{Preschooler Craft Day}

Yesterday I had one of 'those days' with my three year old. If you have had a three year old, I know you are on the same page right now. Mister mischief just seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed and the day followed suit until he crashed at 6:00!

I was determined to not repeat this performance. Once the kids went to bed, I had a cuppa, took a breathe and decided to plan craft day. I visited the only place open after normal hours, my local Kmart.

These kits were $5 each and such great value!!

DIY Cars

The great thing is that there is no glue needed, as they are all adhesive stickers. So, no sticky mess! There is plenty of opportunity to practice fine motor skills. There were a tonne of stickers left over, so just print off some plain car templates and you can keep the fun going.



He was so proud of himself and has been playing with them ever since! We might try this one later today also:
Can definitely recommend to have these on hand for an easy preschoolers craft. I think my 6 year old would even enjoy this!
Lauren x

{The Number Car Game : Sneaky Learning}

Well, yesterday I had one of those days with my 3 year old where I bet grey hairs were getting ready to sprout and I wanted to tear every one of them out!
So. Today. New Day.
There are a tonne of things I could have done this morning, but I made the choice to focus on him today. I made up a game that he absolutely loved! Better than that, it cost me nothing and took minutes to create!

Whilst we used cars, you could use whatever you like for this (stuffed toys, dolls, a button collection, little toy farm animals etc). I am focusing on 1-20 numbers here, but again, do what your child is comfortable with (1-5, 1-10).

{Pasta Play : And Other Cheap Toddler Fun}

All this funny Sydney weather has left me many times with a very active toddler at home whilst it's raining outside. Here are SOME of the ways I have kept him amused lately. I have had to get creative as he is a smart kid, but needs to burn energy and get creative and change activities frequently!

1. Pasta Play:
I started simply by putting 5 pasta noodles on one plate, handing him another empty plate and some mini tongs. No instructions, just let him play and count.


2. Spaghetti Tower: Then I blu-taked a spaghetti strand to a plate and he started building them up counting as he went. He was enjoying this more than I thought.





Of course my son found a way to make a mess (he is an expert there) and do we turned cleaning into another game (I know I may have a shelf life for this lol)!



Then we got s break in the sun so we decided to try car painting. Combining cars and mess = BIG hit for my little one.

1. Find old or cheap cars you don't mind getting painted.
2. Let them paint the wheels and watch on some paper as the tyres make rainbow tracks.
3. Then put done warm soapy water in a bucket and have a "car wash" to clean up ;)


There are a few other things I will share soon that don't cost the earth. If you have any other ideas - feel free to share them here or on facebook or twitter :)

Lauren x




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Cherish the Moment

This weekend we took our kids to a park by a beautiful river and shared a lovely sunny winters afternoon. My darling Hubby caught this picture and I love it. It just reminded me how special my family is to me and that in our busy lives, it is so important to take time out and have a 'go fly a kite' moment with your loved ones!

Cute Footprint Memories

I saw this craft project on 'brown paper packages' and just thought it was SOOO cute!!!! What a way to keep the memory of your family alive. ADORABLE!!!!! You could even make it a "green" project by re-purposing a wooden stool you have at home.....for details, click on the blog link above and see their instructions - this is DEFINITLEY going on my to do list!!!!

Getting creative with some friends ;)

Well, I have been quiet in blog land for the last week - been very busy here. Part of that busy week was a wonderful craft night I hosted. A few friends poppped in for a chance to get creative with a company that sells gorgeous wooden stamps, beautiful papers, buttons, ribbons and stunning colour palettes! Stampin' up! have added a lot of gorgeous products to my creative toolbelt -that's for sure!!!! Apologies for the quality of the photos ;)

This card was So easy to make, the gorgeous purple and green combination is so much richer in person than the photo suggests. The thing about this project that I loved was the envelope. We made it with the BIG SHOT!!! It it a die cut machine that is easy to use, punches out up to 50 different materials from fabric to chip board. It punched the envelope in no time and scored it ready to fold and assemble. SOOOO getting me one of these - the options are endless for possible uses!!!!! hehehehe ;)

All of their papers are double sided, so opening the envelope still gives another opportunity for a burst of colour ;) Just love it!!!!

The cutest bird card that had hand stamped and punched details. I just love the gorgeous soft tones in this design and the 3D bird adds stunning dimension. The stamp says "Sending you a little something wrapped in a whole lot of love!" Cuuuute!!!!

Twinkle Twinkle Playdough

Not so long ago i was doing a craft with some glitter and had a little bit left over. I couldn't imagine being able to fit it back into that tiny container, so it just sit on the counter overnight. The next morning Josh (3 1/2) and I were making playdough and it occurred to me to throw the glitter in. Why not right? If we had girls in the house, the special playdough no doubt would be called something like princess playdough or fairy sparkle playdough. Howver, Josh nicknamed it twinkle twinkle playdough. We love crafting and playing together and this was a little different which was a conversation piece in our house for some time! You could also add different essential oils or things to make the smell different for a change to the base recipe too.

In case you don't have a playdough recipe:

2 Cups Plain flour
4 tablespoons Cream of Tartar
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 cup salt
2 cups water
Food colouring

Put salt and water in saucepan and heat till salt is disolved. Add the rest of the dry mix and stir until it 'doughs' together.
I got it out and let it cool for a min or two after that, then kneaded it well.