Robot Fun in the Bath

I love craft foam almost as much as I love felt. And I'm sure you know that craft foam can make for a lovely bath toy. 

Our robot theme lends itself to craft foam fun and I literally sat cutting shapes at the side of the bath, while my boys called for more and more. 

I love observing their creativity. Big One made lots of small interesting robots and Little One, as you can see here below, made one loooong robot. "Even bigger than me", as he put it. I just loved watching his focus on the task and all the little details he added.

Have fun...till next time :)

PS. Linking to It's Playtime

Bottle Top Animals

  Inspired by some wonderful bottle top animals at Silly Eagle Books, I created these and turned them into cards... to keep for some parties coming up. When the kids are in the mood, I think this makes for a great rainy day activity :).

  I simply cannot throw a bottle top away anymore... more ideas coming soon!

PS. Linking this to  

Weekend Wrap Up Party @ tatertots and jello 

For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars

Fun for Kids Friday @ Local Fun For Kids

Let's Build It! {Handy Manny}

Our set of Handy Manny tools has come in rather handy (couldn't resist) in the creation of some other toys and games. For starters I enjoyed creating these bath time tools (top photo) from craft foam. Simply trace around any set of tools and then stick on some googly eyes!

Next up is an easy matching game. Trace around the tools onto a piece of cardboard and ask your little one to match them. Quick and easy.

No photos to go with this game, but have you ever asked your kiddos to pretend to be a (power) tool or construction vehicle? Jump up and down like a jack hammer; stand and twist your body from side to side like a screwdriver; use your arm and hand to cut like a saw... Or pretend to be a forklift truck and pick up some cushions; be an excavator and use your arm like a bucket to pick something up and swing it around...you get the idea. We love this game...especially when I'm the construction vehicle in question and Little One is the rubble that needs to be moved!

A fun version of this pretend game would be to make some picture cards of the Handy Manny tools and then let the kiddos take turns picking a card and acting out the tool represented on it. I may just do this sometime and share it with you.

If you missed our Tool Time Fun post, where we put our play tools to good use, be sure to check it out.

Handy Manny can be found at the Disney Junior website here.

Adam's Art Spot : Superhero Softies

This is Adam's (a.k.a Big One) spot for sharing some of his creative ideas. He needed my help with this one, so the handiwork was done by me.

The request was for superhero soft toys, so the suitable candidates were picked and we set to work!  We decided on a design for the masks, drew it onto craft foam (after measuring our superhero's faces) and then cut them out. I then used elastic from some old birthday party hats to tie the masks on. (I used a toothpick to pierce the hole on the side of each mask.) String would also work just as well as elastic and would probably be easier to use. I found the elastic to be finicky.

For the capes, I cut out a very basic long triangular shape from felt and tied it around each toy's neck with string. Once again using a toothpick to make the hole in the felt. 

And there you go...Superhero Softies! I think they are so cute and it got me thinking about how easy it would be to revamp some old soft toys and give them a new look. Have you ever revamped a soft toy? If you have, please do share. I would love to hear about it.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to see more of Adam's super ideas, you can do so here.

PS. I'm linking this to two amazing blog parties, Show and Tell @ ABC and 123 and Tot Tuesdays at My Delicious Ambiguity.

Colour Fun #3 - Colour Foam Fish

 
If you have been following this little series so far, you will recall me mentioning playing "Red Fish, Red Fish" with Little One in the bath. I was introduced to the idea of using craft foam as a bath toy by my friend Grietjie, over at Joyful Mama's Place, so I decided to make some fish for Little One and what a hit!

Now these little fish, or "fishies" as we refer to them, are wonderful for teaching more than just colours. They are also great for counting practice and learning body parts. Little One loves it when I stick a fish somewhere on his body. I get really animated and say something like, "Here comes the fishie, he's going to sit on your....tummy, ankle, chest! Little One now pre-empts me and calls out a body part before I can...too cute!

As far as counting is concerned, Little One has been counting to 10 for a few months now, but I realize this is simply rote memory. To understand the concept of "1" is an entirely different story.  So when we count the fish, I place his hand or finger on each fish as he counts them...a good start to real counting.

To make the fish, you need to purchase some craft foam available from most craft stores or stationers. Make yourself a template out of cardboard and use this to trace your fish directly onto the craft foam with  a pen or pencil. Then simply cut out. I often use puzzle pieces, cookie cutters, even flat toys, like the threading fish seen here, as a template and trace around it.

The craft foam sticks very nicely to the sides of the bath or tiles when wet. In fact, if you leave them there, they will more than likely still be stuck on by the next bath time. If they crease (when little one's scrunch them), they are easily straightened when they are laid flat again. And the last most important instruction, "Have Fun!"