Tag: diy

Create Fairy Lights

Would you like to create fairy lights?

Need a great activity to do with the kids? I have seen this on the web and thought “Does it really work?” “Will it do as advertised?” and as you guessed it the answer is YES!

Read on to find out what to do and what you will need.

What you will need to create fairy lights

Now that you have the following items:

Jars – I got ours from Big W. You might have some in your kitchen or pantry that are not being used.
Glitter – You can get glitter from anywhere. Newsagency, supermarkets, $2 shops and so on. (To make your fairy lights really glow make sure to get the silver or gold glitter. You will see that we tried on with red glitter and it was not as bright.)
Glow Sticks – I got ours from the local hardware store as it was cheap. I got a pack of two glow sticks for around $6.00.
Scissors – You should have a pair but you might need to use a heavy duty kitchen scissors to make sure they can cut through the plastic on the glow stick

Here are the steps to follow to make your very own Fairy Lights…..

Step 1: Crack and Activate the Glow Stick

Activating the Glow Stick before cutting the top off it.

Note: Be super careful of the glass inside the glow stick. To make it work it needs to be still in the jar. Make sure that little fingers don’t touch it. Also, have sealable jars to ensure kids cannot open them.

Step 2: Cut the top off the glow stick – Be careful of the broken glass

Cutting the end off the glow stick to get to the glowy goo to make the fairy light sparkle!

Step 3: Empty out all the glowy goo into the jar

Glowy Goo is now in the Jar. Waiting for the glitter to come and sparkle!

Step 4: Add the Glitter

Step 5: Your Fairy Lights Are Complete – Have Fun!

Completed fairy lights. Great idea for a party. Enjoy!

Amazed by the fairy lights. So bright and amazing! This light worked the best due to the fact it had the gold glitter. The red one was not as bright.

Note: Make sure to use gold or silver glitter as mentioned before. You will get much better results with lighter and brighter glitter.

I hope you have enjoyed this activity and my instructions on how we did ours. I am sure your little ones will love it as the twins cannot wait to give it another go.

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Originally posted June 16th 2014

Tags activities for kids, creative project for kids, diy, fairy lights, fun with kids, glo stick, glow stick, halloween, Halloween Craft, Halloween Party, kids, school holiday fun

Creative

Marbled Easter Eggs

Creating Marble Easter Eggs is fun and you get pretty eggs. It is also a fun project to do with the kids this Easter.

What Do you Need to Marble Dye Easter Eggs?

Eggs (this is pretty essential, you will need eggs to have an Easter Egg)
Oil
Food Colouring
Vinegar (for dying the eggs in the fizzy solution)
Bicarbonate Soda (for dying the eggs in the Fizzy solution)
Water

Don’t they look amazing! Marbled Dyed Eggs

Method

Hard Boil your eggs – If you would rather you can blow out the eggs so that you don’t need to boil them and the eggs will be preserved. I used boiled eggs.
Cool down the eggs so they are not hot
Dye the eggs with an overall colour first. You can do this by using my Fizzy Dyed Eggs project
We dyed ours with the fizzy method
Fill a bowl with water and a tablespoon of oil and another colour food colour. We did this for a bit and then also added the food colouring directly to the egg.
Dry off with paper towels after you are finished.

Adding the Marble colour in the water and oil solution

This might not be the way many do this but it worked for us. Give it a go and see what different patterns and differently dyed eggs you can create.

Alexander helping with the marbled Easter Eggs

The finished product – Marble Dyed Easter Eggs

We noticed that some were not holding the colour so adding the dye straight onto the egg helped.

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Originally published April 2 2021

Tags creative, diy, easter, easter eggs, Marbled Easter Eggs

Creative

DIY Blackboard

What you will need

Blackboard/chalkboard paint from Dulux

Paint to paint the wall any colour to fix it before you apply the blackboard paint
Plaster to fix any holes or uneven surfaces
Sandpaper to make sure all smooth if you have plastered
Chalkboard paint
Plastic sheets to ensure you have paint everywhere
Painter tape (you will be thankful you got it, trust me!)
Paint brushes
Chalk to use on the chalkboard
Kids who are keen to be artists and try out their new blackboard! I am sure you will be able to find this easily.

Step 1 – Prepare your wall

Make sure your surface is smooth and clean. My wall had to be patched up as it had some uneven parts. Once we re-plastered those, dried them and sanded them back the wall was painted all over with a white colour. The white colour got two coats and had to dry to make sure it was ready for the blackboard paint.

Wall plastered and sanded. Now ready for the cream paint. — Wall plastered and sanded. Now ready for the white paint.

Painting the wall white, before you add the blackboard paint.

Step 2 – Add the blackboard paint

Once all the wall is dry from the other paint you are now ready to add the blackboard paint. Make sure to place painter’s tape to mark the area where you would like to have the blackboard. This tape is a wonderful thing, it allows you to have great shapes that are neat and great lines and the tape just comes off after the paint is dry. It also helps you not go outside the lines. You don’t want to have black paint on the lovely white wall area. We did two layers for the blackboard paint and let it dry for a few days before we used it. Make sure to read the instructions on the tin.

The blackboard is ready. Looking good! Can we use it now mummy?

Step 3 – Test out your new blackboard. Have fun!

Julia very pleased with her new blackboard.

The girls are getting so good at writing and the first thing they both wanted to do was to write their names. As a proud mummy, I had to take pictures of how clever they were, and also due to the blackboard being a new addition to our house.

The art did not just remain with names or cute pictures it did get very wild and abstract. I was pleased and glad that the kids had fun. I like the idea that the blackboard is a place for the twins to express themselves and be creative.

The first art that graced the new blackboard, aside from the girls names.

The creative art from the artists, Julia and Lillian.

Have you created a blackboard for the kids or yourself? Where did you put it? We made ours on the back wall of the house. This area is undercover and allows the kids to use the blackboard even if it is raining.

Now you see you can have a blackboard in 3 easy steps, why not give it a go? It is a great weekend project. Enjoy and have fun.

Originally published June 9, 2014

Tags blackboard, blackboard paint, chalk, Chalkboard, chalkboard paint, creative, creative projects for kids, diy, DIY blackboard, DIY Chalkboard, DIY project for the house, drawing, dulux, kids

Creative

Make Salt Dough Ornaments

Salt Dough Ornaments are a perfect craft project to do with the kids.

They are fun and you can make whatever your heart desires. Your imagination can run wild.

My kids wanted to create different animals and I made them do handprints as well. You can do feet prints if you wish.

The kids will love to see their creations hanging from the tree, or on the doorknobs of cupboards and doors.

You can make these decorations for any celebration. Easter, Birthdays and more!

Make Salt Dough Ornaments today with the kids

Ingredients

4 cups of plain flour
1 cup of salt
1 and a half cups of water
Food dye (whatever colour you wish to create)
Paint if you wish to paint the ornaments rather than colour with food dye.
Glue
Glitter or Glitter Glue
Ribbon or string to thread through the ornament.
Chopstick or another item to make the hole to hang the decoration on the tree.

Method

Mix all the ingredients together.
Add the food dye and mix some more to make sure that it is the right colour.
I separated the dough into three different batches. I made different colours for each child. This is a good way to ensure you know who’s decorations are whos.
Mixing the blue dough.

All three coloured salt dough.
Roll out the dough so it is not too thick and not too thin. (I made some of ours too thick and it has taken a while to dry)
Cut out the shapes with the cookie cutters and then press handprints or footprints on the decorations.
Adding the hole so you can hang your ornament. Make sure to do this before you bake the ornaments.
Make sure to add a hole to put the string or ribbon into the decoration. Don’t forget to do this. Once dry it will be next to impossible to add the hole for the ribbon to tie onto the tree. We used the end of a chopstick.
Put the decorations on a tray with baking paper and then bake in the oven.
Bake in the oven for 1-2 hours at 100°C. or 200 °F. Time might vary depending on how thick the dough is for your decorations.
If the ornaments are still doughy you can put them back into the oven, or maybe leave them out to firm up before you decorate them.
Once the ornaments are dry you can decorate them.
The saltdough creature is ready to bake now. You can clearly see the hole that will allow you to put string/ribbon to allow you to hang up your decoration.
Add glue to the areas you wish to add glitter then sprinkle the glitter. Make your decoration sparkle! (I ended up buying glitter glue instead of just glitter. This saved me from adding the glue and then the glitter.)
Add ribbon or string to thread through the hole that you have added to the ornament to allow you to hang on the Christmas Tree or elsewhere.

Decorating the Salt Dough Ornaments with Glitter Glue.

The finished Salt Dough Ornaments. Some are harder than others as they were not as thick as the others. The thicker ones need more time. If I was to do it again I would make them a bit thinner. — The finished Salt Dough Ornaments. Some were harder than others as they were not as thick as the others. The thicker ones need more time. If I was to do it again I would make them a bit thinner.

I hope this helps you create your own wonderful salt dough masterpieces.

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Originally published 3 December 2017

Creative

Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern – FREE PRINTABLE

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date February 1, 2019
2 Comments on Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern – FREE PRINTABLE

This year is the Year of the Earth Pig. To celebrate I’ve created a fun Chinese Lantern decorated with pigs.

The paper lantern is an easy craft project to do with kids and will also decorate your house for the celebration of the Lunar New Year.

Download the Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern

Instructions are on the Year of the Pig Lantern PDF that you will get as soon as you fill out the form above. The download happens instantly!

Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern - Download yours today, its free! — Year of the Pig Chinese Lantern – Download yours today, its free!

I’m sure your kids will have a lot of fun making their own Chinese Lanterns. The twins have done a few and have added them to their bedroom for decoration.

Year of the Pig Chinese Lanterns. The girls have added the lanterns to their room, don't they look fab! — Year of the Pig Chinese Lanterns. The girls have added the lanterns to their room, don’t they look fab!

Enjoy this free printable and I hope your house looks more festive with these fun Year of the Pig decorations.

Carbon Comms - Awesome Internet and Mobile

Tags Chinese Lantern, Chinese New Year, Chinese New Year 2019, Chinese Paper Lantern, Chinese Paper Lantern for the Year of the Pig, craft, diy, Easy craft, Festive Chinese New Year Decorations, free printable, Lunar New Year, Lunar New Year 2019, Year of the Pig

Creative

Decorate Handkerchiefs with Stained Sharpies

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date August 31, 2017
No Comments on Decorate Handkerchiefs with Stained Sharpies

It is always nice to have gifts that are unique. A gift that has meaning, and of course is special to you and others.

Creating a gift that is a work of art is even better.

How about decorating a handkerchief for dad, mum, or anyone!

This gift idea is not only just for dads but can be for mum, grandparents, friends or even as a teacher gift.

Yes, this idea is easily adapted to whoever you wish to give it to. It just depends on your imagination.

This simple DIY gift is super easy to create and won’t cost the earth.

Equipment Need:

Handkerchiefs – You can purchase some or even make some if you are crafty at sewing. I purchased plain white ones. You can get different colours with patterns if you wish and incorporate this into your design.
A pack of Stained Sharpie Pens (Fabric Markers)
Cardboard or paper to put on desk to make sure that the pens don’t bleed onto the desk.

Before you get started with your design it is always advisable to think about what you would like to achieve.

Check out what I created below:

A Breakdown of my decorated handkerchief:

For my first attempt at decorating the handkerchief, I just stuck to patterns in one colour.
I alternated rows to give it a better visual effect.
As the handkerchief had a pattern on the border I decided to not decorate there and leave the pattern the way it was originally.
Once the patterns in the red colour were finished, I then added some text on one side of the handkerchief and did it on the other end, and it is upside down from each other. This was done on purpose to make sure the text can be read no matter which way you have the handkerchief.
I was going to iron the handkerchief afterwards to heat set but have read that this is not needed for the Sharpie pens.
One post that I read recommended leaving the decoration for an hour to set.

Lillian working on her masterpiece for daddy.

The twins have both decorated their own handkerchiefs for daddy and I think they look amazing.

If you need a quick gift I would give this a go. I’m sure he will not have anything like it and of course love the fact that it is such a personal gift.

Julia creating her own colourful handkerchief for daddy.

If you do create a handkerchief decorated with sharpies for Father’s Day it would be amazing if you could share your pictures on our Facebook Page. I am sure that we can gain inspiration from your creations.

My first attempt at using Stained Sharpie Pens to decorate a handkerchief for hubby.

Thanks for following another great craft idea from Mummy to Twins Plus One. Stay tuned for more on the blog soon.

Julia's finished artwork on a handkerchief for Father's Day. — Julia’s finished artwork on a handkerchief for Father’s Day.

Lillian's brightly coloured Sharpie coloured handkerchief for daddy. — Lillian’s brightly coloured Sharpie coloured handkerchief for daddy.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

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Tags art, cheap gift idea, creative, creative gift idea, diy, DIY project for kids, Fabric Sharpies, family, fathers day, gift idea, mums, Sharpie Pens, sharpies, Stained Sharpies

Creative

DIY: Hand & Foot Print Canvas

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date June 4, 2016
No Comments on DIY: Hand & Foot Print Canvas

Need a unique gift for a family member? Don’t have heaps of money? Well, this great project will give you a cheap gift and your family member will cherish the present for years to come.

This gift can be for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Celebrating being a new mum/dad, or even Christmas. So don’t worry it will be perfect for any occasion.

Create your own hand and feet print canvas, great gift idea. Be prepared for mess. It was a bunch of fun though, but the baby got the messiest. Enjoy! — Create your own hand and feet print canvas, great gift idea. Be prepared for a mess. It was a bunch of fun though, but the baby got the messiest. Enjoy!

Gather Your Materials

Washable Paint. If you have more than 1 child you will need different colours for each child. I purchased red, blue and white paint. I made purple paint and also pink out of these colours. I ended up having purple, pink and blue for the 3 kids to use.
Canvas (You can small sizes, large ones or enormous size canvas. It is up to you and the project you are making) I chose small square ones so that they would easily fit in the post and also on a wall.
Newspaper to cover the floor or outside area. This makes sure you don’t get too messy.
Towels – You might want to have towels set up on the floor to protect the path to the bathroom so that your very messy kids can not mess things up too much once they get in there to get clean. I do find that if my kids are head to toe covered in paint, the walls and doors get covered in it too. Therefore having a washable paint is ideal as all you have to do is to give the wall and floor a quick wipe and all is good.
Paintbrushes – We used paintbrushes to put the paint on hands and feet. You can just put your hands and feet in the paint but using the paintbrush made it a bit easier.

How To Create the Prints

Step 1: Have your paint ready to go. If you need to mix colours have it all organised before the kids get near it.

Step 2: Put the newspaper down and then lay the canvas on top.

Step 3: Make sure kids are in clothes that can get dirty and then paint a foot or a hand and press on the canvas. (You might want to figure out where each hand and foot is going to go on the canvas. You don’t want to figure it out with excited kids who are ready to paint everything and anything. Before we put anything on a canvas I spoke to the girls about where each person’s hand was going to go and we were going to save space for the baby as well.)

Step 4: Since I was making more than one canvas at the same time I did this 3 times for each person. I made one for my Mother in Law, one for my mum and also one for me!

Step 5: Once you have all the hands and prints on the canvas, it now needs to dry. It should dry well overnight and be ready to post the next day. I picked one up for my Mother in Law. It just needed some bubble wrap to protect it and it sat in the box with the other goodies for her birthday.

This is a good rainy day activity. I am sure it will keep the kids happy and having fun. Afterward, they can have a bubble bath and you get some peace and quiet after they are relaxed and tired.

Maybe after the bath put on a film for them to watch or read them a story…… I do live in hope that the kids will be super tired after activities.

Oh well, whatever you do enjoy. I hope this gives you some great ideas and a cheap gift idea to create.

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Creative Uncategorised

DIY: Hand & Foot Print Canvas

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date June 4, 2016
No Comments on DIY: Hand & Foot Print Canvas

Need a unique gift for a family member? Don’t have heaps of money? Well this great project will give you a cheap gift and your family member will cherish the present for years to come.

This gift can be for birthday’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Celebrating being a new mum/dad, or even Christmas. So don’t worry it will be perfect for any occasion.

Gather Your Materials

Washable Paint. If you have more than 1 child you will need different colours for each child. I purchased red, blue and white paint. I made purple paint and also pink out of these colours. I ended up having purple, pink and blue for the 3 kids to use.
Canvas (You can small sizes, large ones or enormous size canvas. It is up to you and the project you are making) I chose small square ones so that they would easily fit in the post and also on a wall.
Newspaper to cover the floor or outside area. This makes sure you don’t get too messy.
Towels – You might want to have towels set up on the floor to protect the path to the bathroom so that your very messy kids can not mess things up too much once they get in there to get clean. I do find that if my kids are head to toe covered in paint, the walls and doors get covered in it too. Therefore having a washable paint is ideal as all you have to do is to give the wall and floor a quick wipe and all is good.
Paint brushes – We used the paint brushes to put the paint on hands and feet. You can just put your hands and feet in the paint but using the paint brush made it a bit easier.

How To Create the Prints

Step 1: Have your paint ready to go. If you need to mix colours have it all organised before the kids get near it.

Step 2: Put the newspaper down and then lay the canvas on top.

Step 3: Make sure kids are in clothes that can get dirty and then paint a foot or a hand and press on the canvas. (You might want to figure out where each hand and foot is going to go on the canvas. You don’t want to figure it out with excited kids who are ready to paint everything and anything. Before we put anything on a canvas I spoke to the girls about where each persons hand was going to go and we were going to save space for the baby as well.)

Step 4: Since I was making more than one canvas at the same time I did this 3 times for each person. I made one for my Mother in Law, one for my mum and also one for me!

Step 5: Once you have all the hands and prints on the canvas, it now needs to dry. It should dry well overnight and be ready to post the next day. I packed one up for my Mother in Law. It just needed some bubble wrap to protect it and it sat in the box with the other goodies for her birthday.

This is a good rainy day activity. I am sure it will keep the kids happy and having fun. Afterwards they can have a bubble bath and you get some peace and quiet after they are relaxed and tried. Maybe after the bath put on a film for them to watch or read them a story…… I do live in hope that the kids will be super tired after activities.

Oh well, whatever you do enjoy. I hope this gives you some great ideas and a cheap gift idea to create.

Family

Looking Back and Forward

I have been thinking about what a year 2015 was. I did want to accomplish more on the blog side and professionally but managed to do a bit of what I had planned.

Kids completed year 1 and did very well with reading and many other things. They have grown so much and really developed as their own person. Being in separate classes I think has really allowed each child to be what they can be without disruption or upset to each other. It allows them to be themselves and to have their own wins and accomplishments.
I went to Problogger and networked. I also learnt a lot and got inspired to do more with my blog and other ideas.
We did some much needed DIY around the house. I know have a nicer bathroom, kids in a newer room and other things fixed that I have been desperate to have done.
We were lucky to get pregnant and soon we are to have baby number 3. I was hoping to not be pregnant while writing this but I am still. Currently I’m 39 weeks and 3 days with baby number 3 and rather annoyed that he/she is still in my belly. The countdown is on little one!
I was lucky to get better after having a rough patch with being ill and especially while being pregnant it did not help. I am much better now and the only annoyance is when this baby will vacate my body.
Due to the new baby to be, the twins got moved into the bigger room and we have done up their old small room for the baby.

On a sad note we said goodbye to some good friends last year and it was rather painful due to that issue. It was a tough year due to that alone and being pregnant throughout this made it more difficult for me to deal with. I felt bad creating life while dealing with the loss. I know… they would not hold it against me but I did feel bad.

On the up side, we are well, have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, have good friends and are looking forward to what 2016 will bring us. The new baby is also something we are excited about and wondering when this little person will want to join the world.

The twins are excited about being in grade 2 this year and finding out what classes they will be in. We are in holiday mode currently and filling the days to keep kids busy and rest due to impeding birth is an interesting mix.

I will endeavor to attach the goals yet to have been achieved to this year and to strive towards them. Yes, I am not giving up just adding them to the list. Have you looked back on what you have done and been happy or sad? Or just it is what is was…. that said, I did all I could do and we are all okay.

What is your major thing or goal you wish to achieve in 2016? Let us know.

Family

What have I been up to?

Hello. I do apologise for not blogging sooner. Here is what has been happening lately.

We had 10 days in Ballarat and Melbourne, flew home to then fall in a heap. Before we left for our holiday hubby got ill with a bad cold. I then got sick with it while away and thought it was gone but have a few things still lurking. All okay but just annoying, and does not help when I feel tired already.

Now I have a lot of laundry to do, and due to kids deciding to wear nearly everything and get it dirty. The pile is not going down. Although I have left the lounge covers to do later as they are not urgent, but make the laundry basket have clothes over flow. Not good really. It all should be organised soon.

On top of making sure that we are all sorted like we were before we left for holiday, we are having renovations start next Monday. They are long waited for and much needed, but trying to race around to move things and create space is just annoying.

We need to move things around so that one room can be worked on and that means moving all furniture and items into one room and that takes a bit of planning.

I know I will love the after effect of the renovation and it will all be worth it but trying to get it all done when you are:

1. Constantly tired
2. Every time I bend over I feel like I’m going to be sick
3. Need to go to the toilet nearly every 5 secs
4. Thirsty and then I need to do point 3 more often
5. Hungry so need to eat, which then leads to the feeling of being sick even more

Is so hard! I suppose it could be worse, I could be 8 months pregnant and doing this. Currently I’m only 15 weeks.

Looking forward to the finished product.

The kids went back to school on Tuesday and they were super excited to see all their mates. Julia was so excited about being a big sister she asked her teacher if she could have some time to tell the class some special news. The teacher had no idea and from what I heard Julia was very proud and beaming when she told everyone about the impending little sister or brother on the way.

We have gone back to our regular routine. School and then after school activities, Karate and Swimming and then home. It has taken it out of me this week, it was so nice to not have to be anywhere or make lunches for kids.

Are you feeling it this week? Have you been more tired due to school going back?

As I write this I am thinking a nap might be nice, but I need to do some work to make it easier for us to move things for the renovations. I do think the bed sounds like a great idea at the moment.

Maybe a cup of tea might help me wake up a bit and then get to it.

How are you coping after holidays and school going back? Let us know.

Tags diy, family, kids, not well, pregnancy, pregnant, renovations, school, school holidays, schools back, sick, tired

Creative

DIY: Get Creative with Sharpies

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date September 6, 2014
No Comments on DIY: Get Creative with Sharpies

This post was originally created for a Father’s Day tutorial. However this could be applied for Christmas gifts, birthdays and anything at all. Use it to create some great presents for Christmas.

I do have something organised for hubby for Father’s Day. However I thought it might be nice for the twins to do something creative for daddy themselves. I have had some friends do things with sharpie pens and I have always been curious. Online I saw that you can decorate a mug/cup with sharpie pens, then bake it and all good to use. How amazing and interesting. Will it work? The only way is to give it a go.

So I got the kids some sharpie pens from the shop and a white mug each and then each child had to decorate them. I told them that they can do whatever design they wished to. One child was very expressive and creative and wanted to colour the whole mug in and the other was trying to draw and write more on the mug. Interesting the difference. It did not matter what they created, it was an expression of them to their daddy.

What do you need?

1. Sharpie Pens. I purchased mine individually as this worked out a little cheaper. You can get a pack of 12 for about $20. Packs I saw for less varied between $14 or more.

2. A cup or a mug to decorate. I choose to have white mugs as then the colours from the pens will show up more

3. An oven to bake the mugs in

Concentrating on her creation for daddy.

What is the process?

1. Once you have all your materials ready you can then start.

2. Decorate your mugs

3. Finalise your decoration and once happy you are ready to bake in the oven.

4. Bake in the oven for 30mins at 180°C or 356°F

Once baked you are good to use the cup. Might need to wait a bit and hand wash carefully to make sure it is all clean to use. As I have never done this before I am keen to see how they go. I would not put in the dishwasher.

Happy creating and this is a great cheap last minute gift for Father’s Day. Have fun!

Note: Some colours after it was baked have changed. The gold seems to have turned into brown. Maybe I need to get different sharpies next time.

Tags birthday presents, cheap gift idea, cheap gifts, christmas gift idea, christmas gifts, craft, creative, decorating cups, diy, fathers day, fun, kids, Sharpie Pens, sharpies

DIY: Play Area Ideas for Your Kids

Post author By Suzanne Robinson
Post date September 24, 2013
No Comments on DIY: Play Area Ideas for Your Kids

We often hear that modern kids spend too much time using electronic devices, and one way to get around this is to provide a space for them to play outside in the garden. There are heaps of really cool ideas for DIY play areas for kids that will be sure to get them out and into the fresh air and sunshine. Here are 5 ideas that are relatively easy to make and won’t cost the earth.

Music Wall

A music wall can be easily made by attaching sound making devices to a board on the side of the fence. Let your imagination run wild as you think of all the different sorts of things that you can attach to the wall for the kids to make their own music. Some include old pots and pans, old xylophone parts, wooden bowls, wind chimes and wooden spoons. Involve the kids in the process and take them with you as you forage second hand shops, or garage sales.

Outdoor Chalkboard

An outdoor chalkboard is a great way of getting those little minds into creating. If you don’t want to fork out the money to buy a ready-made black board, you can achieve the same results by using any matt wood and painting it with matt paint. The kids will be occupied for hours drawing all sorts of different things and will have an awesome time enjoying their outdoor chalkboard. The best part about it is that it’s all happening outside so there won’t be chalk walked through the house!

Sandbox

A sandbox is a tried, true way of creating a space for kids to play outside. A basic design involves creating a frame using four pieces of wood and screwing or nailing them together. If nailing ensure that all the nails are flush with the wood to avoid scrapes as they enjoy their sandbox. Fill it up with sand and voila! You have a sandbox that will give them hours of pleasure!

Kids happy with the finished product. A Sand Pit, Yes!

Climbing Wall

An outdoor climbing wall is a relatively easy thing to make if you have the time and inclination. It will teach kids how to navigate and use their body in different ways, and climbing is great for fine motor skills. Attach a vertical piece of plywood to the side of the fence and attach hand and foot holds to that in various different positions. The kids will love their new climbing wall!

Treehouse

When we were kids there was always one of our friends that had a treehouse that we could go and play in. Building a treehouse will involve a bit of work, but the rewards are numerable and will actually add value to your house. It doesn’t have to be the Taj Mahal, the kids will be happy with something simple as long as it has a platform for them to play in, and is safe (of course). If you don’t fancy having the kids playing in trees then build one on the ground! All you need is a few STIHL power tools and you are away.

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Tags chalk board, climbing wall, diy, DIY play areas for kids, Electric Power Tools, Fun Activities, fun things with kids, Home Activities, Kids Summer, music walk, outdoor activities for kids, Outdoor Play, play in the garden, play outside, sandbox, sandpit, STIHL, STIHL power tools, treeshouse