Doing the Dinosaur Stomp

Neevah loves a song called the Dinosaur Stomp it is sung from time to time on Playschool. I suggested we could make some Dinosaur Feet so she could dance like a Dino and stomp stomp stomp this was meet with a lot of enthusiasm and she couldn't wait to try her dino feet on.

You will need:
2 empty tissue boxes
Paint
Sponge
Glue
Scissors

To Make
1 .Cut up your sponge into 6 triangles (claws) and a rectangle (for painting with)
2 .Invite your child to paint the tissue boxes with the sponge - Neevah picked red and blue paint for her dinosaur feet3 .Let dry
4 .Glue the sponge triangles onto the front of the tissue boxes to be claws
5 .Let the glue dry - this took awhile and Neevah played with hers before the glue was fully dry
6 .Dance like a Dino

Dinosaur Stomp

The dinosaurs were dancing round the prehistoric swamp
they shook their heads (shake shake shake)
and swished their tails (swish swish swish)
and did the dino stomp
stomp stomp stomp

dance dino dance dino
stomp stomp stomp!
dance dino dance dino
stomp stomp stomp!

they shook their heads (shake shake shake)
and swished their tails (swish swish swish)
and did the dino stomp!

Edit - if you think the Dino Feet will get a lot of wear you may like to reinforce the hole with tape or something similar as ours have ripped a little at the back possibly from Neevah's heel when she takes them on and off.

Wiggly Worm Pudding

First I have to thank Linda for this idea (she served these at her little ones 1st birthday) wiggly worm puddings are a huge hit with the kids and a real treat. I do have one piece of advice go for small serving sizes the puddings I made were way to big Neevah and I shared one as it is quite rich. There are quite a few different recipes for this if you google dirt puddings basically you just layer chocolate pudding and cream mixed with crushed Oreo biscuits into a glass then on top put more crushed Oreo biscuits and worms then it is ready to enjoy......

We Play - Wonderful Wings

Children play it is what they do and it is a very important part of how they learn. Sometimes they need encouragement to help get the ball rolling and sometimes this Mum needs inspiration for new and exciting play ideas or just a different take on an old favourite. Today I found a new blog Childhood 101 and every Tuesday they are having a link up to share greats ideas for play ....


An old pair of hand me down fairy wings are given a new lease on life by adding some feathers then watch your child soar with their new bird wings

Some wing flapping and hopping like a bird

A quick rest in her bird nest

More Flying

Come play at the Childhood 101 we play link up

W is for Washing

I guess this Letter of the Week was inspired by Neevah helping me hang out the washing, she helps me carry the washing basket out to the line and then will pass me the pegs or the wet washing to hang out.

You will need
2 pieces of paper in different colours
scrap paper
scissors
glue
ribbon or wool
paint
marker pen

To Make
1 . Draw a large W on one piece of paper
2 .Let your child paint the W - Neevah picked pink for her W3 .Let it dry
4 .Cut out some small clothes from scrap paper
5 .Cut out the W and glue it onto the remaining piece of paper6 .Glue a piece of ribbon/wool between the tips of the W
7 . Glue on the Clothes

Playdough Dinosaur Eggs in a Nest

I'm a little disappointed with myself today for not taking the kids to War Memorial for Anzac Day so instead we got crafty and we made Dinosaur Eggs and a Nest. This activity was a lot of fun and would be suitable for a range of ages. Neevah giggled, grinned and announced 'look out a dinosaur is coming' she also enjoyed re hiding her dinosaurs over and over and over. Liam had just as much fun letting out dinosaur roars when he found the dinosaurs hiding in the eggs he also enjoyed stacking the playdough to make a dinosaur mountain.

Playdough Recipe
2 cups of plain flour
2 tbs Cream of Tartar
2 tbs Cooking Oil
1 cup Salt
2 cups of Water
Food Colouring

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan (except food colouring) stir over medium heat for 3 - 5 mins or until the mixture congeals. Then add food colouring.

You Will Need
Playdough
Small Plastic Dinosaurs
Paper Bag
Crayons
Green & Yellow Tissue or Crepe paper
Scissors

To Make
1 .Let your child decorate their paper bag with crayons - we used Brown, Black & Grey2 .While your child is decorating their bag hide a plastic dinosaur in some playdough and fashion it into an egg shape
3 .Cut the top off the paper bag and fold the top over
4 .Stuff the paper bag using the green and yellow tissue paper and the piece cut off the paper bag so it looks like a nest5 .Put the dinosaur eggs into the nests and invite your child to the table to play

Let me at it

Liam pulling his dinosaur out of it's egg

Neevah finding her first dinosaur

Neevah uncovering the dinosaurs she hid in the playdough and Liam building his dinosaur mountain.

Paper Cup Penguin Puppet

Neevah and I learnt the cutest little Penguin song earlier this week (which I will include at the bottom of this post) and I thought how cute would it be if she had some little Penguin friends to preform her song with. This craft was a joint effort Neevah did all the painting and I did all the fiddly bits mainly the cutting and sticking.

You will need:
Paper Cup(s)
Black Paint
Yellow Paper
White Paper
Black Paper
Black Marker
Glue
Scissors
Sticky Tape

To Make
1 .Paint your paper cups black - we used some paper cups that we had left over from a birthday party2 .Let them dry - this took quite awhile
3 .While waiting cut out a body from the white paper, wings from the black paper (or you could paint some white paper black), feet and beak from the yellow paper (or you could paint some white paper yellow)4 .With the black marker draw eyes on the white penguin bodies and then stick on the beak - we used sticker back foam for the beaks below is a photo of Neevah peeling off the backing before sticking on the beak5 .Stick the body onto the cup - This was quite fiddly as the paper did not want to stick around the cup the edges kept lifting
6 .Stick on the wings - Again this was quite fiddly for the same reason as the body
7 .Stick on the feet - I did this by making a loop of tape so it was sticky on both sides, I put the loop of tape on the top of the foot and then stuck it to the inside of the cup, I also put another piece of tape on the underside of the foot up into the cup - then you can bend the foot up so it sits flat (In hindsight I should of taken a photo of this step)
8 .Put your hand inside the cup and the Penguin becomes a puppet

Little Penguin Song
(to the tune of I'm a Little Teapot)

I'm a little penguin black and white
I waddle to the left and I waddle to the right
I can't fly but I can swim
So I waddle to the water and jump right in

Anzac Day - Handprint Poppy Flower

It is fast approaching Anzac Day while Neevah and Liam do not understand the meaning of Anzac Day or Soldiers or War for that matter (I figure there is plenty of time to learn about it when they are a bit older) I still think it is important that they know it is a day we commemorate. I gave her a very simple explanation that a Poppy is a symbol of remembrance on Anzac Day although she probably doesn't know what remembrance is either she knew we where making a Poppy because it will be Anzac Day soon. Neevah really enjoyed this messy craft....

You will NeedPaper or Thin Card
Red Paint
Black Sequins
Glue
Scissors
Baby Wipes - to minimise the mess

To Make
1 .Paint your childs hand red and press down on the paper do this over and over to form a circle fingers pointing out - If your child is able to let them paint their own hand2 . Let Dry
3 .Glue the black sequins in the middle of your Poppy4 .Let Dry5 .Cut out your Poppy or you could leave it on a full sheet of Paper and write Lest We Forget or We will remember them

A Little Bit of Cuteness

just sharing a little bit of cuteness today .... No More Photos Mum!

P is for Parrot

We are lucky to have a flock of Galahs in our neighbourhood and the odd Cockatoo that visits the park near our house. The Galahs in particular have caught Neevahs attention as the huge flock noisily passes our house every night at dusk on the way to their night time roost she loves watching the fly by and often waves and yells 'see you tomorrow night'. Since G for Galah doesn't really work and the fact that Galahs and Cockatoos are part of the parrot family Neevah decided that making a P for Parrot might be fun but secretly i think she just wanted to play with the feathers.

You will need
2 pieces of paper in different colours
Feathers
Glue
Scissors
Wiggly Eye
Brown Paper
Yellow Paper
Marker Pen

To Make
1 .Draw a large P on one piece of paper
2 .Ask your child to cover the P is feathers - I had to cut the feathers up into smaller pieces so they didn't over hang the P to much3 .Cut out a beak and a foot from the brown paper and a crest from the yellow paper
4 .Stick on the wiggly eye5 .Let it dry
6 .Cut out the P and glue it to the remaining piece of paper
7 .Stick on the beak, foot and crest - sorry no photos of this step Neevah was to quick for the camera

Playing with Pegs

Neevah loves playing with pegs if i am hanging out the washing and run out of pegs I know where to find them she has a little stash spot in her room. Pegs are often part of her imaginative play as people talking to each other or as animal when she sings songs . Today we brought the peg basket inside and played with the pegs together...

Neevah joining the pegs together ... this is great fine motor skill practice
She made a very long chain of pegs we counted each one as she added it to the chain
Once the chain broke it became snakes and caterpillars munching away on other pegs

We made peg shapes

and peg letters ... Neevah thought this one looked like the T is for Tree we made earlier this week

Neevah making a Peg Rectangle

The basket of pegs was great fun, next to no mess, easy clean up and best of all free entertainment!

P.S please excuse the dirty feet I didn't notice they were dirty while I was taking the photos but I should have known as she had just come inside from playing in the garden!

Starry Night Telescope

Neevah really likes the night sky all the stars and the moon she gets quite excited when we go outside to have a look so today we have made a telescope which lets her view a starry night sky during the day. The telescope is Mummy made but decorated by Neevah with star stickers which is great fine motor skill practice those little star stickers can be quite tricky.

You will need
Black Card / Paper
Sticky Tape
Scissors
Star Stickers
Pin / Needle /Thumb Tack
Bamboo Skewer / Tooth Pick

To Make
1 .Roll black card into a tube and secure with tape2 .Cover one end of the tube with black paper/card and secure tightly with tape so no light gets in the sides
3 .Make 2 different sized holes in the black paper that is covering the end of the tube - I used a thumb tack for small holes and a bamboo skewer for the bigger holes4 .Decorate your telescope with star stickers5 .Look through your telescope at a light source - We tried an inside lamp but found it worked better outside looking towards the sun but make sure your other eye is closed or shaded if you are looking towards the sun
On the inside of the tube you should be able to see star like dots of light. You can find this activity and other night sky activities here.