cubby love

We are preparing for a rainy Sunday here.  Rainy days often involve cubby houses at our place.   I have been searching for some inspiration so I am well armed tomorrow when the heavens open and my boys start climbing the walls.

If you are short on space, this ladder tent is a fab solution!  These happy little campers have used some fab IKEA fabric however an old sheet would do just fine.

ladder tent

 

How about a winter makeover for your sun shelter?  They make a fab indoor cubby and pop up in just a second.  Yay.

 

 

cubby sun shelter

 

Make a project of it and create your own tent with some PVC pipe and a tablecloth!  You can follow the tutorial right here

cubby pipe tentIf you’d rather someone else did all the making, visit our friends at Banana J Creations.  They have adorable tee pees available in all kinds of designs, colours and fabrics.

cubby teepees

And if all else fails, throw your biggest blankie over the lounge or dining room table, jump inside with the kids, snuggle up and enjoy!

 

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craft express – clothes peg dragonflies

All you’ll need to whip up these little beauties is some wooden clothes pegs, textas or paint for the detail and some paper for the wings.  If you have “google eyes” in your craft collection then you can use those too!  Otherwise just use white paper with black texta.

You’ll need to help little ones cut out the wing shapes to attach to the peg, or you can draw them onto a sheet of paper and glue the painted peg to the paper (as seen below).

You can also add buttons, glitter or other details – whatever you have available!

Easy peasy.

 

 

cardboard city

This project is fun to make and will get hours and hours of use no matter the weather.  Kids can let their imaginations run wild and include whatever they like in their own special town.

image courtesy of theimaginationtree.com

All you need is a BIG cardboard box, or a couple of smaller boxes secured together.

As an added bonus, it keeps really little ones contained whilst they happily play.  Everyone’s a winner!

Love this idea? You might love these too …

5 easy peasy craft activities

It’s raining here.  Cats and dogs.  My boys have completed two games of rugby before 9.30am and we are now home, showered, fed and bunkered down for the rest of the day.  A bit of easy craft (the kind I don’t have to think about too much) is definitely on the cards.

Here are 5 easy peasy ideas …

Duplo painting – everyone has their own plate with paint blobs on it.  Choose duplo blocks of different sizes, along with wheels, and you will have a great little masterpiece in no time at all! (courtesy picklebums.com)



Collect some leaves from the backyard or park and glue them onto pages to make animal shapes,  Add eyes, arms or legs as required and, voila!  We love this fish.  (courtesy marthastewart.com)

Balloon ping pong – add a paddle pop stick to a paper or plastic plate, blow up a balloon and play away! (courtesy theweekendhomemaker.com)

Lanterns – cover a glass jar with pretty paper then use a small flameless candle to play with it outside in the evening!  If raining, it also makes a gorgeous centrepiece for the dinner table! (courtesy picklebums.com)

Enjoy!

calling all loo rolls …

We told you some time ago to save your loo rolls  … all in preparation for the LRCE (loo roll craft extravaganza)!

Here are our favourite easy, peasy ideas to do with littlies through to primary school.

courtesy of
kiflieslevendula.blogspot.com

To make these little speedsters you’ll need paint or textas/crayons, safety scissors and split pins to attach the wheels.  Stay tuned for a post about making a race track in the next few days!

To make these crazy monsters you’ll need paint or textas and any fancy bits you have available. Think pipe cleaners, mini pom poms, glitter.

Here’s our middle sized dude with his loo roll octopus (and pipe cleaner jellyfish but that’s another story).  For this you’ll need paint or textas/pencils, googly eyes (about $2 a pack from Woollies of craft stores).

For the owls (courtesy of elhadadepapel.blogspot.com) you’ll just need paint, a black marker pen and your imagination.  The bats (courtesy of krokotak.com) need much the same, along with some coloured paper to be folded fan like and attached as wings.

And last but lnot least, blast into outer space with these cool rocket ships.

courtesy of bedifferentactnormal.com

These rocket ships make a great room decoration when completed.  All you’ll need is paint, some sticky dots and stars (just cut some out if you dont have stickers) and ribbon or strips of paper.

If you have a loo roll specialty we’d love to see it!  You know we love to share.

hearts and hands tree

This little idea is so simple yet beautiful.

courtesy of puttiprapancha.blogspot.com

Make your own ‘Hearts and Hand Tree’ using your little one’s hand to make the tree trunk – you can trace around it or use paint and stamp their hand print on.

Add your own love heart leaves by using a heart shaped paper punch (if you have one) or help your little one cut them out.  Use an old magazine, old gift wrapping paper, newspaper  -whatever you like!

I think this one would be gorgeous framed.  In no time at all you are sure to be marveling at how little their hands were.

Enjoy!

finger painting without the fuss

If your little ones love to splodge around and enjoy a bit of finger painting then I am betting YOU will love this idea!  Squirt paint into a large ziplock bag, seal and hang on window, door or table.

They get all the visual rewards without you having to hose them down afterwards.  Everyone’s a winner!

 

saving for a rainy day

A rainy Sunday afternoon (as it is here) calls for a sanity saver for mamas and kids.  Making this game is an activity in itself, so that’s today sorted!  And the next time rain or cabin fever hits you’ll be terribly pleased with yourself that you have this fab little idea on hand.

Image

Write play ideas on paddle pop sticks and get your little one to choose one randomly.  Whatever they choose is what they play!

loo rolls – we love ’em

We just love a clever idea around here.  Whether we come up with our own or come across some other clever clog’s creation, we will share it with you here.  Promise.

Let’s start with one of our favourites – toilet roll dudes.  Grab all your old loo rolls (start saving them now ’cause we have plenty more ideas for them!), bits and pieces of coloured paper, feathers, googlie eyes if you have them (if not, you can buy a pack at Woollies for about $2), foil, whatever you have on hand.

The best thing about this is there are NO rules.  Add glue.  Go crazy.  Done.