairy loves anything girly.
Tara made her average play dough recipe then added a slight purple colour and some purple glitter. It looked quite pretty in the end. I forgot to get another photo but there were plenty of stars, wands and butterflies made.

A glow jar of Fireflies

Glowsticks are everywhere in our house! We love them but we never usually open them...until now!
To make a jar of fireflies all you need is a jar of any size,thin glowsticks and glitter
Use scissors to cut the end off a glowstick, do this over a bin as it is messy and glowsticks do contain glass fragments so best to do this away from children. Open a glass jar and shake the opened glowstick into the jar. Banging it against one side of the jar to the other will give a splattered effect. I used three glowsticks in my big jar in different colours. Then add some sprinkle glitter into the jar, trying to get it to stick on the sides over the glowstick fluid.
Tighten the lid or silicone it closed if using these with younger children. These will last 6-8 hours so we did ours in the afternoon and then used them as nightlights at bedtime while the children read stories about fireflies. Great for camping or sleepovers too!

Lego hand wash

Need an easy solution to having to constantly ask your children "Did you remember to wash your hands?"

Just add Lego! Great motivation for those early toilet training days and with winter fast approaching keeping those cold and flu germs away!

Peg and Bottle

The parts needed to make this simple activity may already be in home! A small plastic bottle with a lid and a peg(the old fashioned dolly shaped ones are best)
I first showed Mason how to twist off the lid of the bottle,put it aside, pick up the peg and place it through the hole in the bottle, then pick up the lid and twist back on.
Breaking down the process is vital for Masons age, sometimes as adults we rush things and forget to explain the process of how to do things step by step but this activity shows how a simple activity has a process and needs to be done in order.

I love activities like this that help with focus and process, not only does mason learn life skills but it also teaches mummy to slow down and enjoy these special years of our children's lives.

Pink Strawberry Scented Rice Tub

We have used coloured rice for many activities during the years and i had some pink leftover in storage so with Valentines day this month we made a sensory play tub up with some hearts, pink silicone cupcake holders and some spoons and jugs to pour with.
The special thing about this coloured rice was that i added a few drops of strawberry essence to the coloured rice and let dry on a baking tray overnight.
It smelt wonderful! The smell of sweet strawberries wafted the room while Tara poured, filled,sprinkled and created

Even little Mason had a turn and enjoyed sprinkling the rice and making it fall. I would suggest doing this outdoors if your children are younger as the rice also makes lovely confetti! :)

Water Painting

The weather here has been very humid and Mason is proving to be a real outdoors baby (well now 13 months not so much a baby). So i set him up with a cup of water and a paintbrush and watched him figure out how to paint with water on the pavers.
Sometimes its the simple things that entertain for hours......

Mess free painting

My kids both LOVE painting, any chance they get it would be their preferred activity. This painting activity has a twist though! Mess free painting!
All you need is paint,tape and sandwich bags.

Squirt your favourite colour into the sandwich bag or add two different colours for the older children to investigate colour mixing. Close the zip lock up firmly. Use tape to secure them on your glass window or door.

Think about the ideal height for your child when you are securing it on. A 7 month old may love to sit and play while placing it higher for a 9 month old will encourage him/her to stand up. This also works for siblings. I placed one quite high for Tara so her little brother was unable to "help" her do her work :)

Great for little hands

And even bigger hands..Here Tara is colour mixing her yellow and blue

Happy Valentines day!!! The great thing about this activity is when your finished mess free painting you can open the sandwich bags and use the paint for real painting, no more waste!

Peek-a-boo Mirror

Mason has been pulling himself up on the Montessori shelves so to give him some encouragement with his cruising and becoming mobile i put up a peek-a-boo mirror on the end of the shelves for him to find.
I simple double sided taped a shatterproof mirror to the shelves and also double sided taped a piece of fabric a little bigger than the mirror over the top.

Watching him explore it and was lovely. His little face lit up when he lifted the flap of fabric. I later had to move it up slightly to encourage him to stand up and balance as at this height it was easier for him to sit while playing.

Strainer/Pipecleaner Activity

What can you do with a strainer and some pipecleaners? Keep two children interested for hours!
I set this up one night before i went to bed and when they woke up they both sat down and happily threaded,pushed,pulled and picked all morning. Tara had the red one as it was light and she was able to pick it up and thread through both sides with her full length pipecleaners while Mason had a solid one that he used half length pipecleaners to poke through the holes and pull back out.

Fruit Cars

How adorable are these little fruit cars?? Great morning tea for any little one on the go.
Just slice up an apple or pear into narrow pieces and use toothpicks to add grape or cherry wheels
Remind your little mechanic to take off the toothpick axles before they start munching!

Stacking

This wooden stacking activity was Tara's favourite when she was around 18 months and it seems Mason enjoys it to. It is the first thing he gravitates to on the Montessori shelves.
So while Mason worked on his stacking and matching Tara got to work on an older version of he stacking activity.
All you need is a ball of play dough, one stick of uncooked spaghetti and a bowl of cheerios

The aim was to keep stacking to the very top while being gentle enough not to snap the pasta.

Waterbead Transferring

Transferring is a basic Montessori principle that is important for different ages and stages for different reasons. Mason is 12 months here and just manages to pick up these slippery wet Waterbeads and place them in the bowl on his right.
When placing an activity out to a child encourage them to work left to right as this will start the skills towards reading and writing.

Waterbeads in Water

Our beautiful waterbeads had shrunk into tiny beads and needed to be soaked again to restore that glossy bouncy waterbead goodness that know so may homeschoolers love but someone couldn't wait the 5 hours to let them expand and stuck his hand in early but what a great surprise!
Soaking waterbeads also have a therapeutic sense to them and feel very gentle on little hands. i urge anyone with waterbeads to let the kids play with them while they are soaking as its an amazing experience

Caterpillar Frankfurts

After a big day of Hungry Caterpillar fun partying, Tara was able to choose what we had for dinner. Her decision was "Caterpillar franks" of course! We thought we would share with you our meal...
First you hold a long Frankfurt steady while you pierce lengths of uncooked spaghetti in it and pull through the other side.Continue this all the way down the Frankfurt. Place the Frankfurt into water and boil until for a few minutes or until pasta is cookedCaterpillars franks ready for the birthday girl....

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Party and how we got there!

Wow! January has rolled around once again and i find myself going through past years photos of our themed parties we have had for Tara to get some inspiration for this years theme.

Tara's 1st birthday party was a Hawaiian Pool Party



With fresh fruits and Hawaiian pizzas

They all had a turn of the fish pinata

And topped off with a princess style cupcake tower of tiny teddies in bikini's, frangipani's, fish and flip flops.

The adults got the palm tree bottle opener thank you's

And the smaller guests got the Hawaiian rubber duckies

It all seems such a long time ago, how quickly life flies by when they are so young

Tara's 2nd birthday was when we moved to the farm so our theme was easy to choose "Wild Wild West-Cowgirl party"

Thank you's were sheriff badge cookies and art supplies like stickers and pencils

I made the party table from bales of hay, gingham material and each child got a hat to stick with the red and blue theme

With a few little tweaks, i was able to make the dolly cake was made into a cowgirl cake

Our cowgirl with her matching cowgirl cake

Another year flown by and the three musketeers will soon meet another member

And then she was THREE!

The year of the ladybug!

Ladybug Frankfurt's

On the ladybug table

Ladybug cupcakes and ladybug strawberries

Adult ladybug crackers with cherry tomato,cream cheese and an olive

Thank you Ladybug spotty demi tea cups for all the guests

One Ladybug cake sitting on a leaf waiting to be eaten!

And then there were four....Mason was 2 weeks old the day we celebrated Tara's 3rd birthday here

Which brings us to 2012, Our first COMBINED party Mason turning 1 and Tara turning 4.The best theme we could think of for one hungry caterpillar and a beautiful butterfly was ERIC CARLES' "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

The party table for all the hungry caterpillars

And so the story begins..On Monday

On Tuesday...

On Wednesday...

On Thursday...

On Friday....

On Saturday he ate through......

Hungry caterpillar cupcakes

Water for the beautiful butterflies

I hid egg carton caterpillars around our garden and told the children they were eating all the plants so i needed them to collect them for me

Then they had a chance to decorate them with paint, glitter and stickers

While the smaller grubs crawled around and played

All that playing made someone hungry

Mason's 1st birthday cake

Tara's 4th Birthday cake

Time for some "Pin the head on the caterpillar" game

The birthday girl with Mummy

The Awesome Foursome xx

The Birthday boy with Daddy

A beautiful butterfly Pinata

Thank you bags were all themed with worksheets, VHC magnetic wooden puzzles, VHC sticker sheet a popcorn butterfly

And some Hershey kisses VHC style

And that brings us to the end of our party planning adventures for another year, although Tara has already put her request in for next years theme so keep watching this space for upcoming parties!