The Krafty Mommy

Another popular school holiday activity / hack is the sharpie shoes. So we thought we'd give it a go too.

Anya is learning about the plant life cycle by growing some plants at kinder, so I thought why not do this fun learning activity at home! While a lot of fun, this teaches toddlers about how a seed becomes a seedling n then a plant! It also instills caring by making them aware that plants need water and sunlight to thrive and grow. And all you need are a couple of handy everyday things... 1. An empty yoghurt tub 2. Some cotton balls 3. A couple of Sharpie's 4. Some Moong lentil (or any whole lentil should do) So to make our hairy Mary I just got anya to draw a face on the yoghurt tub however she wanted n helped her with it. Then filled it up with cotton balls to about 3/4th full. Then scattered the lentils all over the cotton and watered it in so the cotton is soaked. And then just left it at a party sunny spot. The seeds start to sprout the very next day but it takes a while for the shoots to grow longer. This is how ours looks in 10 days... And experimenting further...

So much is happening in our lives but I just am not able to update you guys here..... continuing from where I left last time...August ! ohh too far behind.... So after our Bucket List Date (which we thoroughly enjoyed) we were feeling a lil guilty too that we didn't take the kids along......so we decided to have the rest of the weekend as a Family Fun time.... Nothing fancy ..no big plans...coz kids like little things....small pleasures bring out the best smiles on their faces....all they need it you and your love...and so we were with them enjoying and being a kid...being a friend...carefree fun... Lots of poems, songs and dancing and fooood...yummy chocolates and big big brekkie that I prepared at home for all of us...fun indeed! And then we headed out to have even more fun....Playground....with lots and lots of swings and play equipment...it was just a neighbourhood park ...but the kiddos had soo much fun...and so did we...looking at all those BIG smiles and laugh...

Ohk so there are so many ways to do paintings with these 3 ingredients out there that I wasn't sure which one to try :/ So I decided we will try them all..so we can put it to rest which one gives the best results. All you need for Take One... Clear glue Watercolors Table salt Watercolor paper Paint brushes And of course a krafty toddler! :) So for take One, this is what we did... 1. We dropped the clear glue all around the watercolor paper. You can do a meaningful pattern or just abstract. We left it to dry completely. 2. I got my kiddo to paint all over the dried, glue dripped paper with generous amounts of paints n water. The trick is to have it really wet. 3. Then I got her to sprinkle the salt on the wet paint anyway she pleased.  R. And that's it. The salt soaked up the wet paint and crystallized giving a starburst effect the the painting. So in this technique, the glue just forms a pattern underneath the pai...

So Anya came from her play school last evening with a finishing string (we'll make more at home and then I'll share with all of you) and some extra string (simple thick wool). And she told me she wanted to paint with the string. She had no idea how though. the string was tied to a straw on one end and the other end was loose so she liked the idea of moving around the string by controlling the straw. But this reminded me of the thread/ string painting we used to do as kids....so I put hubby dear on the duty to take care of the lil monster and we gathered the supplies needed. Paints String (wool or any string should be fine) Paper a keen toddler !! :) Thats it ! And doing it is even simpler...just dip the various threads in different colors and put them on a sheet of paper (creased in half)...let the clean ends stay out of the sheet a bit. Then just fold the sheet(with the paint dipped threads inside the fold)..and press and squish and move the thread ...

Tuesdays are always troubling at our place as its the first day of the week at the childcare inor the kiddos and they are really tired after a full day of play there....but since Anya has been eagerly awaiting making n playing with 'gak' for a few days now..she was eager to get to it as soon as we entered the house... It was by far the most fun n intriguing activity we've done so far....even for Anam! Although he couldn't make the gak...he did have his share of playing with the strange slushy slippery yuk! Of course under strict supervision! For the fun n excitement that it has provided ..this is a really simple project... Supplies needed... 1) 3 cups warm water 2.) 2 cups white PVA glue 3) 2 tsp Borax (found in the laundry n cleaning isle in the local supermarket) 4) Watercolors in the desired shade 5) Glitter (optional) 6) a big bowl & a small container  1. In the small container, mix the borax in 1 cup warm water until it completely dissolves. 2. I...

My princess loves painting..so nearly everyday she asks me to do some sort of painting...but mostly I end up refusing because of my lil monster...he wants to eat n throw everything...so I can only imagine the mess he'll create if we paint while he is up...not his fault..he is just curious about new things..that is how a 14 month old should behave... So anyways... I came across a finger paint recipie online...n then there were numerous....so I decided to take it on with n for my kiddos... Here's what we did.... Ingredients.. 1/3rd cup flour 2 cups water 1 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoon sugar Food colorings 1. Mix the water, salt and sugar and heat on a low/medium flame in a pan. 2. Add the flour and keep mixing. Dissolve any lumps. 3. Heat the mixture on medium and keep stirring until the desired consistency is achieved. I kept it a little flowy as my kiddos are especially fond of messy painting. 4. Once desired consistency is achieved, divide the mixture into 3/4...