Give Your child a free hand at Art collage

Today's Media: Thermocol balls or Foam balls

Bargain for : 15- 20 INR
Lesson Learned: Free-hand collage

The tiny glittery balls are sensory to touch. They can filled into different containers, put in a sensory tray or filled in the Birthday balloons. And here is what my daughter discovered with the tiny foam balls. 

That you can stick them onto the paper with lots of our things. 

Eureka! This is how the our tiny ones discover the world. Isn't it?

Sneak peek of my Special Dr Seuss Birthday Post

Here is a sneak peek on my upcoming post on Dr Seuss Birthday.

You like what you see?
Don't forget to visit us on 2nd March to find out more...

Art Collaging with Stickers

Today's Media : Puffy Stickers
Price: 50-60 INR
Lesson learned: Art Collaging

Stickers! the ultimate fascination of kids. I already have a huge collection of stickers and daughter is just three. I like the Puffy stickers as they are easy to apply by my daughter and even easier to remove by me!( when stick at wrong places). Here is what you get when you give to a three year -old stickers, papers and pens.

Art! I loved the Dino park created by my daughter. It will be preserved forever!

Story of a Rainbow

Here is a story of a Rainbow at our dining cum art table.
Everyday we explore different media to make art. As a mother my job is to introduce different media to my daughters to explore. Our favorite activity is painting and we mostly end up doing it in our " family time" together. Its the instant stress buster for me and a elating creative experience for my daughter.
Here is our art tool of the day: Painter's Roller








Lesson we learned: Rainbow Color Mix
The rainbow color sequence: Singing the Barney's rainbow song, we first squeezed the colors on the large aisle sheet.
RED is the Color of an Apple
 ORANGE is the color of an Orange
   YELLOW is for lemon and the wonderful SUN-  SUN-SUN
    GREEN is the color of Trees and lots of things that  grow, and then theres
       BLUE for the Sky and
          INDIGO ( Indigo does come in the song)
           VIOLET is the color for FUN-FUN-FUN

and when we put there colors side-by-side now what do you think we have done?
We made a RAINBOW and its a really beautiful ONE-ONE-ONE.

When M rolled the paints onto the sheet with the Painter's Roller and created different rainbows.

 "Mummy, Can we do this everyday?"

"Ofcourse ! sweetheart, We Can"
A art lesson well executed.

Make assorted stamps and washable ink stamp pad at Home

I am totally inspired by stamps and stamping activity, I see everyday on Pinterest and other Craft blog.
Stamping is fun activity for all ages of kids and adult alike.
I decided to try make some stamps at home by using a cardboard bags and some fun foam shapes and letters. I also added a homemade washable ink stamp pad by using tempera paints and a sponge. These are all made from handy material you can find at home.
Firstly, for the stamps
You will need-
Soft cardboard shopping bag ( The one I used for this is extremely colorful)
Scissors
Stapler with pins
Foam shapes ( Available locally worldwide. People in India can find it online at Itsy Bitsy craft store)
Cut long strips from the cardboard bag.

 Form a triangular shape with a flat base and staple the ends. Tip: Its better to make the flat end as per the width of the foam shape. This will make the stamping easier.

 

 Paste the foam shapes onto the flat surface.

 

 Here is the look that how it will look when stamped onto the paper. Another way of making it is at Vanessa's Values. She had made stamps at home by pasting foam animals to the end of bottle caps.If you have ink stamp pads at home, they can work just fine with the homemade stamps. But If you want to make a multicolor stamp pad at home which is washable too, read the next section.

Making Washable paint stamp pads at home

 I tried stamping it with regular tempera paint and the impressions were not very clear. So I googled it and found this technique by  Belinda Mooney.
Here is what you need
a Sponge
a square box with lid
tempera paint
white craft glue
a bowl

Technique
In a bowl, Mix 3 tablespoon of tempera paint with tablespoon of the white craft glue. Cut the sponge to fit exactly into the square box. here is a box that I used with 4 compartments that I have used for making different color pads.

 Now pour the mixture on to the sponge and leave it to get complete soaked in by the color. Keep the lid on , when not in use. You can add few drops of water if it dries.

 Stamp away!

Create a private sanctuary for kids in little nooks of your home

Do you remember playing under the dining table and smallest of corners in and around your home as kids. There is something about a little nook and hidden corners which attract the kids like this little cozy spot I created in my living room by creating this passage space between the window and couch. This is her favorite spot for all her pretend play games. Sometimes, she invites us to her restaurant or at times it becomes her house. Or she can just sit peaceful and look out from the window. I occasionally add a binocular or a bird themed books which she can browse through. My future plans include a bird feeder right outside this spot where she can sit and observe the birds. As Mariah Bruehl says "Create it and they will come".

Can you think of any cozy spot in and around your house for kids. This private sanctuary can be a comforting Me space for kids where they can play pretend and write. Rashmie at Mommy Lab shares how a tent she created at her living room became a writing nook for her daughter.

Please Share your ideas with me by linking your cozy spaces in the comment and maybe we can collaborate in create more such lovely spaces around our home for our little ones.

Making Nature a part of our lives

Nature is all around us. One does not need to go into the wilderness to experience the magic of nature. Its there waiting in our backyards with mysteries and many explorations. As a child we had several opportunity to interact with nature. The family outings were usually picnics in famous gardens of Delhi. Road trip to forest reserves in Rajasthan and other neighboring states was an yearly affair. We had several open spaces around our house to explore the nature take its course through various seasons.My daughter was born in Mumbai. Amist the concrete jungle, Luckily for us we live very near to Sanjay Gandhi national Park. Recently we planned  all day camping trip in Sanjay Gandhi National Park. To start with we made a list of supplies that we will need for our fun day. It was  fun to gather stuff like a camping tent, sleeping bags, water bottles, binocular, art supplies, cricket bat and ball, food and some chalks. My daughter carefully packed our bags. She was very exciting to choose the spot for camping. We spotted a herd of deers very close to our camp site. My daughter took out her binoculars and loved to take a closer look.

 My Daughter collecting the woods and making a pretend camp fire.

 Our campsite for the day!

 The arrangement of wood branches.

Creating masterpieces on the rocks

She drew some picture using her art kit. She  made a pretend camp fire by gathering the wooden sticks in to a pile. She also drew on the rocks with a chalk. We all felt happy and contented laying down under the trees and so close to nature. As a mother I was elated to see my daughter interact with nature. I am now looking for ways to bring nature home. This trip inspired me to  create a gardening section specially for my daughter ( in our window sill) where we will plant some tomato seedling I have saved from a very interesting campaign run by the kissan 100% sauces.

Little joys of parenting, 1# The random doodles

 Little Joys of parenting is about feeling the joy when your child gives a positive sign to your teaching efforts. Signs like an elated look on their faces, when you suggest a new idea. Its about the small scribbles left behind by them, when you leave a paper and a pen for them to write on. When they remember a character from the story you read to them months ago. Its when they use uncommon words to express there feeling. There are so many Awww moments in our lives that make our lives as mothers worthwhile.

In this series, I would like to share some of my little joys of parenting and hope that you can share with me yours.

Here is the first one in the series: The random doodles
I  make it a point to leave an empty sheet on her desk very night before I go to sleep. I use her old puzzle pieces as a paper weight.

And I experience my little joys of parenting when I always find beautiful doodles and creations each day. It makes my day worthwhile.

Here is a backgrounder on what I have been upto- 
From past five week, I am doing an amazing e-course by Mariah Bruehl at Playful Learning. During the course, I am creating beautiful learning space in my house, thanks to my wonderful teacher. I will keep posting by before-after pics( although It needs some courage to post the before pictures!) with the available resources at home and some bought during the Sale period. Keep reading and see if it inspire you to do little changes to your learning spaces.

Before I was a Mother

Here is a passage I wrote Before I became a mother. ( Without editing)


June 12th 2008

God, I Thank You for this opportunity to become a mother. To nourish inside me a living soul. I thank you for giving me some of your powers, to recreate life in the world which you have so lovingly created. Bless me with a soul like my own. Who will take forward my existence when I leave this world. To whom you will give life to , will belong to you. I, as a teacher will show her what I have seen through my eyes. Bless it with your love and guidance, so she knows more than what I have known, experience the goodness of life. Thank you for giving me a beautiful life. Lastly, thank you for giving me such wonderful parent, because of whom I am thanking you today for this life.

Fairy Butterfly garden in your living room.

 

The collection of accessories for  Fairy Butterfly Garden. This includes felt flowers, marbles, colored shells, cupcake candles, a green apple candle, small colored letters, butterfly cutouts, miniature fairy and bugs, a wooden tray in placed on a green cane mat.

Creating decorative personalized note books at home

M has just started to show interest in writing. She would talk while she scribbles. For enhancing her interest in writing, We created some beautiful decorative notebooks at home for our personal use and for gifting. Here is what we did.

We bought some plain soft cardboard cover books and covered it with glue. Remember to put a paper underneath the cover to avoid getting the glue onto the inner pages of the notebook. Next was the random sprinkle of  decorative glitters and assorted flowers.

Here is what it looked like after a while.
Later on I added the finishing touch by covering the cover-page using clear foil and some decorative sticky tape at the corners. Here is a look at the finished notebook.

M is writing away...

Ocean Life Sensory play

The Ocean Life Sensory Play: 

I setup a theme based sensory tray in the living room. This was something I really wanted to do for a long time. The Tray contains Shells, Play sand, Octopus shower curtain hooks, pebbles. An aisle holder is holding the ocean life books. I added a palette to invite her to play draw ocean life. 

 M interacting with the new display.

 A close up of the tray.

 The lovely octopus could be used to do some dramatic play.

You can also add some sea weeds, sea creatures. I plan to add new things to this display for this week.

Small play hut made from Paper Bag

This week we are participating in the Tinkerlab Challenge by crafting using a paper bag.

 

In my earlier post, We made some Handcrafted Bangles from paper bag. 

This is a continuation of same craft. After cutting the strips from the paper bag. We were left with the rear end of paper bag.

We made a small play hut. M colored the hut with a paintbrush. I am surprised at how she distinguished different section of hut by using various colors.

Blissful Creativity!

Handcrafted Bangles made from paper bag

This week we are participating in the Tinkerlab Challenge by crafting using a paper bag. 

These " Handcrafted Bangle " are what we made out of paper bag.

I helped M to cut strips by laying the paper bag horizontally.

 M painted the bangles with tempera paints in various colors. " Abra-cradabra, I will paint you blue." This is how she painted all strips in various colors.

 She decorated using various assorted crystals and sequins.

That's her holding her Doll who is modeling for her creation.

And Thats Me!