Materials:
Coloured card
Glue
Collage pieces (like pom-poms, glitter, stars and other pre-cut Christmas shapes)
Construction:
1. Pre-cut the coloured card into the shape
of a Christmas stocking.
2. Help the kids paint one side of the
stocking with glue and decorate it as they like.
3. Put it aside to dry then take it home to
hang from your tree or near a window.
(from https://playgroupwa.com.au/ideas/christmas-stocking-collage/)
Materials:
3 Paddle pop sticks
PVA glue and Paper clips
Christmas Paper and Scissors
Ribbon / lace / sparkles / Paint
Construction:
1.
Assemble
the paddle pop sticks into a triangular shape and secure. Glue together using
PVA glue, and secure the corners with paper clips while the glue dries.
2. Cut up the paper and ribbon /lace, and
glue each piece onto the frame, covering any gaps.
3. Continue decorating the tree using
sparkles or paint as desired or maybe add a star at the top and a tree trunk
using a part of a paddle pop stick and then leave the ‘Christmas Tree’ to dry.
(from https://www.artycraftykids.com/christmas/popsicle-stick-christmas-tree-craft/)
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons of cornflour
10 cups of water
Edicol dye or food colouring
1 cup of Lux Flakes
1 teaspoon of disinfectant
Method:
1. Put 9 cups of water into a large saucepan to boil.
2. Blend the remaining cup of water with the cornflour into a
smooth paste.
3. Gradually add the cornflour mix to the boiling water, stirring
constantly.
4. Add soapflakes and disinfectant and stir well.
5. This recipe fills 3x 2L ice cream containers.
6. Mix
one teaspoon of edicol dye or food colouring with a teaspoon of cold water and
add to each container (different colours eg red, yellow, blue).
7. Stir each container of mixture well.
Kids
will love personalizing these for their mothers.
A 3-D Mother’s Day card using:
Don’t forget to write a message to mum inside telling her how much you love her and how special she is.
Now that the warmer weather is here again, it is an ideal time for water play at Playgroup (or at home). It’s a simple, inexpensive activity that is enjoyed by all young children, from the baby who splashes in the bath to the pre-schooler who makes dams and rivers in the dirt.
BENEFITS OF WATER PLAY
* It is soothing and stimulating — it can calm the active child and give
confidence to the shy child
* can be used in many ways so that it appeals to all children of all ages
(including those who are way past childhood!).
* It encourages language development as the children talk about what they are
doing. Parents can also increase the child’s vocabulary by using words such as
trickle, splash, squelch, sprinkle, gurgle, drip, froth, foam and many more.
* Children can learn basic scientific concepts through water play – floating
and sinking, freezing and melting, pouring, dissolving, absorption, etc.
* It makes no demands on children, allowing them to play with water in their
own way, without fear of skills being criticised. They can practice pouring and
measuring and no-one will complain about the mess.
In summary, water play provides opportunities for children to socialise, relax,
extend their concentration span and develop confidence in their own abilities
as they learn new concepts.
EQUIPMENT FOR WATER PLAY
* You can use an old baby’s bath, a wading pool or any large plastic container.
Adult supervision is essential though,
as young children can drown in a surprisingly small amount of water.
* Alternatively, let the children play under the sprinkler or with the garden
hose while you are watering the garden.
* Equipment you may like to provide (but not all at once) can include funnels,
sieves, plastic containers, sponges, corks, plastic tubing, squeeze bottles, an
egg beater or whisk, rubber gloves and floating toys.
* If your Playgroup can afford it, a plastic water wheel is a great investment.
The children are fascinated by the wheel spinning around as they pour water
through the spout.
* Water play does not need to be restricted to the sunnier months. You can keep
children amused for hours in the cooler weather by giving them a container of
warm soapy water to play with or filling up the sink or laundry trough.
ACTIVITIES
INVOLVING WATER PLAY
* Add a block of coloured ice to a container of water and let children watch
the colour diffuse as it melts.
* Peg an old sheet to the fence and give the children spray bottles of coloured
water to spray paint the sheet.
* Use a large ice cream container and make small holes .in each side. Insert
long pieces of plastic tubing (available at crafts shops) into the holes. Add
some detergent and warm water, then let the children blow bubbles together.
This is great fun to do out-doors on a windy day, but make sure the children
know the difference between blowing and sucking.
* Give the children small buckets of water with a paint brush so they can paint
the fence or footpath.
* Put hands and feet in water and make prints on the concrete.
* Put a small piece of foam sponge in a bowl. Whisk up a concentrated solution
of Lux flakes and water. Add the foam and let the children squeeze the soapy
lather. It feels great when you walk on it with bare feet too!
* Children love to do their own washing, either plastic dishes, dolls or dolls
clothes.
* Make simple boats out of polystyrene meat tray with paddle-pop sticks masts
and paper sails.
* Play water table tennis using a polystyrene ball and straws to blow from one
end of the bath to the other.
* Go for a walk in the rain and look at the colours in puddles, water washing
down the gutters and raindrops on leaves and flowers.
WATER PLAY