A few weeks ago I ordered a book about cleaning teeth after reading about it in a Sunday Supplement. I don't imagine I'm the only parent who has trouble getting my children to brush their teeth, so the concept of the book really appealed. Open Wide, What's Inside is written by a dentist who came up with the idea for a story about 'sugarbugs' as a way of encouraging children to keep their mouths clean. And it has enthralled my children. I imagine … [Read more...]
How to make a rocking yacht from a paper plate
LBG's Show and Tell this week was 'Travel by Sea'. This was a challenge briefly until we took a better look at this month's Discovery Table, all of which was made from recycled materials, in honour of Earth Day. On the table was a rocking yacht we made from a paper plate earlier this year. To make it you need a paper plate, some old magazines, a brad and felt pens. First, you need to cut the wave shape from your paper plate, … [Read more...]
Papier-mâché Hen Challenge
A while ago Molly Moo published a picture of the most fabulous Papier-mâché Chicken/Hen that she had made at her Papier-mâché course. This precipitated a Hen Craft Challenge which I agreed to take part in, although frankly I was never going to match up to Her Craftyness's high standards. I used a cereal packet to do most of the work for me. Firstly, I took off the top third, and put to one side for the 'bits' < that's a tchnical term, by … [Read more...]
17 Simple St George’s Day Crafts
It's St George's Day this week, and time for us to celebrate our Saint's Day. In the words of LBG, the story goes as follows: 'the people had to give all their princesses away so that the dragons wouldn't attack the villages. Then one day they ran out of princesses. No, there was one Princess left but she was much specialer and they didn't want to give her away. So the king asked a brave-and-handsome-knight to kill the dragon. And the knight … [Read more...]
5 crafts using toilet rolls
I was recently unable to attend a hangout with a bunch of UK craft bloggers where the challenge was 'crafts using toilet rolls'. So I thought I'd share with you 5 super crafts that we have made using toilet rolls instead. A simple didgeridoo- some might call it a kazoo- is easy to make from a loo roll when you are talking about Australia. You just need an empty tube and some greaseproof paper! The coffee filter peacock was made using a … [Read more...]
How to play squares
I'm going to teach you how to play squares. It's a really simple game which takes no time at all to learn. It teaches simple tactics and turn taking to children, and is a great way of keeping them occupied in restaurants and doctor's surgeries. All you need is paper and pencil. If you have coloured pens, so much the better. First you need a grid of dots, evenly spaced. To while away the long double Chemistry lessons at school we used … [Read more...]
Easter Egg stained Glass Window
The Girls were ill last week: a combination of the looming end-of-term, horrific colds and the kind of bugs that get you all. This precipitated 48 hours in their pjs, all of us trapped in the house like we were eight feet deep in snow. For the main part we existed on a diet of toast and television: all any of us, with our achey shivery bodies, were capable of. But there were pockets of time, after the Nurofen had kicked in, when they rallied and … [Read more...]
