Flute Players

  Playing a musical instrument is one of the most wonderful activities any kids can do. It can bring about advantages such as helping to develop motor skills, creativity and  patience. Experts believe, that although there's no age for playing musical instruments, children are better at learning than adults. So, I think that a good option is encourage kids to make their own musical instruments. Why? you may wonder... Because they can shape it in the way they decide and make really but... REALLY unique.

The flute is a wind instrument. Its sound is produced when the player blows air across an opening in the mouthpiece.  The flute is  easy to carry and light, so every child can have one in his/her backpack.

1st step

Get a plastic tube, not to wider nor too narrow.

2nd step

Use a hammer and nails to make the different holes.

3rd step

Make a hole in the upper part of the tube, separated from the rest row of holes.

4th step

Be sure the end of the tube is not sharp, so that kids would not hurts their moutsh while blowing.

Important! If the edges are sharp, just put scotch tape around and protect the area.

Writing journals

  An interesting way to keep record of what we do, or have done during the day, is writing journals. I strongly recommend this to everyone, especially kids.

The idea of keeping their own journal, has to do specifically with putting the pen down to paper and start writing what comes to their mind. And what about grammar and spelling? You may wonder, well... that is important too. But in 1rst place children should be encouraged to write everything that they can think of or just remember. This activity will help them to enhance the following:

1) to develop the ability of remembering what they've done, and in case a funny anecode is worth telling , they will have it there, written down, to re-read it in the future.

2) it helps to develop fluency. Sometimes, kids know how to write accurately but they run out of words easily. Writing journals gives them the freedom of putting their own ideas onto paper, wihout stopping. Moreover, the flow of thoughts will come out rapidly in the form of natural sentences.

3) to encourage them to have their own diary, but in a book format. The purpose is not writing  short sentences, but whole stories, with their own words, and full of their own feelings. That means, to write events as they see, or feel them.

Once they've finished their journals, they can re-read them after some hours or even the following day. It's precisely then when they should correct their grammar mistakes, spelling and punctuation. But the story is already there, composed and ready to be read!

Where to write?

It can be a cheap notebook, or a couple of pages you may then join all together. The idea is that the kids have their own record of stories and anecdotes.

An important tip!

Children may write whenever they want, but finding a certian moment, such as before going to bed, or after lunch, This, can give them the opportunity of finding their own time for doing things. And of course, they can add drawings if they desire!

Your own quick sand!

Making experiments with kids is fascinating. And the'd love to make quick sand. Let's see how it works.

You will need...

Half a cup of water

1 cup of maize cornflour

A plastic container

A spoon

Steps 

a) First, mix  the cornflour and water  in the container to make your own instant quick sand. Remember not too solid ok?. Then, stir slowly and drip the quick sand to show it is a liquid. Stirring it quickly will make it hard, so you'd better do it fast. Remember that quick sand is messy, try to play with it outside and don’t forget to stir just before you use it. You just need t stir instant quicksand just before you use it. It's always like that!

The phenomena explanation

If you add just the right amount of water to cornflour it becomes very thick when you stir it quickly. So,  Stirring slowly allows more water between the cornflour grains, letting them slide over each other much easier. Moreover,   if you poke it slowly it doesn’t mix up the mixture in the same way, leaving it runny.  It works in much the same way as real quick sand.

Scrapbooking the walls?

  Kids are fascinated by the idea of sticking photos and little notes on every surface they find at hand, So, Why not making a scrapbook, but o hang on the wall? You may have noticed that there's a certain age when children start haging not only posters or pictures, but also phrases or small papers with phrases written on them on the walls. And of course this damages the house walls!!! So I think that making a scrapbook is a good alternative for those who like posting things and decorating their rooms. 

Remember that Kids scrapbooking can be a wonderful family activity, and you can make use of different materials you have at hand. That means, ribbons, carboard, stickers, paper flowers, photos, etc.

Steps

First, get a flat surface like a thick carboard or wood plaform which then you'll hang on the wall.

 

 

Second, tell kids to start collecting all the things they might use for decorating that surface. They can be the things we've mentioned before. They can use tape or nails to stick the photos or pictures on the platform.

Then, make children decide what to stick on the surface, so that the design would be totally theirs. You can also encourage them to use the platform as a memo, in which they can stick "things to do" notices. They can also add a calendar anr mark days as they pass by.

Finally, they will come up with their personal scrapbooks on the walls, and your house walls will be free of scoth stains!

 

I almost forget! Encourage them to stick their school awards and badges as well, they'll love it!

How to make a sock puppet

   If you happen to have old socks, don't throw them away! Pick them up and make a sock puppet for your kids.

Materials needed:  

 - an  old sock. : It can be of any colour. be sure it's long enough to slip your hand and elbow inside 

 - google eyes: These would make your puppet look more real! 

 - glue 

 - fabric paint/ fabric markers 

 - cloth of assorted patterns  

 - needle, thread and scissors

Instructions:  

 1) Flatten the heel of the sock and cut out a V shape in the center of the flattened heel. Stitch the cut edges closed; this will form two pointy ears. Then, turn the sock inside out.

2) At the toe end of the sock, push in to form an indented mouth all the way around the toe end. Using double thread, sew running stitch around the folded edge; once you reach the end, pull the thread to gather it. This creates the mouth shape

3)  Glue or sew on the eyes at the appropriate spot above the mouth.

4) If you'd like this sock puppet to have whiskers, cut whisker length pieces of string or cord. Sew into place at the top center of the mouth.

5)  Cut out a tongue from felt or fabric. Make it tongue-shaped and try to use fabric in a suitable tongue color. Sew or glue the tongue inside the mouth of the sock puppet, so that most of it hangs out.

Regards =)

Inflatable houses !

                           

Mundo Inflable has been the first company in Argentina, which since the year 1990, has been into designing, manufacturing and selling bounce houses and inflatable games. This company has a wide variety of inflatable games for all needs.

Their products are exported to more than 20 countries around the world. On top of that, they show their own products in international exhibitions.

If I were you, I would visit their site. There you'll see what I briefly explained here. For pictures and further information go to:

Mundo inflable : http://www.mundoinflable.com/ 


And have fun! =)

Making a torch

                              

Making torches is an activity which can both done by children themselves or parents and children together. Placing torches around the house, will make your home look warm and lovely. So, let's get down to brast tasks!

You will need:

Empty and clean marmalade jars

colourful papers of different kinds

glue

scissors

a brush

Steps:

1) Cover the jar with a great amount of glue.

2) Then, cut out stripes of paper and cover all the jar. You can make funny and original designs if you want.

3) Once you've finished covering the jar, paint it with glue again.

4) Finally, place a candle inside the jar, and there you've got your torch!!

It's a good activity to make with your 5-year-old kid or even with pre-teens.

Send us pictures of your torches!

Winter Activities

                                                      

Winter is usually a season when most of outdoor activies cannot be done because of weather conditions. However, kids are fascinated by the idea of going out to the yard and making huge snowballs as well as going sledding.
Of course, there are even more activities to do in winter. Let's find out which they are:

• Making hot chocolate together and baking some cookies can be a perfect activity for a freezing afternoon at home.
• Visiting the local library and checking all the books with Winter themes, can encourage them to learn more about this incredible season.
• Going ise-skating or sledding together can be perfect for a snowy day.
• Building a fort inside the house, using chairs, tables and even blankets! Tey may feel thrilled doing this!
• Making a snowman using grandpa's clothes and glasses can be total fun. 

    Can you think of any other? Please let us know!

A Monkey Cardboard Plate Mask

What about making a monkey cardboard plate mask? You'll need the following:

Materials:

• cardboard
• plastic plate
• scissors
• glue
• non-toxic paint
• markers

Instructions:

1) Paint the plate the colour you want your animal to be. It could be brown.
2) Use a marker to draw some hair all over the plate to make it look even more real.
3) Cut out the ears and different parts of the face and colour them as you wish.
4) Glue the mouth, ears and eyes to the plastic plate. 
5) Instead of drawing eyes, you can cut out them so that the child can peer through the holes.
6) Use a rope or ribbon attached to either side to hold the child's head.

And... start jumping like a monkey!!!