Easy Easter Colouring in and Activities

Does your baby or toddler love the song Jingle Bells? It is usually one of the first songs they learn. If you follow these instructions you and your little loved ones will be able to make some jingle bells to shake while you sing the song or to decorate the tree.

Materials

- Egg Carton

- Pipe Cleaners

- Bells (i got ours from spotlight)

- Paint and paint brushes

- Glitter

First you have to cut the egg carton into individual sections.

Once you have done this your toddler can paint it anyway they like. Try and paint inside and outside the egg cup.

After they have dried use a skewer to poke a hole through the tops of the egg cups.

String the bells through the holes and tie it or twist it into a pipe cleaner making a loop. The loop can then be used to hang them on the tree or put them around their wrists.

Please be careful with the bells as they can be a choking hazard.

Once they are ready you can sing "jingle bells".

I love christmas craft activities. I hope you and your little ones enjoy this activity.

Enjoy Christmas and as always don't forget to stay safe in the sun. Make sure you check out our great sunsafe swimsuits for babies and toddlers 

Merry Christmas.

Baby and children's hands are so little and dear. There is a very firm memory in my mind of each of my little one's chubby baby fingers clinging onto my own hands. If you want to marvel in the future, at how small their hands once were, you should try out one of these easy hand print keepsake ideas.

1. MAKE AND BAKE HAND PRINT 

This is a great idea from Craft Drawer blog.

- Mix up the dough ingredients

4 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups water
- Cut out the desired shape (circle works best).

- Press their hand into the dough

- Make a small circle at the top of the hand print (to hang it from)

- Place it in the oven for approx 25 mins at around 180 degrees

- Paint and decorate to your hearts content.

http://www.craftdrawer.com/2011/12/homemade-hand print-ornaments-for-baby.html

2. PHOTOCOPY HAND PRINT

Stuck for time but still want to capture their tiny little digits. Just put their hand in the photocopier with yours. You could then use it to scrap book, colour in, or frame. You could also create a little book of photocopied handprints over the years. It would be a cute keepsake to give to your little one when they turn 21. Thanks blackdresswagon blog for this idea.

 http://blackdressredwagon.blogspot.com.au/2009/02/elusive-baby-hand-print.html

3. HAND PRINT FLOWER BOUQUET

If you are feeling a bit creative and have the time and talent, why not create a hand print bouquet? You could paint it together or do the background and vase yourself and then get your child involved for the messy hand print work. This is truly something special that you would treasure forever. These paintings were shown on the disney baby blog.

http://www.disneybaby.com/blog/hand print-paintings-with-your-little-one/

4. EMBROIDER FAMILY HAND PRINTS

Do you remember doing easy stitching at school? This embroidery follows the same principals. It truly is easy to do. Just trace your children's hands with a pencil onto some nice fabric and then line stitch it all the way around. You don't have to stop there though, add their name, date, and age. This could be framed, turned into a cushion, or hung on the chrissy tree.

http://myplumpudding.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/embroidered-hand-prints.html

5. CHRISTMAS BAUBLE HAND PRINT

This is a beautiful thing to do for christmas. All you need is clear ink for the hand print, glitter to go over the hand print, a glass decoration to put the hand print on and a heat source to seal it.

http://www.asortafairytaleblog.com/2010/12/diy-babys-1st-christmas-ornament.html

Please let us know on our facebook page if you attempt any of these, we would love to see what you create!

Cooking hot cross buns seems complicated but its actually child's play! Not only is it a great family activity to do on Good Friday, its also yummy!

Have a look at our Hot Cross Buns Recipe and our You Tube Video of Isabella (a Rashoodz Kid) Cooking Show on how to cook Hot Cross Buns. Get your kids to watch it and get confident about cooking hot cross buns. Happy Easter Everyone!

Hot Cross Buns

(makes 12)

* 310mls of Milk

* 165g caster sugar

*2x7g dried yeast sachets

* 650g of plain flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground ginger

190g dried fruit

1 egg

100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled.

 We also hope you get a chance to get some swimming in this holiday! Its still not too cold to splash in the sun! Dont forget to stay sun safe in our wonderful swimwear for kids.

Source: dip://troll.me/eating-sand-like-a-boss/

Have you got a baby that eats sand? We do. On the first trip to the beach with her, I thought, she will figure it out, sand doesn't taste great. But she didn't. On our second trip to the beach she ate yet even more sand. She ate so much sand that we found it in her pants the next day.... if you know what I mean. So as a responsible parent what are we supposed to do? You can't avoid sand at the beach, its everywhere. Our other children were unimpressed by the culinary potential of sand and it has never been an issue with them. Is there a trick to stopping sand eating? I am hoping she will grow out of it. We are testing this hope tomorrow on a trip to the beach. Wish us luck!!!!

On a side note, someone who obviously doesn't have this problem with her children has created a great Sand Cake recipe (an actual cake not made of sand), which we have linked here. It's a little bit different and looks like a whole love of fun. From I am Momma Here Me Blog.

Enjoy

Its Queensland Sunsmart Day today. Its the biggest ever sunscreen drive to help raise funds for skin cancer research and to make Queenslanders more aware of how to stay sunsafe! Did you know Queenslanders have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world?

The cancer council has changed the Slip Slop Slap saying we all learnt in school, to SLIP, SLOP, SLAP, SLIDE, SEEK.

Slip on your shirt

Slop on your sunscreen

Slap on your hat

Slide on your sunnies

Seek out the shade

Materials

• Sandpit or large box with rice/bird seed

• Play space

• Multiple copies of laminated cut-outs of fi ve sun protection images

or SunSmart Countdown number characters (image sheets provided)

For variations to the game – copy the different images onto different coloured card

and have enough for each child to have a complete set of fi ve plus four extra sets

(for spare cards). Click here for the link to the card print outs and many other actvities. 

Instructions

Bury the laminated pictures in the sand pit/rice box (or alternatively hide them

 around a designated space). Bury the laminated pictures in the sand pit/rice box (or alternatively hide them. Children try to dig up/fi nd as many SunSmart items as they can.

To add to the challenge, once all of the items have been found, children then need

to try swapping their items so they end up with a complete set of fi ve cards –

either five of the same image or a set of fi ve sun protection measures/SunSmart

Countdown number characters. They can only swap one card at a time.

Children try to dig up/fi nd as many SunSmart items as they can.

OR

3 Children can only dig up one of each of the SunSmart Countdown cards. If they  

fi nd one they already have, they need to re-bury/re-hide it. They need to fi nd all

fi ve cards in the set to complete the game.