DIY: the ultimate craft box for 3 to 6 year olds. Encouragement for my reluctant crafter.

Henry doesn't love craft the same way as my other children do. He doesn't seek out craft items or barter for pieces of recycling. He is in fact the only child in the house who can reliably take the recycling to the bin without hiding bits and pieces on the way there for later use. He does however like to do crafts that are organised for him. Especially ones that are not going to make a big mess. Sticky tape is one of his favourite things.

I have therefore created this 'Ultimate 3-6yrs craft box' for him. It is bound to encourage even the most reluctant crafter. And best of all, the contents can all be shoved neatly placed back in the box at the end of craft time.

You will notice that this box has been designed to encourage the use of fine motor skills. While many parents are quick to teach children to count or learn the alphabet, fine motor skills can sometimes be ignored. The ability to manipulate scissors, glue, pencils, pens, and other small objects is very important in the lead up to school. I would definitely encourage parents to provide experiences focusing on fine motor skills, like craft or play doh among other things, wherever possible. This is just one way to create an activity box that is fun, as well as being easy to get out and clean up afterwards.

What to include:

Cards and envelopes
Scrapbook
Coloured paper
Corrugated cardboard
Shiny paper
Stapler and staples
Watercolour paint tray set
Paper doilies
Pipe cleaners
Chalk
Masking tape
Washi tape
Road tape
Small pom poms
Feathers
Crepe paper streamers
Buttons
Straws
Paddlepop sticks
Wool in different colours/textures
Scraps of ribbon and lace
Alphabet stickers
Foam stickers
Patty cake cases
String
Tissue paper

Other possible inclusions (we already have these items):

Precut shapes
Glue or glue stick
Scissors
Coloured paper and/or card cut into different shapes (for example: small triangles or squares)

This finished craft box:

While this box is perfect for 3 to 6 year olds, older and younger children have different needs. For children aged 7 to 12 years a perfect craft box can be found here.

Jen.x

What is fear keeping you from? The awesome beyond.

This week I have been struggling. I have a sinus infection that is annoying me and the medication makes me teary and generally negative. As a result I'm looking at the bad side, while trying desperately hard to look at the good. There is almost always good mixed in with the not-so-good, it's about focus. My focus has been slightly off.

On the way home, I started thinking about just forgetting about the blog. Just stopping.

Do I really need to publish? Couldn't I just write forever and never hit 'publish' again? Would anyone even notice? Do I care? Is it really a valuable use of my time? Can't I just cruise Facebook and share other amazing blogs? Is there really any point?…..

And the questioning went on. Negative. I told you. We all have times when we question behind I've-certainly-got-it-all-together smiles and I'm-completely-fine replies to how-are-you-s. I am no exception. And right now there really isn't anything hard or terrible going on. Sometimes it's just life. And because. And *sigh*.

So with questions and half formed answers rolling through my mind while driving the long road home, I was shocked when a thought came suddenly to mind. A memory actually. A memory of a rebuke from my kind, patient, adoring husband no less.

It was like this. In the mid-year break we went on a family holiday to Queensland. We were all very excited. The kids were going on a plane for the first time, a REAL holiday for the first time! They wanted to tell everyone. And I said no. I told them that we needed to be safe, and not tell everyone that no one would be home for ten days. I followed this advice to the letter, only telling close friends and relatives and definitely did not post a word on Facebook. And so, we left.

As we were turning onto the freeway heading to the airport, I checked Facebook, bored of travel already. And there it was. One sentence that changed so much. Craig had updated his status just moments before we left. One sentence telling everyone that we were on our way to Queensland.

I was cranky and certainly started to tell him so. But then he turned to me briefly and said something oh so important.

"Exactly when did we start living in fear?"

And I tried to argue and he replied with:

"What's the worst that could happen? We lose all our stuff? When did stuff become so important? Everything that matters is right here."

And I fell silent, deep in thought, because he was right. He was more than right. He had addressed a problem that I really needed to face.

Fear all too often stops amazing things from happening. It robs moments that can never be restored. It sees opportunities fall away untaken. It causes all too many to regret. And it makes us believe the lie of 'can't', when 'can' is really the truth.

So I humbled myself and shared Craig's status and then continued to share photos updating others about our trip along the way. I put aside my fears and changed my focus to what was. What really was. Not the false reality that fear presents.

After this trip things changed. I started to think about what fear was keeping me from. It made me see things differently and more clearly, analysing my motivation for doing or not-doing things.

It is no coincidence that I wrote my first blog post two weeks after we returned. An advertisement for Blogger titled something like "start a blog today!" came up while I was using google to search for something else. I remember standing there and asking myself "why not?" I had just been absolutely inspired by a post someone else had written about a village, and when I was completely honest, the only thing stopping me was fear.

What if it is a flop? What if no one reads it? What if it turns out to be a complete waste of time and everyone laughs at me? What if I am just a terrible writer?…….

Fear.

But Craig's words came to mind. What is the worst that could happen? And exactly when did I start letting fear rule me.

So I wrote. And then nervously pressed publish before I could change my mind. And I don't regret it. The amazing thing about fear is that once it is overcome, freedom exists. And that feels awesome. Nothing quite like it actually.

In the months that have followed I have continued to write and click 'publish.' I have made connections that would not exist but for the blog. I have learnt that my writing is something I love and need to do, whether 50 or 350 people read it. Writing makes me smile and stay calm when there is no calm to be found. Most importantly others have responded, sharing things in a quiet, off-the-record way, along with questions that would have stayed stuck in silence otherwise. That's the part no one sees and what often keeps me going.

Which brings me back to the moment in the car today.

Do I need the blog? Do I need to publish, even if only 50 people want to read it today? Yes I do.

If it is important to one person, it is important to me. And the fear needs to know that I do not listen to it.

Today I choose to write ignoring negative thoughts. Today I choose to click 'publish' in spite of any lingering fears. Today I choose yet again to step forward in the world beyond, into the awesome freedom that lives there waiting for me.

So all that is left is to ask a simple question. Is negativity and fear keeping you from anything today? Maybe it's time to silence the lie of 'can't' and choose to step out. Freedom is waiting.

A simple gift for young children that can be fun for older kids too.

This is a gift I gave Lucy years ago. I originally gave it to her in a box, but it just wasn't a box kind of an activity. After buying some clear containers for work at a discount store, I returned to buy some more a few weeks later for us and the largest one turned out to be perfect for this set of toys.

Lucy wanted animals and fences. That's all she had wanted for Christmas that year. She was 5. I thought this was great, easy! But it turned out that buying farms and fences (that actually stood up and connected) wasn't as easy a task as I thought.

I bought a range of farm animals from a local department store. Then, after much searching, I eventually came across the lego click together fences that turned out to be the perfect size for farm animals. Daisy will even try to click them together, although it is a little tricky and is probably better suited to 2yrs+. I found them through Ebay, with the search "Lego clip bar." After a bit of analysing postage costs etc, I found an overseas seller that did reasonable combined shipping and had plenty of the three kinds I wanted. I chose some black, brown and grey. Some have sets of clips on both sides, but most have one set of clips. This means that paddocks can be made and shut completely or can have a door. The kids love having the choice.

Over the two years since I have refined this collection of  'animals and fences.' One thing that I have discovered is that just normal farm animals and fences are fun, but adding a lion and dragon or beetle and a crocodile really adds to the fun! The play tends to lend itself to an older age group when unusual items are added. Dinosaurs have even been added at times.

This set can be played with inside or outside. Sometimes we will take them out to our sand/rock pit. As all the pieces can go in water too, following outdoor play the kids play with the set in the bath or kitchen sink. For those having bath time battles, having friendly animal friends in the bath can be a real help. Daisy has had her friend "rhino" (a little yellow plastic rhinoceros) in the bath with her since she was quite young. It was very helpful for progressing past the I-don't-want-to-get-out-of-the-bath stage. It took a few times of me holding her and smiling even though she was crying, but now we wave goodbye to the water and goodbye to Rhino every night, saying "bye bye, see you tomorrow." Tears are now averted almost every time. So far this has worked for 5 out of 5 toddlers for me. That's pretty good odds!

As a Christmas gift, it is a play-straight-away gift, which is also great for toddlers and preschoolers. As an expert in undoing ALL the ties Christmas morning I would encourage all parents to think about packaging issues that could arise. My worst Christmas morning was when I had 3 children, Lucy being only 5 months old. A screaming-without-ceasing 5 month old. Craig worked day shift, so we got up at 5am, opened the presents and he left for work. And so the day of crying began. That is for all of us. A desperate-to-open-all-the-things 4 year old, a just-turned-2 year old who was over Christmas before it began, and Lucy. I wish I knew then what I know now, because my choices would have been soooo different! This set of toys would have been one of them.

Other activities that can be undertaken with this set in a more parent directed way, aiming to encourage learning, are:

* counting- focusing on one to one correspondence. This is much more important than being able to just count aloud to a million!
* sorting- and discussing different ways of sorting the same items (valuable mathematics skill.)
* naming and talking about the animals. These are great conversation starters, especially for children who need speech intervention.
* 4 yrs+ could try to write stories about the animals' adventures. It doesn't matter if the stories can be read or not. It's all about setting up writing as a fun and useful endeavour.
* drawing pictures of the animals or the farm as a whole.
* practice adding groups of animals together or taking animals away. For example, "wow, this farmer has sooo many animals! How many pigs does he/she have? How many sheep? How many is that altogether if we put them in the same pen?" or "There are 5 sheep in this pen. How many would be left if one decided to go on an adventure!?"
* it is even possible to discuss even groups, which is necessary as a start for learning about multiplication and division. For example, "How many animals should we put in each pen?" and then "do our pens have even numbers of animals?"
* with older children discussions could focus on perimeter and area (and the difference between these) or multiplication/division ("how many sheep would there be in a pen if I saw 20 legs?)

When joining in to play- enjoy it! Play can just be a fun bonding experience too.

Toys that can be used in a variety of ways and can allow children to add their own creative fair when playing with them are great, so this set is a winner.

How to make a Minecraft cake.

It was some time ago that I made this Minecraft cake for Jack, before I started writing for this blog. Recently a friend asked me about the cake as she is faced with making one. I said I would write a blog about it. But forgot to. She is making her cake for tomorrow, so this is probably too late, but just in case it's not: this is the most awesome cake I have ever made.

Step 1- The day before making the cake

Find a large dish and line it with Glad wrap. Combine jelly crystals and water (less than directed) in a large bowl and pour into dish once crystals are completely dissolved. I used 4 boxes of jelly, but only added not quite the water as per the directions for three boxes. This made the jelly dark in colour and helped during the cutting process. Put it into the fridge.

Bake a tray of brownies. I used three packet mixes in the same tray. This made the brownie nice and thick, so the final result looked brick like.

 

Step two- Prepare to put it all together

Make some green butter cream icing before you start, that way it will be slightly melted by the time you need it, which is perfect to achieve the look you want for the grass.

Have some sharp knives ready, and a clear (washed!) ruler.

Put brownie on a flat surface, ready to cut.

Step 3 - The dirt bricks

I worked with two inch squares. Cut out the brownie as below. Use the three outer pieces.

Carefully place these on the cake plate.

I know others have needed skewers to hold their cake together, but I didn't need to. It was a very dense cake and wasn't going anywhere!

Step 4 - The sandstone bricks

You can make a tray of marshmallow crispy treats, but I didn't have the time. The option I chose was to use LCM bars. I measured the LCM bars and it ended up being an LCM bar and a half wide and deep.

Cut three, two inch pieces, then cut one in half lengthways and one in half through the side. Then squash each brick together using the pieces to make cubes. It is a very easy process after the first attempt. I did use two+ boxes of LCM's though!

Place these cubes gently on the cake plate, just aside from where you want their finished position to be.

Step 5 - The grass

With the icing in a small glad bag, simply trim one corner with scissors. Test making 'grass' in the centre (where no one will see) until you are happy with the look, then cover the top of all the dirt bricks.

I deliberately made lots of hanging down bits to make it look authentic. Jack noted that he was very happy with this part in particular.

Step 6 - The tree

To make the tree use a chocolate finger biscuit. Mash some left over LCM bar around it, stick it in the cake and then cover it with the green icing.

Step 7 - The water 

Carefully lift the jelly out of the dish and place it on a countertop. Then measuring carefully, cut one (2x2 inch) brick out at a time, placing each block straight onto the cake plate and moving the LCM bricks into place to support it.

The cake is designed the way it is to support the jelly without the need of an external tray.

Place the cake in the fridge until it is needed.

Jen.x