| ISSUE 49 • 21 APRIL 2008 | |
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| 1.
Editorial – The Creative Family Several years ago I bought a book called I Love You Rituals  based on
the title alone as I was really attracted to the the idea of
celebrating my children and ritualising my love for them. I have to
admit that I was a little disappointed by the book which, although it
has some lovely ideas, is mostly full of games and rhymes that didn't
really strike much of a chord with me. The book that I had imagined was full of simple and meaningful ideas that would strengthen the connection between me and my kids. Activities that would be fun for all of us and that would be rooted in deeper significance. I yearned for simple suggestions that we could incorporate into our already busy lives, thus enhancing and enriching them. Imagine my delight when I opened my copy of The Creative Family
and
found that the always inspirational Amanda Blake Soule had written the
very
book that I had dreamed of. Truthfully, there were tears. I mean, the
book itself is so beautiful and understated, and it's contents
so
perfect. Yeah, I was probably feeling a little hormonal at
the time but still... there were tears.I've long been a fan of Amanda's wonderful blog SouleMama, and I know many of you are also. If you enjoy the philosophy behind Kids Craft Weekly go and buy a copy of The Creative Family . You'll love
it!Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!  Amber Carvan editor@kidscraftweekly.com |
I'm sure you've noticed that I'm a big fan of craft ideas that make use of the materials that we have around us. The pantry is one of my favourite places to find craft materials – for this activity we used dried beans and peas but you could just as easily use lentils, pasta, rice, seeds or breakfast cereal. You will need • paper bags (or just paper) • white glue • pantry supplies for gluing Directions 1. Write the shape of a letter or word using white glue.  2. Stick pantry supplies along the shape of the letters. This was a big hit with my almost three-year-old – check out the concentration!  And ta da! 
This activity is a great one to pull out at desperate times – no fancy supplies are needed and you can get going within minutes. It works well as a solo or group activity. Older children may enjoy a magazine each so that they can compete against each other. You will need • one magazine per child • pair of scissors • large blank piece of paper • pen • glue Directions 1. Write down the letters of the alphabet on a large piece of paper. Have some scissors, a magazine, and some glue ready on the table.  2. Encourage your kids to look through the magazine and cut out letters and stick them on the alphabet sheet until they've formed a complete alphabet.  Here's Ella with her completed chart! 
My kids really enjoy two stage craft projects like this one. We started out by taking a long walk through the damp bush to collect sticks. The following day we sat down to make the colourful letters. Both activities proved a big hit with the children – can't ask for more than that! You will need • sticks • string • different colours of wool and/or ribbon Directions 1. Find a selection of appropriately shaped sticks from which your little one can spell their name or another meaningful word.  2. Join the different sticks together with cotton or string wrapped round and round.  3. Once the letters are formed wrap around wool strands or ribbon to make the letters bright and colourful.  We used contrasting colours of wool and string.  Here's the finished product. We're planning to glue the letters to a wooden board and mount it on the door to Ella's room! 
This is a fun game that can be played with one or more children. It's a great way for kids who are just learning to read to make connections between letters, words and actual objects around the house. You will need • small circular stickers • pen • piece of paper Directions 1. Write out the letters of the alphabet on a piece of paper or card. You might want to consider laminating your alphabet sheet so that you can use it again. Also write the letters of the alphabet on a sheet of small stickers.  2. While your child is not looking, walk around your house (or a specific room in your house) and place the letter stickers on objects that start with the same letter. For example, place the letter B on a book.  3. Invite your child back into the room, hand them their laminated alphabet sheet and have them try to locate all the letters of the alphabet.  |
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6.
Have you seen...?
 Our family have been loving the free Friday night video podcasts for families that They Might Be Giants have been doing since the beginning of the year. Each episode features an awesome video of one (sometimes two) songs from their latest release CDs for kids. Brilliant for parents who yearn for something a little different to the usual kiddy music. Click here to subscribe to the free video podcast or visit here for more information about the podcast. If you want better quality than the free podcasts you can buy the Here Come the ABCs and Here
Come the 123s on CD/DVD.
Perfect for the car! |
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7.
Featured subscriber blog
Arts and Crafts and Kids – Oh My! To have your blog featured in this section just send in your web address and I'll add you to the list. But be warned, the waiting list is currently very long. |
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