{Made-With-Love Daffodils Spring Craft for Kids}

Made-With-Love Daffodils

Spring Craft for Kids

These sweet daffodils made from recyclables are a classic spring craft for kids, and a bouquet of them makes a lovely gift for Mother's Day or for grandparents or teachers. They look beautiful in a makeshift bottle vase! I remember first making them at school when I was very young, and now the tradition is being passed on to the next generation. They are very easy to make; even the youngest children can be involved.

You need:
An egg carton
Paint - yellow; optional: orange, black
Pipe cleaners - preferably green
An empty glass bottle or vase

First, cut out each individual 'cup' of the egg carton (you'll probably want to do this part for young children.) Then have them paint each carton cup inside and out with yellow and/or orange paint. Leave to dry.

Next, if you like, paint a blob of black in the middle. Leave to dry.

After that, use the pointy end of a pipe cleaner to poke a hole through the centre of the carton cups. Push through about 1/3 of the pipe cleaner and leave the other 2/3 hanging straight down the back as a stem. Curl the 1/3 third inside the centre of the flower, to make a spiral. This will hold the pipe cleaner in place and also looks like the inside of a flower. 

Finally, pop them in a glass bottle or vase and put them on the shelf to admire them!

Follow Mama Pea Pod's board Creative Craft Ideas for Kids.

{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.

{Salt and Watercolor Painting Dinosaur Party Invitations}

Salt and Watercolour Painting:

Dinosaur Party Invitations From Kids' Art

The kids loved the process of this salt and watercolour painting, which we then turned into dinosaur party invitations for Sweet Pea's dinosaur birthday party. Easy, colourful, and pretty!

 

First the girls did a watercolour wash over pieces of white paper in various colours.

Then while the paint was still wet, they sprinkled some salt onto the paper. It makes an interesting textured appearance in the paint. Sweet Pea got a bit carried away with the salt and we ended up having to brush off lots of excess salt afterwards! 

Once the papers dried, I cut them out into dinosaur shapes. I started by making templates first on cardboard, which I'll try to make into a printable for you and add it later. Then we glued the dinosaur shapes onto coloured card stock - beautiful, colourful invitations made from the kids' artwork!

If you have a dinosaur lover at your house, you might like these posts:

Decorating Dinosaur Eggs

Rainbow Dinosaur Sensory Play

DIY Dinosaur Dress-Up Costume

And I'll be posting more soon from our Dinosaur Party so check back again, or subscribe by email and get the posts directly to your inbox.

{Hands On One to One Correspondence Counting Practice}

One to One Correspondence

Playful Hands-On Counting Practice

One to one correspondence is an important skill in early math and early literacy development. It refers to the ability to understand that each item represents one thing and to maintain the one-to-one match while counting objects or while reading words on a page. 

In math it is the ability for kids to count along objects without skipping any - to count one more for each object. Many kids can rote count numbers, but counting objects without skipping any is more difficult. In reading it is the ability to follow along with each word on the page, understanding that each visual word they see corresponds to an individual word with its own meaning and to maintain that one-to-one match while reading.

For some fun, hands-on practice with one-to-one correspondence, try this simple count and stick activity. You'll need:

* foam sheets or pieces of paper (I used foam for a more sensory tactile experience)
* glue
* various small objects that you have pre-counted 
* bowls

I set out a bowl for each different type of object, but you could challenge your child more with one bowl containing all the items to 'find' first. 

Label each foam sheet with a number from 1-10.

Your child needs to count out the number of objects that match the number on the sheet (if they can't read numbers yet, you can tell them the number) and glue them on.

We used small items that we had around the house. Try these suggestions:

*foam shapes

*craft sticks

*cotton balls

*feathers

*shells

*squares of tissue paper

*dried beans

*dried pasta

*stickers

*leaves or flowers from the garden

*twigs

*pine cones

*acorns
*pompoms

Other ways to practice one-to-one correspondence:
*Egg carton math
*Playing board games (counting along the spaces) [affiliate link]
*Counting out spoonfuls as serving dinner or playing tea parties

More playful math learning:
*Playing With Symmetry
*Simple Preschool Math Play
*Pool Noodle Patterning
*Number Recognition Travel Game

{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!

{Simple Canada Flag Nature Craft - Maple Rubbing}

Canada Flag Nature Craft for Kids:

Maple Tree Rubbing

For Canadians feeling patriotic or for non-Canadians learning about Canada, here's a fun nature craft to get your creative kids outdoors.

We made this Canada flag craft last summer for Canada Day, but it would be great to do anytime! All you need is some paper, a red crayon or coloured pencil, and a maple tree!

Lay your paper in landscape format and using a maple leaf, mark out thirds with vertical lines down the paper. Make a leaf rubbing in the centre of the paper (notice that nice Canadian spelling of 'centre' ;-p ) by laying the paper on top of the leaf and gently rubbing the crayon at a sideways angle over the paper where the leaf is underneath.

Then, lay the paper on the trunk of the maple tree and make bark rubbings over the outside thirds of the paper to fill in those sections completely.

Enjoy the time outdoors and perhaps take the opportunity to also check out some other types of barks and leaves and make comparisons.

{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.)

{Snow Painting}

Snow Painting Fun!

We tried snow painting last spring, and it was such a quick and simple activity to prepare, but the kids had so much fun playing! They've been talking about it ever since (we did it last spring!), and can't wait for snow this year so they can do it again!

Just fill some squirty bottles [affiliate link] with water, add a few drops of food colouring, and they're all set! They wrote their names in the snow, made a giant snowcone, and gave the snowman a makeover!

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