Hump Day Helper #14: More colouring in

I've been doing a bit of blog catch up reading today and a recent post on Zooglobble was a review on John and Mark's Children's Album which looks like fun and must make a mental note to go back and check out again later.

Anyhoo, we've also gone colouring in page crazy here at the moment with a creative little preschooler who never stops doodling. We have a *massive* box of colouring in books at home, I like to find really old and vintage ones for the girls too, but then I sometimes can't bring myself to let them sabotage them. So problem solved, John and Mark have made a downloadable PDF colouring in book from the artwork on their album. They describe it as "16 pages of mildly disconcerting fun!" which sounds right up my alley :)

Find it here

Hump Day Helper #13.5: More Origami

Continuing on from my new obsession of last week, I found an awesome reference for Origami diagrams via the Craftzine Blog.


The Origami Club has a fabulous catalogue of origami designs and easy to follow diagrams. I've downloaded the Water Bug as my first attempt today and I may just follow up with this cute as a button Cactus to decorate my desk.

If your really getting into the origami thing like me, Australian online store Japanese Paper and Origami Supplies can make it even more exciting with a colourful range of Origami papers, including some very kawaii Hello Kitty papers.

Hump Day Helper #13: Origami Boats

No promises, but here's is the first Hump Day Helper for 2010! Origami Boats.

Origami became my new obsession on the weekend when Monkeytail wanted some paper boats to float in the gutters during our flash flood. (It's Ok, she wore her safety knickers and gum boots and Dad supervised)

So here are some pretty nifty paper boats which are easy to make even for the twiddlypeeps. They do float, but obviously don't last too long, so if you're off to do some gutter sailboat racing, probably take a few back ups along

Here are the best links I found to origami boat building tutorials....

• http://www.dltk-bible.com/crafts/mboat.htm

• http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/Origami%20Sailing%20Boat.pdf

• This You Tube video makes the best kind of paper boats, these are the ones I made! (same kind as in the first link if your not the video watching type!)
  

Hump Day Helper #12: Paper Dolls for Boys & Girls

I loved paper dolls as a kid and my girls are into them too. I especially love the magnetic ones, they seem a bit more durable and less fiddly. But boys often miss out on the paper doll side of life, so I've found a few paper dolls to suit the girls and the boys. Hope you like :-)

These gorgeous paper dolls are from the multi talented Hilary Lang of Wee Wonderfuls. Made to be put on magnetic paper, but just add some tabs when you cut them out to do it the old school way! Get them here





Here are some pretty cool paper dolls for boys from ReadyMech They aren't your usual paper dolls with clothes and such, but they are pretty cool, made of paper and dolls!

And the ultimate in paper toys and dolls is The Toy Maker website. Now I haven't yet given this website the attention it deserves, but at a quick glance it is absolutely chocka's of great free paper toys to print and create. This would keep you going for a month of Hump Days :)

Hump Day Helper #10: Robin Hood Hats

My husband is one of those people who kids flock to cause he isn't too "grown up" to play with them on their level and is always full of imaginative games to play. I reckon he should be Mr Mum and I should bring home the bacon, but that's not the way the cards have been dealt :)

Abby is absolutely obsessed with the Disney version of Robin Hood. And Dad and Abby have come up with a Robin Hood game which they play at any and every opportunity, regardless of whether your trying to do grocery shopping or not. Abby is always Robin, Welllie is always Little John and Dad is always the Sheriff.

They are so into it now that they even have costumes. Here's Abs in her Robin Hood best, over PJ's of course!


Dad made this Robin Hood ensemble himself, but here's a quick and easy way to make a cool hat from paper (I like this version much better cause i wouldn't of had to go on a wild goose chase to find green felt!!!!!!)


How to Make a Paper Robin Hood Hat -- powered by eHow.com

Here's another for a Maid Marion Hat!


How to Make a Paper Maid Marian Hat -- powered by eHow.com

There are heaps of other great hats made by Ginny Larson here!

Hump day helper #9: Jumping Handkerchief Mouse

When I was a little girl, my Dad used to make a Christmas cracker out of a hankie and hide a coin in it to keep me entertained when I was bored. I don't know why but sometimes I can remember how to do this and other times, usually when under pressure to entertain the twiddlies, I can't for the life of me remember.

But I found a link on the Monkey See Monkey Do blog for a jumping handkerchief mouse which goes one step further. It becomes a cracker before its a mouse, and now I have a further trick in my repertoire. Look out Vegas!

What do you need
A large mans hankie or square of cloth

How to do it

1. Fold hankie in half diagonally
2. Fold corner points into meet in the centre
3. *Hide your prize here if your going to make a cracker!* Roll hankie from bottom to top leaving the top corner unrolled.
4. Fold the point down and hold firmly
5. Fold the two sides in so they overlap in the centre6. Using your thumbs, roll the folded ends into the centre until the tails pop out the ends.
Voila you have a cracker - if you pull the ends now, it pops open and unravels to reveal the prize.

To make this into the jumping mouse...

7. Gently pull out one of the tails of the cracker and fold back upon itself to make a triangle.
8. Tie the two corners gently together to create the mouse's head and ears.
Put the mouse on your hand facing up towards your arm and cup your fingers under the mouse's bottom. Use you fingers to flick the mouse around and make it appear to move on its own as if it's running up and down your arm. Giggles abound ;)

If my instructions are about as clear as mud, try the ones on the Monkey See Monkey Do blog where I found these fab images and the instructions. There is also a cool tea towel chook I must try!

Kids Movies....

This is hardly a hump day suggestion, as most of us probably do this everyday anyway, but I was feeling a little rant like about the movies on at the cinemas lately, this seemed like the next best thing.

I really wanted to take the girls to a movie and have been hanging for the school holidays in the hope that something suitable would make it to the cinemas. But everything these days seems to be too violent, or has "scary themes" (whatever that's supposed to mean) or is a story about how two best friends/parents and children/you fill in the gap, get separated and are very sad and upset and have to go on a quest to find each other during which there is much danger..... blah, blah, blah! does that sound familiar to you or it is just me?

My girls are still too young for these kinds of movies and the ones we've attempted to watch in the past that appeared suitable on the posters and in reviews and have a G rating, left us with endless questions on why the characters where so distraught and why did their friends leave... it goes on and on and on.

So as we don't have a home theatre, we are making a makeshift one for ourselves today. I'm all stocked up on popcorn, have some special cups with straws just like at the movies and I've thrown a couple of sheets up over the glass doors to block out as much light as possible. We've dragged out loads of comfy cushions and a rug or two and we're all set for the show to begin.

Today's screening is Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses. Just between you and me, if I have to watch this again, I'm going to poke myself in the eye. But Abby's really into the whole evil stepmother figure at the moment (the lesser of the evils according to her) and after the intermission we will be screening a Care Bears anthology to keep all members of the audience appeased.

At least there's coffee on tap at this theatre and they probably won't notice if I go downstairs and hang out the washing either!

Hump Day Helper #7: Happy Birthday Wheel

Yay!!! Monkeytail & Wellington is 1 today! Just 12 short months ago my hair brained scheme became reality and I can't believe how fast the time has flown! My children still think that Mummy's "Shop" is a figment of my imagination (and sometimes I wonder that myself), but I'm fairly sure I'm not hallucinating, just extremely sleep deprived!

Now that the financial year is over and there is just the counting left to do, I can start looking for some delicious new things to bring to the store! I've already got my eye on some very lovely tid bits I can't wait to show everyone, but for now, I'm off to eat a birthday cupcake (or 3 cause no ones watching) and a much needed cup of coffee!


I think that today's hump day helper is a stellar idea. I am terrible for remembering birthday's! I like to ignore my own, but other than my immediate family I have a huge problem remembering. even if I write it down in my diary, you can put money on it that I will forget to look... must be a subconscious metal block... I've got no other explanation.

But today I'm going to have a crack at making myself a Birthday Wheel! This idea is courtesy of Enchanted Learning.

What do you need?

Cardboard or stiff paper
A compass or something to help you draw a circle
Scissors
A brass paper fastener
A pencil to mark the circle
Crayons etc to decorate

How to do it

Cut out two circles of equal size. Divide one circle into 12 equal segments, then draw a series of concentric circles.On the second circle, cut out a shape equal to 1/12th of the circle
Write the name of each month around the edge of the first circle in each segment.
Place the second circle over the first and secure with the paper fastener. Then write the birthdays of your family and friends on the wheel and decorate! No more forgetfulness!!

Hump Day Helper #6: Space Explorers

OK, so this week it's not something crafty, but rather a great site for kids who are into the final frontier... Space!

This is a long story, but my almost 4 yr old Abby has her own version of the Why question that toddlers seem to love to much, particularly when she's in the car. She either asks where everything comes from, or how old everything is .... where do traffic lights come from? how old is fly spray? and every answer you give her prompts another.... the fact that i always answer her questions often gets me into a lot of strife and a 20 minute Q&A session that I usually get out of by saying, we'll look it up when we get home! My favorite is when she argues point blank that I do know the answer, I'm just being difficult by telling her I don't know. As flattering as it is that she thinks I'm the all seeing oracle, I just don't have answers that roll off my tongue about where gravity comes from!

Until now that is! Abs was absolutely fascinated by the recent space shuttle trip to Hubble and because I didn't have the answers or quick wit to answer her many, many, many, many space questions i followed through on my promise to look it up!

Thank the stars for the NASA website. It is very cool and has lots of interactive games and activities that appeal to even the youngest of space explorers. We are a big fan of the Buzz Lightyear Game and Space your Face gets a few giggles too! But the depth of info and images on here is just amazing. Who knew you could watch live NASA TV? Well worth a look and there are some colouring in pages to download too!

Hump Day Helper #6: Paper Toys

I have been a long time fan of Tim Haugen of Fantastic Toys. He makes some of the most adorable paper craft toys your likely to see. I (or rather the "Easter Bunny") made one of these Easter Egg Dioramas for each of my girls at Easter time and hid some eggs in the bottom. It was a huge hit and the "Easter Bunny" is apparently very talented with glue according to my 3yr old!















Well, the fun needn't stop there. Tim also makes adorable paper nesting dolls, a gingerbread house, a birthday cake and the cutest dolls house complete with furniture and little inhabitants you are ever going to see.


Prices start from just $0.20US on his Etsy site but average at about $3-$4US for the paper toys pictured here. He also makes cute little softies you'll find hard to resist.

Each kit comes as a PDF document which Tim sends you via email within 24 hrs of purchase. All you need then is a colour printer, scissors, some card stock and glue. All the instructions and ingredients are listed on each item before you buy so you'll know what you need to get started.

My Easter Egg took me about 15-20 mins each to make and was a little fiddly, but the end result was quite amazing and it actually withstood quite a bit of interactive play once the girls discovered the eggy treats underneath. It's probably more of a slightly older child project, but the little ones will love the bright colours and cuteness you'll bet!

Fantastic Toys on etsy

Hump Day Helper #4: Tap Shoes + Dance Party

One of my personal pet hates, almost rating as highly as vacuuming the carpet, is tap dancing! I actually think its quite stunning to watch, but the sound makes my eye twitch in a way that only a relative outstaying their welcome can.

But, of course kids being kids, my two find the whole thing fascinating and the noisier the better apparently. So here is a simple, minimally noisy compared to the real thing, and much less expensive way to make tap shoes.

What do you need?

1/2 inch wide elastic
2 metal washers 1 1/4 inch
Cotton wool for your ears

How to do it...

Cut elastic to approx 8 inches (20cm) in length
Thread through each washer
tie around your child's shoe, arrange the washer so it lies flat

Thanks to familyfun.com for this idea

This seems like such an obvious idea, but that's why i love it so much! Now tune into your favourite radio station or CD and let the kids go nuts. If you can get it, I recommend ABC's radio station Dig on digital TV (channel 200 where I am) or ABC Jazz on 201. For some reason, they have the best toe tappin' tunes & no ads which the kids hate. Wait, I just found where you can listen to it live on the net... Click here.

Another obvious idea, why not turn your toe tappin' session into a dance party. This great website called Hip Young Parent is a US radio station that broadcasts an eclectic mix of fun kid friendly tunes, much like some of the music we've introduced you to here as well as some fav's from Sesame Street and songs like Happy Happy Joy Joy from Ren & Stimpy, remember that one? It's online 24/7, so anytime can be dance party time really!


PS - Don't forget to enter The Jimmies comp for this week. Last CD to WIN for Music Month!

Hump Day Helper #3: Box Guitar

I inspired myself into starting a Useful Box. I'm always jealous of the one on Playschool. I have noted that the one on Playschool often adapts dramatically to the crafty task at hand, I don't think I'm quite there yet. So far my useful box has a few old toilet rolls tubes and some plastic biscuit trays.

Today though, it will also contain the contents of my box of tissues after I pilfer the box for today's Box guitar crafty creation.

What do you need?

1 shoe box or empty tissue box
1 old kitchen paper towel roll or ruler (it's mostly for decoration :-)
4-6 Elastic Bands of varying widths and lengths
Scissors
2 Pencils
Paint, stickers etc to decorate

How to do it

1. If your using a tissue box, you can skip the first step because you already have the hole right where you need it.If you are using a shoe box, cut a nice round hole, as smoothly as possible in the centre of the lid to create the hollow body of the guitar.

2. Stretch the elastic bands over the box so they run length wise over the hole. Try to run the bands so they increase in evenly in width to give better sound.

3. Cut another small hole in end of the box between the elastic bands to insert the ruler or paper towel roll.

4. Slide a pencil under the rubber bands at each end of the box to raise them above the hole slightly.

5. Paint and decorate and get ready for the performance.

6. To play, simply pluck or strum the bands to produce the different sounds.

Here is a great photo of a shoebox guitar I found at http://familycrafts.about.com, with some slight variation.


Have a happy hump day!

Hump Day Helper #2: Musical Glasses

Here we are again... Hump Day. The craziness has already begun in my house, even the cat is acting a bit nuts today.

At first glance this struck me as a great idea for kids to learn how different everyday items can become instruments. But it does provide the risk of broken glass, so not really one they can do unsupervised.

It is a fact that the old finger on the rim of a glass only works with lead crystal, but you probably don't want your 3yr old fingering the good stuff. And my husband can't actually get a note to sound from running his finger around a glass, I don't know if its an actual skill I have, or just a weird quirk of our household that we can't all do it?

This idea and photos are from Wee Life such a lovely blog


What to you need?

A large plastic bowl to hold all the glasses and catch any spilt water
a variety of different size and type of glasses
a few different metal spoons
Some water

How to do it

Put glasses in bowl, fill each with a different level of water and tinkle away!

I know its not a particularly huge stretch of the imagination. But I wouldn't have thought of it unless I'd seen it and it kept Monkeytail & Wellie amused for a good 20 mins this morning!

Because I love You Tube so much, here is some Musical Glasses pieces I found this morning... It seems that glass musicians are popular street performers in Europe. Is this an untapped talent for Pitt St Mall?




Have a fun Hump Day! Pay us a visit tomorrow for a special new stock announcement! And don't forget to enter the Renee & Jeremy comp!!

Hump Day Helper #1 - Make Your Own Kazoo

At my house, we have one day a week where we have no scheduled activities like swimming lessons, ballet or playgroup and it just happens to fall on the dreaded Hump Day Wednesday. I like having the chance to stay home and catch up on the housework I've neglected since the weekend, but it gives my girls cabin fever and sends them batty.

Now, I like to fancy myself a bit of a crafty chic. in reality though, I'm pretty good at colouring in and sticking sequins on old egg cartons and that's about the extent of it. I do have a Useful Box, but it's pretty weak by Playschools standards, but i like the idea of it anyway :-)

So I try to find some new and fun crafty stuff each week on the net for the girls to do. There are some fantastic resources out there and lots of other crafty mum's are happy to share their ideas.

So, in the spirit of music month, here is our first Hump Day Helper...

Make your own Kazoo!


Now this is great for 2 reasons.

1. You can make it quickly and easily from stuff you will definitely have in the house;
2. It will probably only last the day, so when your sick of Kazoo songs, you know you only have to hear it for so long!

What do you need?

Toilet paper tubes
Grease proof paper
Elastic Band or sticky tape
Scissors
Hole punch or something sharp to do same
Textas, crayons or anything to decorate with

How to Make it

1. Punch a hole as far down the tube as you can get it to reach.
2. Cut a circle of grease proof paper about 2cm larger than the diameter of the tube
3. stretch the paper over the tube, keeping it as smooth and tight as possible
4. secure with an elastic band or sticky tape to hold the paper in place. Make sure the paper doesn't cover the hole you punched.

Test it out. Hum into the open end allowing a little air to escape your lips to make the paper vibrate. Now decorate as you like to make it ready for your Kazoo Music Fest.

Here is a great video of how to make one from Expertvillage.com

Make a Kazoo with Toilet Paper Tubes -- powered by ExpertVillage.com