3 Fun Creative Play Kits to Keep Your Kids Busy

24 October, 2011 Leave a comment, you know you want to!
Aquabeads

This half-term holiday (or for anytime), here are three great ideas for creative play from the people at Flair. Aquabeads is listed for ages 4 and up, but we found that because of the small beads, younger children will definitely need supervision. Having said that, you'll see that my 4 yr old had no trouble at all and really loved it. (My older daughters who are 5 1/2 and 7 loved it just as much, so this is a good toy for a range of ages.) It is also great for building fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. Hello Kitty Cool Cardz is a great creative toy. You decorate your cards and then laminate them without any heat or any mess. It is listed for ages 6 and up, but my 4 year old had no trouble at all using it and I wouldn't hesitate to let her use it again. This is good ... [Click Here to Continue Reading]

Orthodox Advent Countdown

8 November, 2009 Leave a comment, you know you want to!
red stars- alicepopkorn

In Orthodox Christianity the season of preparing for Christmas (commonly known as Advent) is called the Nativity Fast. It lasts 40 days and begins on 15th November. Because of the difference in dates, (Advent begins on the Sunday four weeks before Christmas) it is almost impossible to find an Orthodox Advent calendar. So this year, my family is planning to make our own Countdown calendar. (Technically, it's more of a countdown than calendar, but you get the idea.) Similar to my earlier post about recycling socks for an Advent countdown, I have decided to make our Orthodox Countdown on a string too. We have decided to use red stars for each day. Red, because it is the liturgical colour for the season, and stars because they remind us of the Star of Bethlehem, showing us the way towards ... [Click Here to Continue Reading]

Recycling Your Socks for Christmas

20 October, 2009 43 interesting opinions, add yours.
stocking-countdown-calendar-christmas-craft-photo

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I like to plan ahead. (I try, anyway!) I originally came across this wonderful idea on the Family Fun website. The idea is to take various colourful socks that your kids have and string them up as an Advent Countdown calendar. I thought that was great, but I've put an even better twist on it and best of all, in today's credit-crunch society, it's THRIFTY. How about using all of those stray socks you have? You know, the ones the dryer ate, or have somehow magically disappeared? You could do just about anything you like to decorate them. You could dye them to make them colourful like the picture above, you could embroider them, decorate them with ribbons and buttons, or even paint them. Let your imagination run wild! You don't have to have kids to ... [Click Here to Continue Reading]