Painted Blotto Creations

Today I'm guest posting over at one of my favorite blogs: The Imagination Tree.  If you have never checked this blog out it is FANTASTIC!  So many wonderful ideas for Artsy ideas, Sensory Tubs, Baby Play, Treasure Baskets, Messy Play and my favorite: Play Dough ideas.  I consider Anna "The Queen of Play Dough!" So honored to be guest posting on this fabulous blog.

My post is about painting blottos and making them into creations! Pop on over to check out the details of my post here.

Playing and Building With Plastic Cups

There is no need to buy expensive toys....my daughter finds joy in the simplest things.... plastic cups !  We began building with plastic cups about 2 years ago and it has always been a huge hit! Even friends that come over have played with these cups.  I have found them being built with, colored on, jumped over, filled with water, used as cones for riding around, and more!  These cups have probably gotten more use than any other disposable cup!  Here are some cup sculptures filling our whole living room!

More building with cups... you can see we have a great number of cups to play with....maybe that is the secret to why they are played with?

Then one day when we were stuffing our Paper Bag Puffy Hearts with poly-fil stuffing,  I noticed C was inventing her own play with these cups.  She was filling them with toys, yarn, and poly-fil!  This is what happens when you let kids play!!!  I did not tell her to do this at all!

Look at all that is going on here!  What do you think my daughter was creating???  Like I said,  "There is no need for expensive toys!" I guess we need to buy some more cups!!!

I know we'll be creating more with cups in the future!

Have your children been playing with cups? or anything else out of the ordinary?

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More Inspiration:

Maybe my daughter is on to something! Look as this beautiful Butterfly Sculpture made out of Disposable cups from EcoFriend.

And look at this Cup Sculpture made by artist Tara Donovan from The Boston Phoenix. Just Beautiful!

Now I'm really inspired to create some cup sculptures...

Simple Sock Puppets

C has been wanting to make sock puppets for a long time and we finally made some! This is Sock Puppy and Sock Bear.  I think they turned out pretty cute.  I think sock puppets are a great project for any age. Actually, I think Puppet Projects of any kind are a WONDERFUL project!

To create our sock puppets, we gathered some mismatched socks from Dad's sock drawer and then just brought out wide array of collaging type materials that all kids LOVE!  Buttons, feathers, yarn, ribbons, scraps of fabric, and pom poms.  And of course,  some scissors and white glue!  You could also sew your sock puppets.

I had to show C how to fold over the sock to create the mouth and where to put the eyes and tongue,  but that was about it!  You could create the mouth however you want it if you have a better way! After that, you can add hair, fur, clothes, hats, or whatever you choose!

Before C decided to create a dog she kept saying, "Sock Puppy,  Sock Puppy...." and that is why she ended up with a Puppy!  I think it is so adorable!

Here is Sock Puppy and Bear again! So sweet!

These sock puppets were FUN to play with for a day of pretend play and imagination!!! C even wanted to sleep with them.

Have you made any puppets lately? They are always so FUN!

Halloween Slime Exploration

We made Halloween Slime!  Some people call it Gak, but since Halloween is coming up we thought Slime would be a more appropriate name!  We also colored it orange by mixing red and yellow food coloring!  Maybe next we'll make some Black Slime! Keep reading to find out the recipe for slime and all the other FUN C had with it!

Recipe for Slime:

(we got the recipe from Family Fun Magazine here)

Mix together 3/4 cup of warm water, 1 cup of white glue and few drops of food coloring (we used red and yellow) in one bowl.  In another bowl, combine 1 1/3 cups of warm water and 4 teaspoons of Borax (this is usually in the laundry detergent section of the grocery store).  Note: Borax should not be ingested and can cause skin reactions with some----so be careful---use your discretion! Pour the contents of the first bowl into the other bowl and let sit for 1 minute without stirring.  Now you are ready to EXPLORE!

C enjoyed mixing it up!

C enjoyed just kneading it pushing into it!

She had FUN feeling it with her feet and stomping on it (making pancakes)!!! (her idea!)

C added her Water Beads and creatures to it!  She played with this combination a long time!  Be sure to check out our Water Bead Fun post here if you want to know more about these AMAZING sensory Gems!

Lastly, she tried out cutting the slime with scissors and that was a Big Hit too!

Wouldn't it be FUN to have a batch of water beads and slime out for kids to feel for a Halloween Party?

Have some Slimy Halloween Fun!!!

This post is linked to: It's Playtime, No TIme For Flashcards, Monday Madness

Water Bead Fun!!!

If you have never heard of water beads... you definitely need to get on board with this sensory/play experience for your children!   They are SO COOL!  Water beads are commonly used for floral arrangements and I further discovered they are used in science experiments too!  Keep reading to find out more information on the science behind these amazing water beads and about some products that are very similar.  I happened to find some water beads at Walmart in the Floral/Candle section thanks to a very friendly worker!!  They can also be purchased at Amazon.com(for much cheaper) and many other places.  As you can see below, they grow to about the size of marbles with the addition of water.  Cassie enjoyed using them as a play environment for her plastic insects and other creatures.  Water beads inspired hours of imaginative play for C!

Here you can see how small they are to begin with....about the size of a beebee.  It was amazing how quickly the water beads grew just after a few minutes!  C enjoyed playing with the water beads when they were tiny too!  ***I reminded her that they were not edible and to never put them in her mouth!!!***  BE CAREFUL with small items like this and children!!!

Here you can see the water beads getting bigger just after an hour!  They don't look so round at first,  but eventually they take more of a sphere shape.

This picture shows how large they can get! These water beads provided such a cool sensory experience!  I would describe the feeling of them similar to grapes that are really smooth and slippery or almost like bath beads!  They took about 6 hours to grow this big....so after preschool they were ready!

C played with them for a long time....well worth the price!!! I spent $6.00 for three colors.  Make sure to buy the water beads that look separated in the package because they form separate spheres better!

C played with the water beads for the next 2 days!!!  Even a week later,  they look like they could be played with too!

The Science Behind Water Beads

I've researched further and these little playful polymers seem to also be used for Science experiments too.
I'm pretty sure this is the same polymer that is found in disposable diapers too.  Here is a some great information about Water absorbing crystals and some experiments you could do with them here.

Some information about Water Jelly Crystals....how they are saving the environment and more science activities here.

More Fun Information

Also there is a toy called Orbeez that looks to be water beads in disguise with fun scented ones and other cool products to go along with them!  There is also another similar  product called Instant Snow Polymer which is basically fake snow and you can purchase it here.

I know we'll be having more fun with Water Beads!!!

Please share your FUN and Experimentation with them!

This post is shared with:

World Animal Day,  It's Playtime

Mud Bakery

We created a mud kitchen in our backyard with so much inspiration to make one...we just had to!  Check out the links below for our inspiration! We've always played in the mud, but never made an official Mud Kitchen. Just gather some old kitchen items and some mud and you have a mud kitchen.  I saw a toy kitchen in the trash...which would have been perfect to put in the backyard for a more official Mud Kitchen! Ours turned out pretty well though!  Take a look...

Creating soups and stews.

Mud cookies with sand sprinkles on a matte board cookie sheet.

A true Mud pie with leaf decorations.

Everything went into our mud oven on the deck.  Cooking in the sun were mud cake pops, chocolate mud muffins, sweet gum treats, sand sprinkled cookies, and the pie.  They took a day to cook in the sun/deck oven!

The next day the items in the oven were done! Mud cookies!

Chocolate Mud Muffins!

Mud Cake Pops!

C continues to make mud soups and stews....her favorite concoction! A Wizard Stew is what she said this was!

Hope you are inspired to create a Mud Kitchen! A Frugal way to have fun and inspire imagination!

Our Inspiration to create a Mud Kitchen:

Outdoor Concoctions Kitchen from The Imagination Tree


Thrifting for a Mud Pie Kitchen from TinkerLab


Mud Pie Kitchen Renovation with over 30 links from Child Central Station

Octopus Obsession

When children make or create things they tend to make things in multiples if they are given the space and materials.  During the past year and most recently, Cassie has been obsessed with creating these "Octopus Creatures" shown below. They are made with paper, scissors, markers, a stapler, and a hole puncher.  C loves having the independence of using special tools like the stapler and hole puncher.  I think she has made over 40 or so of these creatures!

First, she rounds off the top for the body and head and then fringes the bottom of the paper for legs! Lots of legs!

Then she uses markers, hole punch, and stapler to decorate.  She loves these two tools! Stapling just to staple and not attaching anything! Hole punches for eyes or decorations!

Here is her "White Collection of Octopuses"! I Love these creatures! There are so many more to show!

I've even tried my hand at making a few since she insisted!!! 

I hope you are having children create independently to come up with their own ideas! You will be amazed what children will come up with when given the opportunity!  

What independent Art Activities have your children been working on?

Have your children made collections of Art?

Woodworking Fun With Inspiration from a Book

C has been having a lot of fun with woodworking and real tools lately.  It all began from inspiration from a free woodworking workshop at our local home improvement store Home Depot (our last post). Many of my readers have also informed me that Lowes does free woodworking workshops for kids too! Here is C hard at work with a hammer and nails.

We were also inspired by the book Bruno The Carpenter by Lars Klinting.  This book is about Bruno the Beaver and how he needs to build a tool box for all his disorganized tools. If you want to make his tool box there is a diagram and steps to create it!  The book also has a page that lists and names all the tools Bruno used to make this tool box.  Cassie had fun memorizing each tool and then actually getting to use some of his tools was even more fulfilling!!!  It is a great book to inspire carpentry in your children! There is a book called Bruno the Baker by the same author.  We will be checking that one out soon!  

We actually got some scrap wood from Home Depot and used some scraps from our garage too. We don't have munch of a work bench so we brought this project outside. Here is a close up view.

We happened to have an old hand drill from Grandfather and it is the perfect kind for a kid to use. They do sell kids sized power drills on this website.  In case your wondering...I was right there supervising C!!!

We did some work with a screwdriver too, but C enjoyed the hammer much more.  Lately we've been letting C experiment with unscrewing items around the house too.  She loves it!

C attached some crafty wooden hearts with nails,  which was fun too.

 Here are 2 of her creations.  She could have spent all day pounding in nails and twisting screws in.

Cassie even took a pencil and marked off some places on an old piece of fence found in our garage.  I actually used a hand saw and cut some pieces off for her and she was intrigued and wanted to help! (a little too sharp and bulky!)

Still more hammering...she didn't want to stop!!!

C's 3 creations after this woodworking session.

These creations inspired some imaginative play with cars....she said they were roads!

C actually taped them together and put them on our coffee table!

Cassie really enjoyed this and wanted to pound more nails for the past few days.  We need to get more wood and supplies!!!

What are some other woodworking projects that we could make?

What woodworking projects have you worked on with your children?

This post is linked to:

Craft Schooling Sunday
No TIme For Flashcards