January 2014

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25

Sprinkle Sticks Healthy Egg-free Party Food

Sprinkle Sticks! Don’t these look so naughty! Well, let me tell you a little secret. They’re actually not as bad as they look. And the kids go wild for them!

Why are they healthy-ish?

Well, firstly they are egg-free, making these a great party food option for those who are allergic to egg (like the eight year old girl whose birthday these were made for).

They have none of the artificial colours that send kids berko. (The no artificial color sprinkles are in more pastel hues than the artificial colour variety. I think they are no less beautiful and the kids certainly don’t notice the difference).

Actually, these sprinkle sticks are completely free of all of these nasty additives, with the exception of palm oil. My issue with palm oil is not so much for health reasons, but rather that the unsustainable harvesting causes havoc for wild orang-utans and tigers in Sumatra. (If you know of a good palm-oil free dark chocolate, please let me know in comments.)

Dark chocolate has all sorts of health benefits. It is much lower in sugar than it’s milkier cousin, and contains loads of soluble fibre, minerals and antioxidants, just to name a few.

And whilst these sprinkle sticks are certainly not sugar-free, they do have enough of the good stuff to make these (in my opinion) a healthier ‘party food’ than what is normally available.

To make them, you’ll need:

  • Good quality plain grissini (also called breadsticks)
  • Good quality dark chocolate
  • Sprinkles (also called ‘hundreds and thousands’) with no artificial colours or flavours
  • Empty egg cartons

Step 1: Turn your egg cartons upside down, and make little holes along the bottom, like this.

Upside down Egg Cartons

Step 2: Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water. Once melted, scoop the chocolate over the grissini, leaving the bottom 5cm (2 inches) or so clean. Scrape off the chocolate so that you can see the grissini showing through and only just a small amount remains (as per the photo).

Applying the chocolate2_p

Step 3: WAIT. You need to wait for around a minute so that the chocolate can cool enough so that it doesn’t melt the sprinkles. Non-pro tip: don’t wave the stick around trying to get it to cool faster. It won’t, and you’ll end up with tiny drops of chocolate all over your kitchen.

Step 4: Once you’ve waited for the chocolate to cool slightly, you can add the sprinkles by (you guessed it) sprinkling them over the chocolate stick. Have a bowl underneath to catch the sprinkles that don’t stick – you’ll be using these ones again for the next stick. Trouble shooting tip: Are your sprinkles melting into the chocolate? Then you didn’t wait long enough. See Step 3.

Step 5: Stick the fresh sprinkle stick into one of the egg carton holes to set.

They can set at room temperature, or if you live in a very hot & humid climate, or if you are just in a rush, they can also be set in the fridge for a short period of time.

Sprinkle Sticks setting_p

If you have any left over chocolate and sprinkles, for extra points add a rim to the container that you’ll be displaying them in too. (I got this tip from One Perfect Day’s Chocolate Spoons – which might I add are totally drool-worthy.)

Sprinkle Sticks

Yum! The ‘handle’ at the bottom makes for less mess (although having a wet cloth handy to wipe faces afterwards is highly recommended.)

xx

Danya

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8

Once upon a time (about exactly a year ago), I forked out a relatively small amount of dosh for some chunky toddler fairy stampers and a red stamp pad. When I got home, I looked at the new stamp pad, and realised that fairies aren’t always red. And I thought ‘I could totally DIY different coloured versions of this myself’. (I was a bit unsure about the whole ‘making things from scratch without a tutorial’ thing back then…)

So I googled, found enough examples to reassure me, and headed off to the discount shops to buy some thin kitchen sponges (the cheaper the better), some plastic containers with lids (why didn’t I use recycled??) and some acrylic paint. Continue reading Valentines Stamp Art for Toddlers (with sensory play)

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38

Rose Scented No Cook Play Dough

This is the best play dough (playdough? play-dough? play-doh?) that I’ve ever made. Actually, I’ll raise that – this is the best play dough that we’ve ever played with.

JJ helped me make it. Measuring out 2 cups of this, 1/2 a cup of that, and a tablespoon of something else – all great meaningful maths practise. Plus she loved it!

Rose Scented Play Dough

I used this no cook play dough recipe from The Imagination Tree as a base, except that I added red food colouring and a few tablespoons of Queen Natural Rosewater Flavouring Essence (which I think is similar to this one (aff link*) and decreased the water component slightly to compensate.

Check out the colour and the texture. It is smooth, soft and pliable. And the rose scent makes this an extra sensory experience.

Play Dough and Heart Shaped Cookie Cutters

I thought it would be fun to set out heart shaped cookie cutters and pink beads as an invitation to play.

An invitation to play with play dough heart cookie cutters and beads

JJ was so excited to play with this play dough. She kept smelling and ahhing like a gourmet. Both the cookie cutters and the beads were a hit.

Playing and creating hearts with Play Dough

When JJ had finished making heart shapes, she started to roleplay that she was a baker and was making current buns. A few renditions of “Five Current Buns from a Baker’s Shop” may have been sung. She hid beads inside balls of dough to represent the currents.

Valentines Day play with rose scented play dough

Then she decided that she was a tailor, and the beads were buttons. Here she is making me a new jacket.

Playing with play dough and beads

And yes, I then had to wear it.

She played with just the play dough, beads, heart shapes & her imagination for a good half an hour, before changing it up a little and introducing her animals to the play session. Here she is making elephant footprints (something she’s remembered from previous play dough play sessions).

Making elephant footprints in playdough

And of course my foot-obsessed lass also put the play dough on the floor so she could make her own footprints and feel the sensation of the cool play dough on her toes.

This particular batch of play dough was played with over and over and over again for weeks. I kept it in an airtight container, and it didn’t dry out at all. It would have lasted much longer, except that it ended up full of grit and crumbs from a few outside and lunch play sessions.

One of the fears I’d had of making my own play dough was that it would stain the carpet. But I can confess that some small bits were walked into the carpet, and I was able to pick them off the following day (after they’d had time to dry out) and there was no stain.

And having a big batch of the one colour is actually easier for little kids than storing various colours in lots of little tubs.

Hmmm, I’m seriously doubting whether I’ll bother with store bought play dough again!

 

Edit: We’ve made HEAPS of play dough since I wrote this post! You can find them all on my Play Ideas page, including:

 

And I pin lots more on my Messy & Sensory Play pinterest board.

 

You might also like to subscribe to our newsletter, to receive ideas like this straight in your Inbox.

 

xx Danya

 

* Some of the products we have in Australia are not available internationally, so I’ve added in a (cheeky affiliate) link to help clarify. An affiliate link means I may earn a commission or referral fee if you make a purchase through my link, without any extra cost to you. It helps to keep this little blog afloat. Thanks for your support.

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0

Here’s another applique sewing project. This little ‘2’ T-Shirt was made for my friend’s daughter’s second birthday.

2 T-shirt showing child's age in fingers

Technically I bought the plain black T-shirt, and then I appliqued the design on the front. But I still think that counts as a unique hand-made gift, don’t you?

To make it, I zigzagged on some scrap demin first to create a frame. Then I appliqued on the hand, cuff and 2 using bits and pieces of scrap fabric. (Word has gotten out that I collect old clothes that are too damaged to go to charity for upcycling projects – so my collection is becoming quite large!)

Two (2) fingers

I googled a cartoon two fingers design. (I’d love to link back to the image, but it was a year ago now, and for the life of me I can’t find it again to give credit. But it was something similar to this one.)

Once all the sewing was done, I traced the outline using laundry marker. The marker will gradually fade, but you can go over it again to keep it looking bright.

Applique of a hand holding up two fingers

xx
Danya

PS: You might also like to check out the three different Trashy T-Shirts that I also made using this method.

Applique of garbage or recycling truck

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4
DIY Applique to record your baby's age

I can’t believe this post has been sitting in my drafts for fourteen (14) months! In the midst of moving house and juggling two little munchkins, somehow my sewing (and my sewing posts) have been very neglected. So to all my creative sewing buddies, sorry ’bout that. I’ve inherited my Nana’s spanking sewing machine, and Santa (aka my mum) bought me a new overlocker for Christmas, so I’m excited to get sewing again in 2014.

But first let’s get up to date. For those who have been waiting with baited breath (lol), you might recall that I was trying out appliquéing. I made a ‘B’ onesie, a Christmas Tree onesie, a Big Sister top and a ‘1’ singlet using the pin and sew method – all of which all turned out OK. But the JJ top stretched and was a bit of a fail.

And then I discovered the appliquér’s secret.

(Said in a whisper) Iron-on sewable adhesive. 

I bought mine on eBay, but I’m sure you could get it in any good haberdashery store.

The hard part of this process is that you have to trace the outline of what you want to appliqué in reverse. On this occasion, I was making a 2 singlet to mark Bee’s second month birthday. Since I was using the 2 that I’d already cut out as the stencil from my fabric letters and numbers, I was able to just flip it over and trace it. (Tip: If you want to print out a number or image and trace without actually cutting it out first, then look for a printer setting that will flip things horizontally.)

After you’ve traced it in reverse, the next step is to roughly cut it out (leaving a small edge), place it adhesive side down onto the back of the fabric, and iron it on.

You then cut it out again, this time making sure to cut precisely along the lines. Peel off the backing paper, and iron it fabric side up onto the singlet.

(If you accidentally iron the adhesive side, then you can clean it off the iron with vinegar once the iron cools. Don’t ask me how I know this.)

How to use iron-on sewable adhesive for appliques

You can then sew around the edges of the appliqué and you won’t have to worry about pins, or the fabric stretching or anything like that. And because you’ve used iron-on sewable adhesive, it won’t gunk up your sewing machine needle. The results are much more professional than the pin and sew method – in my humble opinion anyway.

If you’d prefer a no-sew method (cause I know there are some sew-phobic folks out there!) then choose an iron-on no-sew adhesive, as the glue on the sewable variety won’t hold after washing.

And here is little Bee on her two month birthday proudly showing off her new kicking moves! She was so dark back then. It’s hard to believe that she’s now a blonde haired blue eyed sixteen month old toddler!.

Create monthly appliqued singlets to record your baby's age

I also used this appliqué method to sew JJ’s 2 1/2 singlet, and Bee’s 3, 4 & 5 month singlets. (I sewed fabric stripes together to make rough stripes for the 4 month singlet, but the rest of the process remained the same.)

Appliqued t-shirts and singlets to show a child's age

xx
Danya

Make your own appliques to record your baby's age

 

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0

Easy Australian flag craft idea: hands-on way for preschoolers to learn about Aussie culture and Australia Day.

Preschooler craft idea: a washi tape and glitter Australian Flag

JJ is quite fond of our beloved flag, and has had one masking-taped to her bedroom door for a few months now. So I thought it might be fun to create a preschool-friendly version of an Australian flag as a fun craft activity in the lead up to Australia Day next week.

Supplies to make an Australian flag

* Contains affiliate links to similar products used.

We used:

I cut the star stencils out of thin cardboard. Make sure that the two largest stars have seven points, and the smallest star has five points.

Because this was a product-oriented craft, I made one before hand for JJ to copy from. I’ve learned from experience that this saves us from having a mid-craft meltdown. (She doesn’t like to be told or shown how to do something. Having something to copy from still allows her to do her version “all by herself” without verbal instructions from me).

Here was my example.

Australian flag made with coloured construction paper, washi tape, glue and glitter

And here is JJ making her own. She did ask for some help: I cut the pieces of tape, and I positioned and held the stencils down while she glued, but otherwise she did it on her own.

Preschool craft: Australian flag

She used lots and lots of glue! Sprinkling the glitter was the hardest bit for her. She finds it hard to judge how hard and high to shake, without hitting the paper. She previously struggled with this when we decorated Christmas baubles as well. I’ll have to plan more glitter crafts so she can practise some more.

While she crafted, we talked about how the bit in the top left is called the Union Jack which is England’s flag, and that Jack starts with the same special letter as JJ. We talked about how all the lines of the Union Jack cross in the middle, and JJ said it looked like a star. We counted the stars, and also counted the points on each star. I told her that the seven pointed star is called the Federation Star.

Here is JJ (3.5 years old) with her finished Australian Flag, just waiting for the glue to dry. Doesn’t she look proud as punch!

Kid-made Australian flag

 

 

For more Aussie craft ideas, you might like to check out our Australian activities archives page – we’re adding new ideas here all the time.

Here are some other fun Australian ideas from some of my Aussie blogging friends, that you might like to check out too:

 
I also regularly pin Aussie activities on my Australia for Kids Pinterest page.

And a big happy Australia Day for the 26th Jan!

xx Danya

* This post contains affiliate link(s) to similar products used. An affiliate link means I may earn advertising / referral fees if you make a purchase through my link, without any extra cost to you. It helps to keep this little blog afloat. Thanks for your support.

Easy Australian flag craft for kids - perfect for kids learning about Australia or Australia Day

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0

After the kids had finished making a mess of the backyard playing with the Sensory Foam Dough, I still had a bit of shaving cream left in the can. Too much to throw away, but not enough to keep….

So then this happened.

Shaving cream play in the bath tub
(no filter)

I might have accidentally put in another entire can as well….

Playing with shaving cream
(black and white)

We’ve played with shaving cream in the bath before. It’s lots and lots and lots of fun.

She loved the feeling of it oozing between her fingers. She loved the feeling of it on her body, particularly on her feet and between her toes. She loved the thrill of sliding around the bathtub, and trying to walk from one side of the bath tub to the other without slipping over.

A few of her bath toys might have slipped and slid their way around the bath tub as well.

Shaving cream sensory play
(HDR)

Great for a sensory explosion on a hot summer’s day. She certainly looks like she’s enjoying herself, doesn’t she?

Idea for a hot day: shaving cream play in the bath
(frost)

xx
Danya

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8

DIY Foam Dough - mouldable, yet crumbly

One of my goals for this year is to do some more sensory play with JJ and Bee. (Sensory play encourages the use of various senses; to look, hear, smell, taste or touch while they play).

Sensory doughs are an excellent medium to explore the sense of touch. Some are oozy, some are crumbly, some are soft. And some explore other senses as well, like smell and taste.

I’ve tended to shy away from making our own dough at home for too long now: I feared the mess; I feared the prep work; I feared that the effort will be greater than the reward. But after seeing how much JJ and Bee liked the Play Snow last month, I’ve decided to put fears aside and let the kids get messy!

And so it was extremely timely when my friend Dayna from Lemon Lime Adventures put out a 12 Months of Sensory Dough challenge. Yup, I’m in!

Want to play too? Well, the idea is to make a different type of sensory dough each month, starting with Foam Dough for January, Cloud Dough for February, Edible Play Dough for March, and so on.

So what is foam dough?

Glad you asked. 🙂

Cornflour + shaving cream + food colouring
It’s cornflour + shaving cream + (optional) red & blue food colouring (because JJ is obsessed with purple).

(Just to make things confusing, what we call cornflour in Australia, is called cornstarch in America. And what what we call cornstarch in Australia is called cornflour in America. The one I mean is white and powdery, not yellow and powdery…)

Mixing! A beautiful sensory mess
Mixing it together is more than half the fun. Shaving cream is so fluffy to touch and smells so clean! And watching the red and blue colours mix together is a great colour mixing lesson.

We used a 500g packet of cornflour, but I didn’t measure out the shaving cream. I just kept squirting and squirting and squirting until the mixture looked about right.

foam dough
Once it’s all combined, foam dough is crumbly, yet mouldable. With shaving cream being a main ingredient, I was expecting it to be fluffy or sticky, but it isn’t. It’s soft. It’s very similar in texture to Play Snow, but the shaving cream made it more fun to make.

I provided JJ with some paper cupcake cups / liners / cases (what are these things called again) and of course she made a birthday cake and told her joke.

Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Abbey
Abbey who?
Abbey birthday cake!

Hilarious. Or at least JJ thinks so.

Foam dough birthday cake with stick candle
She discovered that if you turn the cupcake upside down, you can make a sand castle. They work much better than most of the ‘real’ sandcastles she’s tried, as there is no need to add any water.

So she proceeded to make about a hundred.

Making foam dough sand castles
After a while I brought out a few letter cookie cutters. We talked about how the letter F makes a ‘f’ sound and I asked her if there was anything she could see that started with a ‘f’, and she immediately said Foam Dough. Yay! Learning the starting sounds of words is one of the first steps to reading, and is something that JJ is enjoying toying with at the moment.

F is for foam dough
Given JJ’s sensory obsession of feeling things with her feet, this was always going to happen. And so we counted toes.

Footprints in foam dough. Counting toes.
Once the feet were in, well, there’s no stopping! Lucky that I had set it up outside. 😉

Foam Sensory Dough - let the kids get messy!
Want to play along? Then make some – it’s fun! Yes it’s messy, but if you do it outside, and close enough to bathtime, then it’s manageable. I don’t know why I was afraid of the prepwork – JJ did all the mixing for me! And was it worth the effort – every single bit.

And a tip from a non-pro? Wash your hands before you pick up your camera to take photos, or risk getting powder all over the $1000 camera lens. Oops.

Best of the Best Sensory Dough

Enjoy the beautiful sensory mess!

xx Danya

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