crafts – Page 3 – the joy of five

Arts And Crafts, Children, Crafts, Families, Family Life, Flowers, Gardens

Getting Children Into Upcycling

February 25, 2016February 25, 2016by thejoyoffive3 Comments

Global warming and climate change are hard enough subjects for us as adults to get our heads around, so how on earth can we get this message across to our children?

Children are like sponges and soak up everything that is going on around us. They learn so much through imitating adults and copying our actions that we need to use this to our advantage and educate them on important issues early on so they can carry this information into adulthood.

For me the best was to teach children is to be hands on. How many children come out of school and can’t recall anything from their day in the classroom, whereas taking them out and about to touch, feel and really sence everything around them leaves a much more lasting impression.

There has sadly been a huge decline in the amount of time children spend in the open air exploring their natural environment and this is one of the best ways to explain to them the affects the modern living is having on the world as we know it.

Another great way to get them thinking about the environment is by teaching them the value of upcycling and recycling.

Taking them to recycling sites and allowing them to sort all the recyclable items and getting them to think about what these things could then be made into.

Upcycling is the perfect way to teach the children about the benefit of substances such a plastic as the durability of it allows you to have so many uses for it and it can last a lifetime.

There are so many uses for plastic now and because of the resiliance and strength in plastic there is less waste which is so much better for the environment.

We get through pints and pints of milk in this house so we always have plastic cartons by the bucket load.

I decided to mix some upcycling along with caring for the environment by making a watering can out of one of our many milk cartons.

It was so simple to make. I took some acrylic paint and added some pretty spring flowers to the outside and then with a metal skewer carefully made some holes in the lid of the carton to make the water spout. Number four happily filled this up again and again and set to watering the flowers in the garden.

Have a little think about other ways you could use things that would normally be thrown away that the children would love to help create. It would be great to hear your ideas!
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Children, Families, Family Life, Reviews, Reviews

Bubbles And Blossoms:Craft Sessions Review

January 2, 2016January 4, 2016by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

A few days before Christmas we were invited along by Bubbles And Blossoms to try out their ‘Messy Minikins’ session and a special festive session that was put on for older brothers and sisters.

I love crafts and do lots at home with my little ones but the ‘Messy Minikins’ session is perfect for people who would rather keep the mess out of their own home. I love sessions like this as you get the fun of crafts as well as the interaction with other children.

The boys enjoyed making a large selection of crafts that could be done at their own free will which I found a welcome change to the more structured type of class. There were also sensory bins, play dough and sand areas that the children could go to when they wanted a break from crafting.

The boys came away with a lovely pouch full of cards, masks, glittery pine cones and Christmas decorations.

We walked into town for a spot of lunch before it was time for number threes session. The church where the sessions are held is on the doorstep of Sutton town centre and there is also a cafe within the church that has a good menu of well pried food. This also comes in handy if you fancy a coffee during the children’s session!

I have always found it hard to find craft classes for older children so it was a welcome surprise that Bubbles And Blossoms were offering this session.

The children were given a large canvas and a huge abundance of paints, jewels, beads, sequins and much more to create anything that took their fancy.

Number three is having her room decorated in the New Year and wants a Hollywood theme so this was in her mind as she set to work on her masterpiece!

It gave here some time to herself to let her mind really get to work and create something she could take home and hang proudly on her wall.

Both these sessions has a friendly, laid back atmosphere that I really loved. My boys don’t have a very good attention span so the fact they could hop in and out of activities was perfect for them.

Number three had a wonderful time at the older session and came out asking when she could go back so I will be keeping an eye out for more session in the future.
We were asked along to these sessions for the purpose of this review and they are all my own honest opinions.

Children, Crafts, Gifts

Selfie Jewellery Review

December 8, 2015December 8, 2015by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

Number three has always loved making jewellery so when we were asked by GALT to try out their new Selfie Jewellery from their Express Yourself range she was over the moon.

This set comprises of beads, silky cord, elastic, stickers and pendants to create your own bracelets and necklaces.

What sets this apart from most sets is that you can take your own photos and use them to create a more personal gift.

Number two decided the first one she would make would be a Christmas present for her Nan. We found a picture to fit the size of the pendant and then easily stuck it on with the adhesive stickers provided. There is then a clear protective layer to place over the picture to prevent any damage.

To finish it off she chose some silver beads to thread on either side.

Her plans are now to make some more colourful bracelets to give to her friends for pressies at the end of term.

This is a of lovely way for children to get crafty and create something personal. It would be a great end of term gift to keep them occupied in the run up to Christmas.
We were gifted this set for the purpose of this review and they are all my own honest opinions.

Crafts, Families, Family Life, Reviews, Reviews

Lots Of Fun With Sands Alive

November 25, 2015December 1, 2015by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

What better way to bring a bit of that much missed summer fun back than to have some indoor sand to play with!

Sands Alive from John Adams a modelling product than unlike most clays and play doughs does not dry out. It has a sand like texture to look at but once bought together it allows you to mould it into shapes which then holds in place.

We were sent a starter pack and the animal pack to try out and were very pleasantly surprised.

The packs contain a bag of sand, moulds and rollers and a tray to play with it all in.

The sand is a very strange texture and forms shapes really easily. Our favourites were the cute animals that we made up and then set up along an animal print walkway.

This would cover a wide age range and even my teenager couldn’t help but sit down and have a go.

I was really worried that this was going to be a massively messy toy but the sand stayed mainly within the trays and the bits that escaped were easy to pick up.

My little ones had lots of fun with this and have already put the the castle set on their Christmas lists!

Arts And Crafts, Children, Families, Family Life, Toddlers

Christmas Tree Craft For Toddlers

November 11, 2015by thejoyoffiveLeave a Comment

Christmas is on its way and one of my favourite parts of the celebrations is the decorating of the tree. Something I now allow the children to help with and then rearrange once they are in bed!!

An easier way to solve this problem is to create their own little tree from paper.

All you need to do is to find some green paper which you need to fold into half and draw half a tree along the folded side. Once this is cut out you will have a tree with perfectly even branches.

From there you need to pick some colours and paint baubles onto the tree.

Once they have covered the tree with the coloured baubles you can then cut lengths of coloured pipe cleaners to glue across the tree as tinsel.

This is a really simple craft which is great introduce little ones to the magic of Christmas.

Arts And Crafts, Children, Crafts, Families, Family Life, Sons

Colour Explosion Firework Paintings

November 7, 2015by thejoyoffive2 Comments

As an adult I still find all the beautiful colours and the spectacular explosions of fireworks amazing.

I really wanted the children to be able to recreate the splender through some artwork with the children.

I popped over to the wonderful Mum In The Madhouse and found some really cool ideas that I got some inspiration for to make with my own littlies.

I took two toliet roll tubes and cut lines halfway up the tube all the way round and then splayed them out. I then cut bits off of the lengths at random.

I put two different colours onto two separate plates and the covered the toliet roll ends with paint.

Number four had a great time creating explosions all over his page and it got him really in the mood for going out to watch the real thing tonight.

Bug Hunting, Children, Crafts, Families, Family Life, Food, Kids Days Out, Memories, Outdoor Play, Parents, Parks, Photography, Surrey

Pumpkin Carving And Crafts Galore

October 30, 2015November 4, 2015by thejoyoffive9 Comments

This is our final dayout before the big night of parties and trick and or treat. As I’ve said before I really love all the fun that Halloween brings and we always have a trip to Morden Hall in Surrey in the lead up to get us in the mood.

You all know that National Trust activities are always a favourite with me as there is always a mixture of exploring the great outdoors with plenty of fun things to make and do.

Today we set off armed with the pumpkins we picked the other day ready to see what was in store for us today.

There were plenty of tables set up with buckets of utensils to help you carve out your masterpieces. It’s always great fun to do and saves all the mess at home!

Next up we made our way to all the crafts that had been set up. Number four had his eye on making a spider headpiece and they all took a turn at making some toliet roll mummies. There was also a beautiful hanging paper pumpkin but number five got restless so we had to move on.

They were all a little peckish so we picked up a pulled pork burger from the Swine ‘n’ Dine stall that was there along with a few other stalls selling lots of yummy food. The food was outstanding and they even managed to sort something sutiable for my little allergy boy.

Our final activity of the day was the nature trail which took us through the pretty rose gardens and over the stunning white bridge to play Pooh Sticks.

We came to the end of the trail which was rounded off wonderfully with a creepy bug hut. Mine alway love digging around in the dirt to see what minibeasts they can capture and have a good look at. Number four was a little disappointment he could take the worm home that he had found.

We had one last look around at the watermill and picked out our favourite scarecrow, all of which were fantastic. Number five took a particular liking to one!

If you are looking for something to do over the weekend I can highly recommend a trip along to Morden Hall to see everything it has on offer, Halloween related or not.

Arts And Crafts, Children, Crafts, Families, Family Life, Messy play

Lavender Scented Playdoh

August 1, 2015August 5, 2015by thejoyoffive17 Comments

After our annual trip to the lavender fields the other day I took an idea that number three had done at school and decided to make some lavender scented playdough.

I made this in the hope that it would have calming properties that would rub off on the children!! This unfortunately didn’t work but the smell was wonderful.

Lavender Playdough

250g plain flour
50g salt
150g water
2tbsp oil
Few drops purple food colouring
Finely chopped small handful of lavender

Mix together all the dry ingredients and slowly add the oil and water until all the ingredients are combined.

Store in a plastic bag in the fridge until you are ready to use.

Arts And Crafts, Children, Crafts, Education, Families, Family Life, Imagination Play, Learning

Hours Of Fun With A Cardboard Box Car

July 7, 2015July 15, 2015by thejoyoffive12 Comments

As we all know cardboard boxes are a massive source of fun for kids.

We have all bought that super expensive, much asked for toy for it to be thrown into the corner in favour of the massive cardboard box!

After a boring trip to the supermarket today to purchase a new microwave we came home and removed it from its oversized box much to the delight of number four.

We had a few hours before the school run so I decided to change the box into a car with the help of a couple of things we had knocking around.

If you fancy giving this a try you will need:

A large box
Five paper plates
A plastic milk carton lid
Coloured paper to cover box
Four cupcake cases

First I pushed the flaps of the box inside leaving one end slanted to create a dashboard.

I then stuck a paper plate to the flap with the milk carton lid stuck to the centre to make a steering wheel with a horn.

To the side of the steering wheel I cut a small hole that he could put in a spare key I found.

Next I covered the outside with some red paper and then added the paper plate wheels.

Lastly I made a number plate on a piece of paper for either end and added the cupcake cases to make some lights.

For a boy that has a massively small concentration span this kept him occupied for hours.

He was pretending to drive his friends around, watched a bit of TV and then finally crashed out in it! Well worth the small amount of time it took me to make.

Cakes, Chocolate, Families, Family Life, Fathers Day, Food, Handprints, Paint, Recipes

Chocolate Chip Muffins And Sweetie Jars For Daddy

June 20, 2015June 26, 2015by thejoyoffive9 Comments

The way to a mans heart, especially my husband’s is through his stomach. So what better Father’s Day present than lots of yummy food!

First up we made some scrummy white chocolate chip muffins. Here’s how:

140g Self Raising Flour
140g Melted Dark Chocolate
75g Cocoa Powder
3tsp Baking Powder
1 Egg
200ml Milk
150g Broken White Chocolate
1tsp Vanilla Extract
100ml Sunflower Oil

Preheat the oven to 200c/Gas Mark 6.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder.

In a separate bowl mix together the oil, milk, egg and melted chocolate.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together the the white chocolate chunks. Do not over mix the mixture.

Place into 12 muffin cases and bake for 12 mins.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

Once they were cooled I placed them into an air proof tin all ready for tomorrow.

Next up was a very simple pressie. All I did was get a couple of glass jars with screw top lids. I filled them with hubby’s favourite sweets whist number three made some gift labels with handprints.

I threaded some ribbon through the gift tags and tied them round the top of the jars.