Pipe Cleaner Dolls

A selection of dolls made by children ages 6-11 using the "Bible Dolls" template as guidance (and a tad of help)
http://alljoinin.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/making-dolls-aka-bible-dolls.html

Royal Playdough

 Playdough mats using clipart/ colouring sheet faces, laminated. With a host of collage materials to create royalty. There are loads of other uses for the cards also.... (to follow)

The Pets Have Gone Missing

As  you can see we have lost the pets (exotic ones I know names: Ten and Nine). If you have seen please contact us- you may receive a 10p reward!!!

Will keep you posted!!!

Amazing Playdough Creations

 This just started as playing with play dough. After having a bit of trouble joining limbs to lion and a bit of discussion what may help to connect them, match sticks were collected, and subsequently goggly eyes! Look at the amazing creation!!

Pretty awesome, hey!

And a cute little monster

            

Peg fish

A rather spontaneous activity- quick, simple and effective. 

Hair Roller Posting

This has no relevance to recent posts, but have only a few minutes so this is a quick post...

Simply a dried milk can covered in paper and a hole cut out of the lid! The hole needs to be the actual diameter of the rollers NOT taking into account the prongs, this is so the child has to add a little more pressure to develop wrist and finger strength rather than the traditional drop ones!

The velcro round the edge on this picture is fluffy but the scratchy one works better. Having the velcro round the edge serves two purposes.

1. Adds another motor skill of pulling off the roller developing strength and using two hands (it won't come of if you don"t) 
2. It keeps the task together with a clear visual signal the activity has finished as this was designed to be used by an autistic child in a TEACCH workstation situation.

To make this even more challenging and add a lovely sound element use plastic spiked rollers rather than the velcro type ones above.

Zoo and Map

 Super adorable Zoo with grouped enclosures

And a map for the visitors so they know where they are going and what they want to see! (L= Lizard) I must say I had a great zoo visit.

Glueless Collage Revisited

 With camera on board, some more pictures of a popular post!! 

 I love this snowy scene!

And this abstract piece

Magic Snow

I bought some "insta snow" (also marketed as magic snow) from pound land before Christmas and have just got around to using it. We milked the making of this for everything we could, following the instructions to the letter (reading, doubling the instructions so a bit of multiplying.....

dividing the water needed into tens
using a syringe to add the water in 10ml squirts,
watching the immediate reactions of the powder, !!)......
Oh we had fun, then played that was a little less successful (not so keen on texture and neither was I to be honest, haven't played in a while) But I think you will agree this is rather cute (with its features nabbed from the glueless collage) The "snow" is now in freezer awaiting another play session with a twist!!! I'll keep you posted

Snow Play Scape

An imaginative snow play scene to complement our winter weather play experiences. Snow made of cotton wool balls (hill a sheet of muslin) Display above supplemented with snow men pictures (these were a favourite drawing theme over Christmas!

A poem book about snow placed alongside to enhance play, also Christmas card images of snow.

Something special magazine to support language and the play

A mirror decorative circle for pond

Glueless collage

We've got a bit of a winter weather theme going on in the playroom at the moment, how long that will last or how long it takes to evolve is a different matter! But it seemed appropriate with the weather just starting to get cold- maybe it will snow soon? Here is an art area for children to make moveable collages in picture frames and mirror.
The collage items are loosely wintery in nature, the blue picture frames containing some wintery inspiration. The black button has "can you make patterns on the frames?" recorded onto it."
The red button says "These pieces are really tiny, if you drop them pick them up" The colour paddles just add another dimension to view.

I added a children's camera to the display so pictures could be taken of their creations here are the first of two such pictures.

I also added a nice little kaleidoscope next to the mirror frame (again for inspiration and comparison)

Golf Tees hammering in Pumpkin

Now it's full on Autumn (Fall for you American readers!) And pumpkins are in the shops (stores for you American readers!) for their short stint of purchasing before Halloween and then on sale after! I personally don't celebrate Halloween but there are certainly joys to be had around Autumn none the less, and hammering golf tees into pumpkins is one of them!

For younger children with less strength hammer several tees in first and then remove it will make it easier! Note the little pumpkin is being carved with golf tees and playdough tools!

(Don't ask why there is a blown up glove in top picture, these were taken last year and I haven't a clue?)

Sheep Cards

Well I conclude children are way more creative than adults! And when we give them a model to "copy" we seriously risk inhibiting that creativity. I was about to make a card for my sister and gathered stuff together when four year old decided he would make the same! He made his first, thank goodness he did it is sooooo much better than mine, I think you will guess which is his! Judge for yourself!

OHP Creations

The possibilities of the OHP for creativity are endless and parallel and extend the possibilities of the light boxes that are common place in many preschool environments.

The resources to create "art" with were available on the table the OHP was on these included: string, pipe cleaners, lollypop sticks, colour paddles, cocktail stirrers, colour blocks, magnifying glasses, clear acetates and white board markers.

Given freedom children created some amazing compositions, and here are a couple of them.

There is more explanation on the designs at All Play on Sunday

And there is SO many cool ideas for using lightboxes at Play at Home Mom

IPad Fathers day card

And again... Star Wars features again.

After making the card four year old announced "We need the screen to go black so that it is off when we press the button." Well of course we do I thought, but do we have to?...of course we do!

Cutting a slit at top and bottom of screen, inserting a black piece of card through for when we press the button.

And the back...

Another view

And the wonderful cards, with a little circle of funky foam at bottom for the button.

Creative Kids...

And again... they come up with something amazing! Not even sure how this came about, I just provided the materials on request (actually, just directed to the draw where the card off cuts was)

Just a construction so I thought!

Oh no there was method to this, a slope had been constructed.

A parking lot/ garage.

A perimeter wall

With a gate (the beige)

Many more parking spaces. Oh how much time was spent with this. Silly Me I asked what the beige lines were, and was promptly told they were movable gates etc. Of course now I now I can see it makes sense, looks like air port parking to me!