Play like a Boss

What a week! As you can see I decided to plan a few activities for my big girl too and she loved it. I will definitely devote more time and energy into including big kids into the blog.

So here’s a run through of our fun week...

Stacking and sorting

I found the mixing bowl and spoon set from The Reject Shop for $10! It’s awesome because it’s lovely and bright and a great, useful set for the kitchen as well as a toy.

Great for littles so they can learn to stack up high as well as stack inside. Big scientific concepts for little curious minds!

The Birda’s

I think Logan enjoyed this the best of all. He just loves birds and is so amazed when he sees them flying in the sky.

I got the pictures from a cheapo calendar of Australian animals and taped them up in his bookshelf space. He loves to look at the colours and point to them.

Check out the calendars mid year when they are heavily reduced. You can use anything your child is interested in eg cars, planes, trucks and use them for collage, decoration for bedrooms, DIY books.

The birds nests were a little craft activity that I did a while back. They are made from weaving old clothes on an embroidery circle. You can do big ones on a hula hoop, which would make great rugs. Here’s the link, so you can see what I mean... http://carazara.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/hula-hoop-rug-craft/

Scrapbooking for the Big Kids

My Lulu told me she would like to start a scrapbook of her first year in high school. I thought this would make a lovely keepsake for her and always encourage her creativity. We bought a $16 (bargain!) Scrapbook Starter Kit from Kmart and I bought some extras like scissors, glue and extra stickers. Photo’s were $2.80 to print and away she went! The results were fantastic. She wrote little comments about little insider jokes between her and her friends and even made a “I love my family” page. I just love my beautiful girl and I hope she always remains true to herself.

Playdough and Farm animals

I love making playdough. It is so therapeutic especially on the challenging days, to smoosh this stuff through the fingers and Logan feels the same way. Nothing breaks a grumpy day like playdough can. I rolled some balls for him to squash as his little hands can have trouble manipulating a large chunk and added the animals for him to bury, make tracks with and just explore on their own.

To make your own playdough its super, super easy...

1 cup plain flour

½ cup salt

2 Tsp oil

Water and food colouring to mix

Add water a little at a time and knead away until its good. Add more flour if its sticky, add more oil to make it smoother. You can also add food essence to make it smell nice. I like adding vanilla essence.

                      

Pizza dough and Shortbread
We did some cooking this week which is a great family activity. It teaches respect, gratitude, sharing, and of course, the end result is yummy!

We often make homemade calzone (think pizza in a bun) and it is amazing!

Here is my recipe...

2 1/2 to 3 cups flour (can use a combination of white and whole wheat if you prefer)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast
3 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 cup very warm water

Combine yeast, sugar, 1 cup of the flour, and salt in a large bowl.

Add the warm water and oil and mix.

Stir in remaining flour slowly until dough is soft but not sticky.

 Knead until smooth.

Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes before making the calzone. I like to put mine in bowl with cling wrap underneath so it does’nt stick and cover with a tea towel. It needs to be in a warmish area for the yeast to rise so I usually put the elements on the stove  next to it on for a bit just to warm up the area.

After it has rested, knead again. Then pop it on an oiled oven tray and spread out. Fill with your usual pizza filling to what ever you like (Hubby like olives, anchovy, jalapeño chilli, and spicy salami while I like vegetarian and cheese- We usually make two then have the leftovers for lunch the next day!)

Then “wrap the baby”! Fold the sides in and bake 220 degrees for 15-20mins til golden brown

Mmmmmmmmmmmm so good!

Heres a link for how to make it look a bit fancier... http://mysanfranciscokitchen.com/braided-ham-and-cheese-calzone/

Owls n Eggs

Egg cartons and cupcake tins make excellent holes to place items in. Use patty cases, pom poms, cotton balls, material scraps, felt, blocks..whatever you have available! Logan brought his tea pot over and used it to stash pom poms in too.
For older children, a exploration box can be added with coloured rice, pebbles or pasta with a scoop to practise pouring too.

       

                                 
Block Sculpture

Blocks don’t always have to be built upwards! Use them to make mosaic patterns on a placemat or piece of material and encourage children to be their own artist! Use different shapes and some nice sensory material to display their work. The best part is that you get to have a play to set it up too. Confession- I think I enjoyed this more that Logan did hahaha!

You can also combine blocks with other materials for fun. Include scarves, tissue boxes, bark or leaves, toy cars, small figurines, blue prints or plans from builders, inspiration pictures such as posters of houses and buildings...the opportunities are endless!

               

                          

Well I'm off to put my feet up while Bubba is asleep and my Big Girl is having some Grandma time. 
Hope you find some inspiration here and enjoy the weekend!