{DIY Bubble Machine}

DIY BUBBLE MACHINE

These DIY bubble machines are easy and fun to make for endless foamy bubble fun this summer!

You will need: [affiliate links included for your convenience]

• *styrofoam or plastic cups
• *plastic food wrap
• *bendy straws 
• *tape in a pinch but preferably sticky tack or chewed gum ;-p
• *dish soap or bubble solution
• *toothpick
• *elastic bands or hair elastics
• *something sharp to poke holes in the cups (we used a corkscrew)

1. Poke a hole in the cups, about 1 - 2 cm above the base, that is just big enough for a straw. Be careful not to let the hole tear too big. (I think next time we'll try a hole punch - if you try that, let me know how it works!)

2. Poke the bent end of the straw through the hole so that the long end is on the outside of the cup, bent upwards. Use tape, sticky tack or even a piece of chewed gum to seal around the hole. (We used tape, but it did leak, so if you have sticky tack or gum I'd go with those.)

3. Pour bubble mixture or water with a generous squirt of dish soap into the cup (if your cup is leaky, you might want to do this step after step 5 so as to avoid losing all your solution.)

4. Pull a piece of the plastic food wrap as tightly as you can over the top of the cup and secure with an elastic band or hair elastic.

5. Use a toothpick to poke lots of tiny holes in the plastic wrap. (If you didn't yet put your bubble solution in, follow this step by taking off the wrap and adding it now, then reattaching the wrap, pulling tightly again.)

6. Blow into your straw and watch the bubbles foam out of your own homemade bubble machine! Fun!!

*Note: Obviously, this is only suitable for children who are not going to suck on the straw - please use your parental judgement as to whether this activity is appropriate for your child. (I did it with my 7 year old and 4 year old with no doubts in my mind.)

{Best Board Games for Preschoolers}

Best Board Games for Preschoolers

Board games are a great way for young kids to work on many important preschool skills - social skills, math skills, language skills and problem-solving skills can all be developed through a good quality board game! Counting along spaces on the board helps develop counting and one-to-one correspondence, turn-taking is an important social skill as are winning and losing with grace, and many board games also incorporate strategic problem-solving skills and more. So if you think your child might be ready for board games, here are our top recommendations of the best ones for preschool-aged children to start out with. Let the Family Games Nights commence!


The Busytown Eye Found It! Game is a family favourite - great for developing teamwork, social skills and observation skills as well as one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get your entire team (all players) to the finish line before the naughty pigs eat the entire picnic. Along the way, you need to search for clues on the board using the mini magnifying glasses before the sand runs out of the timer.

 

If You See A Crocodile...  - this was Princess Pea's first board game when she was 2 1/2 and she just loved it! Teaches colours, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get to the finish first. Along the way you need to hop along coloured spots and watch out for crocodiles. Even more fun if you sing along to the tune of 'Row row row your boat'.

Fancy Nancy Positively Perfect Parfait Game - develops problem-solving skills and social skills. And, of course, what kid doesn't get excited at the prospect of building the ice cream sundae of their dreams?! The object of the game is to build an ice cream sundae consisting of at least 3 different flavours with a cherry on top - but be careful someone doesn't switch your scoops!






















The Game of Ladybirds - great for practicing counting and adding on, important early math skills, as well as familiarity with dice, which is useful for quick number recognition. The object of the game is to collect as many ladybugs as possible, keeping count of how many you have.

The Busytown Busy, Busy Airport Game - this one is perfect for those active little ones that aren't quite ready to sit down for a board game yet, as it involves moving around the room to deliver passengers to their destinations. Super for practicing strategic thinking and problem solving. The object of the game is to deliver all the passengers to their destinations and collect souvenirs from all the places.

Any kind of Snakes and Ladders type game - games where there are unexpected 'gains' and 'losses' that can't be helped are good for developing social skills and good graces. We have the My Little Pony version, but for some reason that is now very expensive on Amazon, so try this popular Chutes and Ladders version instead. The object of the game is to reach the finish first, but beware of setbacks. If you're lucky, you might even find some shortcuts.

What are your family's board game recommendations? We'd love to hear them!

 

{Cool Dinosaur Small World Play}

Cool Dinosaur Small World Play

with Play Dough and Nature Items

This dinosaur small world play scene was a big hit at Sweet Pea's dinosaur birthday party! The kids had so much fun playing with it, and it was really easy to set up in about 10-15 minutes with just a little preparation ahead of time. All I used was some no-cook homemade play dough and nature items collected from the garden!

A few days before her party, I made several batches of no-cook homemade play dough in 'earthy' colours - shades of blue, brown, grey and green. To make the brown I first tried mixing red and green food colouring, but it made more of a greyish colour (which I used as 'rock' in our dinosaur world.) Then I found it worked much better to make brown if I just added some cocoa powder instead - and it smelled divine, too! In total, to fill our whole sensory play table [affiliate link], I made 5 batches of this no-cook homemade play dough recipe. I stored it in resealable plastic bags to keep it soft and fresh.

I flattened the play dough down in sections to make different landforms - blue for a lake, grey/beige for sand/rocks, brown for mud/earth, and green for grass/forest.

Then I went out to the garden and collected some bits and pieces of nature - clippings from some bushes, bits of grass, twigs, rocks, wood chips, and some flowers. I brought them in and placed them around the dinosaur world - bush/tree clippings, grasses and flowers in the grass/forest area, wood chips and twigs around the brown parts, and rocks to section off areas.

I used some brown play dough to form a volcano shape and rose buds and petals to make the red lava. Then I hid our Playmobil dinosaur set and all the dinosaur toys [affiliate links] I could find in amongst it all.

Doesn't it look fun?

If you have a little dinosaur lover, too, you might also like our Decorated Dinosaur Eggs and our Rainbow Dinosaur Dig!

Follow Mama Pea Pod's board Dinosaur Fun on Pinterest.

{Rainbow Dinosaur Hunt Sensory Play}

Rainbow Dinosaur Dig

Sensory Play

For Sweet Pea's 4th birthday we had a dinosaur themed party. I wanted to keep it easy and not too organized for the kids (all three and four years old), so I tried to have a balance between party games and less structured 'station' type activities. This rainbow dinosaur dig sensory bin was a huge hit! Digging, scooping, pouring, rummaging, squeezing, sifting - the sensory table was the centre of the party action!

To make it, I simply poured in lots of rainbow dyed* barley, rice, tiny star-shaped pasta and lentils, buried some little dinosaur figurines (some regular hard ones and some squishy gummy-style ones [affiliate link], too, for extra sensory stimulation), and tossed in whatever else I could find on hand - some feathers, pipe cleaners, large wooden beads, some wicker balls, and some fake petals. I added a couple of wooden scoops like these [affiliate link] and that was it.

Colourful, playful, sensory play - a preschool party hit!

*To dye the grains, simply put some in a resealable plastic bag, squirt in some food colouring and hand sanitizer and shake like mad. Then lay out in as thin a layer as possible to dry.

Subscribe to Mama Pea Pod for more simple play ideas directly to your inbox - including more dinosaur-themed ideas coming soon!

{DIY Dinosaur Costume}

Easy DIY Dinosaur Costume

(From Old Pyjamas)

Do you have a dinosaur lover at your house? Sweet Pea is into dinosaurs these days. She turned four yesterday and we are busy preparing for a dinosaur-themed birthday party! Her birthday request was for me to make her a dinosaur costume for dress-up play. As a beginner sewer, this sewing project seemed daunting at first! I turned to Pinterest and saw this and this example, got some advice from a friend, looked through my box of fabric bits to see what I had on hand, and then set out to see what I could come up with on my own. What I discovered is a way to make a DIY dinosaur costume that is actually quite easy, even for beginners, and I just love the final product!

First I took a pair of Sweet Pea's favourite old pyjamas that were too small (as it happens, they had a dinosaur printed on the top, which is why they were her favourites.) I used just one leg of the pyjamas to make the tail. Then I found some shimmery green fabric from an old costume that didn't fit. I used that fabric to make the spikes, but you could use the other PJ leg if you wanted to. 

To make the spikes: To cut out the fabric for the spikes, first I cut a triangle out of cardboard (I used an old cereal box from the recycling bin). I traced around it on a double layer of the green fabric to get my first spike. Then I trimmed about half a centimetre off each side of the cardboard triangle and used that to make the second spike slightly smaller than the first, and so on so that each spike was slightly smaller than the last (see photo below.) I sewed the spikes (right sides in if there's a right side to your fabric) along two sides and left the third side open. Then I popped them right side out and poked the corners straight with a blunt pencil.

To make the tail: I cut the pyjamas up the middle seam, separating the two legs, and continued down the seam to the bottom of one leg. Although the leg fabric was more or less triangular when laid flat, I trimmed it to make it come to a narrower point at the bottom by simply folding it back into its original 'leg' shape and then trimming freehand. 

I laid the open edge of the spikes along the cut edge of the PJ leg - on the right side of the fabric and with the spikes protruding inwards, not upwards in the spiky fashion they end up in. The spikes were in order from the smallest at the end of the tail to the largest at the top. (Be sure that the spike's edge sticks out further than the edge of the PJs.) Then I folded over the PJ fabric so that the two edges were on top of one another, with the spikes inside, and sewed along the whole length together. 

Then I turned the tail right side out and stuffed it loosely with a bit of batting. Finally I just sewed straight across the top to close it up, but I sewed it so that the top lies flat across her back, not flat along the centre seam of the tail, if that makes sense. This way when she wants to wear it, I can just pin it to the top of her pants and it will fall flat and be more comfortable.

To make the top: I was going to use the dinosaur pyjama top, but since it was already too small I thought she'd get more use out of her dinosaur costume if I used a larger top, so instead I used an old t-shirt of her sister's. I cut it open up the centre of the back, and followed the same procedure with the spikes as I had for the tail - laying the spikes in size order on the right side of the t-shirt with the spikes poking downwards, then folding the other edge of the t-shirt fabric on top and sewing along the entire length. 

Finally, I turned it inside out and was relieved to see that I had a super cute dinosaur costume for my little dino lover!

Have a dinosaur lover in your household, too? Here are some great ideas for dinosaur-themed birthday gifts and party themes - and a sneak peak at what we're doing for Sweet Pea's birthday! [affiliate links]

       

{Why a Play House is the Perfect Toy for Imaginary Play}

Simple, Creative Play with a Play House 

Let Their Imaginations Run Wild!

Peekaboo! How's the weather?

Imaginary play is definitely the number one choice for playtime at our house, and the addition of a play house has really helped to make our children's imaginary play come to life! Imaginary play is a key ingredient in growing creative kids and has huge intellectual and emotional benefits for children. It allows them opportunities to explore hypotheses, problem-solve, role-play social situations, develop language and literacy skills, and work through emotional stresses. 

Imaginary play: Super sleuth on a bear hunt

Having a play house has given our kids so many opportunities to expand their imaginary play, and having a 'life-sized' structure to play out their scenes in makes it all that much more real to them. In fact, we actually have two play houses - a wooden play house outdoors and a cardboard play house [sponsored link] indoors - to support their imaginary play.

Play house picnic party
at the 'ballet studio'

Below are some of the ways they play with their play houses and some suggestions for props. I recommend placing a basket of mixed accessories in or next to a play house and leaving the rest up to them. If your child wants to engage you in the play, follow their lead instead of trying to direct the play. Chances are, your child has much more imaginative ideas than you could dream up! If your child needs a nudge when it comes to imaginary play, try picking up a prop and starting the ball rolling with an inviting prompt. Something like, "Oh, thank you for this lovely invitation to your tea party! What can I bring?" or, "Excuse me, Doctor, but my baby has been coughing all night. Can you help?" will likely be enough to trigger a scenario in your child's mind.

Making the play house into an art gallery

Some ways that our play houses are used: [affiliate links provided to some of our favourite props]

*House - they play family roles, baby care, tea parties. Possible props: baby doll, tea set.
*School - Possible props: paper, pencils, math manipulatives, their homework!
*Farm - Possible props: stuffed animals, watering can, baby bottle (for feeding baby animals), vegetables (real or pretend)
*Ice-cream stand - Possible props: scoops, empty ice-cream containers, cash register, play money
*Art gallery - Our girls have drawn their own art inside their indoor play house, complete with frames. Possible props: paper, markers, paint or crayons, homemade paper frames
*Puppet theatre - The windows of a play house make a perfect stage for a puppet show! Possible props: puppets, piece of fabric taped up for a curtain
*Tent/Camp - Possible props: sleeping bags/blankets, pillows, marshmallows
*Circus - Possible props: leotards, hula hoops, stuffed animals
*Book nook - a play house makes a wonderful, quiet spot to read. Possible props: basket of books, cushions, lamp (we have the cord running out of a window to the outlet)
*Shop - Possible props: cash register, play money
*Gardening/Garden centre - Possible props: watering can, kids' gardening tools, plastic flowers and pots
*Dog breeder's kennel (a favourite these days!) - Possible props: toy dogs, ribbon to use as a leash, brush, bowls
*Rabbit caretakers - Possible props: stuffed animals, real or pretend carrots
*Dentist office - Possible props: flashlight (our kids use these invisible ink pens with UV lights), medical mask, tongue depressor
*Doctor's office - play medical kit  
*Vet - play medical kit and toy animals
*Picnics - serve a snack inside (way more tasty than when it's eaten at the table!)

Our decorate-your-own indoor play house

Our indoor play house is a Villa Carton XXL House [sponsored link], which is a brilliant creation - a cardboard house that comes flat and pre-printed in black and white to look like a country farmhouse that you put together and let your kids colour/decorate themselves! My girls (and I) LOVE Villa Carton products (you can see our review of the Villa Carton City Blocks here). They are the perfect combination of creativity and imaginary play. And while it would be possible to make your own cardboard box house out of a regular box, my girls love the 'real house' look of the Villa Carton house (and Daddy Pea much prefers it to having a regular cardboard box in the living room!) To colour it, they used a mix of paint, markers, and crayons (they especially enjoyed colour-mixing to make brown paint and using it to paint 'mud' on the tractor!) They added their artwork in frames that they painted on the inside walls. You could also make pretty paper frames with an open top to change out the artwork. They strung up some sweet star-shaped fairy lights inside, and have kitted it out with a cosy blanket on the floor. As you can see in the pictures, the colouring and decorating are ongoing (which is one of the things I love about it - both the creating and the play go on and on!) Our next project will be to make some paper bunting to add to it.

Imaginary play: Tea party for Pinkie

For more pictures of how my girls created and decorated their play house, click here.

(Please note that we received the Villa Carton XXL House for free to try out for review. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.)

{Fly Away Butterfly - Easy Colourful Puppets}

Fly Away Butterfly:

Easy Colorful Butterfly Puppets Crafts for Preschoolers

We've been watching this Butterfly Colors Song video on YouTube over and over and over again. My girls (aged 6 and 3) love it. My 1st grade beginner EAL students love it. And it's a fun resource for teaching colours.

We made easy butterfly puppets to go with the video so we could perform along with it on the screen. 

Simply cut out a butterfly shape (I used the die-cutter [affiliate link] at school since I was making them for a whole class, but you could easily draw your own template or print one from here). We made one per child per colour, so six butterflies each. At school we made them single-sided with a craft stick [affiliate link] on the back, but the ones we made at home were double-sided, with the craft stick glued in between.

Then have your child colour the butterflies to match the colours in the video. You can also have them add further decoration with sequins, glitter glue, tissue paper, feathers, [affiliate links] etc. in the same colour.

Then play the video and have your butterflies dance along as you sing the song together!