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.

Piñatas

Kids' birthday parties are not parties without piñatas. You may know what they are, or may not, so here's an account of them. In Argentina, parents usually prepare (or buy already made) piñatas for their children's parties.

Piñatas are usually made of cardboard or paper and they take the shape or an animal, or an object. They usually match the theme on which the party is based. Parents fill in piñatas with candies, little toys and poupurri. The piñata works as follows...

Parents call kids to make a circle on the floor. Someone who is really tall holds the piñata in the air, while another person either tears a parts of it and it opens, or if it is made of a baloon, someone uses a nail to open it. All the candies and toys fall on the floor and the kids have to collect as much as they can. After this, they can share toys or even candies.

Here are some pictures of typical piñatas, but in susequent posts we'll teach how to make one of these!

 

        

         

Playing with soap bubbles

  Making homemade bubbles has always been fun for both parents and kids. This kind of product can be found on market, but there is a cheapest way of making it. I will give you one easy recipe, which I've tried and it has proved to be successful. Remember to remind kids of being careful with dish soap, not to drink it or touch their eyes.That's very important!  Playing safe is one of the most beautiful things in the world. Here goes the recipe...

Liquid Soap

You'll need...

• 1 1/4 cups water

• 1 1/4 tablespoons dish soap

• 1 1/4 teaspoons glycerin

Instructions

• Mix and leave overnight before using.Then, pour it into a plastic bottle. You may add coloured ink if you want, or leave it as it is.

 Blowers or Wands

• You may use pipe cleaners or straws. Twist them and make the desired shape. It can be an oval, a circle or a star!

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.

Homemade fabric fragrance

  Typically people buy fabric perfumes on market. They are not expensive and some of them smell really good. But there are others, who never buy these things, but they would like to try one of this, at least once. Normally, I prepare this myself, because I never find the smell I like, so I guess this is a good alternative for you too. Let me show you how to produce a homemade fabric scent, with very little money. You can use it either for curtains, kids’ cushions, clothes, carpets and so on.

You’ll need the following…

1) Cereal alcohol

2) Water

3) Essential oils.

4) One unused spray bottle where to pour our perfume.

Steps

a) Choose the scent you like the most (or the one your kids adore). If you want to create a lively atmosphere you can choose lemon, orange, or mint. On the contrary, if you want to generate a relaxing atmosphere you may choose lavender or vanilla. Or if you want to create a fruity perfume, you may combine strawberry, plums, blueberry and apple.

b) Pour 15 drops inside the bottle.

c) Fill in half of the bottle with cereal alcohol, and half with water.

d) Put the bottle lid and shake for some minutes. After this, put the bottle in a dark place, it can be a kitchen drawer or somewhere in the garage. After 2 days, shake it again, and spray over a surface to see whether it needs more scent or not.

If you like it the way it is, start using it around your house. Kids will love it!

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 =)

Personalized Flip flops

Flips flops are soft and light shoes for Summer,and kids love them! Thiskind of shoes, come in diferent colours and shapes, but sometimes they turn to be dull or plain. So, here's a solution for personalizing them, and making them look more appealing for kids. They will love them for sure.

Intructions:

1) Get a pair of plain flip-flops. They can be those cheaply bought flips flops, you buy at supermarkets.

 

2) Get ribbons of different colours and tight them around the sides, making bows. They can even be of sparkling colours.

   

And there you've got your personalized flip flops! Let's see other examples:

 

  

Toilet Paper Roll Binoculars

                                                        

Making things from recycled materials instead of spending a ton of money on your kids craft ideas, it's a good alternative nowadays.These binoculars are a nice way fo spying on nature, and kids well get fascinated.

Materials needed:

• sccissors
• toilet paper rolls
• wrapping paper
• ribbon
• tape

Instructions:

First, wrap the toilt paper roll with wrapping paper. Try to use bright colours,since they'll catch children's attetnion. Second, tape two toilet paper rolls together using scoth tape. Finally,  make two small slits at the top of your binoculars and tie a piece of ribbon through each slit. As easy as that!

Sweet Butterflies

  

  

Wanna look like a butterfly? Have a dress up party and you wanna look special? 

Here are options for artistic make-up, subtle and inspiring!

Get the specific materials and get down to brast tasks =)

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!