Here’s a simple Halloween craft – how to make apple print pumpkins.
As it’s our first birthday this week here our ten tips for a traditional birthday party. ***
Tip #1Traditional birthday parties continue the rituals from your childhood: think of your favourite party memory and include this in your child’s birthday.
Tip #2 A traditional birthday party can work out much cheaper: set a budget, bake your own cake and play traditional games.
Tip #3 You can bake your own cake: try this all time favourite birthday cake recipe or be adventurous with this rainbow cake from I Am Baker
Tip#4 Pick a fun theme: Try the very Hungry Caterpillar or Where The Wild Things Are
Tip#5 How about a Space themed party or a robot themed party?
Tip#6 Traditional games are fun and free. Try this sock guessing game or this memory game.
Tip#7 Keep decorations simple but wow! Hang bunting made from the kids paintings and tie balloons to the front door.
Tip#8 Let the children have fun making their own party bags: these loot bags are easy to make.
Tip#9 Don’t forget we have a birthday present for you to win in our OrchardToys giveaway
Tip#10 My best party fun tip: Relax! Keep it simple and have fun.
What’s you top tip for a playful kids party?
***These #goplayTwitter Tips are tweeted each Friday at 8.30pm – follow @nurturestore or the #goplay hashtag to share
View the Twitter Tips on playdough, water play, travelling with kids, preschool science, junk modeling , balancing school and play and encouraging reading and writing
happily shared with Top Ten Tuesday
These home made party bags are so easy your children can probably make them themselves with just a little help and they’re adaptable for any occasion. Use whatever paper you like best and you can make great Halloween trick or treat bags, or gift bags for presents. I’ve had this as a draft post since L’s birthday back in June but as it’s NurtureStore’s birthday this week I though now would be a good time to post it. And if you haven’t yet entered our fab Orchard Toys birthday giveaway, pop over and enter now!
To make the bags you need: a packet / box the size of the party bag you want to make, paper (we used wrapping paper), sticky tape and scissors.
Cut your paper to size and wrap the box up with the paper just as you would a present, but leave the top open so you can fill the bag. Fasten in place with sticky tape. Slide the bag off the box and fold it and crease the edges to give your party bag a sturdier shape.
Add a name tag and a ribbon and you’re done. Change the paper to suit the occasion: maybe use a pumpkin instead of a heart gift tag for Halloween?
happily shared with Today’s Creative Blog
So imagine you are your child’s teacher. You’ve spent the last school year taking care of 25 lively, noisy, energetic infants. You’ve listened to all their news, wiped noses, fastened coats, resolved squabbles, as well as rather a lot of teaching too. Wouldn’t you like to walk into the staff room at playtime on the last day of term to find this…
We couldn’t decide what to make for L’s pre-school teachers as a thank you present. We knew we wanted something homemade that L could help make. These cakes fit the bill perfectly. We used our never fail cake recipe with a butter icing topping. L helped with the weighing, sieving, mixing, egg cracking, cake case counting and spoon licking. The little flags add a cute flourish on top. We wrote ‘with love from’ on one end of a strip of paper and L drew a picture on the other, but you could go with whatever design you like and even print images from a photo. Each strip was folded round a cocktail stick and held in place with a little glue. Super easy, super cute.
One potato, two potato, three potato, four
Five potato, six potato, seven potato more
It’s easy to include some maths in your garden if you’ve been growing your own fruit and vegetables.
You could…
Count how many potatoes you have. Draw up a chart to record the harvest from your garden and add up the grand total of what you’ve grown.
Rank your produce by size from biggest to smallest.
Measure your spuds – ours went from 1cm up to 10cm.
Happily shared with…
It may be a cliche but, in our house at least, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach – which makes these Chocolate Chip Cookies the perfect gift for Fathers’ Day. The recipe is easy, and very yummy, so with just a little help your children should be able to bake some ready to give this Sunday.
You will need:
4oz butter (at room temperature)
4oz sugar
8oz self raising flour
1 dessert spoon golden syrup
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 dessert spoons of milk
2 handfuls of chocolate chips (white, milk or dark chocolate)
To make them:
1. Beat the butter and sugar together.
2. Add the syrup.
3. Warm the milk (10 secs-ish in microwave) and add the bicarbonate of soda.
4. Add in the flour and chocolate chips and stir to make the dough.
5. Make balls of dough and press them onto a greased baking tray.
6. Bake for about 25 minutes* in an oven at gas mark 3-4 / 160-180C.
* This will depend on how big your cookies are. We think less (baking time) is more, as we like chewy rather than crunchy cookies.
Wrap them in cellophane and add a hand written note, and have a happy Fathers’ Day.