Incy Wincy. Itsy Bitsy. Eensy Weensy. However you like to sing it, the traditional nursery rhyme about the little spider climbing up the water spout is a huger favourite in our home. Here in Australia we sing it as “Incy Wincy”. How do you sing it in your home or class room? We made a simple story box using recycled materials to go along with the song and R (4 yrs) has been thrilled with it. It was actually very quick to make and because it’s in a box, all the elements pack away neatly inside the box for easy storage – you have to love that!

We painted the inside of a cardboard box blue and green to represent a garden, adding some flowers at the front. On the top flap of the box, we glued on some cotton wool for clouds and a felt sun. To retell the nursery rhyme, we needed rain that could appear and then be taken away again so we painted a cardboard tube blue, and glued on some strips of blue tissue paper. The tube can be balanced on the two side flaps of the box at the appropriate part of the song, and then be taken away again as the sun comes out.

We painted one inside wall of the cardboard box to look like the wall of a house and added a water spout made from a cardboard tube covered in kitchen foil.

For our spider we cut a section from an egg carton and painted it black. For the legs, I used two black pipecleaners. I cut them in half to make a total of four lengths of pipe cleaner. Next, I made a hole on each side of the spider’s body, and threaded all four pipe cleaners in one side and out the other. I bent the ends of each leg to form a foot. To finish, we glued on two googley eyes and our spider was done.

Then it was time to play! Incy Wincy spider, climbed up the water spout….

(Enter the cardboard tub of “rain”) Down came the rain, and washed poor Incy out….

(Lift up the top of the box) Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain, so Incy Wincy Spider climbed up the spout again!

Don’t forget to pop over to The Imagination Tree to see the absolutely adorable Fairytale Storytelling Basket that Anna is sharing this week.

You can also follow all the fun via our Playful Storytelling Pinterest board.

You can see all of my Playful Storytelling posts here.

If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

Sponsored By Nuffnang

What does Mother’s Day usually look like for you? For me it’s often a bit of a non-event because it’s right after my birthday so I’ve already had a “special day” and we usually spend the day travelling long distances to visit my Mum and Mark’s mother as well. It’s often rush rush rush, and busy busy busy. So when we were invited to try one of the amazing ice-cream cakes from Baskin-Robbins, I thought it would be a wonderful chance to enjoy a relaxed early Mother’s Day celebration. We enjoyed a very special (and absolutely delicious!) morning tea together, free from other commitments and with nowhere else to be but enjoying each other’s company.

My favourite sweet treat is ice-cream. I’m not fussy with flavour either. Give me strawberry, give me choc chip or cookies and cream, hey, give me vanilla and I’m happy. My other favourite dessert is cake. Who doesn’t love cake? Can you imagine what kind of Heaven I’m in then when my two favourite things are combined into one sensational combination? Ice-cream cake is where it’s at!

As we were tucking in to our special Mother’s Day cake, it occurred to me that we Mums always arrange cake for birthdays, christenings, anniversaries and Christmas but not on Mother’s Day. Why is that? I guess it’s because, we don’t really want to be baking for ourselves on our special day – we’d rather put our feet up! The custom ice-cream cakes from Baskin-Robbins make it easy  to have your cake and eat it too! Ordering our cake online was quick and easy – oh except for choosing a style and flavours. They ALL looked incredible and it was so hard to choose! In the end, R made the final choices. He was thrilled, not only because we were ordering ice-cream (he takes after his Mum, it’s his favourite dessert as well!) but because he was able to feel independent and choose a present for me all by himself.

If your family is anything like ours, everyone has a different choice when it comes to favourite flavours. Mine is well, anything (ahem) but Mark loves chocolate and R adores strawberry. The Baskin-Robbins premium custom cakes are the perfect solution because they can be ordered with up to two flavours so you’ll be able to satisfy everyone’s tastes. R selected Chocolate Mousse Royale (I KNOW! It tasted as good as it sounds!) and Very Berry Strawberry. So fabulous.

Hello! Look at that. So pretty. So yummy!

What could be more lovely for Mother’s Day? Hand made gifts from your little one and ice cream cake.

WIN your own Baskin-Robbins custom ice-cream cake!

These DIY Lego magnets would have to be one of the easiest crafts we’ve ever done. A few Lego bricks, some hot glue, a couple of magnets and voila! Instant colour and fun for the fridge. They’ve been a huge hit with the little Lego fan in our family.

MAKE DIY LEGO MAGNETS

Supplies:

Lego bricks

Strong magnets

Hot glue gun

Note: Self-adhesive magnet tape that you can buy in a roll won’t be strong enough for fridge magnets. You need something fairly strong if you want these to be practical and not just decorative. Having said that, I didn’t buy anything special for these. I used very inexpensive magnets from our local $2 shop (for my US and UK readers, that’s the Australian equivalent of the Dollar Tree). As for the glue, I used a hot glue gun and our magnets have held together perfectly. You could also use super glue or any strong glue of your choice. Regular craft glue won’t be strong enough though.

To make your Lego magnets, glue the magnet pieces to the back of the Lego bricks. That’s it! Pretty tricky right? Wait for at least 24 hours before using them. They’ll stick to the fridge just fine before then, but you don’t want to put any pressure on them to hold things to the fridge until the glue has completely dried, so it’s best to wait.

These magnets are so fun and colourful. They’ve definitely brightened our kitchen. They’d be a fun addition to a magnetic board in a home office or play room.

The magnets would also make a quick and simple DIY gift – perfect for a Lego fan – and who doesn’t know at least one? They would also be a great party favor for a Lego themed birthday party.

 If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

Sidewalk chalk paint is such a fun outdoor activity for kids. It is quick and simple to make and uses just three common household ingredients. Sidewalk chalk paint offers hours of creative play and it all washes away easily with a hose or some rain.

It’s Autumn here in Australia yet the weather has been gorgeously sunny and warm so we’ve been spending as much time outdoors as possible. We enjoyed taking our art to the beach recently and so we thought it would be fun to try taking art outdoors again. Last week I whipped up a batch of sidewalk paint and R (4 yrs) had a wonderful time painting and exploring with this simple diy paint.

How to make sidewalk chalk paint

Simply mix together equal parts of corn flour (corn starch for my US readers) and water and add several drops of food colouring. That’s it. It’s that simple. I don’t measure anything. I usually just half-fill the container I’m using with corn flour (corn starch) and then top it up with water. I add the food colouring and mix. It’s best to be generous with the food colouring because the paint will dry slightly paler than it looks when it’s wet.

I mixed up several colours and we headed outside for some colourful fun. I offered R some sponge brushes as well as regular paint brushes. The sponges worked really well and were a great way to achieve a good thick coverage of paint.

R enjoyed dipping the paint brushes into the paint and then flicking them across the cement to create this lovely splatter effect.

The colours were so vibrant and happy. We found that the corn flour was settling a little at the base of the muffin tin so we would mix the colours with the brushes before using them. This was another way to ensure a good thick coverage of paint.

After creating a few pictures, R decided to tip out all of the colours. It created the most beautiful marbled effect as the colours spread and mixed together.

Such a gorgeous river of colour!

The mixture is basically a concentrated version of goop – you know, the corn flour and water mixture that is a solid when you put your hand into it but runs through your fingers like a liquid. This turned into a wonderful sensory activity and R explored the strange mixture – solid and tough as he ran his fingers through it on the cement but thin and runny when he lifted up his hand and it poured through his fingers. Those messy hands make me happy! It all washed off very easily and what a fantastic sensory exploration!

R tried using the sponge roller over the paint but he found that it didn’t spread – it was a solid once it hit the ground.

R explored happily for half an our or so and I had fun creating some colourful artwork in our back yard as well. We were left with beautiful bright happy murals along our garden path and it makes me smile every time I walk into our yard. We are going to wait for some rain to wash this all away but if you needed to clean up right away you could do so very easily with a garden hose.

I am thrilled to be hosting the 100 Days of Play blog hop today. Co-hosted by Sun Scholars and Life at the Zoo, the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop brings together 100 blogs from around the world, offering 100 play ideas over 100 days. If you have ever heard the words “Mum I’m bored!” or you think you might be running out of play ideas with your children or students, the 100 Days of Play Blog Hop will definitely provide some inspiration!

100 Days of Play Blog Hop
Sharing simple ideas on how to connect with your children through play!
New ideas shared each day from 4/1 – 7/20.

For this week’s Playful Storytelling post we are continuing the theme of traditional Fairy Tales and Nursery Rhymes. We had fun dressing up and using simple props to retell the story of the classic fairy tale The Three Little Pigs. We are all about simple play and using items we already have around our home. With just a few simple items, we had everything we needed to have an afternoon of fun acting out one of R’s favourite traditional tales.

Our very simple wolf costume was created using a party mask that we pulled from R’s dress up drawer. I used black paint to add features such as the nose and eyes. The ears are two triangles cut from some silver cardboard, then outlined with black pipe cleaners. The ears were attached to the mask with adhesive tape – all very quick and easy. Now, I actually think this looks more like a fox than a wolf, but R was thrilled with it and that’s all that matters, isn’t it? This is about playful story telling, not complicated crafts and details. For the finishing touch I tied one of my scarves around R’s waist and voila! A wolf’s tail!

For our straw house we used a few wicker baskets stacked together. These baskets are the kind that fit inside the Expedit shelves from IKEA. The base comes out of them so they can be packed flat and two bases leaning against each other made the perfect roof for out little house.

After building our straw house and it was time to huff, and puff and bloooooow that house down! Disclaimer: there may have been a little more than wind power used to knock down this house!

That wolf’s tail is the cutest, isn’t it? I love dress ups that turn every day clothes into something magical. For our stick house we gathered up some fallen branches and twigs from our front yard. We have an enormous gum tree that sheds tonnes of twigs every day. We basically just piled them up into a big mound and called it a house. Our own home became the third little pig’s brick house.

This took next to no time to put together and R had a brilliant time. When it comes to playful storytelling, or any imaginative play, the simpler the props the better. It leaves so much scope for children’s imaginations to run wild.

Do your children have a favourite nursery rhyme or fairy tale?

Don’t forget to pop over to The Imagination Tree to see what Anna is sharing this week.

You can also follow all the fun via our Playful Storytelling Pinterest board.

You can see all of my Playful Storytelling posts here.

If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

if you’re a regular reader here, then you  know just how much R (4 yrs) loves treasure hunts. We’ve enjoyed a garden treasure hunt with painted rocks, and an alphabet treasure hunt with objects from around our home to name just a few. I thought it would be fun switch things up a little and add some map reading to our treasure hunt games. Map reading is an important skill for kids to learn. It fosters spatial awareness, encourages problem-solving skills, creative thinking and reasoning.

To introduce R to basic map reading, I drew a simple plan of our living room. This was just a simple rectangle frame with the windows marked on the sides. I then wrote the names of “landmarks” within the room on pieces of cardboard. These landmarks were the furniture in our room – bookshelves, sofas, coffee tables etc. I colour coded the cardboard landmarks so that sofas and chairs were all one colour, tables and bookshelves were another, and the TV was a third colour.

I talked to R about orientation, and explained that the map was a representation of the room in which we were standing.

He then placed the landmarks in their appropriate positions on the map and glued them in place.

Let the treasure hunt begin! When the map was complete, I hid five Lego mini figures around the room and placed blue dot stickers on the map to show where they were hidden.

R then used the map to navigate himself around the room and find the Lego mini figures.

This was a huge hit and when he had found all five Lego figures, R hid the figures for me to find. He moved the blue dot stickers to the appropriate parts of the map to show me where he had hidden the figures, so he was using the map in a new way as we reversed our roles in the game. I’m not sure if it was the fact that we were playing a treasure hunt game, or that it involved Lego or that he was excited to learn something new (map reading) but whatever it was, R loved this game!

 If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

This easy carrot and zucchini slice is one of our family’s favourite meals. It’s quick and simple to make, is delicious warm or cold so it’s perfect for lunch boxes and picnics, it freezes well and it contains lots of hidden vegetables.

INGREDIENTS
1 large zucchini (see note)
1 large carrot (see note)
1 onion, finely chopped
100 grams (3.5 ounces) bacon, chopped
1/2 cup grated cheese plus extra for topping (I use parmesan but cheddar cheese would also work well)
3/4 cup self-raising flour
4 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
Note: I never measure the quantity of carrot and zucchini when I make this and it always turns out just fine. If I don’t have a large zucchini then I’ll use two small ones. I just use what I have and it always tastes great.

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F). Grease a shallow 20cm (8 inch) square baking tray and line with baking paper.

2. Melt the butter in a fry pan over medium heat and gently fry the onion and bacon until the onion is soft (2 – 3 minutes). Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool. (I put mine in the fridge to cool).

3. Grate the carrot and zucchini into a large bowl.

4. Add the cooled bacon and onion to the carrot and zucchini.

5. Add the flour and cheese to the bowl and mix together.

6. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then add them to the carrot and zucchini mixture and combine well.

7. Pour into the baking tray. Sprinkle with extra cheese and bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden.

Fry the bacon and onion in the melted butter over medium heat then set aside to cool.

Grate the carrot and zucchini into a large bowl.

 Add the cooled bacon and onion to the bowl.

Add the flour and cheese to the bowl and mix together.

 In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add the the carrot and zucchini mixture and combine well.

Pour into a greased and lined baking dish and sprinkle with extra cheese. Bake in a moderate over for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden.

Looking for more quick and healthy family meals? Check out my simple, kid-friendly, vegetable pasta sauce.

Every Monday I share a kid friendly recipe, healthy snack ideas, and fun ways to prepare kids meals. To see earlier posts in my Little Bites of Fun series, click on the photo below.

 If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

I am thrilled to welcome you to a new weekly series “Playful Storytelling”. Each week, the lovely Anna from The Imagination Tree and I will bring you a fun, simple and playful idea for kids to retell their favourite stories. We’ll be sharing ideas for dress ups and dramatic play, puppets, story boxes, small world play, fun games and much more. We’ll also be exploring ideas for story prompts so kids can create their own stories, journaling and telling stories through art. We hope you’ll follow along each week and join us in some playful storytelling of your own. Be sure to check back each week to see what we’re sharing and follow our new Playful Storytelling Pinterest board for more ideas.

Why playful storytelling? Bringing books, songs, nursery rhymes and fairy tales to life through play is so wonderful for kids. It fosters imagination and creativity, enhances language development, it can encourage reluctant readers to engage with stories, it can help with memory and sequencing skills as they remember scenes from the story and retell them in the right order, and most importantly of all – it’s fun!

To begin the series, we will be looking at favourite nursery rhymes and fairy tales. This week R (4 yrs) and I created some cute popsicle stick puppets to go along with “Hey Diddle Diddle”. These little puppets are so cute and they were lots of fun to make. They have really brought one of R’s favourite nursery rhymes to life and he has had a great time making up his own versions of the song.

The fabulous popsicle stick farm animals from Make and Takes were our inspiration for the cow that we made. We simplified it so that R would be able to make it on his own. After painting the stick white, he used a black marker to draw on the black cow patches. I drew on the face and R glued on some brown paper for a mouth and ears and some cord for a tail.

He decorated the remaining animals with markers and googley eyes.

I drew a fiddle on brown paper and R glued it to the cat puppet. For the tail we used a pipe cleaner and R simply attached it to the back using adhesive tape.

Our finished popsicle stick puppets! So fun and simple. They’ve brought lots of smiles and giggles!

For the dish and spoon we used a plastic spoon and small plate from our play kitchen. Googley eyes were glued on and pipe cleaners were attached for legs and arms (which they needed so that they could run away of course!)

To keep it simple we used adhesive tape to attached the pipe cleaner legs to the dish. Glue wouldn’t have held them on well enough and using tape kept things quick and easy.

The dish and spoon have definitely been R’s favourites and he began playing with them the second they were done.

We decided to paint some cardboard to create a backdrop for our puppets. I cut off the side from a cardboard box and R painted it blue to create a night sky. He then added some star shaped stickers for a starry night.

 I added some green “grass” to the scene using a piece of green felt and then it was time to play!

There was lots of giggles and fun as R sang the nursery rhyme and had his puppets get up to all sorts of antics.

Our moon would run away as the cow tried to jump over it and the cow would be in hot pursuit! The cat and dog enjoyed a good laugh at the troublesome moon.

R had great fun mixing up the lines of the song as he made up his own silly versions of the nursery rhyme – the sillier he could make it the better! He also made up his own stories and all the puppets sat together and enjoyed a lovely picnic beneath the stars. We have the puppets in our living room and he picks them up throughout the day, making them chat with each other, creating scenes and stories, and singing. They’ve been a great hit!

Don’t forget to pop over to The Imagination Tree to see Anna’s fun Playful Storytelling post. This week she’s sharing a Little Red Riding dramatic play idea.

Follow our brand new Playful Storytelling Pinterest board for more wonderful ideas.

What is your children’s favourite nursery rhyme or fairy tale?

If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

 A blank canvas and an endless view. So many possibilities.

We’ve been enjoying some  beautifully warm Autumn weather recently and last week we took advantage of the sunshine and headed to the beach for some seaside painting.

I packed a few different shades of paint and some brushes into a plastic container. I didn’t want to be fussing with lots of paint bottles and extra supplies so this was the perfect solution. The paints were poured into a couple of empty cracker packages so any unused paint could be easily thrown away, without any messy clean up. I recycle anything and everything for use in our art and craft. Cracker and cookie packages make the perfect containers for paint. In many ways, this was much simpler than setting up for painting at home. I was forced to keep things simple, and keep supplies to a minimum. It worked beautifully.

When we arrived at the beach, I asked R where he would like to set up. When he had chosen a spot, I put a blank canvas on our easel, and left the paints and brushes in their container on the sand. So simple, but oh so inviting.

R sat quietly on the sand and took in the view for a few minutes before beginning his picture. It was lovely (and surprising!) to watch him sitting so still and so quietly as he contemplated his surroundings.

After a few minutes, he pointed across the water and declared “I’m going to paint that part over there”. He then began painting intently.

I love the way he his holding the brush in this photo. He really seemed to enjoy this whole process very much, experimenting with different brush strokes and mixing paint colours to create new hues.

I had packed paint brushes with different thicknesses of bristles and he experimented with each of them.

He even added some finger painting to his picture.

R found the perfect place to store his brushes between uses!

His finished masterpiece. Apparently that’s me on a surfboard! I have never been on a surfboard in my life so this is R’s imagination at work. Perhaps he’s trying to tell me to try something new? This was a beautifully calm, relaxed and simple activity. R seem inspired to try new techniques, experiment with colours and generally take things slow and enjoy the moment. We’ll definitely be taking our art outdoors more often.

Do your kids enjoy painting outdoors? Where is your favourite place to paint?

 If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.

These little rounds of deliciousness make a quick and easy treat for afternoon tea. They are melt in the mouth goodness, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. They take just ten minutes to whip up and they will disappear in less than ten seconds. They are also a great treat for breakfast. I like to make a batch of these for family movie night when we huddle on the sofa together, enjoying the movie and sharing a plate of dippers. So good!

FRENCH TOAST DIPPERS WITH MAPLE SYRUP (Makes 16. Prep time: 10 mins. Cooking time: 5 mins)

 Ingredients
4 slices of bread (I use wholegrain because that’s just what we eat, and it adds some fibre to this dish, but any bread will work)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon milk
Maple syrup
30g butter
Cinnamon for dusting (Optional)
Icing sugar for dusting (Again, this is entirely optional. For my Northern Hemisphere readers, icing sugar is the same as powdered sugar).

TO MAKE FRENCH TOAST DIPPERS

1. Use a circle shaped cookie cutter to cut four rounds from each slice of bread.

2. Break the eggs into a bowl, pour in the milk and whisk together lightly.

3. Melt the butter in a frying pan over a low heat.

4. Dip the bread rounds into the egg mixture and then fry them over a low heat. Turning once, until they are golden.

5. Arrange the french toast dippers on a plate and serve with the maple syrup.

6. Sprinkle with icing sugar (powdered sugar) and cinnamon if desired.

Now watch them disappear! Yum!

These can also be enjoyed as a savoury snack. Simply omit the maple syrup and icing sugar. They are just as delicious and you then have a sugar free treat.

Each week I share a kid friendly recipe, simple snack ideas, and fun ways to prepare kids meals. To see earlier posts in my Little Bites of Fun series, click on the photo below.

 If this is your first time visiting One Perfect Day – welcome! If you like what you have found, please join us on Facebook  or follow us on Pinterest or Twitter where you will find lots of ideas for fun kids activities, thoughts on parenting, family recipes and more.