A Mum's Life

This week I offered a little of my spare time to take care of a friends little girl. Since this was my first time sitting for her, I thought it might be wise to go armed with a few creative activities to keep her entertained!

After browsing some creative kits, I decided to buy a ‘make your own jewellery’ set from the Early Learning Centre.  I’d heard from Maya’s mum that her little one often begged to sleep in her ‘dressing up’ jewellery, so I thought this one could be a winner. (And I’ll admit, I quite fancied a little jewellery making myself.)

As soon as I arrived and gave Maya her gift, she spotted the pictures of wooden ladybirds on the box and wanted to get started. The pack contained:

• An array of wooden beads including ladybirds and flowers
• A coloured elasticated wooden bracelet
• Glue
• Elastic cord
• EVA foam and templates for cutting shapes.
• Plus instructions

The pack had enough to make 2 wooden bracelets, a ponytail clip and a necklace.

Like most three year olds, Maya wasn’t mad keen on working to instructions! She began by picking her favourite beads and together we began to glue them onto the pre-strung cuff bracelet. After a couple of demonstrations, she was away and happily glued the rest of the beads herself.

This is what we made. Maya loved it!

Next, she wanted to make another bracelet. I cut a length of cord for her and she chose other beads and threaded them onto the cord herself, naming the colours as she went. She was really focussed on this and seemed to really enjoy it. The results were very cute.

I then suggested we made the hair clip together, which involved tracing stencils onto UVA foam and cutting them out. Maya seemed less interested in this part (this may have been because we had already been playing for one hour or perhaps because she was unable to do this part independently). The stencils were quite small and fiddly to draw around and the foam needed sharp scissors to cut.

It was at this point she got a little bored and suggested that perhaps we have a princess tea party instead – I was happy to oblige! I do hear from her mummy that she has requested to sleep in the bracelets! So all in all, I’d consider the jewellery making kit a hit! A great present for a three to five year old girl.

Thank you for reading…AML x

My niece is coming up for her 2nd birthday and I have been racking my brains about what to get her. At 2, I think toddlers are still too young to really understand the idea of presents. When my little man was 2 we spent ages wrapping up his presents and having them all ready in the lounge for when he came through the door. After the BIG surprise…he spent half an hour playing with the Toy Story balloon! Then when he got the hang of it, it was just more fun ripping up and playing with the paper. So I wanted to get something that my sister could enjoy too (it’s mainly for my sister if I am honest!) and that they could both play with together.

If you are struggling to think of gift ideas, then this is a great present and good for all ages – I really enjoyed putting it all together too.

The Arts & Craft Box

I started off by ordering a ‘Things to do’ book off Amazon. I bought two, one for my niece and one for my Little Man.

• Creative Crafts For Kids – Hamlyn
• 365 Things to Make and Do – Usbnorne Activities, Fiona Watt

• Foam paper
• Coloured paper
• Ribbons
• Wobbly eyes
• Coloured lolly sticks
• Coloured feathers
• Pipe cleaners
• Soft balls
• Sequins
• Glitter glue
• Glue
• Sponge paint dobbers
• A couple of plastic table cloths

I am going to make a little sign for the top of the box. As an idea, you could also get a small wooden chest instead of the plastic box, it would then be a fun little project to paint that.

I will post a picture on here of the finished article, as I want to make a little sign for the top of the box!

Ideas of other things you could include:

• Pens & crayons
• Paints & paint brushes
• Paint pots
• Sponge shapes
• Playdoh
• Child-friendly scissors
• Buttons
• Tissue paper
• Glitter
• Painting apron

Thanks for reading……..AML x

I get really stuck for ideas and inspiration when I am painting and making things with my Little Man. So I bought a couple of craft books when I was putting together an Arts & Craft Box for my two year old niece as a gift for her birthday.  I bought one for my niece (or my sister!) and one for me, so we can get a bit more creative then just blobbing paint on some paper.

The two I bought were:

• Creative Crafts For Kids – Over 100 Projects for Two to Ten Year Olds – Hamlyn
• 365 Things to Make and Do – Usborne Activities, Fiona Watt

Book 1: Creative Crafts For Kids

There are loads of really great projects to do, not just drawing and painting, so you’ll never be stuck for inspiration. I am actually amazed about the variety of ideas. I really like it. As the title says, there are projects for two to ten year olds and each one gives you a guide as to which age group it would be suitable for, tells you exactly what you need and how long roughly it will take.

Book 2:  365 Things To Make And Do

This is the book I am keeping for myself. I would say the Creative Crafts for Kids was better for what I am looking for. Which is more making things with my two year old, rather then just painting and drawing. It was slightly more expensive at £7.79, but still good value. I prefer the style of the book though, the ring binder makes it so much easier to look through and prop up on the table when you are creating things and getting messy.

Thanks for reading……AML x