Welcome To Home Learning From Birth

Welcome To Home Learning From Birth

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Valentine Lollipops

It wont be long till the most romantic day in the year comes around so have you got your valentine's day gifts ready????
If your house is like mine and have a truck load of candy left over from Christmas you may like to make some of these heart shaped lollipops from left over candy canes. If you don't have any left over now is the time to buy some extremely marked down candy canes from the shops!
We made two batches of these last year, one was filled with white chocolate and the other was with red toffee. Simple and cute for all your loved ones! 


Tara & Mason's Artist Party


Tara's 6th and Mason's 3rd Birthday

I love that now our party planning is a combined effort, with both the kids making choices on how they want it to be. We set up a table inside as always our January parties are always on the hottest day of the year!
Below is the birthday girl with a collage of her baby photos in the shape of a six.

Mr Mason below with his big number 3 photo montage

Below are some Paint Palette Cookies that i made from scratch using a mushroom shape cookie cutter and some mini m&m's

Meringue Lollipop wheels
I simply made a meringue recipe and separated into bowls then added our food colourings and blended them in a piping bag. Swirled them onto baking paper and cooked for an hour on low heat. Made some icing mixture to stick the meringues to the lollipop sticks and wrapped them.

Push pop pinatas and Edible crayons.
The crayons are chocolate picollo wafers wrapped in tissue paper. 


Thirsty Artist water bottles


Creative juice

Melted crayon artwork we made with a happy birthday cake
topper to hang above the party table

Cake push pops. I used sponge cake and coloured icing
to fill them and sprinkled with coloured lollies

Gumball Necklaces for party favours for the girls.
Sterilize a drill bit in boiling water for 10 minutes and use a drill to create holes in gumballs then thread onto ribbon.

Rice bubble paintbrush favours for the boys.
Using melted butter,marshmallows and rice bubbles make a slice then cut into rectangles. Make the coloured paint with icing and use tongue depressors as sticks.

The Birthday peeps waiting the arrival of the guests...

The Artists tables set up and ready to go!


Mason working hard on this Canvas
A family photo!
We had a sign saying "Put yourself in the picture"
and had many props for the guests to use 

The busy little Artists working on their canvas'

Put the paintbrush on the Palette. We chose blue as our
target as it is Tara's favourite colour


Tara's masterpiece- An arnotts nice biscuit with a fondant layer on the smooth side. This created our canvas then the children used edible textas to draw on their canvas'


The Artist using her paint palette made by cutting a thumb and
finger space in a paper plate 




The Arnotts biscuit artworks we displayed them on paddle pop stick easels
 which we made by hot gluing them together


Daddy made our Pull string Paint tin pinata using an old paint tin pained and dripped with other shades of paint to give a used effect. The tin was filled with sweets and the base was made from cardboard and electrical tape to secure them in. All streamers were tied into the cardboard base with one being the main support that would release the sweets.



Some of the party guests showing off their artwork


Mason's cake- he asked for a red and blue swirl cake in strawberry flavour. I use fondant to cover the cake and he used edible pens to draw all over the icing. He was so proud of his own cake-a true little Artist!

Tara chose a vanilla cake that had purple,blue and pink swirl and also decorated the icing all by herself. This was THE easiest year i have had with cakes as i left it all to them! hehe


The paint tin pinata in action!
So that was this years theme-Artist Party! We had a blast and it was a success for both age groups. If you have any questions on how something was made or where to source items, don't hesitate to comment below. Until next year, i hang up my party planning job...

Monday, November 25, 2013

Dinosaur discovering

Today we were Archaeologists searching for Dinosaur remains in our sandbox! These super cool bones are from Michelle's Plaster Painting and are a great addition to any sandpit. Hide them right down the bottom and see the surprise when they finally reach them. Best of all once they are found you can actually paint them and display them or if its just too much fun keep them in your sandbox like us!
This set is available to post as well as many more plaster painting items at www.michellesplasterpainting.com.au
or check out her facebook page

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Mobile Toy Library


Have you visited a TOY library???

If you haven't been to see your local toy library-you must!! Its like a toy shop without the tantrums and credit card bill!
The mobile service run by volunteers, parks the bus at a different suburb each week so you can pick your closest location and meet them there. Some locations offer a free morning tea and a chance for your children to play while others are located right next to a playground for you and your little one to run around and enjoy the fresh air!

Anyone is welcome to come visit the mobile toy library and has a HUGE amount of toys on offer for all ages, babies to school aged. Membership is just an annual fee that then allows you to enjoy up to 3 toys in your own home for up to a month. Drop the toys off again when the bus is in your area and choose some new toys. If you get in early you could have your Halloween costume organised without fuss, book week dress up prepared or even borrow some ride on toys for your child's next birthday party!  
The toy library gives you a chance to try out toys that interest you child, expand their imagination and work on skills needed for development.

The amazing volunteers at our local Hawkesbury/Hills mobile toy library have been generous enough to give ONE lucky Homelearningfrombirth reader a full year FREE membership!
To be in the running to win this you must live in the Quakers Hill/Pitt town/The Ponds/Kurrajong area of Sydney. Send me an email kc1181@bigpond.net.au telling me why you would love a
ONE YEAR TOY LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP!

Entries close 9th November and will be contacted by email.  
For more info on the toy library visit
Good Luck!!!

The popular mobile toy library at "The Ponds"

Mason enjoying his lawn mower borrowed from the toy library! 


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Halloween Spider Pops

It's one of our favourite times of year! I'm not sure why the kids love it so much though it could possibly have something to do with the copious amounts of lollies that fill our house! We don't get any trick or treaters at our doors on Halloween, living in Australia, Halloween isn't a big thing! But we do make treats for our friends because its a bit of fun!
This year i knew i wanted to make lollipops but wasn't sure what to do. Tara suggested licorice as it is her favourite treat so i came up with these spider pops!

So firstly i used brown m&m's for the body and cut thin strips of licorice straps for the legs.
I laid the spiders onto baking paper and added a lollipop stick to the end of each one. Then i made a batch of toffee....
3 cups caster sugar, 1 cup water, and 1/4 cup vinegar bought to the boil for about 15 mins
or until golden
I gently poured the toffee mixture over the spiders, making sure to coat the stick and whole of spiders. Leave to cool at room temp for 15 mins the pull away from baking paper.

They didn't take long at all, the hardest part was the fiddly eight legs but the look great and the toffee really added to the spookiness by looking like zap from a tree. I found the FREE Halloween jar printable on this great site here... http://embellishinglifeeveryday.blogspot.com.au/






Friday, October 11, 2013

Brauer Review and GIVEAWAY!!!



Our family have been huge supporters of the BRAUER products ever since we had our firstborn. Sleepless nights cured by teething relief and coughs and colds vanished with cold&flu medicine. I even remember Tara being obsessed with asking for medicine at bedtime but thankfully with BRAUER i knew there was nothing nasty i was giving her.
So when BRAUER asked me to try out their new Bath and Skincare range i knew they would have my back and support me once again in my effort to control the nasties many children are exposed to everyday.

How many of you swear by Paw Paw cream??? It fixes everything right? Chapped lips,eczema, nappy rash, bumps and bruises! BUT did you know most of these creams contain PETROCHEMICALS??
Disgusting isn't it!...make a stand for our kids and support BRAUER by using their own natural PAW PAW cream that DO NOT contain any harmful ingredients.
With a rise in Eczema and skin complaints its important to check the ingredients of everything you put on your little ones skin. So when i read the back of the BRAUER baby sleepytime bath and noticed words that came from a garden not a laboratory i knew it was for my kids. The baby Sleepytime bath is moisturising, gentle and dreamy!



BRAUER have given Homelearningfrombirth 3 Natural Paw Paw Creams and 3 Sleepytime baths to give away to readers and entry is SIMPLE!

Send an email to KC1181@bigpond.net.au with the word "Brauer" in the subject line and let me know WHY you would like to try either a Paw Paw cream or a sleepytime bath. Then head over to facebook and 'like' Brauer-just click the link here- https://www.facebook.com/#!/BrauerAus
Entries close 26th October 2013 and winners will be notified by email shortly after.
GOOD LUCK!!!




Sunday, September 1, 2013

Kmart $100 giftcard WINNER announced!!!






And the winner of the Kmart Australia $100 giftcard drawn by Random.Org is..........

Storage tip #1 Alli Brown!!! Congrats Alli and we hope you enjoy your Kmart giftcard. Please email me kc1181@bigpond.net.au with your postal address and Kmart will send it out to you!
Stay tuned for more comps over the next days...

Friday, August 16, 2013

Montessori shelves plus a $100 Kmart Gift Card GIVEAWAY!!!!!!


    It's Giveaway time!!!!!

We are all for "teach me to do it myself" at Homelearningfrombirth so when Kmart Australia asked me to review their children's cube unit i was thrilled!

I set up the unit Montessori style and Mason was happy to visit the shelves and easily reach what he would like to work on and place it back where he found it when he is finished.
 Order is extremely important in a toddler's environment and the independence they get from choosing their work and being responsible for packing it away not only shows in their confidence but also teaches respect for their belongings.
   

This 6 square Children's Cube Unit is part of Kmart's new "Beautiful Living" range which is in stores NOW! The best bit??? The whole unit is only $25!

WANT TO KNOW HOW TO WIN????

Up for grabs i have a $100 gift card for Kmart Australia for you to use for shelves or anything else that tickles your fancy at Kmart :)

All you need to do is.....
1. Leave a comment below this post and tell me "What is your best storage tip?" 
2. Head over to Facebook and 'like' Homelearningfrombirth
3. Kmart


T&C below....Good Luck! 

 

T&C's
Open to Australian residents only, Winner must have "liked" both Kmart and Homelearningfrombirth pages. Competition closes midnight 31st August. Winner will be selected by random.org and notified on this blog. Winner has 24 hours to claim prize or will forfeit the giveaway.  

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Moving into the land of Facebook - Join in!

Yawn! Who me???

Yes, us! We are heading into the land of Facebook and we want you all to come too!
After attending a Kids Business Bloggers Brunch, I have streamlined all things Homelearningfrombirth, spoken to some of my favourite companies about how they can help your family and how my little blog can pass on some AMAZING prizes to you!
So join us for more regular updates,competitions and share with your friends!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Magnetic pipecleaner bottle


Here is another 2 minute boredom buster..... Mister 2 cut up all our pipe cleaners into (approx) 1 cm pieces and placed them into a bottle.Its best if you use the longest bottle you have so they can be moved around.
Use a magnetic wand if you have one, if not any other strong magnet should work-try a Thomas train, fridge magnet or similar. The pipe cleaners will follow your magnet around. This is a very relaxing activity that can be used for calming down after a meltdown or keep it in the car for road trip activities. Older children may like to play the magnetic/non magnetic game as posted in our magnetic sensory tub post.

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!


Colour swatch ombre wrapping

 Colour swatches are AMAZING in so many ways! Beautiful to the eye, useful for so many activities and did i mention FREE!!
We picked these ones up at our local Bunnings and used our butterfly hole punch to make a stack of tiny coloured butterflies. Tara sorted the colours as best she could from lightest to darkest and glued them to a brown paper package for her cousin.
The latest OMBRE trend can even become a part of learning! Tara also discovered the remains of the colour swatches made great butterfly stencils to keep for a rainy day!


Silky Smooth Dough



Sometimes plain playdough can get boring....mix it up a bit!!! This recipe is for silky smooth playdough
Mix 3/4 cup of conditioner to 1 and 1/2 cups of cornflour and mix with a spoon until blended. take into your hands and knead until smooth adding more conditioner or cornflour as needed-will depend on the room temperature.
The right consistency will be smooth yet break in half if pulled apart. Add food colouring last if required. Just a few drops in the center of dough and knead till evenly tinted.