Glitter heart stamp cards

                         

When a special occassion arises,  the children like to give cards to special people in their lives. We always have lots of fun deciding how to make the cards; which colours, how to decorate and what to write inside. 

I have seen many posts all over the internet using toilet paper rolls bent into various shapes to act as stamps. Normally paint is used but today I decided to let the kids loose with the glitter! D was in her element; she loves sparkles!

These are super easy to make. Take a toilet paper roll and bend it into the required shape.

                     

                                  Next, dip it into some glue.

              

                              Then stamp it over your card.



                 

                          Finally, shake glitter all over!

                 

                  Two glittery heart cards perfect for someone special!

Watermelon shop!

                

Watermelons are loved by everyone in our family. There is nothing better than biting into a juicy piece of watermelon on a hot summer's day; so refreshing! They definitely remind me of summer, so what better craft to make in the summertime.

These watermelons are very simple to make. First, I got some paper plates and cut the rim off around the outside (the rim I used for another craft which I will write about shortly). Next, I cut the plates in half to make the semi-circular watermelon shapes. Then, the children got stuck in painting them.

                         

These are the 3 colours we used to make the watermelon colours. 

                         

We don't have pink so D had great fun mixing white and red together to make the right shade of pink.


                

The children painted a green line along the edge of the plate and pink in the middle.



               

When it was dry, the children used the wrong end of the brush dipped in black paint to make the watermelon seeds.

               

Next, we had to find something to do with all our watermelons! I thought it would be a good idea to use them for a bit of counting practice so I set up a little shop for the children to practice buying and selling. 

                

I made some money from circles of white paper. I drew the amount each coin was worth on the paper coins and D had a go at trying to recognise the numbers.

                

R is D's first customer! He sure looks excited to be purchasing some watermelon!

Spinach and feta pasties

                 

Spinach and feta is a winning combination in my opinion and I love to use these ingredients as a filling for pastries or flat bread. Normally I make spinach and feta pastries with filo pastry but I didn't have any in the fridge so I decided to make some shortcrust pastry and make little pasties instead. The result was delicious and I definitely think I will be making these again!

Ingredients

For the pastry:

250g flour

125g butter

a few tablespoons of water

For the filling:

Bag of spinach

block of feta cheese

onion

salt

pepper

nutmeg (optional)

1) Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs.

2) Add a few tablespoons of cold water and mix until the mixture forms a dough.

3) Make the filling. Fry the onion in a frying pan.

4) Add the spinach and cook for a few minutes until it has wilted.

5) Take the pan off the heat and stir in the feta and seasonings.

6) Roll the dough, cut out circles and place on a baking tray.

7) Spoon the filling onto half the circle.

                   

8) Fold the pastry in half to cover the filling and pinch the edge together.

9) Brush over some milk and put in the oven to bake for 20-30 minutes.

                    

This is what they looked like when I took them out of the oven...

                    

This is what they look like inside. Yum!

                    

Straw bracelets

                 

R's favourite activity at the moment is cutting. He just adores it. He will ask for the scissors constantly and is not content with only having paper to cut, so I decided to give him some straws. I set up the activity on a tray, placing some straws, the scissors and a bowl to put the cut pieces of straw into (though as can see from the pictures below, the pieces bypassed the bowl and ended up all over the floor!).

                 

He picked one up eagerly and began to cut. He found it difficult at first and wasn't sure of the right way to hold the scissors or straw but soon got the hang of it. Using scissors is a fine motor skill that develops around the age of 3 to 4 years old but can take up to the age of 6 to be fully developed. At almost 26 months of age R is quite young to be doing this I guess, but it's what he wants to do so I'm going with it! 

                         

"Look Mummy, cutting!" says R as he happily cuts up the straws. 

                

                       He has a look of concentration on his face!

                

                          

                                Cutting straws is so much fun!

                          

                                 "Look Mummy, on the floor!"

                  

We picked up all the pieces of straws and put them in a bowl ready for the next activity; making bracelets!

               

I put the straw beads and some pipe cleaners on a tray and invited the children to make some bracelets. 

               

D was very excited about this activity but R got bored after only a few minutes, afterall, he'd already been engaged for quite a while doing the cutting exercise. He'd probably had enough of the straws. However, he was still keen to wear the bracelet I made him and show it off!

                       

                           D got stuck in making her bracelet.

                

                            The bracelet I made R.

                

                     R was keen to show off his new bracelet.

                

                  D was very proud of her bracelet and wore it all day.

Handprint paint resist art cards

                        

Handprints in any form always make for a lovely keepsake. I admit I am a little sentimental about such things. It's wonderful to be able to look back at these in years to come and reminisce about days gone by and wonder at the thought of how hands that were once so small have grown into ones so big.

Handprint painting is always a good, fun activity. Children giggle as the paintbrush flicks over their fingers and squeal with delight at the sight of their hands imprinted on the paper. We have done this activity many, many times so I thought it was time to try something new. And here it is; handprint resist art.

                       

First, the children placed their hands on some card and I drew around them. Then I cut out the handprints and stuck them down on another piece of card which I'd folded in two.

                

Next, the children painted all over the card ensuring to paint all around the handprints.


                       

R used orange and green paint which mixed together to make brown. He used a a small sponge brush and made lots of dots all over the card. D used yellow and blue which I think gave a lovely effect and made long brushstrokes over the card with a normal paint brush.

                        

Here are the results...

                        


                        

Prayer mat craft

                     

So today was the second day (or was it the first day?) of Ramadan. There was a bit of confusion over the start of Ramadan due to the moon sighting and calculations being different in different countries. As a Turkish family, we went with the Turkish calculations, making this the second day of Ramadan.

Ramadan is an exciting time of the year. I dread it and look forward to it at the same time! I worry I won't be able to fast, I worry about being tired and hungry but, on the other hand, the atmosphere is great, it's electric! There's a great feeling of excitement amongst the Muslim community as people become more aware of religious duties and expectations. They take time out to read Quran and spend time in religious reflection.

D has started to get into the Ramadan spirit since we read about the Ramadan Moon a few weeks ago. She has been eagerly awaiting it and wanting to look out the window and see it over the past few days. Unfortunately, due to the cloudy weather, she has not seen it yet but inshallah she will be able to see the moon at some point over the next few days.

This year I really want to make Ramadan special for the kids as D is now old enough to understand what it is about. I am planning to do lots of arts and crafts with a religious feel, read lots of stories and start to listen to the Quran.

Here is out first Ramadan craft - a prayer mat made of scrap pieces of fabric. First I cut a rectangular piece of fabric and the kids stuck it on some white card. Then a cut some pieces of fabric in a contrasting colour to decorate the mat. D helped to cut her pieces of fabric and also added a bit of extra sparkle with some sequins.

                         

This is R's prayer mat, he needed a lot of help from me to stick the pieces in the right places and insisted on it being blue!

                         

This is D's prayer mat which had to be pink of course!

Fish bathtime game

Find the fish pairs

                 

Having just received our new Fun Fish Counters, the children were eager to use them. I filled the bath and chose pairs of fish (there are 5 of each type of fish) to throw in. To top it off, a splash of blue Liquid Watercolour made the water all the more inviting. R was ecstatic to see the bathwater his favourite colour and impatiently began to scoop around in the water before he even got in.

The children enjoyed scooping around the bottom of the bathtub trying to catch the fish. They placed their caught fish on the side of the bath and began to excitedly match the pairs. The vibrant colours of the fish are eye-grabbing and really brightened up the bathroom. With the wide array of colours and shapes as well as the learning potential (matching pairs, grouping into sets, counting), these fish are bound to be a firm favourite for a long time to come!