Junk model horse riding stables

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We’re getting ready for the Carnival of Junk Play on Friday 3rd December!

What do you think of our riding school? We have stables, jumps, a daisy filled paddock and some prize winning rosettes – and all made for free using re-cycled materials from our beloved making box. B has been off school ill this week and we needed a good ‘sitting down’ activity to keep us busy and cheer us up – and this is what we made. It was a totally spontaneous project, put together after a rummage through the junk box to see what materials we could find.

The base is made from a big piece of cardboard from a packing box, which happened to have a circular shape marked out in the centre which seemed to say ‘paddock’! The jump is made from two Smarties tubes, turned inside out,  with a wooden skewer, snapped in half and poked through the tubes to make the cross bars.

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The stables are made from tissue boxes, and the one on the end which has proper stable doors is made from a teabag box. We covered them in sugar paper, held in place with sticky tape – as you know we can’t wait for glue to dry when we want to get playing. The prize winning rosettes are made from little gift bows salvaged from some presents, with a ribbon made from sugar paper.

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We have a bucket with a pipe-cleaner handle, wool for straw and a biscuit tray cut up and stuck inside each stable to make a feeding trough (there’s probably a proper horsey word for that isn’t there?) The bunting is made from wool, old wrapping paper and held up on wooden skewers. And the paddock was painted with poster paint, sprinkled with a little glitter while it was still wet, and with some daisies (cut from a remnant of edging from my sewing basket) glued on.

Not all our junk models are this grand – L’s boat was very simple, but they both sum up what I love best about junk modelling:

it’s recycled, it costs nothing, it’s creative and it’s makes a toy with lots more play value to it.

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Faces book

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We’ve had our People Book for a couple of years now and it’s loved by the babies and toddlers who read it. Very young children are naturally drawn to looking at faces, so why not capture their interest by making a book of their favourite faces for them.

Our book includes lots of pictures of people the children know: themselves, family and friends. They just love it when they spot someone they recognise! It also provides lots of opportunity to chat and ask questions about what everyone looks like, and to play i-spy.

We’ve added in some pictures from magazines so we could include a whole range of people: different ages, sexes, hair and skin colours, wearing glasses, wearing headscarves, in wheelchairs, in different family groups. It’s a good way to introduce aspects of the world to your child – and if you’re working in an early years setting and wanting to provide multi-cultural resources, this is a great way to reflect your society. It can also be a useful way to link home and an childcare setting, as you can ask parents to send in some pictures from home for you to include.

You could also make a version that includes faces showing different emotions, and begin to talk about having different feelings.

We glued our faces onto coloured sugar paper, laminated them and then bound them together, which gave us a sturdy book which has lasted lots of toddler handing. If you don’t have access to a laminater, a photograph album or a scrapbook are good alternatives.

Do you make you own books with your children? Do they read them as much as other story books?

Catherine wheel firework craft

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Perfect for Bonfire Night or any time you need some fireworks, here’s an easy way to make a Catherine Wheel.

catherine wheel

Take a circle of paper or thin card. Fold it in half to make a semi-circle shape and make a cut, but not all the way to the centre. Unfold the circle and fold it again to make a semi-circle the other way. Make another cut, but again, not all the way to the centre.

Unfold your circle and fold one corner of each quarter section into the centre. Fasten in place with a paper fastener.

Decorate your Catherine wheel with sparkly stickers and sequins. Add ribbons or streamers to the edges for extra twirling effect.

Roll up a piece of paper into a long tube shape to make your handle. Use the paper fastener to attach the Catherine wheel to your handle.

Then blow! Here’s Take One – not quite as easy as she thought!

And here’s Take Two – when she’d mastered the art of Catherine wheel twirling.

Did you notice she blew so hard the feather flew right off? I do love L.

happily shared with Kids Get Crafty and No Time for Flash Cards

Go play! Showcase: The Madhouse

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Welcome to the first in our new series of posts showcasing great playful sites around the web. Starting us off is Jen, who blogs over at The Madhouse, where she writes about raising two boys in a playful, crafty, baking household.

Tell us about yourself

I am Jen or MummyMad and I blog at www.muminthemadhouse.com.  I have two very energetic boys Maxi and Mini aged 4 and 5, who keep me on my toes and who awakened my love of art and crafts.  I adore crafting with the boys, I love the fact that they are so open and creative in the way that they look at things – they teach me something new everyday.

What’s your play philosophy?

I am a great believer in the fact that you do not need to always have an end goal with play or that is should be structured.  When I craft with the boys I make sure that I do not go into it with preconceived ideas or a set end product, so that they can dictate the pace and put their own style on the projects.
I have always believed that behavior breeds behavior and this has only been confirmed as even more important to me as the boys have gotten older.  I made sure that we had miniature versions of things for the boys.  They had cleaning supplies, a play kitchen and other small world toys and they learned by copying what I did, which has always meant for a harmonious home.
Inspire us!
Jen created an art corner in her kitchen: a perfect space for getting crafty
She’s passionate about home cooking and encouraging children to get baking.
And her Children’s Craft Showcase is full of great ideas you can use at home with your own children. These Christmas angels are lovely!
Pop over to The Madhouse to read more of Jen’s inspiring ideas.

Are you passionate about children’s play and crafts? Would you like to have your blog or website featured here? E-mail me to say hi and tell me about your site: Cathy (at) nurturestore (dot) co (dot) uk for more details

Firework craft

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With both Bonfire Night and Diwali being celebrated this week, we thought we’d get the glitter out to make a firework painting.

1. Use some black paper to be your sky.

2. Put a small blob of paint on your sky and blow it out into a firework shape using a drinking straw. Make sure you use runny paint, make sure your blow rather than suck, and make sure you keep your hair out of the way! You can make great explosion shapes.

3. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle on some glitter to give your fireworks some extra pizzazz!

4. Leave your pictures to dry, shake off any excess glitter and display your fireworks on the wall.

 

 

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Download your ready-made Diwali Unit

 

Download the Play Academy’s ready-made Diwali thematic unit and you’ll be ready to lead a week of fun and educational activities for your children to learn about and celebrate the Hindu Festival of Lights.

Celebrating All Souls’ Day

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All Souls’ Day is celebrated on 2nd November and is a Christian celebration of those who have died. When I posted last week about Diwali I suggested there is value in observing festivals and traditions of different cultures and religions with children as it is a way of opening them to the multi-cultural world. It can also be an oportunity to build links within families and to introduce ‘big’ ideas that otherwise might not get spoken about.

We’re going to take inspiration from All Souls’ Day tomorrow and take a little time to talk about our ancestors. I have gathered some photographs of their gandparents and great-grandparents to show the girls and prompt us to chat about them. Although we have photos up in the house all year round, All Souls’ Day seems a good opportunity to pause and remember our family with a little more purpose.

Do you remember your ancestors with your children? How do you pass on a link from members of your family who have died to your children? I’d love to hear how you observe this in your family.

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