December is a month where we accumulate far too much. Anya has her birthday and then a couple of weeks later it’s Christmas. Apart from giving stuff to charity, I also don’t let Anya open all her presents at once. Do you do the same or am I the only mean mama? I seriously don’t think any kid can really appreciate 10-15 presents in one go or even 5. So she is allowed to open the wrapping but not the gift itself. I keep them away and come a rainy day in January/February when it’s too cold or wet, she always has something to do. Last week on one such day she opened this beautiful coloured sand Djeco craft kit and she was hooked for hours.
Autumn is definitely here and when you are surrounded by an abundance of leaves in the most amazing colours, it seems crazy not to do something with them. There are so many fun crafts you can do with autumn leaves that kids will just adore getting involved in. I’ve got a fun idea for a craft which I plan to do soon but in the meantime, I have collected 7 fabulous autumn leaf crafts that you can make today. Most of these crafts don’t require anything special but instead can be done using stuff you have lying around the home. Just get the kids to gather a bagful of leaves each and get started:
Paint your leaves and make fun animals. The shapes of the leaves are so great for making all kinds of animals and the stems are the perfect ready made noses or tails.
Instead of animal faces, you can just paint the leaves in pretty colours or patterns which is easier for younger kids to do. How stunning do the bright colours look and I’m especially loving the polka dots.
For a super sweet and simple DIY, how cute are these animal headbands? All you need is a handful of leaves, some kraft paper and a pen and you’re good to go. Easy and oh so cute!
This is another great idea for a craft using autumn leaves. If you’ve got paper punchers in any shape, you can punch out autumn leaves and then what you make with them is entirely up to you. I’m thinking collages, bracelets, bookmarks or anything at all.
I think these fishy leaves are just the best. Make a whole aquarium using just some leaves and two paint colours – fab!
Using leaves and other gathered bits like sticks, seeds and acorns, make the funniest leaf faces! I love how simple this craft is, perfect even for the youngest of kids.
For older kids looking for a bit more of a challenge, try embroidering autumn leaves – create faces, patterns or even stitch up a few leaves together to make a garland.
I love each of these autumn leaf crafts and can’t choose which one to try first! Have you done anything fun with autumn leaves? Do share in the comments.
Image credits and find all the how to’s: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
While Christmas shopping for Anya I came across these kids activity books which literally jumped out at me possibly because of their striking black and neon colours. I picked up one and had a quick flick through and thought it looked pretty good. So I bought it for her and she has loved it. We got the orange ‘Definitely not for chickens’ one which is full of drawing puzzles, number activities, memory games and lots more. Some pages are easier than others but all offer pretty engaging things to do. There are five different books in total each with different puzzles and activities.
Apart from being really fun for kids, these quirky Totally Twisted Puzzle books are nicely illustrated and use the same colour scheme inside and on the cover making it all very striking to look at. I’m planning to get another one once Anya has gone through the first one. It’s been a great book to take along when you need your child to be entertained (rather than giving them an ipad/iphone). Recently while planning our house renovation, we’ve had to spend hours at kitchen/bathroom/flooring shops and this book has been the thing we’ve taken along to keep Anya occupied. I also love these books to give as party favours or small gifts.
I’ve long been a fan of Merrilee Liddiard who writes the creative kids craft blog called MerMag. She has now published a book full of the most fun crafts to make with your kids. The thought behind the book is that we can make toys and fun things for our kids just like our grandparents did. Everything doesn’t have to be bought but instead it’s all about engaging with your kids to create playful things where the making part is just as important as the playing. Being the stylish mum that she is, Merrilee goes a step further with her book. While it’s all about kids crafts it’s beautifully presented with thought given to the clothes the kids wear, the interiors and every detail so that it’s a book you can happily display on your coffee table.
The book is called “Playful: Fun projects to make with + for kids” and has a big range of crafts including toy making, paper crafts, making dressing up stuff and lots more. Some of my favourite crafts include those cute wooden necklaces (pictured at the top) and those giant animal cutouts. That tiger pinata looks really fun for a party too. There are many crafty mums out there but the reason I especially love Merrilee’s creations is because everything is do-able by non-crafty mums like me and it’s very easy to genuinely involve kids and let them do a lot of it. Also, you never need ridiculous amounts of materials or complex tools. And besides all her crafts look so beautiful don’t you think?
The Summer holidays have been here for a couple of weeks now and are a welcome break from the routine. With the beautiful UK weather, we’ve been indulging in lots of outdoor time. But since I work from home, I can’t take Anya out morning to evening every day as I need to find time to work. If you work from home, you’ll know that the constant questions, demands for food and expressions of boredom make working nearly impossible or at least means you take three times as long to do anything! While the TV and ipad are good at keeping her distracted, I like to use these in moderation. So instead I’ve been stocking up on a few creative little activities which I’ve started giving her when she needs something to do. Nothing complicated, just the very simplest little things I’ve bought which she can create with by herself. I thought I would share the three that have been the biggest hits so far:
Let’s Make Some Great Fingerprint Art is such a fun book. The book is packed with loads and loads of ideas for making art with your fingers. All you need is a colourful inkpad and a pencil to complete the pictures you create. Anya loved this book and takes it out nearly everyday since I gave it to her.
I spotted this massive jar of beads in Ikea a while ago. They’re not exactly beads but mini tube shaped bits that Anya has used for all sorts of creations. From making jewellery to sticking them on paper to make pictures, this jar has so many uses. Anya has also used these beads to make up counting by colours kind of games. But be warned, every time they come out, you’ll be treading on little bits of plastic for days to come!
This last one was a bit of an impromptu made-up thing but Anya loved it so I thought it was worth sharing. I needed to get on with some urgent work so needed her occupied. I just made a huge sheet of paper, pulled put some poster paints and told her to have fun. She ended up painting with her fingers and had a ball.
How do you keep your kids occupied? I’d love to hear your ideas.
In the UK, we’re on half term school holidays this week and after having a glorious week of sunshine last week, this week is rain, rain and more rain. So we’re inside more than out and one of our favourite indoor activities is board games. We’ve been playing all our old favourites like checkers and snakes & ladders but I love finding new games to play too. So I went looking and came across these beautiful board games from Hungary. Inspired by the magical world of fairy tales and the vivid imagination of a child, these games are beautifully illustrated in great detail. Mostly made by hand, these games are made to last through generations. Even the counters aren’t the usual plastic pieces but instead the bases are made of wood and they come with detailed drawings on cardboard that slot in to the bases. These captivating board games are made by Marbushka who only have retailers in Hungary but they ship worldwide.
Whenever there are holidays coming up, I try and stock up on a few ‘at home’ activities for Anya specially for those days where I am either too busy to play much or we can’t go out for whatever reason. Luckily this Easter we are going away so I haven’t needed to plan but if you’re staying home and looking for some indoor entertainment, these new giant colouring posters from Omy could be just the thing. When they say giant they really do mean giant as the posters are 1.8 metres long! That means a lot of colouring. The posters can be put up on a wall or simply laid out on the floor and the colouring can begin. There are Paris, London and New York city posters as well as a world map poster and you can find a selection at Petit Home. If you feel like it, you can join in the colouring fun too. I know I would have to have a go.
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Ebabee Likes is a style guide for babies, kids, teens and their mamas. It’s all about inspiration, ideas and indulging yourself and your brood. It’s written by me ~ Nomita ~ a style loving girl from Mumbai who now live’s in London. Read More...
