Ice magic

Today I stayed at home with my five year old; he's been coughing and spluttering all over the place. He's accepted cuddles, warm drinks and listened to several audio books but I know how awful he's feeling because even the new snow hasn't tempted him outside. Instead we made these crystal icicles which I hung on a snowy branch in our garden. They've been spinning and glittering in the icy wind, catching the light and the attention of my poorly boy. 

You'll need:

transparent plastic food packaging

scissors

clear glue

granulated sugar

silver glitter

a hole punch

white cotton thread

1. Cut the plastic packaging into icicles and crystals

2. Punch a hole in the top of each shape

3. Use clear wet glue to make icy patterns just where you like

4. Sprinkle granulated sugar and silver glitter over the glue

5. Thread a doubled length of white cotton through its hole and pass the ends through the loop

6. Knot the ends of the thread and hang on a branch of a tree or bush

Of course, they are impossible to photograph, but I do recommend you make some. They have certainly added sparkle, movement and magic to our winter garden today.

The flu and the flying saucers

Last week I had such dreadful flu that I was out for the count for two days. As I emerged from my duvet cocoon, no longer delirious with fever but feeling rather ropey nonetheless, it was apparent that Bud and Daisy needed some fresh air, exercise and entertainment. I needed to pull something out of the hat. And fast. Here's how it happened in four fast-thinking steps:

1. I spotted two black polystyrene pizza bases ready for the recycling box (note to self: someone's been cooking ready-made pizza in my bedridden absence).

2. PING! - idea: they'd make great lightweight frisbees for Buddy and Daisy to throw around the garden (note to self: I will stay inside).

3. I remembered some shiny 'space-themed' collage bits and bobs from a craft activity a while back. Thankfully I found those quite easily and popped them onto our craft table along with a couple of glue sticks and some glitter.

4. 'Don't suppose anyone wants one of these special night time frisbees to decorate and play with do they?' My question was deliberately casual to entice my eldest, a most reluctant participator if he catches the merest whiff of craft.

Ta DAH!

This was the starting point to a wonderfully creative evening that could have been fraught with illness, misery and a whole lot of empty TV watching.

First there was some brilliant independent frisbee-making. I was barely acknowledged; I just drank water and hugged a hot water bottle. Then, keen to get outside to test out their flying saucers, Buddy and Daisy put on their shoes and coats. And yes - they did this all by themselves; that certainly doesn't happen in the mornings before school.

Excitedly and noisily, they threw their frisbees around and pretty soon some dramatic play developed with baddies and rockets, space exploration and planet hopping. I threw out their glowing glitter balls (recent presents from my aunty) and a whole new chapter began as I sat inside in the warm with a Lemsip.

You've got to love creativity. See how it can get you out of a tight spot and into a magical evening of high speed space travel round the garden galaxy? A classic adventure at home, just when we really needed one.

Make or break

Your eyes are not deceiving you - yes, this was a kettle in a previous life, albeit a broken one destined for the Recycling Centre. Over the weekend my children saved and transformed it into this fantastic model spaceship.

While I was grumpily trying to find something at the bottom of our very messy boiler cupboard I spotted the electrical appliance and handed it over to Buddy. I suggested he might fancy taking it apart to see how it had been made. Well, I can't remember the last time his eyes lit up so brightly. Buddy is usually my more reluctant participator when it comes to making things. But here was an opportunity to break a thing and I'd clearly hit on something good. Very good.

With total absorption and enthusiasm Buddy got to grips with the screwdriver, disassembling the kettle and talking animatedly about its component parts and their function. Of course I had to help with the screws, some were a little tight and inaccessible but we managed somehow. I was truly impressed by his interest and momentum; he wanted to remove every last screw, shining his torch and inspecting his work in such a professional manner.

Of course it wasn't long before Miss Daisy wanted to get in on the activity. She was particularly keen to help Buddy make the kettle into something new.

So with the help of a newly acquired glue-gun we spent a very happy half hour putting back every last screw and washer, handle and tube in an altogether different way.

Buddy: It's a model spaceship from Star Wars, it's a goody one. It's got a baddy pod here; that red thing. They get shooted off when they've learned their lesson. Into their base. But they're just kidding.

Daisy: That's the way out, that's the way in. And those screw-things are landers.

It is with thanks to the lovely Irresistible Ideas For Play Based Learning people that I owe this post - this whole activity actually. They recently wrote about letting their preschoolers loose on some old clocks. They re-made them into the most amazing time-machine sculptures. Without their reassurance that you can use glue-guns with small children I don't think I would have been brave enough to embark on this venture at all. I'm so glad we did, and we'll definitely do it again - we're already on the look-out for other broken appliances.

Make it snappy

Last Saturday morning over breakfast, a rather raucous family game evolved; we took turns being wild animals while everyone else guessed what we were. Daisy's angry monkey, Buddy's vicious shark and daddy's sleepy sloth made us laugh so much that cereal nearly came out of our noses. When my turn came, I stretched my arms out like snappy jaws and everyone guessed straight away; a crocodile, of course - too easy.

Crocodiles featured again this week; Bud and Daisy watched Disney's Peter Pan - they love the crocodile-chasing-Hook-at-ludicrous-speed-across-the-sea sequence, and we've been enjoying our favourite crocodile books; Melrose and Croc and The Star-faced Crocodile, pictured below.

The crocodiles in both stories are so soft nurture it's easy to forget the nature of the real deal - until you meet SNAPPY-CROC (top picture) made by Buddy and Daisy with a little help from mummy.

Here's how we made him:

To make his eyes, nostrils and teeth, we glued pieces from two egg boxes onto thick, folded cardboard (ours was packaging from a new bed sheet).

Each tooth-triangle was folded about 5mm from its base and stuck to the perimeter of the card with a glue-stick. Later, I added a strip of masking tape to his whole dental region, just to secure the odd wobbly tooth.

We trimmed his back teeth to make them extra 'sharp' and to enable that long jaw to close.

Once dry, we painted him to the children's specification; red inside, green outside and he had to have yellow eyes. I mixed in a fair bit of PVA glue in the hope of preventing the paint peeling off (too reptilian).

Et voila!

SNAPPY-CROC has been a huge success. He's certainly seen a lot of action; he lost a tooth in a particularly violent tussle with Nan, and he's been the reason for much of the recent laughter, shrieking and running around in our house. Not bad going for a bit of old cardboard rescued from the recycling box.