Spring time crafting

We’ve been basking in glorious sunshine in the UK lately, well in my little corner anyway. The back door has been thrown open, my garden has been getting some much deserved attention and my children are happy to re-discover their outdoor toys.

I thought I would have a look on Pinterest for some fun activities for outdoor play with my children. When I started to look I realised just how many we’d already tried, such as painting with buckets of water, drawing on the patio with chunky chalks, making painted pebble ladybirds and our own bird feeders.

I love looking for something specific on Pinterest, it makes me really happy to create a board of ideas to keep us busy. My 4 year old is learning about growing at the moment which scares me as I just don’t have ‘green’ fingers. However I’ve pinned some ideas for crafting with leave, sticks and pinecones which I think will keep him entertained. I also saw a fun Nature Scavenger Hunt which will be perfect for our next trip to the park.

I sometimes find it difficult to plan a craft for my 2 and 4 year olds as their abilities are so different. I found a couple of ideas which I can’t wait to try – painting with flowers and using petals to make butterflies.

Is anyone else as excited about Spring as I am?

Crafts for St Patrick’s Day

I know it doesn’t seem long ago since I was looking at St David’s Day crafts but we’re already onto our next holiday in the UK, St Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th. For many it’s an excuse to drink copious amounts of Guinness but since my children came along the focus has been very different!

This year I tried my hand at making some tasty green treats. I melted marshmallows and mixed with rice krispies and green food dye then pressed the result into a baking tray and cut out shamrock shapes. They are great fun for a St Patrick’s Day party.

We made a colourful handprint rainbow and even made our own (salt dough) gold coins for the leprechauns. Although I’m not actually sure how leprechauns fit into the story of St Patrick!

My 3 year old loves painting with his hands so got quite messy with the green paint and made a handprint shamrock.

There are so many fun crafts to help celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Have you ever tried cutting a pepper across the middle? You get a brilliant shamrock shape, perfect for little hands to print with.

As usual I have a St Patrick’s Day Pinterest board packed full of ideas from green velvet cupcakes to garlands, toilet roll leprechauns and pretty rainbows, perfect for all ages and abilities. Are you celebrating?