Homemade Moon Dough!!

Okay, this is too great not to share! Kids these days are totally over play dough and into this moon dough stuff. I went to Walmart just to scope out the prices, and see if it was worth it to invest in some for the kids.To my surprise it was around $13 for the smallest container! I decided to put purchasing moon dough on hold for a later date, and am I ever glad I did!

That night I went on pintrest, just browsing the craft section. Nothing too interesting caught my eye, until I clicked on a link that said "Cloud Dough". I was totally thrilled when I seen 2 ingredients on the list. Ingredients which I had sitting in my cupboard!! I raced to the kitchen, grabbed a spoon and rubber maid bin and got to work. It literally took 5 minutes of my time and no money at all. So here it is... the moment you've been waiting for. The ingredient list.

All you need is:

-Corn starch

-A bottle of shaving cream

Mix those 2 ingredients together and you have instant moon dough! The only unpleasant experience I had was that I only had men's Gillette shaving cream in my closet so it was an overwhelming smell. I would suggest using unscented, or a flowery woman's shaving cream. Other than that I hope this helped you guys save some money, and enjoy with your kids!

Painting with Salt

I came across this neat idea that was really simple, and exciting for the kids to do. Basically it is painting with salt. The kids enjoyed watching the colours crawl across their papers and compared the little wiggling lines to fire works. It was lots of fun, not too messy, and a super easy craft to put together.

All you need is:

-Salt (table salt works best)
-glue
-water
-food colouring
-paper
-paint brushes

The first thing we did was take our blank sheets of paper and glue salt all over them.

 While we let our glue dry a little bit we mixed our food colouring in with our water. We used the small dixie cups, and filled them about 3/4 of the way. We used about 2-3 drops of food colouring for each colour.

The kids then started to dip their paint brushes into the different colours and drop the water onto the salt covered paper. The water started reaching across the paper and creating neat little wiggly lines.

In the end the kids started to paint the whole paper by blotting it with the paint brushes. The paintings begin to look like water colours, and the colours belended together to create beautiful designs.

 After we were finished clean up was as easy as dumping the water down the drain, rinsing off the paint brushes, and wiping the table of any excess salt. This is definitely a craft we will be doing again in the future.

Red and White day

I know I'm a little late with this post, but better late than never right??

The Friday before Canada Day the kids celebrated by wearing all red and white. They dolled themselves up and put on their best outfits! We celebrated with red and white foods like pizza, strawberries, vanilla cupcakes and some watermelon.We got totally in the Canada day spirit with some super awesome tottoos for the boys and nail designs for the girls! The kids had a blast and so did we. To finish off our fabulous Friday we headed outside just before the rain started and tried out our "frozen chalk". It's pretty much a mixture of cornstarch water and food colouring. I will go more into detail in another post, and I will be sure to do step by step pictures along with recipe. Hope you all enjoyed your Canada day!!

School's out for the Summer!!

As of last Friday school is out, and that means SUMMER VACATION!!!!! Well for the kids at least. Lately the daycare has been so hectic and chaotic I haven't had a moment to think. The kids have been out of control. I don't know if it is from the hot weather, super moon, their age, or what, but they have been crazy! Fortunately for me the last day of school means one of the last few days of chaos. Starting next week we will only have a few kids, which means quiet easy going days filled with fun and sun.

   For the summer I am trying to put together a binder filled with work sheets, games (indoor and outdoor), and crafts. This will make it easier on my boos and I instead of struggling to figure out what we should do for craft, or what we should do outside that day. However these kids seem to have either done everything, or just get bored with things super easily! So I'm putting the question out there to all parents, aunts, uncles, creative people, fellow ECE's or anyone with a great idea.... What the heck should we do this summer?? If you have an idea let me know in the comments below or send an email!!

Teacup Cupcakes for our Teddy Bear Picnic

Last week the kids had a theme day. We have a several of them every month. Last week's theme day was "Teddy bear Picnic". All of the kids brought in their teddy bears, and we ate lunch outside and called it a picnic. The kids had a blast, as did the adults!!

For this special occasion I decided to bake some special treats. I made teacup cupcakes. Basically I took ice cream cones and cut the bottom off, and then i used melted chocolate and "glued" them to a digestive cookie. I thin cut some sour peach rings in half and glued them to the side of the cones. I baked zebra cupcakes (chocolate and vanilla all in one cupcake) and the crumbled the bottom part of the cupcakes into the cone and used icing to stick the top of the cupcake to the top of the cone. I put them in the fridge over night and them brought them to work the next day to let the kids decorate.

We used pink strawberry frosting and lots of sprinkles. The finishing touch was lots and lots of gummy bears. Needless to say the kids snacked more on the candy, than use it to decorate. Regardless of the gummy bears being in their tummy or on the cupcake, the kids had a blast and I did too!!

Try out my "teacup cupcakes" and let me know how yours turned out! They are super simple and super fun. Happy baking!! :)

Painting With Condensed Milk

Coming up with new and exciting craft ideas is always a challenge. The kids have done everything several times over, and we don't want to bore them by doing the same thing over and over. So the other day I over heard someone saying that condensed milk dries, and when it dries it stays shiny! I thought this would be the perfect material to paint with, so I stopped in at Walmart and grabbed a can or two!

I started out by mixing a few drops of food colouring into the condensed milk.  I then set out papers and paint brushes, and let the kids create! they loved the face that it was sticky, gooey and oozing all over! When the kids were finished painting I hung the pictures up to dry, We started to notice that the paint was too runny and started to drip, so we took the papers and folded them in half, pressed down and reopened them. This created a mirror affect. Once the condensed milk was dry we hung the paintings on the wall. The kids were very proud of their art work on display, and they thought the glossy shine was pretty cool too!

a few side notes for this craft:

1. Condensed milk doesn't smell too nice. If you want to have a more pleasant smell try adding a drop or two of vanilla or mint extract to each cup.

2. We tried gluing the paintings onto a piece of coloured construction paper, for a "framed" sort of look. The glue ended up soaking through to the condensed milk, and the pictures became runny again.

3. The condensed milk is very sticky. Make sure you have some sort of wipes or wash cloth on hand to wipe the children's hands after.

4. Enjoy the sticky, ooey, gooey messy craft. The kids will love it!

Sandpaper T-shirt Transfers

Father's day is always the one day out of the year that I become completely stumped on what to make for a gift from the children at work. This year I searched through pinterest trying to find something unique and fun for the kids to create. After searching for quite a while I found one idea in particular that I thought would be really cool. The pin was "Sandpaper T-Shit Transfer".

We started off with plain white cotton t-shirts, some regular sandpaper and crayons... Lots and lots of crayons!! First I cut the sandpaper into smaller rectangles. Then the children drew their pictures on the sandpaper, and if they wanted I wrote something cute along side it like "World's best dad
 or "Daddy of the year". Writing the phrases was a bit of a trial and error situation. My boss had pointed out after several of the papers had been written on, that the letters should be written backwards. So some of the kids had to re-do their pictures and I rewrote the phrases. It turns out writing and spelling backwards it a little bit of a challenge.

After all of the pictures were complete I took a piece of cardboard, placed it inside the t-shirt, and positioned the sandpaper on the back of the shirt. I then took an iron and laid it on top of the sandpaper moving it back and forth for a few minutes.After a minute or two I took the iron off and let the sandpaper cool. Once cool I peeled the sandpaper back very slowly.

For the most part the t-shirts turned out pretty good, but there were a few that the kids didn't press hard enough with the crayons, and it turned out looking faded. In the end all of the dads loved their unique custom made t-shirts, which in turn made me one very happy E.C.E.

If I were to rate this pin I would give it a 4 out of 5, solely because the instructions didn't mention that putting more pressure when colouring would give better results. Here are a few pictures of the before and after!! Give it a try and let me know how your sandpaper transfers turned out. Let me know if you enjoyed creating :)

Painting with bubbles!!

Painting with anything is always going to be a messy craft, especially when children are involved. Painting with bubbles is on a whole new level of messy. However painting with bubbles is one of the most enjoyed crafts that the children have done.

First we started by mixing water soap and a splash of paint in little dixie cups. Then we put long straws into the cups. You must use long straws!! We discovered that if you use shorter straws it will most likely result in a bubbly mustache of sorts. After we figured out or straw crisis, we placed some paper in front of the children and let them go at it.

For the most part there was lots of giggles, paint spillage, and miniature lakes forming on the table. But every once in a while you get the child who we refer to as "the sipper". Instead of blowing bubbles, this child will suck the concoction of paint, soap and water up through their straw and instantaneously react as anyone would. By freaking out and spitting the disgusting mixture out everywhere!

After a few attempts at making bubble art, we found the mixtures to be a bit too watery, so the children figured out a new method of painting. They would dip the end of the straw in the mixture, take the straw out, point at the paper, and blow. This would result in wonderful little spatters of colour and bubbles everywhere. The children had so much fun, but this is definitely one craft I would recommend for outside!!

Making Rainbows On A Rainy Day!!

On Thursday it was a bit of a rainy day. Rain, hyper children, and indoors don't usually mesh well, so we decided to do a rain themed craft. The children really enjoy anything that involved glue and different colours. We decided that a rainbow would best fit our theme. We gathered some cotton balls, paper plates, construction paper ( Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple), glue, and scissors.

1. Start by cutting the paper plates in half to make our base for the clouds.
2. Pull cotton balls apart slightly so they are puffy and look like clouds.
3. cut construction paper into 1-1 1/2 inch strips for you rainbow rays
4. Set materials out and let the kids create.

The children really enjoyed sticking the cotton balls on the paper plates. They found it impressive how much it actually looked like clouds. The children weren't familiar with R.O.Y.G.B.V ( order of colours in a rainbow) so we taught them a song to help them remember as they glued the construction paper.

RED, it's the colour of an apple

ORANGE, it's the colour of an orange

YELLOW, it's the colour of a lemon, and the sun...sun...sun

GREEN, it's the colour of the trees and lots of things that grow

And then theres BLUE for the sky

And PURPLE that's a colour that's fun...fun...fun

Now when we put those colours side by side, now what do you think we've done?

We've made a rainbow, and it's a very beautiful one!

The song was a huge hit, and so was the craft. Below are some pictures of the children making their rainbows. Try it out with your kids, and let me know how they turned out!

Puffy Paint!!

So at work most of the kids have been sick with ear infections, fevers, sore throats, and the oh so dreaded slapped cheek (Also known as fifths disease). In order to make the slow week seem a bit more fun and bright we decided to paint with puffy paint!! The last time we had tried this we used shaving cream, glue and food colouring, but this time I found a recipe that is non toxic and works much better! I will provide the recipe down below.

The kids really enjoyed using the pant, and the coolest part about it was all you had to do was put it in the microwave for 30 seconds (or a bit more depending on how much paint was used) and instantly the paint had hardened!! This is definitely a must try for anyone with kids. It's super fun, super easy, and a really simple clean up!!

Puffy Paint:
1 cup flour
3 table spoons baking powder
1 table spoon sat
food colouring
enough water to make a paste like texture

Here are some pics of the kids in action!! If you try it out let me know if your kids enjoyed it, and send pictures!

Yet Another..... Awkward Moment!

Working with kids is quite the challenge just when they are in a somewhat decent mood, but when they are in an outrageously bad mood, which borderlines on the edge of completely certifiably insane... Well that's not just a challenge, but a complete competition of will power and patience!

Today at work one of the little girls was being a bit of a diva. Shoving, pushing screaming, and purposely obstructing traffic.. and by traffic I mean standing on the stairs to the slide. Any ways we asked her to move, she wouldn't, we tried to bribe her to move, she wouldn't, finally we tried to pick her up and move her.... She tried all she could to defy the laws of gravity at that very moment, and pulled the move I like to call "Dead Weight". After her attempts of screaming and shouting didn't work, she took of her glasses and tried to break them, which resulted in us taking the glasses and her demand for them back. At that point my boss had taken her inside due to the fact that everyone on the street heard the little girls screams!

I waited 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes... no sign of them. After 30 minutes my boss came out and asked me to take over. When I stepped inside I was in shock to see a bare bum facing me... She has stripped in protest of our decision to move her. I tried everything to get her to put her clothes on, but nothing worked. Finally after I took a few "Stay cal" kind of breaths, I turned to her and said "What is it that is making you upset?" she turned to me and said "You took my glasses".

So after almost an hour of screaming, biting, kicking, punching, pinching, and tantrums, she finally put her clothes back on. These are the days that make me realize I may be older, and stronger, but my negotiation skills just aren't what they use to be!


Today's awkward moment:

That awkward moment when a child protests your decisions by stripping naked until you finally give in to their demands, and give them what they have asked for!

Maddison Babineau

6 Years ago today one very special girl left us. Although you can no longer be here beside me I carry you with me everywhere I go. You were a comedian, a defender, a fighter, an inspiration, but most of all my friend. I cherish every moment that I spent with you. I miss you so much, but I know I will see you again.

Tradgey

Last Monday a man named Tim Bosma was abducted while taking 2 men on a test drive in a truck he had been selling on kijiji. For a week our community gathered together to send hope and prayers to him and his family in hopes of his return home. After a week of looking Tim was found. It is with a heavy heart that I say Tim cannot return to his home on this earth, but he has been called to his home with god.

I did not know Tim before this last week, but within this one week I grew to care, hope, pray, fear, cry, and worry for him. I cannot find the right words to say, or how to express my condolences. I feel angry that this happened, that his wife is now a widow, his child now without a father. I feel sad knowing the future his family will face living life without him. But most importantly I feel the need to protect. I feel that as a community we worked together to raise awareness, now it is time to support his family, protect them, comfort them, and allow them to rely on us when the need it the most.

How many times do you take your life and the people in it for granted. You constantly say there's always tomorrow, or save it for later. What if you or someone you care about doesn't get another tomorrow, one last kiss, one more good bye hug, one last I love you. In light of this tragic situation please remember to always say I love you, and show how much you care, because life is so precious, we need not take it for granted.

So tonight light a candle and say a prayer for Tim and the Bosma family.

My Passion... Baking!!!

I wanted to share something with you guys that would maybe help you get to know me a little bit. My passion in life is baking. I love being able to take a cake and turn it into something really beautiful, or different. Baking is also some what therapeutic for me. When I have a flair up from my arthritis and my joins are hurting, and my body is tired, I like to go to the kitchen and bake. It takes my mind off of the pain for a little while, and thinking of ways to create something from the cake helps defog my brain for a bit. My boyfriend, family, and friends have bought me all sorts of things to encourage me to keep baking. Last Christmas my boyfriend Erik bough me an electric mixer, so I didn't have to use my hands. My mother-in-law is always gifting me really neat things like silicone cupcake liners, baking trays, decorations, and baking cook books. My mom is always buying me new stuff! Just a few weeks ago she bough me a pie pop maker. You take pie crust, cut it into little circles, put your filling on one of the circles, cover with another circle  seal and place in the machine. They turn out to be little itty bitty pies, and they are really yummy!!

I want to share with you just a few of my creations!! Let me know what you think.