An Invitation to draw

Most children LOVE to draw but i do find Tara will 9/10 draw a bird or a house and Mason will draw a face or a digger but how do i encourage variety?

I left an invitation to draw on the table on morning and they jumped at completing them!

I flicked through magazines to find some interesting pictures, then cut them out leaving out half of the picture. Tara had half a butterfly and Mason had half a duck.

They then had to use their imagination to complete the picture and surrounding environment. These would be great to keep up your sleeve for long car rides, plane trips or when you just need that five minutes to make a phone call!

Upcycle toy chest to dino world

Our toy chest was great for storing blankets when the kids were small but lets face it, all those stuffed toys are just dust collectors so we handed down our teds and i placed a custom sized peice of astroturf (fake grass) on the lid with Mason's dinsoaurs, trees and rocks on it. Inside the chest are other toys that are suited for play on top of the chest like Tara's my little pony collection, some horses and farm animals. These can be swapped by whoever is playing at the chest. I left a small chair next to the chest to make it easier to play although cushions would do nicely too!

Clear contact collage

Want an easy home activity that you may already have in the house? Clear contact attached to the wall with tape makes a great collage base. use whatever you have around to decorate your contact.
The sky is the limit, use coloured paper,newspaper,magazines,feathers, or stickers. Tara enjoyed cutting out her items from magazines first then puttng them on while i made a box ull of coloured shapes that mason stuck on himself. Tara's was of course a little higher than Mason's so he couldnt "help" work on hers. Who needs famous paintings up in their house when we have budding artists willing to do the job!

Upside down drawing

Ever tried drawing from a different perspective?
Tara was getting frustrated by her little brother who loves to be into anything she is doing so she grabbed her paper and used some blu-tak to stick it to the underneath of her train table.
She was "hiding" under there for hours without the distraction of her little shadow.
Crayons are best to use for this as most pens will not work from that angle.

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!