:: Add ribbons and you have a swirling homemade dance studio

:: Remember there’s no such thing as . . . → Read More: Moving and shaking: winter ideas for fit kids]]>
Don’t let grey days and freezing temperatures stop your kids moving and shaking. Use these ideas from our Play Academy link ups for action games to have fun and keep your kids fit and active all winter long.

Winter active play ideas

:: Add ribbons and you have a swirling homemade dance studio

:: Remember there’s no such thing as bad weather so long as you’re wearing the right clothes. Get wrapped up and enjoy a spot of puddle jumping.

:: Combine movement and nursery rhymes and sing your way to fitness.

:: Adding tunnels, bubble wrap and balloons makes for a fabulous obstacle course whether it’s outside or indoors.

:: Make an activity cube, roll a dice and get moving.

For more indoor activity play ideas come and follow my Action Games Pinterest board.

happily shared with link and learn and the sunday showcase it’s playtime and thrifty thursday

Made using just the materials we had in our making box, it’s also a great illustration of how . . . → Read More: Make a Zhu Zhu pet car]]>
When Father Christmas brought L a longed for Zhu Zhu pet, big sister B decided he needed to be more upwardly mobile with his very own customised vehicle, so here’s her tutorial on how to make a Zhu Zhu pet car.

Made using just the materials we had in our making box, it’s also a great illustration of how junk modelling is a wonderful way for children to set themselves a challenge and problem-solve their way until they achieve what they set out to make.

How to make a Zhu Zhu pet car

B started by tracking down a box that was just the right size to fit our Zhu Zhu pet. To fit  him inside she cut out the base and back panel of the box.

Time for a trial run. The Zhu Zhu pet fitted in perfectly but the sensor on his nose meant he kept backing out of the car. Time for some design adaptation: cut a window so Zhu Zhu can see where he’s going and his nose sensor is free to react to walls and shoes and other obstacles but doesn’t get confused by the front of the car.

Then, a problem. Because she’d cut the back off the cardboard box, every time Zhu Zhu hit an obstacle and reversed away he came right out of his car. Was B defeated by the error in her original design? No way! A strip of card across the back of the car and the problem was solved.

Then it was time to customise the hot wheels. With the addition of stickers, pipe cleaners and paper and the Zhu Zhu Automobile was ready to ride.

Design success – now we just need to find a way to stop the cat pouncing on Zhu Xhu every time he whizzes by.
If you make a Zhu Zhu pet car of your own we’d love to see a picture!

happily shared with the sunday showcase

It doesn’t have to have a Christmas theme but we like a film that all ages can enjoy together. The girls love films I used to watch . . . → Read More: Movie night ideas]]>
One of our favourite cosy Christmas activities is snuggling up together to watch a film. Here are our four essential movie night ingredients – what are yours?

A movie, of course

It doesn’t have to have a Christmas theme but we like a film that all ages can enjoy together. The girls love films I used to watch as a child such as Mary Poppins and Charlotte’s Web, and the Wizard of OZ (so long as L’s sitting on my knee when the witch appears!) This year it’s going to be The Polar Express – have you seen it?

A cosy cover to snuggle under

We like a huge blanket that accommodates everyone, so usually pull the duvet from the girls bed. This year we’re decked out in the Ella bedding set from Feather & Black. We’re one of the official testers of their childrens beds range and B picked the pretty Ella set for her room.

Something yummy to eat

It’s got to be popcorn. We like to make some fresh and add our favourite Christmas flavoured sugar on top. I spotted these boxes made from paper plates on Pinterest and think they’ll be perfect for popcorn.

Something delicious to drink

If you’ve seen The Polar Express you won’t be surprised that the drink we’re going for is hot chocolate. Sadly, we don’t have the dancing waiters but our hot chocolate will be extra special because we’re making it with this hot chocolate on a stick idea from Holly Bell.

What Christmas movie do your kids love?

Do you remember the toilet roll tubes from last week’s Play Academy? No-one guessed what they were for!  Not an advent calendar, not snowmen but in fact a frosty winter village, for some small world play.

We started by cutting our toilet roll tubes into different sizes so we could have . . . → Read More: Make a model Christmas village]]>

Do you remember the toilet roll tubes from last week’s Play Academy? No-one guessed what they were for!  Not an advent calendar, not snowmen but in fact a frosty winter village, for some small world play.

How to make a model Christmas village

We started by cutting our toilet roll tubes into different sizes so we could have a variety of houses and then painted them all white. We used acrylic paint as it covered the cardboard better than our water-based poster paint.

The next step, once the paint was dry, was to draw on the windows and doors of our houses using pens and pencils.

A little strip of craft glue along the window ledges and floor meant we could add a layer of frosty glitter.
We thought about using rolled up semi-circles of card to make turret-style roofs but they were a bit tricky for the children to manage by themselves, so we opted for cake cases instead. A rim of glue around the top of the tubes was all we needed to hold them in place. You’ll see some of the houses have windows cut out of them using a craft knife rather than being drawn on. I like the idea of lighting these up from inside – maybe using a battery tea candle if we can find one to fit.

We added more frost to the roofs of the houses, glittering all the way.

This winter village works so well as a collaborative project. Even very young children can join in with the painting, drawing and glitter shaking. I love how all the houses are different and having lots of children joining in means you get lots of houses to play with in your little town.

We added a few snowmen, made from a little pieces of cotton wool, so we can pretend the children who live in the houses have made them.

The finished village is set up in the playroom now, ready for lots of imaginary small world play and we’re planning on adding an ice rink and some Christmas trees too.

More Christmas craft ideas

If you like this winter village you might enjoy our other junk model ideas and the crafts in our Christmas play archive

This post is joining in with the Thrifty Families Blog Carnival

happily shared with your green resource and  thrifty thursday and it’s playtime and today’s creative blog  and show and tell and  link and learn and the sunday showcase and sharing saturday and  friday’s nature table and for the kids friday

Based our our favourite no cook play dough recipe, this snow version has one important variation: we use corn flour instead of regular flour, to get a much whiter dough. And of course we added lots of sliver glitter to give a frosty sparkle . . . → Read More: Snow playdough recipe]]>
Winter’s on the way – time to break out the snow playdough recipe.

Based our our favourite no cook play dough recipe, this snow version has one important variation: we use corn flour instead of regular flour, to get a much whiter dough. And of course we added lots of sliver glitter to give a frosty sparkle to the dough.

Snow playdough recipe

Here’s the no cook snow play dough recipe:

2 cups corn flour

1 cup salt

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

silver glitter

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl until your dough forms – then you’re done and ready to play.

And what do you make with a snow playdough recipe? Snowmen  of course!

Twigs from the garden for arms.

Raisins or acorns for eyes. Red tissue paper for scarves.

Some of the playdough snowmen were so happy their smiles we this big.

And some were rather hair-raising.

More playdough resources

If you like our snow playdough recipe you might also like our free Let’s Play Dough ebook.

Or try space playdough, cinnamon playdough, chocolate playdough, ice cream playdough

happily shared with  Christmas traditions link up and link and learn and share your sunday best craft schooling sunday and  the sunday showcase and for the kids friday and fun sparks and it’s playtime