Making brilliant beads

Little Miss 4 and I continued our creativeness using air-dry clay and made some beads!

Materials

• Air-drying clay - we bought three different colours to mix, green, blue and yellow. 
• Knife
• Toothpicks
• Thin elastic thread or a thin piece of leather
• Darning needle (you might need a needle to thread the beads onto the elastic or leather, but we didn't)

I bought our air-drying clay on-line from Eckersleys and it was delivered in two days (shopping on-line is easier at the moment with a 5 week old).

1. Roll the three (or however many) colours of clay into sausages and put them side by side.
   
   


2. Use a knife to cut sections of the same size through all three lengths together.
   
   


3. Take a section of all three (or however many) colours and roll it into a ball between your palms until the colours are mixed together. Repeat until you have created all the balls.


4. Using the toothpicks to make holes through the centre of the balls to make beads.
   
   


5. Leave the toothpicks in the beads while they dry overnight (it may take longer than overnight).


6. When the beads are dry, thread them onto the elastic or leather to make a bracelet or necklace.

Do you have a favourite craft project with your kids?

Making clay egg cups

Little Miss 4 and I have been making!

She asked if we could make something with clay - so our first project was to make some air-drying clay egg cups.

Materials

• Air-drying clay - any amount, depends on how big you want your egg cup.
• Knife
• Egg
• Acrylic paints - any colour you want
• Paintbrush
• Water

I bought our air-drying clay and acrylic paints on-line from Eckersleys and it was delivered in two days (shopping on-line is easier at the moment with a 5 week old).

1. Cut about a quarter of the clay off and put it to one side. You will use this later to make the feet/shoes.


2. Roll the remaining clay into a ball and use your thumbs to work it into a bowl shape. Check the bowl with an egg, working on the shape until the egg sits snugly.
   
   
3. Divide the remaining clay (the quarter that you put aside in the beginning) into two equal pieces. 


4. Make a foot/shoe shape out of each piece.
   
   
   
5. Turn the bowl piece upside down and score with a knife where you want to place the feet/shoes. Wet each foot/shoe piece to help them stick, then attach them to the base of the egg cup piece.
   
   
   
6. Turn the egg cup the right way up and adjust the feet/shoes until the cup stands on a surface without wobbling.


7. Leave to dry overnight (it might actually take longer than overnight).
   
   
   
8. When fully dry, paint the egg cup and feet/shoes any colour you like.
   
   

Top tip - Don't put the egg cup in the dishwasher. Wash it quickly and carefully by hand to keep it looking good as new.

Have you used air-drying clay with your kids?

Rainy Days...

Rainy days for our preschooler, Little Miss 4, stuck inside with a newborn baby brother are HARD times! Not too mention for Hubby and myself.

Poor Little Miss 4 is bored to tears and trying to occupy her time when I have to feed, settle, feed, settle Little Mr 0 is tough.

But we have come up with some solutions....

• Bake a cake - we did cheat and use a packet mix (thank you Mrs Crocker) where all you add is some vegetable oil, water and eggs because you never know when Little Mr 0 is going to wake up.

• Dress up - so far she has been a witch and a hoola girl.


• Face painting - sticking with the witch theme....we use Snazaroo face paints and they are excellent. They come with guides which is very helpful for non-artistic types like myself.





• Painting finger nails and toe nails.





• Play games on the tablet/laptop - currently we are playing noughts & crosses, building a reef for Nemo, and a find the object type game (similar to finding Where's Wally).


• Watch a movie - we watch Annie or Mary Poppins for the millionth time.

Do you have any ideas for rainy days with a preschooler and a newborn?

The end of year preschool concert

Even though Little Miss 4 isn't graduating from preschool to big school until the end of next year, because she is in the "preschool room" she participated in the end of year concert.

We, Hubby and I, were so proud of her.

The kids sang several songs; Bubbles everywhere, You can stamp your feet, Dinosaur stomp (with costumes), If all the world were paper (with props), Rock-a-bye your bear, Moon Moon, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (with backing triangles and glitter stars), and the Wombat Womble (participation was mandatory from all in attendance).

The preschool graduates dressed in their cap and gowns and received their graduation certificates. Little Miss 4 sat in the audience with us happily clapping her friends as they were introduced.

When it ended, we headed to her favourite local restaurant for her favourite meal.

Does your preschool have a graduation?

Kid's Christmas Party

Yesterday was Little Miss 4's daycare Christmas Party.

Each year the parents on the social committee (there are four of us) get together the month before Christmas to start organising. We split up the list of tasks between us including invites/posters for the centre, food/supply shopping, activity organisation, activity cards, kids decorations and lolly bags.

Then the big day arrives.....

This year we held it in a community centre, previous years were in a local park. The community centre was a big hit - the kids were contained (always important when there are so many of them), the air con was ON and there were plenty of tables and chairs for lunch and for parents to meet and chat.

Each year we give the kids an activity card. Once they complete each activity they receive a stamp. At the end of the party they hand in their card to receive a little lolly bag.

The first activity is to "Paint your face with your mum, dad or carer". We set up one of the tables with lots of different face paints, brushes, glitters, water, and sponges.

The kids always love this one, there are lots of giggles if dad is the one face painting too!

The next activity is to "Find your Christmas decorations to take home". Each year the kids make a decoration at daycare. We collect them the week before the party and on party day hang them in various locations for the kids to find.

Little Miss 4 now has five of these decorations from daycare that she hangs in the Christmas tree every year.

The next activity is to "Have lunch and put your plate in the rubbish bin". Each year we have a BBQ - sausage on a roll lunch. The dads love to get involved with the cooking of the BBQ each year.

We also provide fruit for dessert. Each member on the social committee brings a particular fruit already cut up - this year I had to bring watermelon.

The next activity is to "Participate in one of the activities". This year we had space hoppers and balloons, which proved extremely popular with the kids, who spent a lot of time jumping trying to catch them.

The final activity is to "Get your present from Santa". One of the dads kindly dresses up as Santa each year and the kids LOVE IT! The daycare centre provides the gifts to the kids that attend the centre.

This year Little Miss 4 received a painted pencil case with a notepad, multicoloured pencil, elephant pencil sharper and multicoloured pen. She was totally thrilled.

All of sudden it is all over for another year and the kids are exhausted.

Do you have Christmas parties with your kids?