Here’s a cute little activity great for all ages. And particularly great for Autumn time in Adelaide where there are all those gorgeous coloured leaves around to collect and use.
We scavenged our local park (in our raincoats and gumboots which made it even more fun) and found a basket full of sticks, leaves, berries and other natural “ingredients” to make our faces.
Then all you’ll need is a nice flat tree trunk to make your clay forest face. If you’re lucky enough to have some nice big trees in your own backyard lucky you! If not, just make sure you get natural clay, and you can make your tree faces at the local park and leave them there.
All you need is…
A basket full of goodies collected from your backyard, local park, Nanna’s garden……wherever you can find them.
Some non toxic air dry clay. You can get this online from somewhere like Officeworks, or just pop into your local pottery supplies or art/craft store and ask them.
Then all you do is… Using a tree trunk as your canvas, get busy building your forest face….or whole body using the clay and your natural bits and pieces. Parents, stand back and just let your kids work on this alone. It’s amazing what they’ll come up with when they’re left to it.
I absolutely ADORE this Stick People Community craft idea from Danya Banya. Who wouldn't want a community of Stick People at their house? We have created many stick people (and toilet paper people!) in the past few years, and, as the girls get older, it's fun seeing and hearing what imaginative adventures the kids create for their Stick People to get involved in. We have Stick People in the fairy garden, Stick People joining us for dinner and Stick People hunting down the local sleepy lizard, Lance. And although our efforts are quite laughable compared to Danya Banya's, the kids had so much fun that it really doesn't matter (thank goodness)! Below is an image of the activity from the Danya Banya website. A Community of Stick People from Danya Banya Stick People by Elka and Fleur (we tried!) I love that this activity embodies imagination creativity, nature and the development of fine motor skills. As Danya Banya points out too, it can suit a range of age levels and abilities (thankfully for me!). Don't forget to check out the Danya Banya website, it's full of loads of creative activities for your kids to enjoy at home. There's lots of other…
The leaves are beginning to slowly change colour, which can mean only one thing, autumn is on it’s way! Autumn is the season of colour, and by far my favourite. I remember I used to go out of my way to step on a crunchy leaf, and for some reason it still brings out the child in me! These activities have been created with young children and preschoolers in mind, but they’re equally as satisfying for older age groups too (ahem, even really big kids at heart!). They’re easy and quick to put together and especially great for keeping those toddlers busy while you get something else done, or better yet, sit down and have a cuppa, or read that magazine you bought three weeks ago that’s still sitting on the kitchen counter! Contact Art You will need: Clear contactBlack card or brown paper, cut into a trunk and then some branch shapes. Homemade leaves (you could pre paint/fingerpaint some autumn colours with your child and cut it into leaf shapes)Or craft leaves from a variety shopSticky tape To begin… Cut some contact off the roll and round off the top. Then pull off the paper backing. Stick this (with…
Here are a couple of quick and easy art activities inspired by Winter. SNOWFLAKE DECORATIONS You will need: PaperScissors Method: Start with a square. Fold in half to make a triangle, then fold the points upwards (check picture for reference) Then draw the snowflake design and cut out! Make a few in different sizes and decorate a wall or door! SNOWMAN SURPRISE You will need: Clear contactScissorsColoured card (or an old cereal packet you can cut up and colour)Either old lace doily from an op shop, cotton balls or white paper Method: This one is really simple but kept my three year old entertained for quite some time and she was thrilled with the result. Simply draw the snowman shape on the contact. Cut out and peel off backing. Stick to door or wall by folding over a couple of centimeters at the top and bottom. Let your child decide what accessories the snowman will have. If they can draw and cut them out by themselves, give them ownership of their artwork. My three year old drew the circle buttons, the lines on the carrot and the shape of his smile and I cut them out for her.
I'm a Mum of 2 girls and also one 4 legged ratbag of a dog called Rudy. I work from home and family balance out the work/school hours with lots of beach time, walks, bike rides skates, scooters and surfs. We like being outside. Our favourite places in Adelaide are the Adelaide Hills and Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park