a peek inside the fishbowl

Hot chocolate (no mixes here!), chocolate biscuits, half a banana.

p.s. don’t forget about the movie pass giveaway!

Remember this box?

Heh. Well, now it’s this:

… a shadow box “theatre” for the lovely shadow puppets we bought from this Etsy store last Christmas. (Here’s the whole set. It makes my heart go squeak. I display the whole thing on the fireplace mantel when not in use. That’s how much I love it. )

It was Sarah’s idea to put the balloons in there (“Look mummy! A rainbow!”) and after we had exhausted the limits of our imagination with Yeti vs. Ms. Toothfairy we played “shadow show and tell.” Each girl collected objects around the house “for show” while the others had to guess what it was by its shadow. The girls did some hand shadows and brought the flashlight up from the basement and played with it for ages. (What is it with kids and flashlights?)

I was just happy to sit on the couch and rest my weary old self. ;)

You can make your own shadow puppets and shadow box theatre too. Here’s a great little YouTube video about making simple puppets out of black paper. It’s worth seeing just for the vampire duck!

 The shadow box theatre was easy. Just cut a big hole in the side of a cardboard box (moving boxes would be great for this) and tape a sheet of freezer paper on the inside. Voila! You’re ready to put on a your very own show.

Emma’s been recovering from a doozy of a bug. We both had enough of television yesterday. What do to?

I bookmarked this idea awhile back and decided to finally try it out, thinking it might be a good crafty activity for her and I to do together. And I was right.

This is a very easy craft for kids, doesn’t take a lot of time or materials, and the results are pretty sweet.

The original idea called for scrapbook paper and paper clips for bird feet. I broke 10 cheap paperclips before I got out my little roll of 18 gauge wire. (I think it worked out better this way, don’t you?)

Although the patterned paper would have been pretty in its own right, I thought it’d be more interesting to use blank card stock since the kids were involved.

This is where the creativity comes in. Emma and I chose to colour on the bird shape. Sarah, who made a couple birds of her own later on, coloured in the bird shape, filling it completely. I think it’s important for kids to exercise their own little brains and come up with their own designs, so I try to refrain from helping too much or making suggestions.

This is a nice little craft for all ages, although toddler-sized artists might need help with the cutting.

I’d love to see your results if you try this one out. Full instructions and the template can be found here.