It’s cold here right now. Yesterday morning it was -2 degrees C in my kitchen (which is possibly because one wall and the ceiling are still made of blue tarps).

I think I was a hibernating animal in my past life, because when it is dark and dreary outside I just want to shut all the doors, pull down the blinds and keep everyone in. I know that’s not good for us, especially the kids, so I try to get outside every day, even if it is just a five minute walk up the drive to the letter box, or a a quick run around the play group at school pick up, but some days I really REALLY don’t want to!

Despite the freezing bite to the wind and frosty mornings, the sun has been shining here this week which has just been blissful. I can cope with the cold if the sun is shining!

So to encourage everyone outside into the sunshine, and to give the boys something to do while I potter in the garden, this week we resurrected our sand pit and made some plastic bottle sand scoops!

I’d been collecting various plastic bottles for a while now, knowing they’d be good for something (in the past we’ve made these cool fairy houses) and they were perfect for making scoops!

How to Make Plastic Bottle Sand Scoops.

You’ll need:
Plastic bottles in any shape or size, with the lid.
Scissors and/or a craft knife
A permanent marker

Mark a line across the side of the bottle – from the handle down to the side. Make sure you leave enough plastic around the handle to keep it intact and strong, and cut down far enough on the side to make sure there is no lip left from the bottom of the bottle.

Make a starting hole with the craft knife and then cut along your marked line with scissors or continue with the craft knife. I find scissors easier to control, but some thicker bits of plastic may need a craft knife to get through.

You can tidy up your cut after you’ve made it… cutting off any sharp edges and making corrections till you get the perfect looking sand scoop.

You can screw the lids on tight or take the lids off all together and you have a scoopey kind of funnel. You could have lots of fun if you melted holes in the lids and used the scoops with water or fine sand too.

Our sand pit has definitely seen better days. It isn’t used as often these days with the big kids preferring dirt and plants and potion making to the sand pit. So the boys and I had to pull out a good few weeds before we could try out our scoops. I also dug over the sand pit with my big proper garden shovel. Fluffing up the sand makes it a lot easier for the kids to dig and scoop, it’s worth doing every now and then regardless of how neglected your sand pit is.

Now get out there and enjoy the sunshine while you can!!

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How to Make Plastic Bottle Sand Scoops. is a post from: picklebums.com

We’ve gone a little autumn leaf mad this week, so please excuse us if you are on the other side of the world, or live somewhere where there aren’t many leaves changing!

After threading with leaves earlier in the week, the kids reminded me of a favourite song they have all learned at kinder (preschool). I didn’t know this song before my girls attended the local kinder but they loved it so much that they sang it over and over and I soon learned it. My big boy was excited to come home and tell us that they sang the very same song at ‘His Kinder’ (which happens to be the same kinder with the same teacher!).

It’s now a family favourite… so I thought we had better make some printable leaves to go with it!

We also made a quick little video to help you learn the song (the words and on the printable). Excuse my terrible singing, but as I’ve said over and over, your kids don’t care how bad your singing is, as long as you sing… so I am hoping the internets won’t care too much either!

To make the leaves, simply download the pdf document, print it, and cut out the leaves and the little tabs of paper to make the ‘finger straps’. Loop the finger straps and secure onto the back of the leaves with tape and you are good to go.

Do you know any more autumn songs?
What is your favourite song to sing with your kids?
Can you suggest any more sing puppets we could create and share?

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Printable Autumn Leaf Puppets and a Song is a post from: picklebums.com

Sometimes I just need to find a good excuse to brave the freezing weather and get everyone outside. On the weekend that reason was autumn leaves… we needed to collect autumn leaves.

I wasn’t exactly sure why we needed autumn leaves, it just seemed like an important thing to do before they all fell from the trees and turned into a slippery mushy brown mess on the ground.

After putting fifty-gazillion layers of clothes on all the kids, and only ten-gazillion on myself (which really was an over-site) and attempting to bribe Noey with chocolate chips to keep his hat on (which didn’t work once the chocolate was gone… duh!) we headed into town to the park.

The kids raced around collecting leaves, watched the cockies tear up the pine cones and drop bits on our heads, and had a quick play on the equipment. Once my fingers were blue and the toddlers snot had frozen to his face (it was cold ok) we piled back into the Big White Bus and came home… with a HUGE bag of autumn leaves.

“So what are we going to do with all the leaves Mum?”

Um…. er…. um…. then inspiration struck and I went to find the hole punch.

Two days, lots of searching, and finally a trip to the shops later, with a brand new hole punch in hand Morgan set about punching holes in some of the Autumn leaves. We were going to thread them!

As Morgan worked on his fine motor and problem solving skills with the leaves and hole punch, I dug around in the cupboard for some beads, buttons and other thread-able items in ‘autumn colours’. We also discovered we could punch holes in the bits the cockies had stripped off the pine cones too, bonus!

Armed with some plastic threading ‘strings’ (The plastic ‘strings’ are stiffer and make it easier for little fingers to thread. You can buy packets of plastic string at craft shops or you can buy a roll of cheap whipper-snipper cord at the two dollar shop which is just as good) Morgan, and Noah (with a lot of help from me) had a lovely time making autumn leaf threadings.

We were going to use them as necklaces but when the sun shone through the window we decided they would look lovely hung up in the sunshine…

Now what to do with the rest of the autumn leaves?
Here are some autumn activities we’ve done in the past. (How cute was my big boy when he was little!)

Autumn crowns and autumn leaf collage.

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Autumn Leaf Threading is a post from: picklebums.com

Some days it is all about quick and easy. It’s all about using things I have on hand, not needing to buy or collect or wait for anything.

Today it was an old idea from the my early days of teaching, and I can’t believe I’ve never done this my own kids

It’s easy, a few wooden blocks (or in our case off cuts from the renovations) with some string or wool wound around them. Some paint (with a squirt of dish washing liquid for easy clean-up) and some paper.

I think we’ll use our painting for wrapping paper!

For some more easy printing ideas how about some circle printing, printing with duplo or some sponge printing?

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Easy Art For Kids – String and Block Printing. is a post from: picklebums.com

I had been promising my big boy that we could make ginger bread cookies with his new dragon and bunny cookie cutters ever since we got them. But I’ve been putting it off. I already spend enough time in the kitchen, I didn’t need to spend more time in there and have more mess to clean up. Besides, I had other, more important things to do…

Hang on… did I just say I had more important things to do than spend time with my boy?
The boy that next year will be at school?
The boy that loves nothing more than to cook?
The boy who’s sparkly blue eyes often make my day?

I needed to get over myself and my excuses… So yesterday morning we made ginger bread dragons and bunnies and people, because there are so many good reasons to cook with my kids…

• Cooking is fun… cooking just for the pure enjoyment is so much more fun than cooking because you have to!
• Cooking teaches pre-reading skills as we ‘read’ the recipe.
• When he cooks he is constantly using number skills and counting.
• Cooking teaches sequencing skills – first cream the butter and sugar, then add the golden syrup….
• Cooking is an important life skill.
• Cooking is a chance to talk about food, why our bodies need it and how they use it.
• While cooking my boy is learning about measurements – weight, volume, temperature etc.
• Sharing something he’s cooked with friends and family is a great source or pride for my boy!
• If they help cook it, they are more likely to eat it… though that isn’t much of a problem when it comes to ginger bread men!
• It’s a good chance to chat.
• Cooking (especially from scratch) teaches my boy where food comes from, what is in it, and how it is made.
• Cooking is a great way to practice motor skills… use those arm muscles to stir the batter, and strengthen those fingers squeezing icing from the piping bag.
• When you cook together you are practicing skills such as turn taking, sharing and working cooperatively.
• Cooking involves lots of science – following a method, changing stats of matter, cause and effect etc.
• Working in the kitchen you teach your children safety skills – that the oven is hot, knives are sharp etc.
• Doing something that makes my child happy, makes me happy.

We used this recipe to make ginger bread cookies yesterday. For more recipe ideas pop on over to Childhood 101 and check out my post Ten Easy Things to Cook with Kids.

Do you cook with your kids?
What do you love, or hate, about it?

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Reasons Why I Cook with my Kids is a post from: picklebums.com

There are a lot of different crowns in our house, but according to Morgan, none of them are ‘Kingly enough’.

Our original printable tiara template was not right. Apparently a King’s crown needs a spot for a really big jewel at the top, and it’s more pointy.

Armed with these instructions I set to work creating a new printable crown template.

And then Morgan set to work painting it.

I love our recycled marker paints and some cotton buds for a quick and easy painting activity like this!

Apparently this is what a real king looks like…

You can download our free printable crown template here.

The beauty of these crowns is that you don’t need to find a piece of card or paper long enough to go around a head! Simply open the pdf file and print the crowns straight onto an A4 (letter sized) piece of card or paper. Decorate your crowns, cut around them and punch a hole at each side. Attach some string or elastic sized to fit your head and you’re done.

And apparently this is what a real king looks like…

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Make A Crown! – Free Printable Crown Template is a post from: picklebums.com

Some days I just don’t feel like doing anything. Especially if I am not feeling well, or I’ve had little sleep the night before.

Some days I just don’t want to set up an art activity, or take the kids anywhere.

Some days I just don’t want to play, but the kids always do.

So here are five easy activities for the kids to do on days when you really don’t want to play.

Drawing
Roll out a length of paper on the floor and dump out the crayons. Those long rolls of Ikea paper have save my sanity again and again. With the paper on the floor everyone can reach, no one argues over chairs or crawls on the table trying to get the green crayon, and I can lay on the couch or fold the washing with only a quick reminder for the toddler not to draw on the floor.

Go Outside!
Going outside is one of the last things I want to do when I feel lousy, but once we’ve found hats and boots I can pretty much just sit in my hammock and watch as the kids muck about in the back yard. It’s even better if the sun is shining, the fresh air helps everyone’s’ moods improve, and I can’t possibly clean the house if I am outside ‘supervising the children’.

Quick and Easy Imaginative Play
A green rug or towel, some stones or wooden blocks, a couple of twigs with leaves and animals or dinosaurs or fairies or cars… dump it all in the middle of the floor on the table and let the kids do the rest.

A Fiddly Toy
You know what I mean, one of those toys or activities that has little bits that require some concentration. I know it sounds counter intuitive to get out something with little pieces when you are feeling less than 100% but I’ve found those are the kind of activities that engage my kids, quietly, on their own, for quite a while…. especially the four year old.
Things like peg boards, threading, tap-tap, or puzzles. Make sure it is a challenge but not too hard for your child and then wander off for a little peace.

Spoken Stories
We love audio books at bedtime, but they are also great when you just can’t face reading yet another story. See if you can find some CDs or MP3s of stories that you already have in book form so that your child can ‘read along’ or provide a few ‘props’ that match the story – like some animals for Who Sank The Boat. Play School CDs are great for reading well known kids books.

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Five Ways to Play When You Really Don’t Feel Like It is a post from: picklebums.com

In case you haven’t noticed, I really like imaginative play.
Lucky for me, so do my kids!

Kids learn so much from imaginative play.

It is an holistic type of play, covering all areas of develop and allowing the child to focus on and learn whatever he or she is most interested in or ready for at that moment. Learning is not isolated to one narrow, adult directed area as children practice and learn to integrate a wide variety of skills including; sharing, problem solving, maths and literacy skills, innovation, language, negotiation, concentration, working together, fine and gross motor skills and much more. Imaginative play is also a fabulous way for children to manage stress, to cope with difficult situations and to make sense of their world.

I wrote a whole article about why imaginative play is good for kids, but what I didn’t write about is that imaginative play is good good for parents too!

One of the best things about imaginative play is that one set up can be played with in lots of different ways so children of different ages, at different stages of development and with different interests can all play.

Right now my eight year old girls, my four year old boy, and occasionally even my 21 month old are all playing with the same imaginative play set up.

For the girls, part of the joy was collecting the items and setting the scene. They like making ‘pretty displays’ so heading out to the garden with a basket and some scissors to collect leaves and flowers and arranging them around the scene was lots of fun.

Today’s set up is an ‘Elven party’. It includes fairies, elves, a bear, and a few warriors. Something for everyone!

Because imaginative play is open-ended, meaning there is lots of ways to play, it is easier for everyone to accommodate others’ ideas. It makes sharing and playing together much easier.

It also means there is less frustration for Morgan who going through a patch where he feels he can’t ‘do anything right’. Because there is no right or wrong way to play he feels confident and empowered.

Noey comes and goes from the play. He climbs up onto a chair and rearranges a few things, steals a rock or a mushroom or deposits something new to play with. The big kids tolerate him ‘wrecking’ things because they can easily write him into the story. He is a tornado that rips through the party, or a monster, or a wizard…

There are not many activities that all four kids can do together with barely any supervision or interaction from me.

And they’ve been playing for over two hours… that’s why I love imaginative play!

Disclaimer : After two and a half hours playing with the Elven Party, it did end in lots of tears from the four year old perfectionist, and it took a lot of control to keep my yell in. I still like imaginative play, but I’m just ‘keeping it real’ in case you all think that my kids are some kind of angels, or I have some kind of magic ability to set up activities that make my kids play happily together for hours.

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Imaginative Play – Why it’s Great for Parents! is a post from: picklebums.com

My kids adore Lego.

I adore Lego.

Lego is bordering on some kind of magic in our house.

Lego is something all three of my big kids can do together, and it engages them all for a long time. Not only that, but when they play Lego they seem to magically become nice to each other. They help each other and encourage each other. There is no bickering, no whining, and I sit there in awe and wonder if I should just empty my entire bank account and buy more and more Lego!

Lego is featuring a lot on our ‘things to do in the Easter holidays’ list.

Our Thirty Minute Challenges almost always involve Lego and save my sanity daily during the holidays. And now we have a new challenge…

Lego Australia and Toyworld are looking for Australia’s best Lego builder! The winner gets a trip to Lego Land! And while my kids are excited by that, they are more excited by the idea of winning more Lego!

So yesterday we sat down and came up with some ideas. We drew some plans, and then started to build.

A pyramid, complete with sight-seers.

And a dinosaur with a cave man riding on his back!

If you want to enter the Lego Australia Building Championships, all you have to do is build your best Lego construction, take two identical photos of it to a Toyworld Store and fill in the entry form. Find out more details at the Toyworld site.

To help you get started I have ten (yes 10!) Mini Helicopter Lego sets to give away.

These little sets come with blocks and instructions to build a helicopter, sea plane or tug boat!

To win a Mini Helicopter Lego set leave a comment on this post and tell me what your kids would make if they entered the Lego building competition. My kids will help me pick the ten most interesting answers to win.

This competition is now closed. Because we need to choose ten winners, and because the pickle kids are picking them, it may take a little while for winners to be notified and names to be posted here. Thanks for your patience.

To enter you must be an Australian resident and provide a valid email address. Entries are limited to one per household.
Entries close 6pm AEST Tuesday April 10th 2012, the winner will be contacted by email and announced on this post. The winner must contact me within 5 days or the prize will be re-drawn. The winner’s contact details will be passed on to One Green Bean PR who mail prizes directly to the winners.

{Disclosure : I was not compensated in anyway for this post, however we were given some other Lego sets which my kids and I will review in a few weeks. The ideas and opinions expressed in this post are my own. }

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Lets Build Lego! – Lego Building Competition and Give Away. is a post from: picklebums.com

The girls are at school and the big boy is at kinder, that just leaves the smallest at home.

Noey is not used to being at home on his own. He’s used to having one, or three big kids to follow around. He’s used to having all his older siblings arguing over who he loves more. He’s used to having them at his beck and call.

I am used to him having the big kids to entertain him!

Sometimes Noey and I are a little lost on the days like today, when Morgan is at kinder, and we have no errands to run. So I’m making a list of toddler activities… a list of things to do when you are almost two!

Sticking

There are lots of variations of this activity, but we just stick a big piece of self adhesive paper, sticky side out, onto a low cupboard and collect a container of collage bits. Noey has lots of fun sticking bits on and peeling them off!

Drawing
Noey is only just beginning to be interested in making marks on paper, so a big piece of paper taped to the table and some crayons are the best art activity for him right now.

Play Dough
With a big brother who adores play dough has had a lot of experience with this activity, and since he isn’t one to put things in his mouth it’s lots of fun. While the big kids like every play dough accessory under the sun, for toddlers less is more. Noey likes a plastic knife and some containers to put the dough in, and take it out, and put it in and take it out…

Loose Parts
The big kids love to use loose parts to create things and in imaginative play, but Noey just likes the bits. He likes to put them in baskets and bags, tip them from one container to another, line them up, and generally just muck around with them.

Stacking Things

Whether it’s blocks or stacking pegs, Noey likes to build tall towers… then knock them down!

Pegs
A recycled plastic container with some clothes pegs will keep Noey happy for ages, and is great for fine motor development.

Cars
We have lots of cars, and one of Noey’s favourite activities is to shoot them down a long cardboard tube and watch them race out the other end!

Pretend Play
Simple dress ups like hats and bags are lots of fun, and Noey loves to put things in and take them out of our toy oven, or pretend to be cooking with a bowl and a wooden spoon.

Cooking
I also let Noey help with real cooking. Ok so he mostly just stands on a step and watches, but he can also stir things as well as get small items out of the fridge or cupboard for me. He can be surprisingly helpful for a 21 month old!

Water Play.
It’s not as messy as it sounds if you only give them a tiny amount of water. Noah stands on a step and ‘washes the dishes’ in the sink with about of centimeter of soapy water in it. He also loves to play with ice blocks.

Get Outside.

Noey’s favourite outside thing is to go talk to the chooks. But he also loves chasing bubbles, swinging on the swing, clinbing and balancing on our tree stump stepping stones and just running around. Even when I don’t feel like going outside, just 15 minutes outside can improve both of our moods! If we can’t get outside something active inside like crawling through our box tunnel is fun too.

What is your favourite toddler activity?

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What To Do When You’re Almost Two. is a post from: picklebums.com