How To: Sensory Play Coloured Rice Tray

Sensory play is a valuable part of early childhood development, not only is it fun, but it helps develop fine motor skills and creativity. Emma has been a little unfocused and disruptive at school lately, so her teacher suggested we try some more sensory play activities at home to help her calm her behavior and help her focus. A tray of sand was suggested, but I though coloured rice would be more fun. (We are building her a sandpit this weekend). A rice tray is easy to put together with items you may already have in your kitchen...

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Kids Craft: Shoe Box Doll House

Emma has been fascinated with all things tiny of late, so I thought it was time that all her little toys had somewhere to live. A shoe box is the ideal size for a doll house, and more importantly, it's a great way to reuse items that would normally be discarded.
Her favourite crafting activities are pasting and stickers, so I tailored this project to suit. It's the most crafting fun we've had together in a long time.
I remember making a similar shoe box house for my sister's Muppet Babies figurines (remember those?).

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How To: Needle Felted Fruit - Pear

The last in the series of Needle Felted Fruit for pretend play. I've shown you how to make a Needle Felted Kiwi Fruit where you also learned how to blend fibers with a carding brush, and a Needle Felted Strawberry.
Today we will use a slightly different method and materials to create this pear and save on wool roving. Curious?

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How To: Needle Felted Fruit - Strawberry

Last week I showed you how to make a Needle Felted Kiwi fruit for fun pretend food play. This week you can add to your felt fruit collection with this cute little strawberry. It's very easy to make and a good place to start if you are new to needle felting.

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How To: Needle Felted Fruit - Kiwi

Emma loves playing with pretend food, so I thought I would add some felted fruit to her collection. She loved when I surprise her with little gifts, what kids doesn't? Although I'm sure she'd prefer a My Little Pony if she knew they existed. Today I'll show you how I made this kiwi fruit, and also how to use carding brushes to blend roving colours.

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How To: DIY Doctor Play Set

Emma is really into pretend play at the moment, so I thought it was time to introduce her to my favourite roll play toy as a child, the Doctor Play set. I had a Fisher Price one as a girl, and it really got a workout. Instead of buying her a whole lot of plastic stuff, I rummaged around in a few drawers and cupboards and put together a fun set that cost me next to nothing.
Apart from gathering supplies, I made a gauze surgical mask. The tutorial is included below...

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How To: Dress Up Girl Game

This easy to make game will be a favourite with little girls (and boys) that love playing with fabric scraps. Made with a couple of pieces or cardboard, it's an inexpensive and compact toy which is ideal for travel or fun at home.
You've probably got every thing you need to make this laying about the house.
For step-by-step instructions...

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