Cutting creations!

It's the Easter holidays and it's raining, again! I needed something to entertain all the children from 3 years old to 7 (the baby was having his morning nap) I thought it would be interesting to see what my new little girl's cutting skills were like so I printed out some cutting worksheets from Sparklebox. But I thought the activity needed more of a purpose than just cutting for the sake of cutting so I thought we could use the strips we had cut to make creatures from our imagination.

We got out our scissor selection and our big pot of felt tips and got to work cutting along the lines. I gave the 3 year old the slightly easier lines with the least sharp angles and the older children had the trickier ones. We cut along the lines so that we ended up with thin, wavy, zig-zagy or straight strips. Then I asked the children to look at their strips and try to imagine what kind of creature or person they could be. The 3 year old found this tricky and ended up making patterns on her strips:

My 5 year old daughter was keen to think of creatures and she came up with a lady, a worm and a snake:

Joshua (aged 7) also made a snake. Then he decided he wanted a Star Wars theme for the rest. He thought of making Anakin Skywalker but realised it was quite tricky so he thought he would make Anakin's light sabre instead. When he had finished I picked it up and started swinging it around making light sabre noises and he realised he needed more than one. He decided he would make a light sabre in each colour so we could use them to have a battle!

It was also a good opportunity to practise name writing as the children needed an envelope each to put their bits into. My two can both write their names now but it was a good chance for Joshua to practise joining up. The 3 year old I childmind needs lots of opportunities to practise this new skill as she is not yet able to copy her name so I wrote her it in pencil on the envelope and let her pick a coloured pen to trace over the letters.

This activity kept the children busy for about 40 minutes and they all really enjoyed using their imaginations to come up with ideas while still developing their cutting skills, pencil control, colour recognition and language skills.

Making Easter Nests

Since Easter came right at the end of the school term I decided to hold off making the traditional Easter nests until now so that my two could join in the fun in the school holidays! They are always a firm favourite and since they don't really require any cooking (unless you count melting chocolate as cooking?) they are really easy to do with the littlies!

So here's how we did it:

You will need:
200g bar of chocolate (whatever kind you like really but we went for milk chocolate
Rice Krispies (you can use Shredded Wheat if you prefer that genuine nest effect but I find the children aren't really keen plus then you have a whole box left that nobody wants to eat!)
1 medium sized bag of mini eggs
Cupcake cases
Fluffy yellow chicks - these are available in craft stores and some supermarkets
A heatproof bowl
A saucepan of simmering water
A spatula or wooden spoon
Children - optional!
(With 200g of chocolate we got 22 cakes)

1. Have the children brake the chocolate into chunks and place them into a heat proof bowl. (Here's Joshua forgetting they needed to go into the bowl. He seems to be looking longingly at them!)

2. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (HINT: do not let the water touch the bowl or it won't work!) Stir the lumps around occasionally until they've completely melted.

3. Pour in some Rice Krispies. I didn't measure out a particular quantity. I just added some at a time and if they were very heavily coated in chocolate I would add some more until it looked like they were all coated nicely. The children loved stirring them in and this was a good opportunity to talk about taking turns!

4. With teaspoons, let the children fill their cake cases with the mixture then press the centres down with their thumb to make a little well.

5. Then let them place one little chick and 2-3 mini eggs (depending on how many you have!)

6. We then let them set in the fridge and ate some after our lunch. Here's a little box I put together for my childminded children to take some of theirs home as we had so many!

Enjoy!!!

Back to childminding!

Happy House Childminding

Back in Business

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted but I have been very busy and had lots of changes since the new year. I have tried so many times to write this post but it just kept turning into an autobiography! Basically I just wanted to talk about the fact that I have recently started childminding again after dipping my toes back into teaching for a short time. I was a teacher before I had children, then, when my son was born, I couldn't bear to go back to work so I decided childminding was a good option as it meant I could stay at home and raise my family while still keeping up my skills and earning a wage. I think I always had it in the back of my mind that I would return to teaching one day when my children were older and didn't need me as much

When we moved to Basingstoke in May 2014 I didn't set up as a childminder again as I wanted to help my children settle into the new area and new schools. My daughter was due to start school that September and I realised that that meant I had no more babies at home all day and so maybe it was time to go back to school. To cut a long story short, I started working as a Teaching Assistant doing supply work in my children's school but they didn't have any permanent positions and it got to the point where I needed to earn a more regular wage. I decided to start childminding again about a year ago but then the school offered me more regular work as a Teacher covering maternity leave. However, as much as I loved the school, the children and the wonderful staff, I soon remembered all the down sides to teaching. The stress, the pressure, the long hours, the impact on family-life. I saw the effect it had on the other teachers, especially those with young families. I also realised that my heart was still in childminding. So I started to advertise as a childminder again.

I am really excited about this new beginning. This is the first time I have childminded from our new house and I have much more room here than in the old house. We have a dedicated playroom now (see the blog!) the garden is a bit bigger (although it really needs an overhaul!) and there are so many more green spaces here many of which are even in walking distance. I love the freedom that childminding offers, we can just choose what we want to do according to the weather and the interests of the children. I also love the fact that I can still take my children to school and collect them again. Also I'm able to be with them through the holidays and the fact that I'm childminding means I am more likely to do more exciting things with them whereas when I wasn't working we probably had an awful lot more PJ days than we should have!


So hopefully now, as well as my previous crafty and mummy blogs, there will now be some childminding adventure blogs on here; different activities we have done, places we have been and that kind of thing. So if that floats your boat keep checking back!

Thanks

Elizabeth x

Happy New Year! 2016 Resolutions

For me, the New Year starts the weekend AFTER we have all gone back to school or work. I really don't feel like I can make a fresh start while the Christmas decorations are still up, there are chocolates and naughty treats all around me and we are all on holiday mode or just making that transition back into getting up in the dark! Once we've got back into the old routine again I feel a bit more normal and then I can think about what I am doing with my life!

Now, normally I am not one for making new year's resolutions as I would always abandon them a month or so into the year. It seemed pointless making them knowing I wouldn't see them through so I gave up trying years ago!

This year however, I decided it was time to change that. My lack of resolutions in the past has meant that it was all too easy to just slip into old bad habits time after time, I had nothing to aim for or strive towards. I now realise that to make any improvements in my life I need to make a conscious decision to change things! The difference is that I now know I need to set realistic goals rather than the dramatic resolutions that I would make in the past. Resolutions like 'I am going to lose 3 stone this year' are going to put so much pressure on me that I'm just setting myself up to fail! A much better resolution would have been 'I will make more healthy food choices'.

I have been gaining weigh steadily since having my two children. At first I would just tell myself 'it's ok, it's just because I've had two babies, I will get my figure back soon! However, those babies are now 7 and 5 and not only have I not lost the weight, I've actually gained more!

I am not going to make the same mistakes as previous years by setting my goals too high. I just need to make more sensible choices. So with that in mind here are my 2016 resolutions.

1- Try to drink 6 -8 glasses of water a day
2 - Eat less refined sugar: biscuits, cake, chocolate etc.
3- Eat 5 a day (choose fruit snacks where I would have chosen sugary ones)
4- Exercise at least 3 times a week (housework counts!)
5 - Read more

Not groundbreaking I know but they are all little step towards forming better habits. I know number 5 has nothing to do with weight loss but I feel that reading helps to relax me and will contribute to making me a happier, healthier person!

So did you make any New Year's resolutions? If not it's never too late! You can decide to make improvements in your life at anytime but do write them down and look at them regularly to help you keep on track. Just make sure that if you do make any, you ensure that they are achievable goals.
Set yourself up for success!

Happy 2016 to you all x

Frozen Fever

If, like me, you have a Disney's 'Frozen' Fan in your home, why not throw them a 'Frozen' themed birthday party? My Daughter wanted one for her 4th birthday party last year. Unfortunately her birthday is in July so we melted a little! Here are a few tips to make your Frozen Party sparkle!

Decorations

-Plan ahead! If (like us) you have a child whose birthday falls outside of the winter months, try to stock up in advance. Now is the perfect time to start planning because at Christmas time the pound shops have loads of great snowy decorations which are just the ticket for decorating your 'Frozen' party room. This frosty wreath would look great on the front door to welcome guests and the icicles look effective around the edges of tables. The paper snowflakes are great to hang around the room and are 3 for £1 (all from Poundland and available at time of blogging)

 
- If you have left it too late and your party is after winter time, never fear! There are plenty of online sites with downloadable decorations for a small price or sometimes even free! www.homeketeers.com have some great frozen party items to download I downloaded a free set and then I paid for some extras. Here is some bunting and a garland I downloaded and printed out (I laminated them too so they'd last longer) :

 

In the free kit I got: Cupcake toppers, cupcake wrappers, invitations and straw flags. In the add-on kit that I purchased were: Bag toppers, banners (above), cake toppers (large) garlands (above) mini candy bar wrappers, treat boxes and water bottle wrappers (above). this kit cost $1.99 which is about £1.30 so well worth the outlay!  They are definitely worth a look!

Party food

        

    

I also downloaded these little labels to give the food fun 'Frozen' names but I can't remember where now! They were probably in one of the kits mentioned above but I can't be sure.
We used pom bears as 'snow bears', Monster Munch as 'Yeti Feet', carrots as 'Olaf Noses', Sponge fingers as 'Anna's Frozen Fingers' and made 'Snowman Sandwiches. You can find many more fun 'Frozen' food ideas on pinterest!
The cupcake toppers above were not the ones in the kit as I had already purchased some from eBay. These ones are printed onto rice paper so they are edible!

Speaking of Pinterest, that's where I found this great idea! Get some Cheesestrings and then, using a black and orange Sharpie, draw Olaf faces at the top and buttons down the middle. The children LOVED these!

Party Games

As well as the usual Musical Statues, Pass the Parcel etc. I decided to do a few 'Frozen' themed party games too!

Pin the nose on the Olaf!

                       

I had a large sheet of white sugar paper on which I drew an Olaf without a nose (if art is not your thing you could always print one out and have it blown up on a photocopier). I then drew one nose for each child onto orange card and wrote their names on so we could see whose nose was closest to the spot!

Frozen Fractals

As it was a warm summer's day I thought this idea I had seen at Happy hooligans would be a lot of fun! Visit their page if you want lots of details (and amazing photos) but the general gist is that you fill lots of different shaped ice cube trays and large containers with coloured water and pop them in the freezer. Once frozen turn them out and give them to the children, along with water and brushes. Each child should have one large block of ice (I used food storage containers to freeze these). They then 'paint' water onto the smaller ice shapes and press them onto their large block. As the water freezes between them it sets them in place and the children can create beautiful ice structures!

Party Favours

Personalised chocolate bars

Although I did get candy bar wrappers in the Homeketeers kit I had already ordered pre-wrapped kit-kats from a local seller on ebay. I thought this would take some of the hassle out for me as I would not need to sit and wrap them myself and also they personalised them for me. I no longer have the details of who supplied them but if you search on eBay you are bound to find loads of suppliers near you.  Here they are with a little card I popped into the party bags which was another download from Homeketeers that I laminated as a keepsake for the guests:

Loot Bags

These are always a firm favourite I got these ones on eBay - again! (Apparently I no longer go to actual shops!) I filled them with a few sweets, yo-yos, Frozen pencils and erasers, plastic bangles etc. and of course...

A slice of cake

This is my masterpiece! (clearly I'm no pro but I think I did ok for a complete novice!) I made a Victoria Sponge (I like to follow the recipe from Nigella Lawson's 'How to be a Domestic Goddess' as it's really easy and everything just goes in the food processor!) I just put jam between the two sponges. I then rolled out some ready to roll light blue icing and covered the cake in that. Then I rolled out some white ready to roll icing and cut around it in a wavy line so that when I placed it over the blue it looked like snow fall. The figures I bought on eBay (definitely a theme here!) and used a little icing to stick them down. The snowflakes around the edges came on the same sheets of rice paper as the cupcake toppers above. I bought the ready to roll icing and the light blue cake base from Hobbycraft

All in all it was a huge success and the Birthday girl and her guests had so much fun!

Birthday Girl

Just had to include this photo of my niece as she looks soooooo cute in her frozen onesie and tutu! x

If you are planning to do your own Frozen themed party I hope this has inspired you and helped you know where to go for ideas and resources! You can check out my 'Frozen Party' board on Pinterest here. Most of all...Have fun! x

Guy Fawkes Fun!

Last week we were celebrating Guy Fawkes night! It was actually on Thursday but we watched the big fireworks display on Saturday night because the community centre near our house puts on a huge display so we all just stand outside and have an amazing view! More about that later.

On Wednesday evening my two little nieces came round to play after school. My sister had a migraine so I sent her to have a nap while I got on with some Fireworks painting with the little ones.

First we chose brightly coloured paints (handy hint -add a little pva glue to your paint when using glitter on top as this helps the glitter to stay stuck once the paint dries)

Next we got an assortment of paint brushes and old toothbrushes (another handy hint - add a little water to your paint and pva mix if using toothbrushes as runnier paint makes flicking it a lot easier)

Then I took some black card (A4 size) and cut the edges in a zig-zag fashion to make them look like explosions!

Once we had all those things in place we got started splattering and flicking paint onto the card.

                 

They wanted to use toothbrushes and paintbrushes to just paint flicking lines and star shapes rather than flicking the bristles but that still worked. The littlest niece got in with her fingers, scraping the paint too, which was actually quite effective. Once they were happy with their designs I got them them to sprinkle multi-coloured glitter over the paint and shake the excess into a tray to be tipped back for later use.

                            


Once they were dry I added them to the display with the haunted houses from Halloween all ready for our family Guy Fawkes Night Celebrations!

On the Saturday after Guy Fawkes we had 8 adults and 5 children at my house to watch the fireworks display! Before we went out the little ones had a jacket potato for dinner then all the adults had a Chili with rice so we were well fed and warmed up before going out there!

I then sat the children down and we opened our big packs of glow sticks and made them into necklaces and bracelets. My mum had also brought some along that were wider and hung on lanyards. We didn't do this last year and it was quite hard to spot them all out there on the dark field so this year we were better prepared and they were much easier to keep track of!

Last year we took out hot chocolates with marshmallows to keep us warm out there but I didn't think of it this year. Fortunately my lovely neighbour brought us out some Mulled Wine although the weather was much milder than this time last year so we weren't too cold.

The display was great and the children were mesmerized! Olivia doesn't like the big bangs though so she had her ear muffs on to help with the noise! Plenty of 'oooh's and 'aaah's were had by all! We then met up with our other neighbours and their two girls and we got out the sparklers and talked to the children about sparkler safety and made sure they were all wearing gloves. Everybody had at least two turns (including the big kids!)

                           

Finally it was all back into our house (including the neighbours) for tea and birthday cake as my mum and cousin both have birthdays in the next week. Once the happy birthdays were sung and the cake was eaten the little ones were getting very tired. We said our goodbyes and put them to bed before cleaning up and falling into bed ourselves! Well this year's Guy Fawkes Night certainly went with a bang!