Christmas Puddings

One of my favourite times of year is the lead up to Christmas (okay, getting started early...). I love trying to think up new and exciting ways to involve the children in preparing gifts for our families and friends.

This is one treat that the boys like to make for their friends (usually I manage not to eat all the lollies before we make them!!). Faux Christmas Puddings.

We start out with a packet of Chocolate Royals, mint leaves, white chocolate melts and jaffas. Melt the chocolate, cool it a little and dribble it onto the chocolate royals. this forms the glue to hold the jaffas and mint leaves in place. I usually cut the mint leaf in half most of the way and then wedge it around the jaffa. That way I can balance everything on top and let it set in the fridge. Otherwise I'd be waiting around for the chocolate to nearly set before I could place the lollies on top.

Mmmmm.... all the puddings need now is some cellophane and ribbons to make a tasty present for someone special. That is, if they last that long.

Candle Making

Today I wanted to do something a little different. The children are very keen on painting but it is not one of my favourite activities. Since I know that they were painting this morning, I was determined to find something else to do. I came across some wax pellets and wicks in the cupboard for candle making. 

I'm sure you all know that candle making involves heating up the wax until it melts so are probably wondering why I  am crazy enough to try this with the children around. Well, I set the children up on the other side of the kitchen bench and had them measure out the wicks and cut them to size (the reason why all the wicks are different sizes!). They then had to work out how to hang them over the little glasses. With these two they have used a paint brush. 

James decided that we needed a heat mat (good idea - not sure why I didn't think of it first!)

Then all that was left was for me to melt the wax in the microwave for 4 minutes, add the colour and scented oil and pour it in.

 There are a few dips in the top of the candle - curious fingers testing if the candle was ready to use. Although I don't advocate poking fingers into setting candles, it does give it that extra something that says 'I made this just for you'

Pipe Cleaner Dinosaurs

James was given these twist-its for a birthday present and we have only just managed to get around to making them. It turned out to be a lot of fun. Basically all we had to do was twist one giant pipe cleaner around one of my ladle handles for the body and thread another one through the body for the head. The legs were made from two pipe cleaners folded in half and both ends wrapped around a pencil to make little legs.

Then we just cut the eyes and spikes out of the box.

Screen Splatter Painting

I have fond memories of screen splatter painting from when I was small so I finally managed to get around to trying it with my children.

My Dad quickly nailed together a frame for me and I used some fly wire from the shed to staple onto the frame.

We then propped the frame up on two bricks and set the piece of paper underneath (must remember not to take photos of my foot next time!). To make it a little more interesting the children picked some leaves from my jasmine vine and put them on top of the paper. We mixed acrylic paint with water to make it easier to splatter. We used old toothbrushes to dip in the paint and run across the screen and it created our splatter picture. 

We had a quick look to see if there was enough paint on the picture before we removed the leaves.

Now we have to wait for the paintings to dry before we hang them up in the house.

I did find that acrylic paints clogged up the screen, so next time we'll try water colours or inks and see how that goes.

Fruit Faces

We went to Floriade today and the children made fruit faces at the Yellow Van activity tent. The best part of it was eating the faces when we finished!

Brighton Beach Houses

The one thing I really miss is living near the beach. It is not just a place for swimming - I love walking along the beach in all seasons with all the sights, smells and sounds. I try to go and visit the beach at every opportunity, usually when I visit family in Melbourne, so that my children can experience a little of the beach life I took for granted growing up.

On a recent trip to Melbourne we went to look at the Brighton Beach houses. I quite like the colourful row of tiny little houses on the beach, especially on a wet and windy day like this one. We decided to see if we could make one of our own to go with the interesting collection of shells and rocks we found.

We folded 2 A4 pieces of cardboard in half (folding the short side in half). Then we glued paddle pop sticks on as the weather boards. Once the glue was dry we then used masking tape to stick the two pieces of cardboard together to form the 4 walls.

The roof is made from a long piece of corrugated cardboard and two triangles. Once all the building was complete the children were free to decorate their houses. James wanted lots of windows on his one.

Tissue Paper Butterflies

While we were playing around with the tissue paper flowers James decided that he wanted to have a butterfly. Every time we go outside to look at our flowers there seem to be butterflies flitting  around, so I could see the connection.

I was rather dubious about whether we could make the same process work for a butterfly, but there would be no harm in trying. These butterflies look like a cross between a flower and a butterfly. They are wonderful for the kids to fly around the room and still look good after chunks of paper tear off. Next time I'll use a few less sheets of paper.