This is the 3rd year that my eldest daughter has kept a scrapbook of things she has done over the summer holidays. This year my youngest wanted to have her own book too.
It is an excellent keepsake and is lovely to look through, especially as it helps us remember things we did in previous years that we may like to do again.
All we use is a cheap A4 lined pad which can be bought from any supermarket. I find these are best as it gives lines for the children to write their thoughts on. I know that it does not give an acid free background for the photos to be mounted on, but it is intended only to give the girls a place to stick memento's.
On the first page the year is written (so for my eldest Summer Holidays school year 2011-2012).
On the second page we write the start and end date of the summer holiday and under this will be written the notable activities and the date it was done eg:
Friday 22nd July - Tuesday 6th Sept
Fri 22nd July - Signed up for the Summer reading challenge
Sun 24th July - Travelled to Devon (pooh Cottage - camping) and stopped at Stonehenge
Mon 25th July - Went to Budleigh Salterton beach
etc.
We left 2 pages to write the day by day information on, then we wrote 'Fri 22nd July - Summer reading Challenge'. A further 2 pages were left after this title so the girls can stick in the 3D stage and the certificate once they are completed. Then the following page was given the title 'Sun 24th July- Camping and Stonehenge'. My Eldest then proceeded to write in the information she recalled from the audio commentary from Stonehenge (so far she has written 3/4 of a page and still wants to write more, it really sparked her interest). My youngest is too young to write her own information so I wrote the title out for her in pencil and she went over it in a different coloured pencil, next she stuck in the tickets from Stonehenge and the information booklets we were given. We will leave spaces for photos too before progressing to the next day/page.
This allows us to keep mementos from holidays- in previous years my eldest has collected 'Hagrid sick' (green paper which was used to represent sick from Hagrid when we went to Alnwick Castle last year), tickets from films we went to see at the cinema and pony hair from dartmoor ponies that we found on Dartmoor when we were there last week.
The girls really do enjoy doing this and for my eldest it is a way of improving her writing without it feeling like work. The children can put in as much or as little information into the books as they want/are able and it also makes sure that I remember to take photos through out the holidays.
I also enjoy helping them to keep these memories and we finish off every yearly entry with a photo of them on the first day back to school. This provides a lovely yearly record of growth, especially if you have the same piece of furniture in the background so you can see how they have grown!
Sunday 31 July 2011
Start of the holidays
If you are looking for something to keep the kids occupied for part of the summer holidays why not sign up for the Reading Challenge at your local library. This year it is Circus Stars http://www.circus-stars.org.uk/. On signing up the children are given a 3D stage and a card (so the library can see how far through the scheme the child is). The kids then, through out the summer holidays, have to read 6 books. Once they have read the books they will recieve a medal and a certificate as well as getting stickers to put onto the 3D stage.
This is the third year my girls have done it. If they are not old enough to read themselves then simply sharing the book qualifies too.
Well its the second week of the summer holidays and we are just back from a lovely week away camping in Devon. Although sleeping in a tent isn't my idea of comfort (and I do LIKE my comfort) the kids and the hubby love it.
On the way over we stopped at Stonehenge. Considering my eldest is 6 and the youngest 3 they loved it! We got 2 audio commentaries with the intention of my husband and I listening to them and relaying the information of interest to our daughters. Needless to say neither of us heard much as the kids took them from us and listened. I am stunned at the amount of information my eldest took in. She has been writing up her scrapbook today and she has written a whole essay using the information she remembered from the audio commentary. The Structure is amazing and it is defiantly something you must see in your lifetime!
We had never been to Devon before and it was nice to see that part of the country. However, we love Scotland and both my husband and I were a little underwhelmed with what the South-West had to offer. Everywhere we went was very busy (I know it's the summer holidays). I wanted to take the girls rock pooling and, after searching on the Internet, we found a recommendation for an excellent rock pooling beach just a few miles from where we were staying, with the added bonus of it being a fossil beach were 'Fossils could be easily found on the shore line'. When we got there we found the rock pools were full of seaweed and even after an hours searching no fossils were found, but the eldest was happy with swimming in the sea and the youngest decided she was going to dig her way to Australia!
I would also recommend a trip over Dartmoor, but be careful of the ponies. We saw some ponies up by a parking place and we stopped to take some pictures and have a bite to eat. A male pony that was about 400 yards from the car galloped over looking for food. The kids thought it very amusing, but the couple having a picnic on the hill beside the parking place did not. He trampled all over their rug and almost trampled the couple too! There are some beautiful little streams which are lovely to stop by and have a paddle (or to fall in and get soaked from head to toe as our eldest did).
Hopefully I can come up with some things to help pass the holidays away, but sofar the weather is looking good and the kids can get outside and burn off the energy.
This is the third year my girls have done it. If they are not old enough to read themselves then simply sharing the book qualifies too.
Well its the second week of the summer holidays and we are just back from a lovely week away camping in Devon. Although sleeping in a tent isn't my idea of comfort (and I do LIKE my comfort) the kids and the hubby love it.
On the way over we stopped at Stonehenge. Considering my eldest is 6 and the youngest 3 they loved it! We got 2 audio commentaries with the intention of my husband and I listening to them and relaying the information of interest to our daughters. Needless to say neither of us heard much as the kids took them from us and listened. I am stunned at the amount of information my eldest took in. She has been writing up her scrapbook today and she has written a whole essay using the information she remembered from the audio commentary. The Structure is amazing and it is defiantly something you must see in your lifetime!
We had never been to Devon before and it was nice to see that part of the country. However, we love Scotland and both my husband and I were a little underwhelmed with what the South-West had to offer. Everywhere we went was very busy (I know it's the summer holidays). I wanted to take the girls rock pooling and, after searching on the Internet, we found a recommendation for an excellent rock pooling beach just a few miles from where we were staying, with the added bonus of it being a fossil beach were 'Fossils could be easily found on the shore line'. When we got there we found the rock pools were full of seaweed and even after an hours searching no fossils were found, but the eldest was happy with swimming in the sea and the youngest decided she was going to dig her way to Australia!
I would also recommend a trip over Dartmoor, but be careful of the ponies. We saw some ponies up by a parking place and we stopped to take some pictures and have a bite to eat. A male pony that was about 400 yards from the car galloped over looking for food. The kids thought it very amusing, but the couple having a picnic on the hill beside the parking place did not. He trampled all over their rug and almost trampled the couple too! There are some beautiful little streams which are lovely to stop by and have a paddle (or to fall in and get soaked from head to toe as our eldest did).
Hopefully I can come up with some things to help pass the holidays away, but sofar the weather is looking good and the kids can get outside and burn off the energy.
Thursday 14 July 2011
dohlightful
'What shall we do today?'
'Can we make play doh mammy?'
'Why not!'
So this morning we donned our aprons and rolled up our sleeves and the Salt Doh fun began.
I always get my youngest daughter to tell me the quantities as I read out the ingredients to her. We do this whenever we are baking or reading from a recipe/instruction list.
Salt Doh Recipe
3 cups of plain flour
3 tablespoons Cream of tartar
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil (however I use baby oil as it smells lovely and is good for the skin- and to be honest who hasn't got a bottle of baby oil that they bought to use on the kids, but found they couldn't pick them up as they were to greasy and just put the bottle back in the cupboard?)
1 1/2 cups of table salt
Food colouring
(also any of the following can be added- glitter, essential oils (lavender is nice))
I place the cup inside a large bowl and give my daughter the bag of flour and a spoon. I got her to fill the cup with the flour (and because the cup is already in the bowl it doesn't matter if she misses!) and do that 3 times. Then she used the same method to add the salt. Next I gave her the measuring spoon and she measured out the 3 tbsp of cream of tartar and held the spoon whilst I poured in the baby oil. I half filled a second bowl with water and she filled her cup and poured it into the bowl with the flour, cream of tartar, oil and salt. I gave her a whisk and she mixed the ingredients together. After that mammy was allowed a little go too.
Next we poured half the mixture into another bowl as we wanted 2 different colours. To one bowl we added yellow food colouring and to the second we added green food colouring and a couple of drops of lavender oil.
There are 2 different methods of cooking I always use the microwave as it is quicker, but you can also use the hob.
I start off by giving the mixture 1 minute on full power in the microwave, then stirred it (removing any crispy/hard bit that appear around the side of the bowl as you don't want the hard bits in the doh). I continued heating, stirring and removing hard bits at 30 second intervals. Once the doh started to come away from the edge of the bowl and form a ball, I then continued at 15 sec intervals until I could touch the doh and it was not gooey or sticking to my fingers. Caution the doh is very hot at this point, do not give to the child. I allowed the doh to cool for about 20 minutes, kneading occasionally otherwise it may stay hot in the middle.
After a little wander to Lake Meadows park in Billericay to feed the ducks we came home and the doh fun began. Using plastic kids knives, plastic pizza cutters and rolling pins my daughter created a Rapunzel (inspired by the DVD they watched at the weekend as a treat- however it took a lot to explain the stabbing bit- Walt Disney really have gone down in my estimation). Then we got out all of the play doh equipment that we have accumulated over the years and we spent a lovely afternoon sitting in the garden making night garden and dora shapes.
If you wanted to extend this activity you could dry the things you make in the airing cupboard and paint them once dry. The girls really enjoy doing this.
'Can we make play doh mammy?'
'Why not!'
So this morning we donned our aprons and rolled up our sleeves and the Salt Doh fun began.
I always get my youngest daughter to tell me the quantities as I read out the ingredients to her. We do this whenever we are baking or reading from a recipe/instruction list.
Salt Doh Recipe
3 cups of plain flour
3 tablespoons Cream of tartar
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil (however I use baby oil as it smells lovely and is good for the skin- and to be honest who hasn't got a bottle of baby oil that they bought to use on the kids, but found they couldn't pick them up as they were to greasy and just put the bottle back in the cupboard?)
1 1/2 cups of table salt
Food colouring
(also any of the following can be added- glitter, essential oils (lavender is nice))
I place the cup inside a large bowl and give my daughter the bag of flour and a spoon. I got her to fill the cup with the flour (and because the cup is already in the bowl it doesn't matter if she misses!) and do that 3 times. Then she used the same method to add the salt. Next I gave her the measuring spoon and she measured out the 3 tbsp of cream of tartar and held the spoon whilst I poured in the baby oil. I half filled a second bowl with water and she filled her cup and poured it into the bowl with the flour, cream of tartar, oil and salt. I gave her a whisk and she mixed the ingredients together. After that mammy was allowed a little go too.
Next we poured half the mixture into another bowl as we wanted 2 different colours. To one bowl we added yellow food colouring and to the second we added green food colouring and a couple of drops of lavender oil.
There are 2 different methods of cooking I always use the microwave as it is quicker, but you can also use the hob.
I start off by giving the mixture 1 minute on full power in the microwave, then stirred it (removing any crispy/hard bit that appear around the side of the bowl as you don't want the hard bits in the doh). I continued heating, stirring and removing hard bits at 30 second intervals. Once the doh started to come away from the edge of the bowl and form a ball, I then continued at 15 sec intervals until I could touch the doh and it was not gooey or sticking to my fingers. Caution the doh is very hot at this point, do not give to the child. I allowed the doh to cool for about 20 minutes, kneading occasionally otherwise it may stay hot in the middle.
After a little wander to Lake Meadows park in Billericay to feed the ducks we came home and the doh fun began. Using plastic kids knives, plastic pizza cutters and rolling pins my daughter created a Rapunzel (inspired by the DVD they watched at the weekend as a treat- however it took a lot to explain the stabbing bit- Walt Disney really have gone down in my estimation). Then we got out all of the play doh equipment that we have accumulated over the years and we spent a lovely afternoon sitting in the garden making night garden and dora shapes.
If you wanted to extend this activity you could dry the things you make in the airing cupboard and paint them once dry. The girls really enjoy doing this.
Tuesday 12 July 2011
preparing for christmas
Well, no-one can ever call me ill prepared! I have already started making the kids christmas cards.
Every year, since they were little, the girls have always made and sent their own christmas cards to members of the family and close friends.
It started off with the girls sticking cotton wool balls onto black card and adding some eyes (hole punched from white paper) and a foam, carrot shaped nose. They then stuck snowflake confetti onto the background. Easy enough for a 1 year old to do.
The following year we cut out a large hexagon from dark green card and cut it in half. I scored a line from the center of the straight surface, to each of the 3 corners. By bending along the scored line we were left with a 3 sided triangular card that we could add gems to.
On the third year I designed a sleigh which I used a craft knife to cut out of a piece of folded brown card. I also cut out sack shapes using a different shade of brown card and gave the girls an old argos catalogue to cut up. They cut toys out of the catalogue to place hanging out of the sacks. We also hung small bells from cotton and draped these along the edge of the sleigh.
Last year I simply bought some rubber stamps and stamped some white card with either a father christmas or a Rudolph and the girls coloured them in. However, as we got close to christmas they became bored of colouring in the same designs, hence the reason I have started so early this year.
I am using the same stamps from last year, but I am stamping them on to shrink plastic and cutting them out in circles. Once cut out I use a hole punch to put a hole in the plastic then the girls are colouring them in and signing each one with their name and date. Once they are coloured I use a heat gun and the plastic reduces in size by 45%, leaving a medallion which I am adding some hemp cord to. I am intending to fix these to a card and give them to friends and family. The great thing about it is the medallions can be removed from the card and used as decorations on the christmas tree the following year.
The girls love watching the plastic shrink and I am going to make keyrings with them at some point. You do not need to own a heat gun to do this, as the plastic will shrink just as well in the oven too.
Shrink plastic is great fun and gives an excellent keepsake if you get the children to draw a picture on it, alternatively stamp their hand print or footprint onto it and date it..................
Every year, since they were little, the girls have always made and sent their own christmas cards to members of the family and close friends.
It started off with the girls sticking cotton wool balls onto black card and adding some eyes (hole punched from white paper) and a foam, carrot shaped nose. They then stuck snowflake confetti onto the background. Easy enough for a 1 year old to do.
The following year we cut out a large hexagon from dark green card and cut it in half. I scored a line from the center of the straight surface, to each of the 3 corners. By bending along the scored line we were left with a 3 sided triangular card that we could add gems to.
On the third year I designed a sleigh which I used a craft knife to cut out of a piece of folded brown card. I also cut out sack shapes using a different shade of brown card and gave the girls an old argos catalogue to cut up. They cut toys out of the catalogue to place hanging out of the sacks. We also hung small bells from cotton and draped these along the edge of the sleigh.
Last year I simply bought some rubber stamps and stamped some white card with either a father christmas or a Rudolph and the girls coloured them in. However, as we got close to christmas they became bored of colouring in the same designs, hence the reason I have started so early this year.
I am using the same stamps from last year, but I am stamping them on to shrink plastic and cutting them out in circles. Once cut out I use a hole punch to put a hole in the plastic then the girls are colouring them in and signing each one with their name and date. Once they are coloured I use a heat gun and the plastic reduces in size by 45%, leaving a medallion which I am adding some hemp cord to. I am intending to fix these to a card and give them to friends and family. The great thing about it is the medallions can be removed from the card and used as decorations on the christmas tree the following year.
The girls love watching the plastic shrink and I am going to make keyrings with them at some point. You do not need to own a heat gun to do this, as the plastic will shrink just as well in the oven too.
Shrink plastic is great fun and gives an excellent keepsake if you get the children to draw a picture on it, alternatively stamp their hand print or footprint onto it and date it..................
Monday 11 July 2011
getting Started
It was suggested to me that I might enjoy trying to write my own blog. I have never done this before, but my friend thought that some people may well be interested in some of the things I get up to with my kids. I have 2 girls, one 3 and one 6 and I try to keep them away from the telly and computer games as much as possible. We are often out at the park or sitting reading books and doing crafty bits. So here is to, hopefully, interesting Blogging!!!!
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