Ice Cream Shop

Back in the warmer days of summer we turned our little play house into an ice cream shop and had some imaginative fun.

Twist some paper into cone shapes and tape together, then scrunch up some colourful tissue paper for the ice cream, add some coins and a menu and the shop's open!

Not only is this activity great for role play, it's also perfect for early counting skills.

Sweet Baby Bunting

I don't normally take orders to sew for people as I really don't have time - and there's always the worry that something goes wrong or they don't like the finished product.

However, now and again it can be fun, especially when it means making bunting as cute as this for tiny newborns.

It does take a little extra time than usual to personalise but it definitely makes it more special.

Sunshine Sparkle Playdough

Hello!  It's months since I wrote anything at all.  Life is certainly busy with two little ones.  I've been looking back at posts and really enjoying/remembering things I made or things we've done so I want to keep trying to post.

Today I'm posting some sun-shiny playdough that we made on a really dull, wet day back in the summer to cheer us up.

Add yellow food colouring to a basic playdough recipe and then lots of sparkly gold bits and pieces. 

It certainly cheered our day!

Natural Treasure Basket for Baby

Time for baby girl to start exploring a bit more. I can't believe it's around two years to the day since I posted a picture of a similar treasure basket. 

Treasure baskets are a wonderful way for babies to explore everyday objects that you have around your home. Sometimes they have a theme - the theme of this basket is natural materials. 
'The Little Book Of Treasure Baskets' has lots more ideas and tips for putting together baskets of your own.  

Remember - safety first!  Never leave your baby alone while playing with a treasure basket and only give them objects you feel are safe for them to explore.

More Numbers!

I wonder if you remember the numbers I made a while back for my little boy's room?  

Here they are....lovely colourful numbers from 0-10.  

They hang in his room but can be taken down if he wants to play with them.  

Here's the original post here and some learning ideas for what you can do with them.

This time I was making them for my little girl's room and although I was trying not to go all pink and girly, it's difficult not to!

I still made numbers from 0-10 in co-ordinating fabrics but changed the colours on the back to pale pink or cerise pink for odd and even numbers.  

Just a little extra and self checking activity for when she's at that stage.  Ok, I know that's many years off yet!

Water Bottle Fun

I came across a couple of water bottles I bought in the winter today which were perfect for spraying onto the spider's webs we found in the garden to show them up a bit more.  Water droplets (and frost) on a web look truly beautiful wouldn't you agree?

Some of the webs we found were the biggest I've ever seen. One measured the full size of one of the playhouse windows - spectacular!
Can you see it in the picture? 

My photography skills can't seem to get a better shot.

We went off on a spider web hunt, which led to a spider hunt and then on to a full blown minibeast hunt.

And to top it off we just ended up running around the garden having a water spray chase.  Love summer!

Dinosaur Play in the Garden

The sun has come out at last and I should think so too in June!

So we've been out in the garden today and made this little dinosaur world. 

We had some trees cut recently and I asked for the offcuts for playing with - they have so many uses!

Here they've been used as platforms for the dinosaurs to climb on and jump from.  

I added a piece of shimmery blue fabric I have as a river/lake and some green mesh for grass.

Set against a leafy background it makes for lots of dino fun...

...Roar!!!