We made these guys from another of our taking-things-apart sessions…
…this time, a mini stereo which my Dad, who’s the handiest person I know, just couldn’t fix.
We thought that the speaker cases might be able to become bird boxes – so that might be another post…
We ended up with these guys – it was as if they’d been hiding in the stereo all that time…
It’s made me wonder what’s hiding in other electrical appliances around the house…….hmmm….
This is a very fun thing to do with a collection of flowers and/or stones from a walk or from the garden…
Arrange them in a tupperware tub,
fill with water and freeze overnight. Then sit the tubs for a few seconds in a larger bowl or the sink with a couple of inches of warm water, to release the ice block.
So beautiful! We kept it in the freezer for ages…
Sam decided it made a perfect home for these critters…
Here are some cute critters and their home that we made with some foil, a hot glue gun and a bunch of seashells…
…oh and some googly eyes of course!
Shape some kitchen foil into a mini cave,
add some shells using the glue gun,
and move your critters in!
You can even make them a pool garden to go outside!
We visited Birtley House in Surrey to see a sculpture exhibition which they were hosting. Sam’s favourite was this kingfisher.
And I liked these mushrooms…
…and this cone.
We got some ideas for things we want to make ourselves, and have decided to turn our own garden into a sculpture garden. I reckon there is so much we can do with recycling – watch this space…
And I really want to work out how we can make one of these for Sam,
and one of these for me!
This is fun! We have been messing around with ice a lot. This is so easy you could do this with virtually any age children…
I got jugs of water, and I watered down some drawing inks in different colours and put them in pipet bottles, which you can buy from a chemist or pharmacy. (They are not essential at all – you could just use little cups of mixed ink, but the bottles were interesting for Sam to use and they lasted longer…)
He filled washed-out old food containers with water and ink colours. The more different shapes of containers the better as they add to the variety. Make sure they’re flexible plastic and don’t use anything precious. I used my measuring jug and it wasn’t flexible enough and it split down the side, which was quite amazing in itself to see how strong the ice can be…
The ink behaves very beautifully in the water.
Add some plastic animals…
…and you’re ready for the freezer.
Next day, head upstairs…
…pop them out…
…and take a bath!!
There are some great free paper sculptures available on the internet to print off and use yourself at home. They are particularly good for providing an opportunity to learn to score!
These were a team effort. Sam did the scoring, (we found if he scored before we cut them out the whole sheet stayed in place better than small cut out pieces would.) And I did the cutting.
He was very pleased with the results! Here’s the link for the train.
Here’s the Eiffel Tower. Here are some animals, and here is PaperToys.com, and Canon Creative Park, both free resources for lots of different models. Have fun!
Sam wanted to make a giraffe in the same way we made our modrock turtle recently.
So we formed the body out of brown packing paper and tape. We put wooden canes inside his legs and neck to give him strength.
Covered in modrock and drying in the sun.
He’s called Gerry!
We made this little guy from some recycled packaging and some Modrock:
Scrunch up some brown packing paper (or newspaper would probably do), into a rough ‘body’ shape. Secure with sellotape or masking tape.
Add a head.
And some legs.
This is what he looked like underneath. It definitely doesn’t need to be perfect, in fact a bit rough round the edges adds to the character…
From above.
Start cutting the modrock into small pieces.
You will need quite a few. A lot more than are shown in this photo, probably five or six times as many altogether.
Fully emerse each piece in a bowl of cold water, and immediately stick it onto the turtle, as you rub a little, the plaster in the modrock softens and goes a little smoother.
It’s very tactile, a bit messy (but not as much as you’d expect), and really fun.
It begins to harden a little after a few minutes, but you don’t need to wait for it to dry in between layers, just keep layering it on.
After its all covered, feel for the ‘soft’ spots and add some more there…
Now leave to dry overnight. We put ours on top of the dehydrator as it was warm there.
Once dry – paint away!
We used acrylic paints as they are quick-drying and waterproof once dry. Just in case our little turtle decides to go out in the rain…
Finally, stick on some eyes! What a gloriously tactile and fun project, and what a cute little guy to add to our (growing) collection……..
We made these wire fish at our craft group recently. They look beautiful hanging under a light or in the window.
If you want to make one you will need wire of different thicknesses (we used recycled copper wire and craft shop copper wire), fine nose pliers or jewellery pliers for bending, and cutting pliers or wire cutters for cutting. Oh, and beads!
Use a thicker wire to make a body shape like this.
Start wrapping thinner wire around…
the children can then keep wrapping,
and adding in beads when they feel like it.
Add two side fins,
Twist them on,
and add a hanging wire.
Sam would have started school this month, but happily we are home-educating! So to celebrate not-starting-school, we went on a trip to North Norfolk for the week with our friends.
We were blessed with beautiful weather, and so spent most of our time outdoors…
Crabbing at Wells-next-the-sea,
Tree walking,
and storytelling,
and den building at Bewilderwood.
And moving the furniture in!…
Sailing boats in the stream,
and finding a hedgehog in our garden!
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