DIY play laptops and phones

The girls made these play laptops and phones in the weekend so I thought I would share them as they are absolutely loving playing with them! My 4 year old goes to an awesome daycare where the children choose what topics they would like to learn about- lately they've been learning about rockets, scooters, and now computers. The children do a brainstorm and then vote on which topic they want to do next which I think is really cool. So on Saturday Stella wanted to make a computer...luckily we had a cardboard box so I just grabbed my sticker stash, washi tape and masking tape (it pays to be a hoarder if you like arts and crafts with kids) and made very quick and rough 'laptops'. 

They did pretty much all of the decorating- Amelie took ages copying the button at the top of my laptop keyboard (always good when something takes a while!) and then adding other stickers and drawings. Amelie is really into Belle and Boo so she wanted to make hers look like the Belle and Boo website! 

Luckily I had these cool raised alphabet stickers I bought about 3 years ago so they were perfect as they actually feel like keys on a keyboard.  

I taped on a bit of cardboard underneath to make a CD Rom drive and they made a CD each too. 

We added velcro dots to them later so the lid stays shut. They have been carting them everywhere and playing them on them- I really love that my 6 year old is still really into imaginative play like this :) 

Then they decided to make phones as well - even though we don't have iphones they wanted to make theirs look like one so I just cut out a piece of cardboard and they stuck scrapbooking paper on the back to make the iphone case. Then we used stickers to make it look like the different apps on a phone. I made this one for Jack. 

So there you go if you looking for an easy and surprisingly entertaining art/ craft activity! 

Megan x

Bath time reminiscing, new 'Baby by Earthwise' products...and a giveaway

When we had our first baby Amelie 6 and a half years ago I read Gina Ford's 'Contented Baby' book- a little bit of it when I was pregnant, and a lot after I had Amelie. She recommended a bedtime routine of feeding baby around 5, then doing the bath, then feeding baby again around 7. So we did as the book said and it seemed to work with us even though Amelie screamed blue murder from the second she was taken out of the bath until she was fully dressed but we kept it going because it was a way to keep her up for a bit longer before 'bedtime' and hey maybe the screaming wore her out so much she went to sleep easily...who knows but she was a good night sleeper from reasonably early on! So we stuck with that routine for her, and then for Stella and then Jack as well.  Probably because to be honest we were scared to change anything as whatever we were doing seemed to be working but also it is nice to have them all clean and smelling good at least once in the day! It's taken a lot of effort over the years, we have hardly ever missed them having a bath, I remember getting to a bach for a holiday when Amelie was about 6 months old and the hot water hadn't heated up in time for bath time so we filled up a plastic container using the kettle just so she could have her bath...I laugh now that we bothered -we must have really been paranoid that if she didn't have her bath she would somehow not sleep well all night! Anyway now that all 3 are older we still do the bath every night, it is the only time Jack is clean in the day and the 3 of them do have a good time in there most nights. There are certainly a lot of times when we really can't be bothered but I guess the routine is so ingrained in them now they just automatically get ready for the bath after dinner so they would probably spin out if we said no bath tonight (well Jack would anyway!) It's a hectic/loud/crazy time in our house and we are looking forward to them just being able to jump in the shower but I bet we'll still miss their little faces all squeezed in the bath together too :)

So when Hayley from Earthwise contacted me about reviewing some of the new plant based Earthwise Baby products I jumped at the chance- I already use their lavender laundry powder which I love. And I like that they are NZ based, environmentally friendly and have been around a while now- Earthwise was actually started 45 years ago! So here are the goodies I was sent to try out- the
Baby bath wash, Baby shampoo, Baby bubble bath, hair detangler, sleep spray, baby soap, plus some samples of their other soaps, bathroom and general use wipes, and their laundry and whitening powder.

From the Baby by Earthwise press release "Earthwise has developed their new range to be gentle on the skin, the result leaves skin and hair feeling divine with the love and nourishment Mother Nature intended.  The products are also gentle on the environment, all ingredients in Earthwise products are ethically and sustainably sourced, carefully selected to provide gentle natural cleaning properties while maintaining our earth. Baby by Earthwise is free from parabens, artificial colouring, toxic petrochemicals and laurel sulphates, it’s not tested on animals and made in New Zealand."

The kids loved the bubble bath- I don't actually use bubble bath very often so this was a treat for them, well until there were tears about who had the most bubbles and arguing over who got to sit in a certain place in the bath to get the most bubbles...but as bubble bath goes it has a nice subtle scent, plenty of bubbles and is a good price for the amount in the container- $7.49 at Countdown for 275mls

The bath wash and shampoo were great too, again a nice subtle scent, cute containers and a reasonable price for the amount you get.

The hair detangler has a been a big hit- I mentioned on Facebook that I went hunting for this a while ago and could only find one with a very strong strawberry scent so this one is much nicer!

The sleep spray was popular with the kids as they liked spraying their pillowcases themselves although they did go a bit crazy with it and ended up with rather damp pillowcases! It would be nice to freshen up a baby's bassinet or cot sheets or even the actual bedroom.

So all in all I will definitely be buying these products in the future, on price alone they are the same if not cheaper than what I normally buy, and much cuter too!

So if you would like to win your own pack of Earthwise baby products just leave a comment here or over on my Facebook page either telling me what you do for bathtime in your family or just leave a comment saying you'd like to win the prize- but be quick... you've got until midday tomorrow- Friday 27th Sep to leave your comment. This giveaway is for NZ readers only sorry. I will be giving the winners details to Hayley at Earthwise and she will be sending out your prize :)

Megan 

Picture Books for 5 year olds

A mousehouse reader Stephanie asked me last night for some ideas for good picture books for her 5 year old daughter who has started reading by herself but would still like to listen and read along to some picture books as well. My 6 year old likes to read her own books now (waaaaay too much Rainbow Magic) plus other short chapter books and her readers from school, but as she shares a room with Stella (4) she still loves listening to picture books as well. So here are some of Amelie and Stella's favourite picture books- most of the these are also the tried and true ones I grab if I am doing a days relieving in a classroom- all of them are popular with boys and girls around the 5/6 age group but there are a couple that particuarly appeal to girls from this list. 

Colour the Stars by Dawn McMillan- this is a lovely story about a little boy who is blind and his friend who teaches him what stars look like

Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen- this is really a cute story that kids love with lovely illustrations

I Had a Favourite Dress by Boni Ashburn- this is one for the girls all about a girl who has a favourite dress and as she outgrows it her mum sews it into different items- Amelie loves this

A Lion in the Meadow by Margaret Mahy- a classic story written in the 70's and still just as popular today- I love this story

The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr- another classic story by a wonderful author

The Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson- this is Amelie and Stella's (and mine) favourite picture book at the moment- such a cute story, lovely illustrations and a good book to read aloud

Princess, Fairy by Penny Dale- Stella's favourite- I'm pretty sure it is a take on the fairy tale The Frog Prince but with the very appealing characters to young girls princesses and fairies!

The Princess and her Panther by Wendy Orr- another book Stella lovese especially about 2 sisters who dress up and have an adventure using their imagination

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion- another classic story I think written in the 50's or 60's- a lovely story of a dog who really doesn't like having a bath, lovely retro illustrations

The Smallest Turtle by Lynley Dodd- always a good one to read aloud, lovely simple story with beautiful language- hard to find online though :(

What good luck What bad luck by Remy Charlip-  I found this at an Op Shop- when I read it to a class of 6 year olds they absolutely loved it and wanted me to read it again straight away! Can also be found printed as 'Unfortunately'. 

The Nickel Nackle Tree by Lynley Dodd-a neat counting book, again with great language and illustrations- appeals to all ages

Mouse Mansion By Karina Schaapman- this isn't a picture book as such, more a chapter book presented in a picture book format- Amelie loves this book especially the detailed photos

Well I know there are so many other wonderful picture books out there but these are the ones I could think of straight away- would love to hear of any of your or your child's favourite picture books too.

The other stories I would recommend reading is any fairy tales you can get your hands on- op shops seem to always have one or two when I take a look.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/196962183674898958/

These are some of my favourite ones...

Cinderella

Dick Whittington

The Elves and the Shoemaker

The Emperors New Clothes

The Frog Prince

The Gingerbread Man

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs

Jack and the Beanstalk

The Little Match Girl

The Little Mermaid

Little Red Riding Hood

The Ugly Duckling

The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The Princess and the Pea

Rumplestiltskin

The Dancing Princesses

Snow White

Stone Soup

Thumbelina

The Boy who cried Wolf

I'll write another blog post with some of my favourite chapter books as well, basically anything by Michael Morpurgo plus a few of my other favourites :)

Happy reading!

Megan x

A housewarming party-nibbles and drinks ideas

We had a a fun night on Sat for our housewarming party so I thought I'd share some of the finger food/appetizers and drinks we did for the party in case you are thinking of having a party or wanting to bring some nibbles to someone elses!


Food

COLD

* 2 x crostini- I bought a bag of crostini already made but if I was doing them again I would try and make them myself in advance, the ones we bought were too small and way too crunchy we both thought, although they all did get eaten!

Our crostini toppings...

- Olive tapenade with chopped up cherry tomatoes and shaving of parmesan
- Sundried capsicum tapenade with little square of feta and basil leaf

Cheese ball and crackers, crostini

* Cheese ball and crackers-I made my first ever cheese ball after seeing Vanessa's on her blog ages ago- it was yum and nice and easy too thanks Vanessa!- here is her recipe http://thebubbalinokitchen.com/2013/06/cheese-ball

*nibbles platter- Lisa's kumara and pumpkin dip, chips, pita bread crisps, bagel bites, green stuffed olives, capsicum slices

*Blini's- cream cheese, salmon and dill blini's- you can buy blini's frozen at Nosh or the supermarket if you don't want to make them yourself- we bought them and they were great

HOT

* 'Scrummy Scroodles'

These are tasty little savoury muffin type treats that a friends mother in law gave me the recipe for. I made them on Friday and they just got heated up in the oven during the party. Here is the recipe

1/2 cup chopped bacon    
2 cups grated cheese
1 pkt onion and bacon soup
1 cup flour
1tsp baking powder
500g sour cream

Mix all ingredients. Bake for approx 20 mins in mini muffin pans at 180deg.  Freezes well.

It made me at least 36 mini muffins but I don't think I put quite enough filling in each muffin hole so next time I would put more mixture in so would probably get about 24-30 from this recipe.

*Samosa's and spring rolls

I didn't get a photo of these but we served these Shore Mariner vegetable samosa's and spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce- these are always a popular thing to serve at a gathering! They're at the supermarket and Nosh, there are other brands that do them as well but this brand was recommended to me.

* Sundried tomato and feta dip with chilli and lime wedges- we were going to do these later in the evening as well but didn't in the end...

We also had a few friends bring some delicious nibbles- my sister did pork belly cut up into bite sized chunks which was a BIG hit, and another friends hubby Andy made mini caesar salads on those little serving dishes which were really tasty- cute idea too to make an appetiser from a meal! Wish I'd taken a photo but they sort of looked like the mini caesar salads below but he served each one on one of these little serving dishes -I couldn't find them online in NZ but these are the exact ones Andy used http://plasticcontainercity.com/black-plastic-mini-tear-drop-dish-10-per-pack.htm




Drinks

* Bubbles, wine and beer-I set up our dining table with glasses with a few bins underneath for empties.

* Apple, ginger and cranberry mocktail for the drivers/pregnant ladies- I used this recipe without the vodka http://www.whatkatieate.com/recipes/apple-ginger-and-cranberry-vodka-cocktail. To keep the cocktail cold without it going watery I made ice cubes out of the apple juice and the cranberry juice. I added a few sprigs of mint as well.

* Vodka Jellies- these are always a fun thing to bring out later in the evening- I made some and my friend made some too- here's my 'recipe' for them

1 packet jelly
One and a half cups boiling water
Half a cup vodka

Mix the jelly and the boiling water, when cooled add the half cup of vodka then place in the fridge to set. If you want to make them stronger use 1 cup boiling water and 1 cup vodka.

Makes approx 22 30ml jellies (you can buy the plastic shot glasses from the supermarket)

So there you go, some ideas for your next gathering :) Have a great week!
Megan

a reversible playmat

A couple of weeks ago I came across this fab idea to make a farm playmat on a great new crafty blog
'Peekaboo! Make and Do'.  Jan who writes the blog is also a teacher and she has lots of really great ideas on her blog and facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PeekabooMakeLearnSewAndDo?ref=br_tf

Here is Jan's cute one...

I really love having toys that encourage imaginative and independent play and this is one of those- all you need to add is a few toy animals, a tractor or two and whatever else you can find with a bit of a farm theme (we had a Fisher Price Little People Farm Set which came in handy). I got the animals from a shop here in Tauranga, AJ's Emporium, you can probably find them at Dollar Value type stores as well, or search Trademe.

I made this mat pretty quickly- if I don't need to measure and pin things I generally don't- kids don't mind if squares don't exactly line up and the mat is a little wonky on one side!  

As I was sewing my squares together I was thinking what to use to sew on to the back of the playmat and then I had a brainwave to use a car mat I bought from Payless Plastics a while ago. (The car mat is a laminated fabric that you just buy off the roll in store).  So one side farm, one side cars= 2 happy children :)

 

Most of the fabrics for the farm playmat I already had (this project is a great one to use up some of your scrap fabric stash) but I did get a couple of fat quarters from Bernina as well-they had a corn field one which was great plus a grass one and a stony pebble one which was good for the 'pig sty'. 

Thanks again Jan for the great idea, it was fun to do a bit of sewing again.  And I'll be sharing another post with some more of my favourite toys for little ones soon :)

Thanks for reading,
Megan x

Sesame Street Alphabet Songs on Youtube

Sticking with some of the ABC stuff I've been sharing on my Facebook page  I thought I'd share these alphabet songs and clips I've found on youtube- most of them are probably 20+ years old and still captivate my kids - I'm sure yours will love them too. There's a phonics song at the end- not as cute/retro as these Sesame St ones but good for learning letter sounds. Hope your kids enjoy them :) Megan

Sesame Street: The Alphabet with Elmo and India Arie


Sesame Street:The Alphabet Song with Lena Horne


Sesame Street: Ray Charles Sings the Alphabet


Sesame Street: Patti Labelle Sings the Alphabet


Sesame Street: Big Bird ABC-DEF-GHI Song


Sesame Street: Grover and Alphabet Soup




Classic Sesame Street animation: Boy fishing for the alphabet


Phonics Song

Rainbow pencil holders

Here are the details of the rainbow pencil holders for my classroom...the idea came from this article in the NZ Herald Sunday magazine by Greig Morgan back in January I think. I loved the rainbow idea as my classroom is going to have a bit of a rainbow theme (hopefully without being OTT as the rainbow theme can look fun or look too much if you know what I mean!) 

My hubby got a piece of the wood below from Bunnings- it's about 50mm wide and was about 150mm long- I can just read from the article that it's called dress gauge pine. He cut out the rainbow shapes after using a plate to draw the circle shape on the wood.

Then he used the electric sander to soften the edges.

 

Next he painted them with a coat of undercoat and drilled the holes for the pencils. He forgot to not drill the holes too deep though so I'm going to have to put something in the holes or once the kids sharpen their pencils a few times their pencils will be lost down the holes! (in the article it says to wrap a piece of tape around your drill bit so you know when to stop drilling down). Then I painted them the rainbow stripes. Next time I would definitely use paint test pots to do this as I used kids acrylic paint so each rainbow stripe needed A LOT of coats- took forever!!

When they were dry I painted on a layer of modpodge to seal them - varnish would work the same.

This would be a fun school holiday project too if you have older kids...dad (or mum!) cuts the shape out and the kids can paint them- a cute desk accessory for their bedroom :)

Megan x

Humpty Dumpty

When Amelie started school last year she came home with spelling words in her homework book called 'Humpty Wall's'.  Basically they are 12 walls of words, each wall having about 6-8 words on it.

Each week or two (or whenever they master the wall they are learning) they move up to a new 'humpty wall' which is a great motivator for them.  If your child can read these words easily he/she will find reading larger pieces of text a lot easier, and the same goes for writing- mastering the spelling of these high frequency words means they will be able to write far more easily and with confidence, and can also then think about using more interesting and challenging words in their writing.  Confidence is so important in the early school years so things like this really help to boost that. Don't worry about getting the flashcards out yet though, I personally don't believe in flashcards or anything that formal before school -some knowledge of the ABC's is very helpful though (which is a whole other blog post....!)

Anyway, not the most riveting blog post so far but here's something cute to make up for it...I came across this super cute Humpty pattern over a year ago and filed it away as something to make one day, and then after getting my teaching job I thought it would be a cute thing to have in the classroom to promote the Humpty Walls, plus act as a class mascot type thing, or something to cuddle when mum or dad leaves in the morning...

The pattern doesn't include many instructions so it was a bit of a trial and error to get him made (I didn't make the arms and legs removable like in the original pattern)-wish I could be bothered making another one as my kids have taken a major shine to him, taking turns having him in their bed at night even:)  I am one of those crafters though who loves making something for the first time and then pretty much has no interest in making whatever it is again once it's finished!!

feeding Humpty

taking him for a walk :)

I bought a bag of wooden blocks last year from a second hand kids shop (which was a great score as I had been wanting some for some other crafty projects) so I printed out the Humpty Wall words and modpodged them onto the blocks so the kids can have fun making a wall and hopefully reading some of the words at the same time!

I got that idea after seeing something like this on a blog ages ago using words stuck onto duplo blocks...

 

(found this one on pinterest to show you)

...if you do have younger kids you could put the abc's on your duplo...there are lots of Duplo bulk lots on TradeMe if you are wanting some.

Next project is a cute pencil holder... 

Megan x

Fine motor skills activity- nuts, bolts and screws

I'm planning on having a quite a few fine motor skills activities in my classroom...they are fun to make and kids enjoy them too, and they are great for those kids that are 'do-ers' and like to keep busy!

What are Fine Motor Skills:

Fine motor skills involve the small muscles of the body that enable such functions as writing, grasping small objects, and fastening clothing. They involve strength, fine motor control, and dexterity.

How Fine Motor Skills Affect Learning and Living Skills:

These skills are important in most school activities as well as in life in general. Weaknesses in fine motor skills can affect a child's ability to eat, write legibly, turn pages in a book, and perform personal care tasks such as dressing and grooming.

I've seen variations on this  'nuts and bolts' activity on lots of blogs, especially ones that are into Montessori teaching materials. This one is such a good one for developing fine motor skills plus it's awesome for problem solving, maths, learning new vocabulary and lots more.  Also it can be a pretty budget friendly activity as you only need to buy the nuts, bolts and screws (if you don't have some already.)  Here are the details for my one (my hubby Ben made it for me.)

Fine motor skills 'Nuts, Bolts and Screws' board

You will need

-piece of wood- this one is about 1.5 cm thick and approx 25cm x 15 cm size

-bolts no longer than the thickness of your piece of wood

-screws - as above- I used flat head screws but it would have been good to have some Phillips ones as well so the kids learnt the difference between the 2 types of screws and had the challenge of matching the right screw driver to the right screw as well (although Ben isn't sure if they actually had Phillips ones)

-things that you use to screw the screws or bolts into the piece of wood- I don't know what they're called but you'll find them with the nuts and bolts -see pic above.  I'll call them base pieces-when Ben went to Bunnings he found individual base pieces already matched to a bolt or a screw which was handy 

-screwdriver the right size for your chosen screws (a short one with a large handle like the orange one on the pic below is easiest for younger children)

-spanner that fits your bolts (Super Cheap Auto had spanners for $1.50 when I went in yesterday)

What to do

1. Drill holes into the piece of wood where you would like the screws/bolts to go

2. Hammer in the base pieces

3. Screw in your bolts and screws

Nuts and bolts sorting and matching activity

One of the things I am always on the lookout for when I go op-shopping is any sort of small divider type bowls like the one below- this one was $1 but I've picked up plastic ones for as little as 20c- they are so handy for kids to sort things into and organise little things.  I got the nuts and bolts from Bunnings- each bolt was 50c - $1.50 approx and the nuts were from 15c - 50c approx.

For this I just bought different size nuts and bolts plus a wing nut and a carabina type thing.  Children will enjoy things like matching up the right size nuts to the bolts, ordering the nuts and bolts from smallest to biggest and also counting how many they can fit onto each bolt.

 

Another thing you can do with these nuts and bolts is write letters on the faces of each nut and encourage older children to see how many word they can make- great for spelling and learning rhyming words. I just used a sharpie to write the letters on so not sure how long they will last but this post explains how to make them with little stickers and mod lodge- don't know where I'd find those little stickers here in NZ though? Another idea would be to get enough nuts so you can write the letters of their name and they have to spell out their name. 

This post has a good idea too- write a word on the end of the bolt and have the children find the nuts with the right letters to spell the word. 

I've got a few more fine motor skills activities to make so will share those soon as well :)

Megan x