X is for X-ray

We started out this letter of the week by looking at some real X-rays for some reason we have quite a few in the house. I explained that an X-ray was a special photo of a persons bones Neevah thought it was pretty cool been able to see her Dads knee bones.


You will need
Black Paper
White Paper
White Crayon
Scissors
Glue
1 piece of coloured paper optional

To Make
1 .Ask your child to draw a picture of their bones on the black paper using the white crayon2 .While they draw cut out 2 bone shapes from white paper
3 .Glue the bones onto the black paper to form an X now it looks like an X-ray - we used white paper that had printing on the back and Neevah glued one bone print side out but never mind as long as she is happy4 .Glue the X-ray onto a coloured piece of paper if you like

Giveaway: Baby Piranha Chunky Dinosaur Crayons

Giveaway is now CLOSED

Wahoooo! Yippeee! Happy Dance! We made 50 'likers' on the House of Baby Piranha Facebook Fan Page and to Celebrate we are giving away a set of 8 Chunky Dinosaur Crayons! Chunky Crayons are great for little artists, easy to grip and fun to use.

The Winner will receive

8 Chunky Dinosaur Crayons

They Measure 6.5cm x 5cm & 8.5cm x 5cm

They will come in the colours Blue, Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Brown & Dark Gray

To Enter
1 .Leave a comment on this post and don't forget to include your email address so I can contact the winner
2 .Follow this blog with google friend connect (you can find it in the right hand column) and then leave a separate comment to let me know you are following (if you are already a follower just let me know)
3 .Like us on Facebook and the leave a separate comment to let me know (if you already like us on facebook how about suggesting us to some of your friends)

Max of 3 entries per person, open to Australian residents only
Entries must be in before Midnight AEST on Thursday 5th of August
Winner Announced Friday 6th of August and will be chosen at random (random.org)

If you like these crayons I will be selling them in a range of different designs and sizes so keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for more details in the near future.

Paper Bag Parrot

Every good Pirate needs a Parrot and this one came out pretty cute Neevah did a fantastic job with the glue.

You will need
Small Paper Bag
7 feathers
Construction Paper
Wiggly Eyes
Scissors
Glue

To Make
1 .Cut out a beak and 6 feather shapes from the construction paper - we used a mix of pink and orange paper

2 .Glue one feather to each paper feather shape - we did it this way as the feathers did not want to glue straight to the bag3 .Glue on the eyes to the front of the bag4 .Glue the beak on to the front of the bag5 .Glue 3 feathers to each side of the bag for wings6 .Make a small hole in the top of the bag and push a feather into it7 .Pop the parrot on your hand and you an use it like a puppet

Neevah showing me the Parrot has eyes

We Play - Pirate Sink or Float

Don't forget to stop by Childhood 101 We Play where you can find lots of other great play ideas....

Wahooo water play! Neevah was in with a grin today when I asked if she wanted to go outside and play with a bucket of water. If it was a little bit warmer i would have filled up the paddling pool for our Pirate version of Sink or Float but it is still winter and a bucket is a lot less tempting to hop into. I gathered up some items that are loosely pirate themed coins, coloured stones (pirate jewels), feathers (off the pirates parrot of course) and the Pirate Ship we made yesterday. The first time we played I announced if the item was sinking or floating and Neevah soon joined in with much excitement after doing this a few times I left her to explore by herself.

Pirate Coins sink

Parrot feathers float and stick to your fingers when wet

Pirate Jewels sink with a splash

Pirate Ships float

until you load them up with to much treasure

then pirate ships sink to the bottom

And then a question I was not expecting What do Pirates do Mum? well this was a very good question as people can float and they can also sink! after a little discussion it was concluded that Pirates Swim and I really liked this answer :)

'Come Play at Childhood 101 We Play link up'

Milk Carton Pirate Ship

We are having so much fun with the Pirate theme that I have put the letter of the week off until Saturday. Both Neevah and Liam went down for a nap today! this is a very rare treat so I thought I would surprise them with a Pirate Ship for when they woke up. Even though I did this craft alone young children would be able to help with many parts of it.

You will need
Milk Carton
Paint
Black Paper
Yellow Paper
2 Straws
Scissors or a Craft Blade

To Make
1 .Lie the milk carton on its side (the pointy end of the carton will be the bow of the ship) and cut an opening as shown in the photo so the boat can take passengers2 .Paint the milk carton any colour of course black would be an obvious choice but we are all out
3 .Let Dry
4 .Cut out 4 small circles from the yellow paper (port holes) and 3 rectangles from the black paper making one rectangle smaller than the others
5 .Make 2 slits on the long side of each rectangle and thread the straw through these will be the masts and sails6 .Glue the port holes onto the side of the ship putting 2 on each side7 .Make 2 holes in the top side of the boat one at the front and one at the back and then push the straws into the holes8 .Now your ship is ready to sail the high seas

You can make your pirate ship as fancy as you like by adding skulls to the sails, an anchor or even naming the ship but I kept it simple as Neevah woke up :)

Pirate Treasure Playdough

So I have been entertaining this idea for quite awhile about making Treasure Playdough and exactly what it would or could be and finally today we gave it a whirl as it seemed a perfect fit for our Pirate theme. Neevah had a lot of fun getting her Little People involved in the playdough fun today with comments such as 'look special treasure' and 'wow pretty sparkles'.

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. Once cool add food colouring.

You will need
Playdough
Glitter
Jewels (anything you think might look special)
Small Empty Box
Paint
Scrap of white paper
Scrap of black paper
Scissors
Glue

To Make
1 .Take your box if it has a hinged lid you are ready to decorate if it doesn't (ours didn't) cut one side of the box to form a hinged lid so it looks a little like a treasure box
2 .Let your child paint the treasure box any colour they would like3 .Let Dry
4 .From the black scrap paper cut a rectangle and from the white scrap paper cut out 2 bone shapes
5 .Add jewels and glitter to the playdough - we made a bar of gold (yellow playdough with glitter), a pile of sapphires (blue playdough with blue gems) and a tangle of necklaces (green playdough with a plastic necklace wrapped around it)6 .Glue the bones onto the black paper7 .Glue the black paper to the top of the treasure box8 .While your child is occupied elsewhere put the treasure playdough into their treasure box and leave it on the table for them to find

Neevah discovering the treasure playdough in her treasure chest

Neevah draping her little people in Pirate Jewels

Handprint Pirate Flag

I know traditionally pirate flags are skulls and cross bones but how do you do that without making it 'cookie cutter' art where I would need to do about 90% off the work. Since most pirate flags seem to be black and white I stuck with that idea and we made a Handprint Flag for Pirate Neevah to fly.

You will need
Black Paper
White Paint
Stick
Sticky Tape

To Make
1 .Paint your childs hand white or let your child paint their own hand if they2 . Press each hand onto the black paper
3 .Let Dry
4 .Tape the flag to a stick

5 .Fly your pirate flag with pride

Searching for treasure

Neevah with her treasure hoard

For even more fun try wearing a pirate bandana or making newspaper hats

P.S Please join us on our New Facebook Fanpage we will be having a giveaway when we get to 50 'likers'

A Little Bit of Cuteness

Just sharing a little bit of cuteness today .... Liam at play

Get Up and Moving with Balloons

It is easy to stay inside when the weather is cool but this usual results in melt downs and cabin fever. The kids have been playing at the table a lot lately mostly with their Little People while this was great independent play and role playing it was time to go outside and run around. I am not sure why but when kids see balloons their little faces tend to light up and my two are no exception so what better way to encourage fun outside play than with balloons also they are a great alternative to ball play.

I can run with 2 balloons

I can catch the balloon if I stretch or maybe jump

I can kick the balloon

Balloons are fun to chase especially when the breeze blows them all over the place

I Can walk with a Balloon between my knees

Balloons are lots of Fun!

We Play - Car Park Attendant

Don't forget to stop by Childhood 101 We Play where you can find lots of other great play ideas....

Little cars get played with a lot in our house by both of the kids so when I saw this car parking game while blog hopping many months ago I knew we should try it (sorry I can't remember which blog I saw it on). I drew a 12 space car park (but i think 6 would have been enough) on a piece of paper and numbered the parking spaces 1 - 6 and included dots to help Neevah identify the number. We started out playing this as a dice game but as the car park got full Neevah became frustrated re rolling the dice to try and find an empty car park so the dice got ditched and I called out numbers for her.

Hello! can I find you a car park

Counting the number on the dice

Vroom Vroom a number 5

Beep Beep a number 3

Come Play at Childhood 101 We Play link up