Creative play (2)

This month I've been working a lot so have done very simple things for creative play - I love the preparation and planning involved for some more intricate ideas but sometimes it's also good to have things you can throw together in 2 minutes :)

******

1. Fingerprint flower cards

We made this card for my mum as she's not very well at the moment. She loves everything and anything Doofy does (special privilege of being first grandchild!!) so I knew she'd be especially touched at a handmade card. I originally saw something similar on Pinterest and decided to try our own recreation/twist.

The only drawback is my husband said the end result looked "too good" so didn't look very homemade. Oops! That was definitely not the plan...

What we used:

-          plain white paper

-          coloured card (orange and purple)

-          green felt tip

-          finger paints

-          pritt stick

First of all on the white paper Doof did a thumb print in yellow and then finger prints of different colours in a circle around. This was the flower head. I then cut it out (D is too young to understand how to use scissors and/or use them properly!). He then coloured in a strip of white paper with a green felt-tip. That became the stalk. From the orange card I cut out a small "pot" shape. Doof then smeared glue on the back of each separate piece and stuck them onto the purple card (with a little help to get them in the right positions!). We then wrote a message inside - job done :) 

******

2. Outdoor drawing

This is a nice thing to do on a sunny day and everyone can join in. It can help develop sharing (a very important skill I think!) and also allows you to talk about colours with your child.

What we used:

-          chunky wax crayons

-          large A1 paper sheets

-          a sunny day

This is the most simple of activities. When it was sunny I spread a couple of large paper sheets on Doof’s outdoor mats and put all his chunky crayons in a bowl. Initially he had fun trying to stand all the crayons up like a large crayon army. Next he had fun knocking them all down. Then he started to scribble with them. I joined in and drew a few different coloured shapes. At the moment D still just scribbles but as he gets older this will be a fun way of practising shapes or letters as the whole family can do it together.

 

******

3. Indoor painting

This is perfect for those days that are the opposite of those needed for the above activity – rainy, cold or otherwise not-wanting-to-be-outside days.

What we used:

-          washable paints

-          plastic bowls

-          large roll of paper

-          masking tape

-          assorted brushes

-          Doofy's hands and feet :)

To start with I rolled out a length of paper (from an easel paper roll – brilliant purchase from Amazon) the same width as the kitchen floor. I cut 4 similar pieces and then taped them together with masking tape so paper covered nearly all of the kitchen floor. I would definitely recommend trying to do this *before* you let your toddler in the room… I did it while Doof was milling around which made it a lot harder!! Next time I’ll do this prep while he is napping!

Next I laid out a few brushes and squirted different coloured paints into separate bowls. I wanted to use larger ‘paint pots’ than his regular paint palette so he could put his whole hand and foot in if he wanted. Then I let Doof loose…

To start with he was a bit reticent – maybe because he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to paint on what he thought was the floor! But soon he was dipping the brushes in the paint and from there it was a rapid slippery slope to hands being dunked in the paint and smeared on the paper :) this is definitely an activity I would recommend stripping down to the nappy for!!

******

And I'm so pleased that Doof is still loving his couscous sandpit - he asks to play with it nearly every day :)