2012 Highlights

As the year comes to a close I start to reflect on all the great activities and ideas that I've been able to post to you in 2012. It was tough to whittle it down to a select few. 

What has been a favourite for you? 

Colouring Rice

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/colouring-rice.html

Milk Bottle

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/milk-bottle-rackets.html

Cold Spaghetti

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/cold-spaghetti.html

Contact Play

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/contacted-leaves.html

Fruity Punch

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/diy-party-planning.html

Salt Drawing

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/salt-drawing-or-writing.html

Play Dough

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/diy-play-dough-no-cook.html

Milky Magic

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/milky-magic.html

Bird Seed Feeder

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/bird-seed-feeder.html

Edible Paint

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/edible-finger-paint.html

Sensory Board for Babies

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/diy-sensory-board.html

Posting Play

http://laughingkidslearn.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/posting.html

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years and I look forward to sharing more ideas with you in 2013. 

Christmas Toast

Create a cute little surprise for someone special this Christmas by giving them some Christmas Toast. 

Simply mix a few drops of food colouring in a teaspoon of milk and create your message. 

Obviously your only limited to your creative mind with this one. 

You can toast the bread as normal and the colours look amazing. 

Completely edible and fun for kids and adults. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Reindeer Food

Don't let your children forget to leave food out for the reindeers on Christmas Eve.

This special recipe will ensure they get to all the good boys and girls of the world.

;) 

Recipe

1 cup of Rolled Oats

Sprinkle of glitter

You can attach a special message to a pack of reindeer food and give them as gifts. 

DIY Party Planning

I really do love to entertain and once I have a theme my obsession starts.

Here are a few things I put together for little Possum's 1st birthday. 

BIRTHDAY CAKE

Now I've already done a tutorial on how to make the pink shaded birthday cake.
If you would like to see it then scroll down below this post. 

FRUITY PUNCH

Fruit punch is always a hit and so I find myself bringing it out at all my parties. You can of course make it alcoholic or non-alcoholic. I personally tend to make it non-alcoholic and people often appreciate an alternative to soft drink or water AND kids can have it too! 

The recipe is very flexible and whatever you do you can't go too wrong.

This punch has pineapple, cranberry juice, orange juice, lemonade, variety of cut up fruit and roughly chopped mint from the garden.

SIPPY BOTTLES

These bottles I purchased over eBay for not much. When they arrived I realised they were quite small but they actually turned out to be a great size for the straws I purchased to go with them.

Inside the bottles I placed a raspberry and filled with punch.

Everyone loved sipping at these little bottles.

WATER BOTTLES

I purchased 24 water bottles for $8!

I got these from Officeworks, which were great because the original label came off easily and I could replace them with my own decorative ribbon that I purchased from Big W for $2.
Everyone wanted to take one of these home and were joking about using them at the gym.

PARTY COOKIES

These biscuits were introduced to me when one of my students had a birthday and brought them in to share with their peers. I asked the parent for the recipe and she shyly replied it was only a simple recipe from the '4 ingredients' series. "BRILLIANT!"

500g soft butter

5 cups self- raising flour

1 can condensed milk

1 cup of sugar

100s & 1000s

(I usually do these with choc chips instead of the sprinkles)

Makes 75!!! 

FAIRY BREAD

Who doesn't love fairy bread? This plate was gone in seconds and consumed mainly by adults. 

1 loaf of bread

margarine

100's & 1000's

LOLLY BUFFET

People love dipping into big lolly jars. I used mash mellows to hold up these beautiful pin wheels that gave height to my birthday table. Gorgeous. 

STREAMER WALL

Thanks to Deb from 'Learn with Play at Home' for this great idea.

Click here to learn how it's done. I received many comments about this idea.

SAUSAGE ROLLS

For some hot food I made some great sausage rolls. I made more than I thought I'd need but they turned out to be a massive hit with people asking for more! 

Click here to see how I made them. 

GOODIE BAGS

Okay so I'm know to always supply a goodie bag or two. I think it's a great way to end what has been a great day and allows your guest to take something away with them.

It's a nice thank you.

These boxes I got from www.inviteme.com and I included some fresh lollies that were all sealed in a snack zip-lock bag. I decorated them with some string and ribbon and they looked a treat.

BIRDS NESTS

Possum loves birds and so I had to include that somewhere in her party.

Here I used Changy Noodles, melted chocolate and peanut butter (obviously check allergies) and the 'egg' looking lollies came from Happy Lab.

POPCORN BOXES

These were so easy. I just found some cheap muffin cups and filled them with coloured popcorm that was $2 a bag, which I still have left over. 

CUPCAKES

An important party to any young ones birthday party. These were lots of fun to make and decorate. In fact I had a friend help me with the decorating because she is much better at it than me. 

STYLING

 Let's be honest, anything goes and so don't get too worried about it.
I thought it would be a great idea to have the birthday cake in the middle, the drinks at one end and the other party food at the other. 

I decorated the rest of the room with balloons and a large number 1. 

And so that was the party. It was a great day and I'm glad I was able to pull it all together. Sure, it felt like I was planning my wedding all over again but I know my little one had a great day and that's the main thing.

Kate 

Birthday Cake

Since pink was a running theme for the day I decided to make shades of the colour and hoped it would be effective when cut on the day. It was either going to make me sink or swim. Fortunately it was a massive hit and I'm glad I did it. 

I basically baked three cakes.

 With each batch of cake mixture I separated them into two bowls and coloured them individually. 

I measured each bowl of cake mixture to ensure they were of the same weight. 

I didn't want to end up with layers of cake that were of varying thicknesses. 

Each bowl I coloured separately. I used food colouring GEL and not the drops. You can buy the gel at homeware or cake suppliers. The gel allows for a more intense colour and 

works much better than the drops. 

First separated batch of mixture I added 1 drop of colouring, second batch received 2 drops and so on until I had my six layers. 

Once completely cool I was able to start decorating. 

I layered the cake and used the frosting in between each layer and on the outside. 

1 block of butter (500g)

8-10 cups of icing sugar - yikes I know

1 tablespoon of milk

Add the icing sugar gradually. Once it's at the texture you want you can start adding it to the cake. 

I used a clean brown paper bag to create the number one, which I could then decorate around. 

I sprinkled red and pink sugar balls (not sure what they are really called) and make sure there was a clear boarder of sugar balls around my number one. This would ensure it stands out.

I added some gorgeous pink butterflies (not edible though), which I found at pink frosting. 

Was a great treat for guests to eat. 

Here is Possum having her first taste of cake....and LOVING IT!

Kate
X

(kate_lloyd@hotmail.com)

Mouthing in Children

It wouldn't be unheard of to hear me screaming in a panic 'Possum, stop! Don't eat that dead fly!"

The truth is that to anyone over the age of about 5 years old understands the sheer thought of eating a dead fly wouldn't be highly appealing. Mainly because we already know much (or enough) about dead flies and why they are on the 'do not eat' list. For babies they are still creating that list and discovering much about the world we live in. 

Now obviously I'm not for babies eating dead flies or anything remotely unsafe, but I am for them exploring and using their mouths to learn.

There are many great toys that are available to babies that allow them to explore textures etc. 

I recommend the many sensory toys that are available now.

Here is a gorgeous baby having a sensory good time and mouthing on a toy. 

Sticky Fingers

Children need to experience a range of sensations and sticky surfaces are no exception. 

_____________________________________________________

Here is Possum ready to accept the large loop of sticky tape. 

It was fun watching her transfer the tape from one hand to the other. 

Just be sure they don't eat this one. 

Kate

XXXX

Cookie Jar - gift

Christmas is a time for giving and so we find ourselves battling the shopping centers looking for the perfect gift. Well look no further because here is a unique gift that you put together with your children. They are sure to be a hit with whoever you give them to. My friends loved them.

Simply place all the ingredients into a jar, tie a ribbon around the top. Add a note of the extra few instructions to making the cookies and your done.

WHITE CHOCOLATE & CRANBERRY COOKIES

Equipment

• You'll need a 1L glass jar with a lid

Jar ingredients

• 3/4 cup (110g) plain flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup (75g) firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup (75g) caster sugar
• 3/4 cup (65g) rolled oats
• 100g craisins (dried cranberries)
• 130g white chocolate chips
  
  Extra ingredients for making cookies

• 125g butter, melted and cooled
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  Instruct them to throw all the ingredients into a bowl, add the wet ingredients and bake until golden brown. 
  
  Merry Christmas! 
  
  Here is a picture of my nephew stirring some cookie mixture I received as a gift in a jar. We had a great time doing it together. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

DIY Christmas Stocking

It has always been a tradition in my family that we each have our own Christmas stocking that is placed out for Santa to fill with all sorts of treasures on Christmas Day.

It is this Christmas that I'm considering this as Possum's FIRST Christmas, the previous one was a complete blur from her being only days old. I thought it might be nice for me to make a little stocking that I can hang as a decoration or fill with a few small gifts. 

Here is a great DIY Christmas Stocking that is easy to make. 

You can also decorate them however you wish once they are completed. 

________________________________________________________

Firstly, you will need - 

*Scissors

*PVA glue

*White felt (large)

* 2 x Red felt (large)

Draw your stocking shape (or trace an existing one) and cut it out. 

Use the other sheet of red felt and do the same. 

You should have two red stockings that match up

Run PVA glue around the edge of the stockings but be sure to leave an opening at the top. 

Glue the two red pieces of felt together. Ensure there is an opening at the top. 

Using the white felt, roughly measure how much you will need for the top of the stocking. 

You might like to use a pencil to draw your shape. 

Be sure to cut out two matching shapes. 

Use the PVA to glue them to the red felt. 

Do the same to the other side. 

You might see the wet glue, however, this will dry over time. 

EXTENSION 

I think it would be a great idea if your child was to decorate these with tinsel, glitter or more felt pieces. 

They would be a wonderful addition to any Christmas. 

OTHER

If you find the glue isn't strong enough to hold any items you wish to have inside, sew a box stitch around the edge and it should be enough to completely fix your felt pieces together. 

If you would like to learn how to do this stitch, click here. 

Disappearing Candy Cane

Do you know how to make a candy cane disappear? 

I'm sure you have a few of these laying around the house, especially at this time of year. 

Simply add warm water and watch it start to bubble and disappear before your very eyes!!!!

This is what it looks like after 1 MINUTE

5 MINUTES

15 MINUTES

20 MINUTES

35 MINUTES!!! 

The reason it does this is because of the sugar the candy cane is made from. 

The warm water dissolves the candy cane in minutes. 

This is a great lesson for children and teaches them about how solids can be dissolved. It also teaches them about the importance of healthy eating. 

Please email me pictures of your little one conducting this experiment. I'd love to see them. 

kate_lloyd@hotmail.com 

Click here if you want to see someone else do the same experiment -

http://preschoolpowolpackets.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/candy-cane-science-experiment.html