Sunday 23 June 2013

Batman Peg Magnet Craft




We went to I12 Katong today and happened to chance upon an Art {&} Craft session held near the stage.
Children can participate to make their own favorite Superheroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonderwoman using pegs.
To participate, parents will first need to register them at the Concierge with a minimum $30 receipt.
Below are the steps on how to re-create your very own Batman peg magnet.

BATMAN PEG MAGNET
Materials Needed:
- Peg
- Black crayon
- Black cloth
- Foam (yellow and black)
- Batman logo printed on a piece of paper
- Glue
- Double sided tape
- Magnet


1. First, colour the peg black using black crayon.

2. Print the Batman logo onto a piece of paper, then cut it out in a circle.
Next cut out the same sized circle on a piece of black foam.
Then glue the black foam at the back of the Batman logo.
This is the "head" of the Batman. Glue the black foam on the top of the peg to act as the "head".
3. Next cut out Batman's shoes and underwear using black foam and paste them onto the peg using glue. Cut out a small rectangular shape using yellow foam for Batman's "belt" and glue it on.

4. For Batman's cape, cut out a small rectangle from a piece of black cloth. Then use double sided tape to secure it behind Batman's "head", i.e. on the black circle foam.
5. Lastly, tape a piece of magnet onto the back of Batman's "head" or black circle foam.

There you go, this is your completed Batman peg magnet. :)
What a cool Superhero craft!


Friday 21 June 2013

Postbox Craft




Hello friends. Today I am excited to be uploading the very first post on my brand new blog - LITTLE MINI MAKERS, dedicated to my two kids - Gwen (5 years old) and Oliver (3 years old) . My kids love creating crafts and cutting things up (their favorite activity in their Montessori school is definitely "snipping"), painting, messing up the house, cooking, doing experiments and basically anything that puts their motor skills to good use.

I am a working mum who enjoys craft, so I spend my free time coming up with new crafts or learning ideas to satisfy my kids' constant demands for more fun activities.

I will share some of my ideas with you and I hope you will have as much fun as us in making things. :)

OK, let's begin with our very first craft activity, Postbox Craft.
POSTBOX CRAFT
Materials Needed:
- Shoebox
- Penknife
- Red paint
- Yellow paper
- Glue


1. First, you will need to get hold of a clean shoebox. The one I used here is a sports shoe shoebox, whose flap is attached to one side of the box (as seen on the picture).
Tip: You may choose to replace the shoebox with a cereal box if don't like the idea of using a shoebox. However, you will have to cut out a flap on the cereal box so that your mail can be taken out.
2. Next, you will need a penknife to cut a rectangular slit at the top of the box. (Parents, please make sure that you do the cutting for your kids as much as they may love to do "snipping" like my kids. ;p)
Tip: Make sure that your mail can get through the rectangular slit that you have just made.

3. Now, you may let your kids start painting the whole box red.
Tip: Make sure you lay newspapers below, if you don't want your house to end up in a big mess.
Once completed, leave the box to dry overnight.

4. Next you may write the word POST on a yellow piece of paper.
Then let your kids try their "snipping" skills and cut the words out for you.

5. Last step is simply to let your kids glue the yellow cut-out POST onto the red postbox.
Tip: It might look nicer if POST was pasted higher up, however I just let my kids decide since this is their craft.

    Tadaaaa..... This is the completed Postbox!

6. My kids had so much fun sending mail in their newly made postbox, as well as playing postman and delivering our mail to us.
Role playing is a fun activity for them as it lets them use their imagination and creativity when they act out a role.
Tip: You may consider sticking the postbox onto your wall and perhaps using it to store all your unread mail. It will be such a useful mail storage box, specially made by your kids! Just open the flap to retrieve all your unread mail. :)

We hope you had as much fun making and playing with the postbox as us.
Looking forward to our next session of learning & crafting fun!

   

Thursday 13 June 2013

Sink or Float Experiment



Hello friends, today we are going to do an experiment with the kids to teach them the concept of HEAVY and LIGHT. I got my inspiration from this lovely blog.
/http://mynearestanddearest.com/sink-float-sensory-sink/
The heavy objects will sink under water, and the light objects will float on water.

SINK or FLOAT EXPERIMENT


1. Just get hold of a few objects around the house, some of which are heavier and some are lighter than water. (e.g. ping pong ball, leaves, rock, boat)
Let the kids put them one by one in a pail of water.



2. Then take two paper plates and label them SINK and FLOAT.


3. Let the kids pick out the objects one by one from the pail and ask them to place each item on the correct SINK or FLOAT plate.


After they have done so, explain to them why the object floats or sinks in water.
E.g. The ping pong ball floats on water as it is much lighter than water.

SINK = HEAVY (the object is heavier than water)
FLOAT = LIGHT(the object is lighter than water)

Hope you enjoyed this experiment. :)