The below craft activity is simple and fast to make for St. Patrick day. This activity is a really good one for kids aged 4+ (they might need some help with some little parts). I made it today with my daughter 2+….she was very happy to help…and proud to wear her masterpiece!

Materials needed

Hair band, green felt, green pipe cleaners 60cm/24inch, scissors, plastic ribbon/ (green, orange and white the colors of the Irish flag) pencil and glue      (I used my glue gun to attach everything but any strong glue should work). First cut 2 pipe cleaner pieces about 12 cm/ 5 inch in length. (I wrapped them around a pencil to create a spring effect.)

Next step, I cut a third piece of pipe cleaner approximately 20 cm/ 8 inch. Wrap this around the center of the hair band. My daughter helped with this. Put a small spot of glue on the end of each pipe cleaner and glue it to itself (to avoid any sharp parts from the wire). Remove the pencil from the inside of the wrapped pipe cleaner and glue it to the pipe cleaner on the hair band….guess who got to pull out the pencil!! Draw 2 shamrock shapes onto the felt and cut them out, and glue the shamrocks to the top of the pipe cleaners. Next,  cut 6 pieces of plastic ribbon 20cm/8inch length and tie them to the top just under each shamrock. Funky shaking shamrocks.

Sometimes it is nice to give the kids an activity that they can do independently while you are getting something else done….

The below are some activities that T & G like to do independently while I am busy with work or preparing dinner. My children are 4 & 2 years so this activity might get a bit messy with younger ones. These are table top activities. Enjoy..

Ideas:

Hot & cold landscapes a sensory activity:

Materials:

2 basins, rice, flour, pasta, red lentils

Animals for warm and cool climates eg: lions, elephant, polar bears, penguins

Method:

Fill one basin with rice and flour about 5cm high and place the cold animals inside

Fill the other basin with pasta shapes and red lentils and place the warm animals inside

Water world:

T & G both adore water so …

Materials:

2 basins, water, water animals, food coloring, bubbles

Method:

Place some newspaper on the table and put the basins on top (less to clean upJ)

Fill the basins with some warm water, and add the water creatures. Food coloring or bubbles can be added for fun…

I always stay near to them when they are doing these activities…just in case…thank you to Adam Osborne for inventing the laptop.

  Cassie Caterpillar

Cassie is one hungry caterpiller.  Most of her time is spent eating.  Eating fruit, vegetables, leaves anything she can find, but she never seems to feel full.  On her way to find some nice leaves to eat, she met Sydney and Ellie.  They were on there way back from the waterhole.  They talked a bit, but all the time Cassie’s tummy was grumbling.  At first Sydney thought it was Ellie, as  the noise was so loud.  But Ellie acted like she could not hear the loud noises.  As the noise got louder it was impossible to ignore so eventually, (very politely) Sydney asked what the noise was and where was it comming from? 

Cassie started to laugh.  She was a little embarrased to admit that her tummy was making all those loud grumbling noises. She was the smallest there, but Cassie explained that when a caterpilller starts to grow up it needs to eat and eat until it finally feels full. Then they go for a long sleep, wrapped in a cocoon (a type soft blanket).  When Cassie eventually wake up about 2 weeks later she will have changed into a butterfly.  She will have beautiful wings and antenne and will fly around to explore the world. 

What do you know about caterpillers? To make your own caterpiller, look in “look what I made” and follow the instructions. (Don’t forget to ask for help if you need it).

Ellie and Sydney met yesterday at the waterhole.  Lucky for Sydney, as he got stuck in the mud.  It started to rain, gently at first but the drops got bigger and came down faster and faster, eventually he was swimming.  This is very difficult if you have 8 legs and are very tired.  You end up swimming round and around in circles and going no where.  But luckily Ellie stopped by the waterhole for a drink and saved Sydney.

Would you like to make a spider like Sydney.  Have a look in “look what I made” and follow the instructions. (Don’t forget to ask for help if you need it)