You can make you own beading fun at home with some dry pasta, food colouring and vinegar.
Add half a cup of dry pasta (we chose penne) to a zip-lock plastic bag.
Add 10-15 drops of food colouring and ½ teaspoon of vinegar.
Shake till the food colouring has spread evenly on the pasta. Tip onto a sheet of baking paper to dry.
Rinse the bag and add another ½ cup of pasta and your next colour.
We made up four colours and used the stiff beading string to make necklaces, bracelets, anklets, or whatever the kids can think of.
A great craft idea that helps with fine motor skill development.
Arts & Crafts
Dinosaur Eggs
A great fun activity for the school holidays.
1. Mix together 400g of bicarbonate of soda and ¾ cup of water in a bowl to make a mixture the texture of wet sand. Add a few drops of your favourite food colouring to the water before mixing.
2. Mould simple egg shapes and push small dinosaur toys into the centre.
3. Place onto a tray lined with baking paper to dry for 24-48 hours.
4. Once dried, hide in the garden in a dinosaur nest ready for the kids to find them.
5. Provide simple tools for the kids to uncover their baby dinosaurs inside the eggs. It’s messy, so be sure to keep outdoors.
Grassy Heads
Making Grassy Heads is a fun activity you can do on the weekend together. It’s also a great thing to make for school fetes.
1. Simply pour some grass seeds into the toes of an old pair of stockings.
2. Fill with a cup of soil, tie up the end of stocking.
3. Stick on some googly eyes and place in a cup of water. (tied end in the water)
4. After a few days the seeds will sprout ready for your kids to give it a groovy new haircut.
They last for weeks!
Galaxy Playdough
Our BusyKids think our Galaxy Playdough is out of this world! It’s really easy to make and lots of fun to play with. Simply add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and add some black food dye (or a mixture of red, green and blue dyes to make a blackish hue). Gently heat. Mix 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and 1 tblsp of cream of tartar in a bowl and then mix into the heated liquid.
Stir till combined. Finally add 1 tblsp of oil and mix until dough-like texture. Once cool enough to handle, knead until soft and add glitter or star shapes.
Let their imagination do the rest!