Great site for Craft Ideas!

Just looking for hygienic toilet paper rolls for a craft suggestion from one of our members, I came across this great web site (click on the title of this post) with lots of ideas for how to use them when I do find them! I love the frog, and the turkey (there are lots of American craft ideas, but we won't hold that against it) - definitely Playgroup needs to try some of these!
Actually, I did find a place to buy toilet roll substitutes - you can buy a bag of 36 clean cardboard rolls, for $9ish dollars plus delivery, from OfficeMax online store (if anyone knows other places to get them, please let me know).

Planning Ahead

I'm not a parent myself. But I do get to spend a lot of time with kids, of all ages. Something I've discovered is that having a plan - a flexible plan, but a plan - really helps. An hour of 'quality time' can seem like forever, when I spend that whole hour reacting to a small person's needs, and basically playing catch-up. It's true for older kids too - if I haven't worked out what we're going to do, well, I can depend on the kids to start doing something, and chances are good the time will end up being less than quality - you know, me sweeping up the bits of broken TV, or attempting to extract the wet pasta from the expensive rug, while the bored small person starts on yet another activity I didn't plan.
A plan can include asking, "What would you like to do now?" - but it's always a good idea to have some ideas on standby, so if the answer is vague "Play with me!" or more vague, "I don't know..." or totally impractical "Ride in a helicopter!" I'm ready with some choices of activities that we can actually do.
I've found a couple of books that are full of good ideas. Not having a small person at home to experiment with, I can't tell you if washing the car or setting up a colouring book exchange with friends are workable ideas, but I can vouch for the craft activities we've tried at Playgroup. On that basis, one of my favourites is "The Playskool Toddler's Busy Play Book: Over 500 Creative Games, Activities, Crafts and Recipes for Your Very Busy Toddler", by Robin McClure. I bought my copy at Borders in Carlton, for $32.99.
At Playgroup we tried out egg carton ants, crazy glasses and beautiful bouquets; super-hero masks and butterfly footprints; we made tambourines, and bees too - the book called for small flat rocks, but we used sturdy cardboard rolls from the centre of biodegradable plastic bags.
There's a section on planning activities for your baby sitter to use, so that your night out is peaceful; occupying toddler on trips; fun things to do at bath time; and even activities to help little ones stay calm and restful when they are sick.

Spring Insects, Family Fun!

I'm struggling to come to grips with the warmer weather - winter is really more my time of year, and just yesterday I was enjoying fluffy quilts and cosy coats. And already here we are turning the heaters off, stripping off the long sleeves and opening up the doors!
At Playgroup you can tell it's spring - butterflies and animals have appeared on the craft menu, and we've enjoyed using the little outdoor space which acts as a light-well and delightful play area for the crypt. Our invisible gardener has lavender blooming out there, and (I'm really not a green thumb!) various other purple and white flowers! The grass is great for small feet to explore, and as it gets warmer we'll have water-play and a sand box out there too.
And of course, Spring is a great time for families to enjoy the longer days and snatch a picnic in the park or a trip to the beach before the summer heat gets you sizzling! Last week we made families - here's a sample from one of our keen young crafters - representing mum, dad, herself and baby brother!

Taking a break for September Holidays!

How can this be? It's September, and the end of Term 3 already! Playgroup is taking a break for two weeks over the school holidays, but to celebrate a great term we're going out for dinner together this Friday evening - littlies are staying home with spouses and partners, and we're free to talk grown-up stuff and have a civilised glass of wine over an excellent Rathdowne Village meal! It's been a fun term! I think one of the highlights for me was the craft we did last week. One of the mums found it in a book and brought it in for us, and it was such a good one we put it in instead of the butterfly footprints. We drew around one foot of each child, and cut out the shape - that became the head of a moose - and then traced around both hands, and cut those out to become the moose's antlers - then littlies drew on eyes, nose, mouth, and anything else they fancied - the results were very cute (not a very Australian craft, feel free to let me know if you can think of an Australian animal with a body part the shape of a child's foot!!). And although it has been sad to say goodbye to a three good friends, all as it happens heading back to the UK with husbands' work, Facebook has come to the rescue, we are all linked up and able to stay in touch and share photos! And in God's good timing, some new friends have joined us, and we are loving getting to know each other. Can't wait to see what Term 4 has in store! See you then.

Craft with Little Ones

I've been really enjoying experimenting with different crafts at Playgroup - and it's great to hear mums saying that since they've had a go at different crafts with the group, they've started including more craft in their weekly or daily routine. Today we had a go at stamping - you can buy quite cheap stamps from Two-Dollar Shops, or even the supermarket sometimes, with designs that little people enjoy, like simple trucks, aeroplanes, boats, helicopters; I found some little round ones that are particularly easy to hold, with small animals and flowers on them. you can make your own too - I wanted stamps of people, so bought a sheet of thick foam and one of thin foam, and a bottle of foam glue (normal glue eats foam). I cut the human shape out of the thin foam, glued it to a square of thick foam, and presto - a simple, washable and reusable stamp. We covered the table with cheap plastic tablecloth (from Lombards - they sell it in cheerful coloured pieces, or on rolls, which I love since we go through a fair bit) gave each child a big piece of butchers' paper, and let them go wild with non-toxic, washable paint. Using a stamp helps develop a whole range of skills - fine motor skills as they practice positioning the stamp, and try to get it the way up they want and as they practice using different amounts of pressure for different effects. Children learn about liquid and colour as they see what happens when they use a lot of paint or a little bit, cover the whole stamp or part of it, mix colours on the stamp, or print one colour over another. I remember when I was little being frustrated that my drawings didn't come out looking the way I wanted; using stamps (and stencils too) seemed like magic to me!

Winter Playroup

Sometimes the winter gets right into your bones... but the crypt is very cosy, and it's great to catch up with Playgroup friends each week. This week we farewell another friend from the UK, who's heading home again - so we're heading to Rathdowne Village North Carlton to enjoy some contemporary Indian cuisine together - 'Indya Bistro' was a very popular choice for our last night out, so we're going back. Actually I missed out on our last Playgroup dinner, it was the night before St Jude's Winter School Holiday program, Vibe!, started, and we were in the throes of decorating and setting up the church - and there was just too much still to do. So I'm looking forward to having a relaxed catch up with everyone this time, and trying the food! It's been great to welcome a couple of new families to Playgroup this term; I love that we get to know people from all over the world who come and settle in Carlton or nearby for a year or two. And of course, there are those who are here for the long haul too! Well, a warm cheery winter's greeting to you all - I hope to meet you at Playgroup soon!

First Week Back!

This morning was great fun! We met a new family, with one active toddler and a baby in a pouch on mum's chest; an old friend was back, we haven't seen her for maybe a year, but her youngest is now old enough to enjoy Playgroup, and big brother is at school. We said goodbye to our lovely friend who's heading back to the UK - we will miss her and her two cuties very much! But we had fun, decorating plain biscuits with 'writing icing' - very messy and gooey - then sprinkling coloured bits and shiny balls on top - all that lovely sugar... things did seem quite energetic after the craft! Still, there was room for fruit, and time for lots of chatting and catching up after breaking for the school holidays.