Zoe’s Pipe Cleaner and Pom Pom Craft

What do you do when no one wants to do the craft things you think they would like to do?

Get the experts in to help.

So of course I turned to Zoe.

And this is the tray of fun she put together:

Zoe's craft fun at Mudpies and Sunshine

Zoe didn’t have a specific idea in mind for her craft. She just knew what materials she felt like creating with. Pipe cleaner fun with Mudpies and SunshineAnd here are the results… Look what I made with Mudpies and SunshineI know the craft object is a little blurry but I included this photo because of the look of pure enjoyment in Zoe’s eyes.

Here are some clearer photos of what Miss Zoe created… Pipe cleaner creations with Mudpies and Sunshine

The shiny green pom pom creature on the left is a fish; the one with the orange pipe cleaner is a letter holder; the large one on the right is a nose phone and the small one Zoe is holding is a baby called “The Tot“.  Yes I know what you’re thinking and you are right. There is no way I could have ever prepared a craft for Zoe that would turn out this varied. Or maybe you weren’t, maybe you were thinking “Thank God she told me what they were ‘cos I never would have worked that out in a million years”.
Pipe cleaner and pom pom creations with Mudpies and SunshineAnyone else a little wistful for their childhood imagination?

Hmm, me too :)

So, what’s up next? Well Mother’s Day is looming here in Australia so I will be featuring some crafts and cards for Mums over the next two weeks. Us Mums love kid-made craft and I am no exception. We also do crafts for the girl’s grandmothers so they will just have to refrain from opening my Mother’s Day posts. I’d hate to spoil the surprise!

Thanks for dropping by!

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Learning How to Knit

I’m a new knitter. I’ve started on and off over the years, each time having to start from scratch again and again. I know ladies who could knit for “Look at These Crafty People YOU Could Never Be Like Magazine” and I know ladies who couldn’t care less if they never “cast on” in their lives.  Me – well I am learning to keep my hands busy at night and gain that satisfaction you get when you have made something yourself. I have discovered that if my hands are busy at night with knitting, then they aren’t able to open the fridge or the pantry and place calories in the mouth. And I could do with a new scarf.

I am also learning so I can teach my lovely little girls how to knit as well.

Big news…this morning I taught Ebony how to cast on.  I was so elated that I was passing on a skill which has such a long and important history. Ebony was elated as well. I have a feeling though that she is expecting to get from casting on to a beautiful long scarf in a matter of minutes…well the reality will be another of one of those essential learning opportunities that we should be letting our kids experience on a regular basis.

So why knitting and why now?

Well Ebony received a lovely little knitting kit for her birthday so that helped with her motivation to start learning. I have been doing some embroidery and mentioned that I wanted to get back into knitting so it seemed to spring from there.

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I spent some time looking on YouTube at casting on stitches until I finally found a video with an easy method to learn and copy. The video is presented by a young British woman and is a lovely quirky short video. I highly recommend it!

I hope to repost about Ebony’s knitting some time in the future and show a lovely young lady modelling a fine warm scarf.

I’d love to hear from you dear reader about your knitting experiences. To knit or not to knit? How do you answer that probing question?

Thanks so much for dropping by!

 

Foam Koala Masks

We made some foam koala masks on Australia Day which we mentioned in that post but didn’t elaborate on.  They are good fun to make anytime and very handy in a dress up box so I thought a full post was called for!

Foam Koala Masks with Mudpies and SunshineFirstly I found the koala mask tutorial on the Woman’s Day website here and printed off their free koala mask template. The tutorial originated from TheHappyHome, a beautiful blog with lots of gorgeous craft. The Woman’s Day tutorial uses felt but we wanted to do ours quickly so we chose foam instead.

Koala Mask Template with Mudpies and SunshineOnce the template was cut out, I traced around it onto the foam. I used black foam for the nose (the pic above is a little misleading – please refer to the pic below which shows the black foam!). Foam Koala Mask Cut Out with Mudpies and Sunshine

Once the foam shapes were cut out, it was time for the girls to get busy creating fluffy white ears for our cute koalas.

Glue and cotton balls for koala's ears with Mudpies and SunshineWe used cotton balls pulled into pieces and white pom poms for the ear fur.

Making a foam koala mask with Mudpies and Sunshine

With both girls finished I hole punched the edges of the ears and tied on matching ribbons. Ribbon allows for easy adjusting and is soft and barely noticeable when tied securely.

Foam Koala Mask with cotton ears with Mudpies and Sunshine

Just for the sake of aesthetics I tied the knots in the ribbon on the back side of the mask. Foam Koala Mask with Mudpies and Sunshine - tie knot  in the back

Allow for plenty of ribbon which makes tying so much easier and less likely to get hair pulled and caught up in it.

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Both girls were so pleased with their masks. We have seen alot of koalas about lately…

Foam koala masks on with Mudpies and Sunshine

Have fun!

Thanks for dropping by :)

Muffin Tray Motor Skills Practice

Curious about your kid’s fine motor skills? Me too. I wanted to see how the girl’s fine motor skills would manage with some of the more interesting utensils we own. I also wanted an activity that looked appealing and fun – not like a test – so I reached for my trusty 6 hole muffin tin.

Muffin Tray Motor Skills Practice with Mudpies and Sunshine

Tongs, tea strainer and tweezers seemed like obvious choices, however if I really wanted to annoy Zoe I would have added chopsticks – but since this is supposed to be fun I restrained myself.

So this activity couldn’t be simpler to explain – using any utensil the aim is to move the contents of each muffin round into an empty round. So much to learn with this activity. It looks so simple, which is the best part – it is easy to set up. But the girls really had to use muscles with the tea strainer and hold the tongs and the tweezers with a high level of care to grab and dispense their objects.

Fine Motor Skills in a tin with Mudpies and Sunshine

 

Zoe had to sit on the couch which added to the level of difficulty. I should point out that underneath the coloured match sticks are a small handful of coloured rice grains. Zoe was up to the challenge and started moving the grains with the tweezers…then she decided to get more efficient she would employ the tea strainer. Problem solving skills also in play here :)

Fine Motor Skill Practice in a Muffin Tin with Mudpies and SunshineThis activity can be adapted to suit any age and ability which is why we will do this again and again. Next time the chop sticks will be coming out of the drawer!

A mini muffin tray could also add to the fun – good for individual items for toddlers or smaller more difficult items for the bigger kids.

If you do use this idea I would love to hear about it.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have fun!

Easy Felt Heart

Need a last minute Valentine’s gift? Keep reading!

Zoe raided my felt stash and asked if we could make something for Valentine’s Day using felt. So combining two pink colours and some lovely stick on gems we came up with this sweet little craft.
Easy Felt Heart Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine

If  you are looking for a craft with a quick set up time and limited supervision (as I was) this is the Valentine’s craft for you. We already had some embroidery hoops on hand but you could use a photo frame or even make your own frame (pinterest pinterest pinterest) if you have more time. Or you could glue or stitch the felt heart onto a bag, scarf, beanie or stick it onto a strong piece of card.

Easy Felt Heart Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine - what you need

Fun and much concentration using the stick-on gems.

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It is a real test of the fine motor skills removing the small piece of sticky backing paper from the stickers and then placing the sticker right where you want it.

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Flip the finished little heart and squeeze on some glue.

Easy Felt Heart Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine - gluing

Brush on the glue and position the heart onto the felt.

Easy Felt Heart Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine - stick on the heartThen show off your work proudly! Then perhaps quickly wrap it before the 14th :)

Easy Felt Heart Craft with Mudpies and Sunshine - all finished

Quick, sweet and worthy of the most beloved valentine.

P.S. This is a craft best done with a nude child who isn’t interested in putting on a skerrick of clothing for the camera :)

Thanks for dropping by!

Valentine Chocolate Box

Valentines Chocolate Surprise with Mudpies and Sunshine with wonderful helper

We have taken a break from games (memory and lucky dip) in our egg carton craft series and got right to the yummy part of Valentine’s Day with a Valentine Chocolate Box. This was all we needed to make our special … Continue reading 

Valentine Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game


Valentine Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Here we are at the third installment of Mudpies and Sunshine’s world famous Valentine’s Egg Carton Craft Series. We painted the egg cartons in the first post; in the second we tested our brain power with the memory game and now we will be playing a game of chance (with many giggles) called the Lucky Dip Game.

Here’s how I set up the game:

  • 12 different stickers x 2 (you could use laminated numbers in hearts, anything flat that can fit into one of the egg cavities)
  • 12 envelopes and note paper to fit inside
  • 12 felt balls (which happen to fit perfectly into the egg carton cavities)


How to Play Valentine's Egg Carton Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Once I was all set up I invited the girls to sit on the rug and get started. There are no rules with how far away from the egg carton you need to be (however you may wish to shake things up a bit and have a throwing line).

HOW TO PLAY:

1. Sit down.

2. Choose a felt ball.

3. Throw the felt ball into any cavity in the egg carton.

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4. Ascertain the sticker colour and style your felt ball landed on.

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5. Find the matching sticker on one of the 12 envelopes.

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6. Open the envelope, read the note and have fun. The notes are self-explanatory.

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The one Zoe is reading says “Ring the Garden Bells“.

Playing the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I wrote the activities for the envelopes and placed all the stickers on the envelopes and the egg carton in around 15 minutes.  It is a simple game and it is SO FUN. The best part is you can tailor the activities/questions to suit the personality of your children.

The girls loved the game and we have played it multiple times already. When the game gets a bit ‘stale’ I will change the notes inside the envelopes. The beauty is the game can be adapted over and over again.

Now let me share some of the other notes inside the envelopes :

Time for a Tickle 

Time for a Tickle during the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Walk Around the Kitchen With Your Eyes Closed

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Do a Crazy Dance for 60 Seconds

(Zoe added a crazy song as well, 2 for the price of 1)

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Receive a Surprise Sweet Treat (both players benefit..and Mums)

Get a surprise sweet treat during the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I added a token educational question…

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Do Ten Star Jumps

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Stand on One Leg as Long as You Can

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Give Everyone a Big Hug

Big Hugs with the Lucky Dip Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

I also had one called “Take Another Turn” which Zoe got and was thrilled with (go figure because, in hindsight, I am of the opinion that one is a bit boring!).

Ebony was lucky to get “Say the Peter Piper Tongue Twister 10 times as fast as You Can” and “Put a Toy Away” (she chose a book to place back on the shelf).

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Does your family love playing games together? If you give this game a go I would love to hear about (or even see it if you are able to send a snapshot!).

For little ones I suggest using one word prompts for early readers or pictures of the activity the child needs to do for the pre-reader or toddler.

We’re not finished with the pink and red egg cartons yet! Oh no no no. There are more crafty ideas to come in this egg carton series and they will be coming to you soon! Just in time for you to play some lovely games and spend some quality time with your little cherubs this Valentine’s Day.

Have (lots of) fun!

Thanks so much for dropping by :)

Valentine’s Egg Carton Memory Game


Valentine Egg Carton Memory Game with Mudpies and Sunshine

Following on from yesterday’s post about our new Valentine’s Day Egg Carton craft series, we have our second activity ready to share. The first activity was painting two egg cartons in Valentines theme colours.

Today’s post is all about a game to play in your egg cartons. Believe me it is fun to play and easy to set up.

How to Play:

1. Gather together little objects that are small enough to fit into the egg cavities inside the egg carton. We used red and pink fabric hearts, buttons and pom poms.

2. One player places as many items as they wish in the cavities (up to 6 or 12 depending on the size of your egg carton). The other player has to look at and try to remember what the objects are and where they have been placed in the egg carton. (You may decide to have a time limit on how long the second player can look at the egg carton’s contents. We chose not to. We just all decided when we were ready. No one looked for more than a minute if that helps).

3. Once the second player has looked at the egg carton content long enough – the carton is closed and the contents can no longer be seen. The second player then, relying on their memory, places objects into the second carton to replicate what was in the first carton.

4. Once the second player is satisfied with their efforts the first player opens the first carton to reveal the original contents. Both players react accordingly ;)

5. To keep everyone in the family happy, the levels of difficulty should be age appropriate.

We all loved this game! To be honest I was quite nervous when Ebony asked me if she could set up a game for me. It really does test your brain power. The game also requires you to try out different tactics or strategies. How are you going to choose to remember items and their location?

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Ebony was the first one to test her memory. The girl loves a challenge, bless her!

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I was slightly jealous of her nerves of steel ;)

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My tip – start off small so as to encourage further and more difficult play.

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1st game – good result! There is alot of anticipation as you open that original egg carton after you have been wrangling with your memory! Here is Ebony setting up my first memory game…

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I could literally feel my brain’s engine whirring and whining as I asked it to work hard for me :) And *phew*after a few LONG seconds of checking my efforts, Ebony closed the lids and gave me this beaming smile…

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I didn’t embarrass myself and my generation!! Don’t worry I did later on. In fact we all found combinations that were just too tricky or too plentiful. We stuck to 8 eight items as a shot at 12 was a disaster (for me!). Up to 8 items was lots of fun and very doable.

For Zoe I started off small to give her a clear idea of what to do (I placed only two items in the carton for first game). She was happy with that. Then afterwards Zoe asked to increase the numbers until we ended up using 6 or 7 with her as per the photo below.

Zoe playing the Valentine Memory Game at Mudpies and Sunshine blog

To press home how much the girls enjoyed it they kept saying “I can’t wait to play this with Dad”. He was barely in the door a minute before he was sitting at the kitchen table trying to remember where fluffy pom poms and soft hearts were supposed to be placed in an egg carton. And he was silly enough to think he could ‘switch off’ once he left work!

Little tip: ensure there is alot of each item so that there are enough supplies for the second player.

Have fun with the game and don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out our third egg carton activity.

Thanks so much for dropping by!

Getting Kids to Help with School Lunch Box Ideas

Getting Kids to Help with School Lunch Box Ideas with Mudpies and Sunshine

This year approximately 420 school lunches will be prepared in my home.  Thousands have already been made. Sometimes the girls have expressed *disappointment* with my lunch box fare but most of the time they are happy. Because I generally like to collaborate.  I cringe at the thought of either of my girls throwing away food at school and then not telling me about it. They see kids throw food into the bin at their school every lunch time. What a waste.

My girls also see half of the chocolate, sweet, chip and biscuit aisles in other kid’s lunch boxes. They definitely don’t want to be the only kids with a 100% healthy lunch box.  I agree. School lunches do not need to be a battle ground between parent and child nor however does the lunch need to be the equivalent of a local sweet shop.

So this year I asked the kids to help me with their school lunch ideas.  Getting Kids to Help with School Lunches with Mudpies and Sunshine

Before school went back I handed them this list and asked them to fill it out and add as many things to each list as they liked. You can tell it is still the school holidays in this picture as Ebony’s hair is, um, free flowing.Getting Kids to Help with the school lunch list with Mudpies and Sunshine

The list visually reminded them of how their lunch box is divided into categories of food. It gave them them an opportunity to feel heard (about real life decisions) and they felt their thoughts and ideas were worth hearing. Getting your kids to help with school lunch ideas with Mudpies and Sunshine

Most importantly I have followed through with this idea and everything in the girl’s lunch boxes IS from the list. I haven’t lessened their ideas by promoting my own. Of course if they included crazy things we would have had to edit the list somewhat… but kids will surprise you. Alot of time and thought went into their list which makes my life a whole lot easier. I am not expecting any negative feedback on their lunches!

Writing school lunch preferences with Mudpies and Sunshine

By asking them to write their ideas down, it also gave the activity a sense of gravitas. I wanted them to feel that “Yes an adult, a grown-up is taking us seriously. We must be competent and clearly we are needed.” I am on a mission to let my girls do everything they possibly can do for themselves.

An unintended benefit is the help with menu planning. It makes my shopping list so much more planned and ‘targeted’ when I know exactly what they want. One week the treat food is chop chip pikelets, another week it’s Anzac biccies etc etc.

Getting the kids to help with school lunch box ideas with Mudpies and Sunshine

This week the lunch time food (as opposed to the recess break food) was ham and salad wraps. They LOVE wraps. Ebony grates the cheese and carrot the night before so that it will be easier and quicker to put together in the morning.

So the list is paying off. They are loving their lunch box food because the contents have essentially come from them. And they know that every day there is a treat :)

Thanks so much for dropping by! I am happy to type up the list and make it a free printable. I can make it look prettier, I swear. Just ask me :)

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic


Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine - with tissue paper

We love contact paper. Well I love it because it makes craft time easy and accessible when I am rushed and/or need to keep kids busy! Mostly we do a random mosaic where the kids can let their imaginations run wild.

This time we wanted a heart theme so I folded a large piece of contact paper in half and then cut out a heart shape free hand. By cutting it in half I can guarentee that at worse the heart will be symmetrical!

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine

We had lots of tissue paper cut up from other craft – tissue paper has a lovely transparent quality which is perfect for window art.

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine - tissue paper

With a little school glue stick added to the back of the heart – I stuck the heart to a window and invited Zoe to come along and decorate to her heart’s content.

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic fun with Mudpies and Sunshine

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sushine

Zoe wanted to leave some gaps so “just the light would shine through”.

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine - tissue paper (2)

So simple and very sweet.

Making a Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine

This is a really quick craft to prepare and something kids enjoy creating. The bonus is that their artwork is being displayed as they are creating it :)

Contact Paper Heart Mosaic with Mudpies and Sunshine - with tissue paper

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