Joyfully Weary

Last week Ace had fly swatters on sale (3/$1) and I couldn't resist picking up a pack to use for painting.  It's a VERY messy craft - we broke out the hose afterwards - but the fun made it well worth every minute of clean-up. Here's what we used washable paint, fly swatters, paper plates, crayons, small table covered with craft paper.   Husbandie knew that I was planning on doing this activity with the boys so while I was at work he helped them draw bugs all over the paper. Big Buddy really enjoyed coloring the bugs but was a little leery about the fly swatters - the splattered-paint-shirt look isn't for him. Mini Man on the other has was all over the fly swatters, going feet first into the grunge look. The neighborhood girls also couldn't resist joining the fun. Which got me thinking that a kids paint party could be really fun.  Husbandie thinks I'm crazy and that it would turn our house and yard tie-dyed.  I think th...

Josiah is pretty certain he's going to be a paleontologist when he grows up.  Not only can he name dozens of dinosaurs but he can tell you tons of facts about each one - like if they are a herbivore or carnivore. Instead of riding his bike or playing ball, he has spent the summer discovering "fossils" around our yard.  He's quite satisfied with pretending our broken sidewalk is fossils but I thought I'd try my hand making it a little more realistic. So last week we buried and excavated a toy dinosaur. Burying the dinosaur 1- w ater, 2 old plastic bowls, plaster of paris, coffee grounds, d ollar store dinosaur,  Cooking Spray  2 & 3-    m ix plaster according to instructions  adding coffee grounds 4-   pour 1/2 plaster in to bowl, wait about 3-5 minutes until plaster is thick,  spray dinosaur with cooking oil & set in plaster, pour remaining plaster over dinosaur, let set over night ** before using Plaster of Paris: make sure ...

It's been hot, seriously hot, so our messy project this last week called for frozen paint. It also gave my boys a chance to use their tongs, which for some odd reason are their favorite toys. Sorry Toys R Us ,  you just cannot compete with dollar store kitchen supplies. Here's what we used: 1-   tongs, washable tempera paint, paper, water, a cup, a spoon, & a silicone ice cube tray 2- mix 1 part water with 2 parts paint 3- Pour paint in to tray 4- Put tray in freezer over night And now for the fun... They enjoyed this activity a lot and set up was super easy so we did it a couple times. It's a great activity for building their fine motor skills. Josiah also picked up on the "science" of color mixing and that little pieces melt much faster than big pieces. His favorite part, however, was dropping the pieces from up high. Micah's favorite part... Getting messy of course!  At least he only tasted the paint once - I thought for sure he'd thi...

Several years working in daycares and after school programs makes you a lover of crafts. It something tangible & concrete, a pretty visual of all your hard work hanging on the wall for everyone to see, to stop and 'ahhh' over. I pictured my days as a stay-home mom filled with hours of orderly crafting, dozens of cute kid creation decorating my walls.  Too bad my boys don't do orderly, or cute...they are masters of messy. Last week we had a lot of messy fun, sending trucks covered in paint down a ramp.                  Supplies: ramp (or a slide), trucks, paint, paint tray, tape, paper, & children ready to get messy   As you can see the boys really enjoyed themselves.  I had no intention of it being a learning activity, just messy, but Josiah initiated a conversation about the different sizes of tire tracks and why some trucks went faster then others.  The ultimate success, however, was Micah waiting until...