Crafting with the kids!

Since I started doing Family Day Care I have had lots of fun finding new crafts do to with the children. Here are a couple of my favourites.

Where possible I try and tie in the craft with the story that I have read to the children that day. Recently I read a lovely story to the children called The littlest lighthouse keeper and then afterwards I showed the children how to make their own lighthouse.

The kids really enjoyed this craft and it was also a way for me to teach the kids about shapes as the lighthouse is made from rectangles, circles, a square and a triangle.

To make this you need

1 white rectangle, 22cm by 8cm (lighthouse base)

3 red rectangles, 2.5cm  by 8cm (lighthouse stripes)

1 blue rectangle, 2.5cm by 10cm (walkway at top)

1 red square, 8cm by 8cm (top of lighthouse where windows will go)

1 red triangle, 8cm, you can cut a small section of the top off so it’s flat instead of a point (roof of lighthouse)

1 blue rectangle, 2.5cm by 5cm (lighthouse door at base)

4 small circles, about 1cm each (one for the door and one for three of the stripes)

3 small yellow rectangles, 1cm by 2.5cm

Have the children glue the red stripes to the lighthouse at equal intervals. The red stripes will each have one yellow circle glued in the middle.

Center the small blue rectangle at the bottom of the lighthouse base and attach it with glue. Place a yellow circle toward the top of the door and glue it in place.

Place the blue rectangle at the top of the lighthouse base and glue it in place. Glue the small red rectangle to underside of the top of the blue oval. The three small rectangles will be glued to this rectangle. Add the triangle shape and glue it at the top. This completes the lighthouse craft!

I found the idea for this craft here

The other craft that has been a big hit with the kids is hand and footprint art.

These are our handprint octopus

Handprint jellyfish

Footprint butterfly

Here are the instructions for the footprint butterfly

Sultana Tea Loaf Recipe

I can't remember where or when I came across this recipe but it's one I've had for a long time. What I like about it is that it has no butter or eggs in it so it's great to make when supplies are running low. I also like that you can change what fruit you put in it so it doesn't always have to taste the same, and it's great in the lunch box if you cut it in slices and add a little butter.

Sultana Tea Loaf

Ingredients

1 cup cold tea

1 cup sultanas or other dried fruit (I recently used apricots and cranberries which were nice)

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 cups self-raising flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C and lightly grease a 19 x 9 x 6cm loaf tin with butter.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine tea, sultanas and the vanilla essence and allow to stand for 5 minutes.

3. Sift flour, stir through sugar and cold tea mixture. Mix well.

4. Spoon into tin and bake for 45 minutes.

5. While still warm rub a little butter on top and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Serve warm,in slices, with butter.

Making mud pies

Annabelle and Evelyn were given a water table toy for Christmas that had the line 'just add dirt' written on the box- needless to say I wasn't very keen on that idea!

Seeing as the girls don't know what a mud pie is anyway they were happy enough to use the toy with water, until they had a play date with their cousin!

We were all playing outside when I noticed the water in the water table had turned a murky brown colour.

Of course no one admitted they were responsible for the muddy mess until I spotted my nephew Mason nicking dirt from my strawberry patch:

Look at that cheeky grin!

Annabelle and Mason having some not so clean fun

They also snuck some balls onto the trampoline - they didn't last long though as I was worried they'd sprain an ankle if they landed on one of them!

Annabelle loves playing with her cousins and gets very excited when she sees them.

While all the mischief was being made Evie played with the bikes.

Changes

This has been a week of big changes for all of us.

I have been on unpaid maternity leave since July last year and financially it has been really difficult trying to survive on one income, especially when Aaron's wage is unpredictable as he can't work in rain or windy weather.

Initially I had planned on returning to work when Evie was 6 months old, when my paid maternity leave had come to an end, but I found it impossible to find suitable day care as my girls would need to be in care from 6.30am to 6.30pm due to my long commute to work.

As time went on I realised I didn't want to leave them for that length of time anyway so I have been applying for jobs locally with little success.

I enquired last December about becoming a Family Day Care Educator and they happened to be recruiting at the time so within a matter of weeks I was undergoing Educator training, doing a first aid course and making amendments to our back yard to make it more secure.

In mid January I received my Certificate of Registration and last week I commenced work as an Educator.

I have 2 after school children who come to me for 2 hours each afternoon and they are both lovely. Being brother and sister some of their antics remind me of growing up with my older brothers. I also care for a 3 year old boy and a 3 year old girl two days a week each and thankfully they are lovely too.

I think the first week was hardest on Annabelle as she is used to being home with me and Evie and it was difficult for her having other children in the house. She is a typical 2 year old so sharing isn't one of her strengths just yet, hopefully she will adjust quickly.

Last week it rained for 3 days straight so going outside was out of the question, which made me thankful I had a lots of craft planned - so many things you can make from an egg carton!

It's early days yet but I am enjoying working on lesson plans and coming up with games and interesting craft ideas for the kids.

Fingers crossed I don't lose my enthusiasm.

Happy Birthday Evie

My baby has just turned one - I can't believe how quickly the time has passed.

It seemed like a good time to let her have her first piece of cake.

Some of it actually made it into her mouth!

It tasted so good she stole cake from plates left lying around!

Evie's gorgeous Bambi cake was made by bellaboo cakes

My big girl, Annabelle, who loved singing happy birthday to her sister.

Making an Aquarium

With all the rainy weather we've been having I have had to come up with some indoor projects to keep Annabelle amused. So far my favourite is a mini aquarium made using a soft drink bottle - it kept her amused for hours!

I drew sea creatures on a sheet of cardboard and gave Annabelle paint to colour them...

 ... as well as paint Annabelle also used pencils, she seemed particularly heavy handed with the black!

When the paint was dry I cut out the animals and Annabelle and I stuck them 

inside a  clean soft drink bottle, which I had turned upside down.

The finished product - my no water, no mess aquarium!

Dandelions

I showed Annabelle how to pick a dandelion and blow the little seeds into the air... watching them float away on the breeze.

It seemed a cute little thing to do but now she is obsessed with them and every time she sees one she insists on stopping to pick it - whether we're late for the bus or not!

Donkey

There are some donkeys in a paddock near where Annabelle and Evelyn go to day care and Annabelle often asks me if we can stop so she can pat them (bit difficult when you're on a bus).

We've had some rainy weather lately so when the sun came out I finally took the girls up to see the donkeys.

It didn't take long for the donkeys to realise we had carrots and they slowly trotted up to the fence to get them - the closer they got to us the further away from the fence Annabelle got!

It took some coaxing but eventually she came back to the fence and patted the donkeys, although she was too scared to feed them. Annabelle kept asking me about the talking donkey and I had no idea what she meant and then I realised she'd been watching Shrek with my Mum and was referring to Donkey!

Evelyn fell asleep in the stroller just before we got to the donkeys and didn't wake up again until we were almost home, which is typical of her, but Annabelle really enjoyed herself - and keeps asking when we can go back!

Strawberries, glorious strawberries

We've had funny old weather lately.

One day it's well into the 30s and so hot you can't sleep at night and the following day it's back to winter woollies.

The upside is that the sunshine and rain combo is doing wonders for our garden, particularly our strawberries.

The downside is that Annabelle doesn't always wait until they're red before picking and eating them.

Busby Pure Tissue Oil - Review and Giveaway

For the past few weeks I have been testing a product called Busby Pure Tissue Oil and I'm happy to report it's fabulous!

I only reveiw products that I think are relevant to my readers and this definitely fits the bill.

Busby Pure Tissue Oil helps improve the appearance of:

Scars
Stretch Marks
Wrinkles
Ageing Skin
Dehydrated Skin

What I really like about Busby is that it contains natural nourishing ingredients including Avocado, Grape Seed and Rose Hip oils - and most importantly no petrochemicals, animal products or harmful ingredients.
 

I have dry, sensitive skin and after using Busby for three weeks I can see and feel the difference in my skin. My face feels more moisturised and my wrinkles seem less obvious - and that can only be a good thing!

My Mother has been using Busby on her face and hands and there is definitely a visible difference to marks caused by sun damage - her blemishes are paler in colour and it has also improved the texture of her skin.

Not only does Busby have 5 times more Vitamin E than other leading brands but it is also backed by clinical research where 70% of participants confirmed an improvement in stretch marks and scars. The natural ingredients don't clog the pores like parrafin and petrochemicals do so the critical vitamins and nutrients are easily absorbed into the skin.

If you're ready to say goodbye to your mummy tummy then I suggest you try Busby Pure Tissue Oil.

Busby comes in a 100ml bottle with a pump and is available from selected pharmacies for $17.95 AUD.

More information can be found at their website and they have a Facebook page too.

.....................................................................................................................................................................

Thanks to the team at FGB I have 3 bottles of Busby Pure Tissue Oil to give away.

This competition is open to Australian residents only and closes at 5pm on the 4th November. Winners will be chosen by random number generator so make sure I am able to send you an email!

All you need to do is leave a comment telling me what one beauty product you never leave home without.

**** 9th November 2011 - Phil, Joan & Michele will be receiving a bottle of Busby Tissue Oil shortly.