Hobbsy's House

Hobbsy's House

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Stained Glass Windows

Inspired by this post on Red Ted Art, we made some 'Stained Glass Windows' today. As I was doing it with 2 year olds I didn't attempt a theme, I just cut up a load of tissue paper and let them do what they wanted:


The result was really pretty!


And when her older siblings saw what she was doing they wanted to join in - but with their own ideas, this is apparently a fairy!


This activity was a big hit and so easy to set up as well - just a card frame around a piece of contact paper.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Medieval Storytelling, Muffins and Meatballs!

Today's activities were sponsored by the letter M! We kicked things off in the car on our way out by spotting as much as we could that started with an M. When we got to Oystermouth Castle in (Mumbles of course!) it was time for a quick snack, some home made muffins:



Then we enjoyed a Junior Park Ranger activity; Medieval Storytelling at Oystermouth Castle. All 4 kids aged 2 - 7 LOVED it. I can't praise Junior Park Rangers enough...I just wish we'd discovered them earlier, all their remaining summer holiday activities are now booked up but they'll be a huge part of our next summer holidays for sure.

It was lunch time when we got back so what else could we have but Meatballs?!


I had a number of letter/M related indoor activities planned (playdoh with letter cookie cutters, a letter M puzzle, books starting with the letter M etc etc) but the weather improved so we decamped to the garden and I had to improvise a little. First up, the big 2 drew chalk Ms and the smaller 2 erased them with a water spray:


Then we dug out some letter 'buried treasure' from the sandpit:


I also hid a number of objects round the garden that started with the letter M. Next week is A!

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Some pipe cleaners and fluffy bobbles

It's amazing what kids can do with some very basic materials. I bought a big bag of fluffy bobbles and pipe cleaners with the idea of doing something arty with them. Today it was rainy and I hadn't managed to find a suitable activity but I thought the 2 year olds might just like playing with them as a sensory activity so I tipped them all into a tub...


And discovered all the bobbles had holes in so you could thread the pipe cleaners through! The kids loved this, just the simple act of threading was enough to keep the little ones happy. So good for their fine motor skills too.


And then my older kids joined in and it all got more creative!


Brilliant bit of entertainment for just a few quid from Playright scrapstore.

Thursday 9 August 2012

We're going on a Bug Hunt, we're going to catch a big one!

Today we went to our first Junior Park Ranger activity and we were very impressed! It was a Bug Hunt at Coed Gwilym Park in Clydach and it was really well organised and well attended. The Rangers had lots of great equipment for catching bugs, this one you used the green pipe to suck up little tiny bugs into the pot, perfect for younger children who tend to squish small bugs between their fingers! :

 

 Here's 2 year old Elin inspecting the wood louse she caught:


This might look like a big pile of sticks but is, in fact, a 'Beetle Castle', the Rangers had apparently built it as part of another Junior Park Ranger activity. We found all kinds of mini beasts here; beetles, aphids, slugs, worms, spiders and wood lice. Lovely! A big recommendation for Junior Park Rangers from Hobbsy's House. Make sure you book though, these activities are not surprisingly very popular!

Friday 3 August 2012

Gold Medals for Team Hobbsy

We thought we'd celebrate the olympics this week by make some gold medal biscuits:



They were so simple to make that all 4 children aged 2 to 7 were able to get involved, mixing, rolling, cutting and icing.

We also made our own bean bags out of old socks, inspired by this fantastic blog Inspire ImaginationThrough Creation and then the children tried to throw them into a basket, with the closest throw winning a gold medal of course! No pictures of my own as I was being inspected at the time - eek- so I forgot all about the camera in my nerves!