We're Busy being Creative

A couple of months ago I came across this wonderful blog http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/ it has great ideas for fun and creative things to do with your kids and on a budget- even better! Having done my ECE (Early Childhood Education) back in 2007, and working in a Daycare for over a year I already had ideas/ knowledge of what activities to do with young children to develop and promote learning. It just took this website for me to realize that Jaxon is getting to the age where I can start to do more "activities" with him and really put my experience and knowledge to good use! I've always loved creating and making things- I used to make beaded and hemp jewelery, I love scrapbooking, I briefly took up knitting, I made a table top out of mosaic tiles, I just love to create and now I get to pass it along to my children. I really enjoy the time I spend with Jaxon doing messy art, making craftsand gifts for people and especially baking.

I've done quite a few activities with Jaxon over the past month with many more I would like to do. Some of these ideas are from the website and some from idea books I have.

Playdough:

I made Jaxon playdough for the first time about a month ago, he's now at the age where he doesn't try to eat everything and with this homemade recipe everything is edible- it doesn't taste good but it won't hurt him either. Here is the recipe I use- and love!

Combine in saucepan: 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1tsp. cream of tartar

Add and whisk until smooth: 1 cup water, 1Tbsp. oil, food colouring(combine these in a measuring cup and then add)

Cook over medium heat until playdough in nearly set. (It will go from being very sticky to smooth) Remove to counter and knead when cool. Store in ziploc bag or airtight container.

I usually double or triple this recipe and depending on how much you play with it it will last about a month!

Tye Dyed Sunshine- http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2010/07/quick-craft-tie-dyed-sunshine-ornaments.html

This was very easy, and I loved the outcome! It definietly brightened up our windows on those gloomy days we had. Using coffee filters, you fold them and cut the edges pointy, so when they are opened voila- a sun! Using red/ orange/ yellow felts Jaxon coloured the coffee filter (and so did I) then with water and paintbrushes you "paint" the suns. The colours melt together leaving a tye dyed look. Jaxon's ended up fading quite alot since he kept putting more water on, but he seemed to still enjoy it. It's us adults who are more concerned with the finished product- for children it's all about the process and the actual creating part. I think I would try this one again and use watercolours instead giving more vibrant suns.

Painting with Hands... and Feet- http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2010/08/painting-with-feet.html

This one was MESSY- which equals MORE FUN! Jaxon was confused at first when I told him to walk through the paint, once he took the first step there was no turning back! He also painted with his hands and ended up getting paint EVERYWHERE- including his hair. It was easy, messy fun, I just put him in the bath after to clean him up.

No Mess Marbled Painting- http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2010/08/no-mess-marbled-painting.html

So after a day of major mess I opted for a no mess project. This one was EASY! Put 2 colours of paint- or more into a ziploc bag, tape the top closed with packing tape and let your child watch the colours mix and form a new colour. You can also put glitter into it.

Homemade Bird feeders- This one was from an idea book I had at home.

Cutting an apple horizontally, cover it with peanut butter then dip it in birdseed. Obviously Jaxon couldn't do anything but dip it in birdseed and eat lots of peanut butter- it was quite difficult to put the peanut butter on the apple as it was slippery. Once they were all done we went outside and Jaxon picked where we would hang them (using twine). After a couple days the birds found them, and so did the squirrels! They don't last very long as the squirrels seem to take the entire piece off apple with them. We now have a bird feeder made out of an empty milk jug, with 2 holes in the sides and a wooden dowel through it so the birds can sit on there to get their seeds. We all enjoy watching the birds come and eat out if it... oh and the squirrels too!

Invisible graffiti- one of Jaxon's favourite things. Get a dish of water and a paintbrush, paint whatever you want!

MEGA Bubbles http://www.frugalfamilyfunblog.com/2010/07/sunday-snapshot-you-must-try-this.html

A definite family favourite!! I saw this and had to try it! I think Jordan and I enjoy this as much if not more than Jaxon! The results are fantastic and now it's a competition to see who can get a bigger bubble. Jaxon loves to try and make the bubbles but I think he is a bit young to maneuver the "wand" yet, he LOVES to chase a pop them though.

Peg Board- A relatively easy toy to make but definitely not for children younger than 2! Using a 12x12 piece of plywood Jaxon and I painted it so it was nice and colourful. I then nailed in finishing nails about an inch apart and bought assorted elastic bands. Now Jaxon can create shapes- or whatever he wants putting the elastics around the nails. He mostly makes squares right now.

Egg Carton Rainbows- Another idea from a project book.

Using an empty styrofoam egg carton cut the lid off. Fill all the little cups with some water, put some food colouring into the different cups- i usually put blue, red, yellow and green in the 4 outermost corners. Using an eye dropper mix the colours, it's that simple! It's fun to see what colours you can come up with- as your child is doing this you can talk about the colours you're creating or have them guess what colour will be made if they mix blue with yellow for example. Jaxon really enjoys this activity, however he does still struggle with using the eye dropper but the more he does it the better he gets!