childrens craft

Melted wax poppy craft, a remembrance day activity 15

 in crafts  tagged art / childrens craft / craft / flowers / Hyperemesis Gravidarium / kids craft / remembrance / remembrance day by

Here’s an easy poppy craft, which is a great Remembrance Day activity for children. We have made a display of poppies and a paper plate poppy wreath, but you can use the same technique to make a poppy brooch by added a pin on the rear or a display of poppies for your home, church or school.  The mini mad’s will be taking the poppies to my mum’s grave in remembrance of her. These poppies were inspired by the fab wax paper flowers at Homegrown Friends. How to make melted wax poppies with KidsMaterials:

Fingerprint Thank you cards – Robins 40

 in crafts  tagged cards / childrens craft / crafts / finger prints / fingerprint / Thank you by

We are working on reducing the boys reliance on technology and we decided to make fingerprint thank you cards for part of our #ScreenFree time. I think that it is really important for the boys to say thank you for the gifts they receive and as a family we love to give and receive hand made cards.  I try to make sure that what we do is something that the boys can do all by themselves and they loved this activity.

Apple printing and apple eating! 8

 in crafts  tagged apple / baking / childrens craft / cooking with kids / crafts / recipe by

Today is apple day and we are celebrating it in the mad house, by apple printing and eating delicious apple pie and the last two apples from our tree.  When we moved in to our new build home 7 years ago one of the first things we did was plant an apple tree and a pear in the garden.  We have watched over the years as those trees have grown and developed just like our children and watched the joy on the boys faces when the apple bears fruit (the pear never has, yet………).

A home made dream catcher made my Mini 7

 in childrens craft  tagged childrens craft / craft / dreamcatcher / dreamcatchers / sleep by

Not only did two years classrooms flood, but the library and ICT area also flooded. The dining hall has been turned in to a storage area and the school has been unable to serve warm meals. All this uncertainty has resulted in a very anxious Mini. This partly shows by him being filled with bravado and the other side with issues sleeping.

So in addition to working on stopping him being a reluctant sleeper and doing things to prevent nightmares, we also made a dream catcher together. When I say we, what I mean is I held the tape and chatted to him whist he made his own dream catcher.

We used, some wood from a plant in the garden with tape to make into a circle (ish) and then mini used rope to tie round it. He then strung some pretty beads on to string and attached them.

Whilst he concentrated on making the dreamcatcher we talked about their history and all the things that have been worrying him.

Walkers Mighty Lights – so good we turned them in to keyrings 5

 in crafts  tagged childrens craft / crafts / crisps / keyrings / shrink plastic by

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees (without the fan if possible)
Place a layer of silver foil over a cold baking tray
Iron your crisp packet (I put it under a towel)
Place the crisp packets on the tray and then place in the oven
Watch as they miraculously start to shrink (you think nothing is happening and then POW all of a sudden they start)
As soon as they stop getting any smaller remove from the oven and place a heavy book over them to ensure they stay flat
I punched a hole in the packet before placing in the oven for the one we turned in to a keyring. We then put an old keychain through the hole.

You could also make badges by gluing a badge back to one.

Crafting with Post-it notes 6

 in crafts  tagged art / childrens craft / craft / post-it by

The boys really enjoyed being allowed to stick the post-it notes to the wall and I felt safe in the knowledge knowing that they would not mark the paintwork or stick permanently.

We used Super Sticky fully adhesive Post-it notes which are in fab vibrant colours. 3M have just launched Post-It Notes Colour Cubes which have many more bright and lovely colours. Why not check out Post-It UK Facebook Page for more information on the new range of Post-It Notes and see other peoples pictures too.

Homemade Christmas Cards 8

 in crafts  tagged cards / childrens craft / christmas cards / handmade christmas cards by

We love making our own cards here in The Mad House, But I do realise that this might not be the same for everyone with children, but I thought I would share with you our favorite Christmas Cards that we have made. I think that Christmas cards that the children have made are a lovely thing to give, but often they can be messy, difficult, time consuming and complicated to make.  Not these. Card Masking tape Green Paint Sponges Glue Sequins or stars Glitter You start by cutting a tree shaped template in a piece of card.  The easiest way to do this is fold it in half.  You can make it more »

Easy Bubble Wrap Painting 9

 in craft  tagged bubble wrap painting / childrens craft / craft / easy childrens crafr by

Maggie over at RedTed Art set a challnge to do an art project based on a story from Fly Thomas Cook’s travel stories. We read both of the stories with the boys and asked them what they thought we should make and they decided that they wanted to do something about water, as this is what they assocaite holidays with.

So we decided to do a sea scape. The boys used bubble wrap to make the sea and then cut out and decorated fish to stick on to it. I drew the fish shapes on the paper and they cut them out themselves.

An alternative to salt dough ornaments 18

 in 2010 / activities for children / advent / childrens craft showcase / Christmas / Christmas Crafts / christmas decorations  tagged childrens craft / christmas decorations / cornflour dough by

  We usually make salt dough ornaments at this timeof the year, but spurred on my Chris at Thinly Spread I decided to give cornflour dough a try.  However, typically I didn’t have the ingredients on hand to make her recipes so made up my own. Ingredients 2 cups salt two thirds of a  cup of water 2 cups cornflour Half cup water Method Mix 2 cups of salt with two thirds of a  cup of water in a pan and stir constantly over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until bubbles appear. Remove from heat and immediately add to 2 cups cornflour and half a cold water  and mix quickly to more »

Nativity Scenes 11

 in activities for children / advent / advent at TheMadHouse / childrens craft / childrens craft showcase / Christmas / christmas decorations  tagged advent / childrens craft / christmas / crafts / loo roll nativity / Nativity by

  I am a great lover of nativity scenes and grew up with the lower image in my mums house.  When Maxi was born she gifted me it.  I love it, so do the boys, but as it is china they can not play with it and make up their own story, so we made our own version out of loo rolls. We had so much fun, but no images of us making them, as I was far too involved with the boys, glue, ribbon, scissors and lots and lots of fabric scraps! Oh and I went to Maxi’s Nativity yesterday and Mini’s is today, so I will be back with more »

Easy Christmas Cards for Children 5

 in cards / childrens craft / Christmas / christmas cards / Christmas Crafts / crafts / homemade; crafts  tagged advent / cards / childrens craft / chrisrtmas craft / crafting with kids / kids craft by

I think that Christmas cards that the children have made are a lovely thing to give, but often they can be messy, difficult, time consuming and complicated to make.  Not these easy stenciled christmas cards that are kid made. Firstly you need: Card Masking tape Green Paint Sponges Glue Sequins or stars Glitter You start by cutting a tree shaped template in a piece of card.  The easiest way to do this is fold it in half.  You can make it as simple or fancy as you like.  I am simple lady myself. Stick the template on to your card.  I also stick the card down to the table for minimad. You more »