Miniature Gardens

It's been a long time since I last blogged.  You might think that it's because we haven't done any craft.............. gosh that would be terrible!!!............Thank goodness it's not so. You will be happy to know that my kids have not missed out.  I just haven't had the time to photograph and blog about it.  So I'm very sorry about that.  These little craft gardens were so special I made some time to add them.  They aren't step by step but I think you will get the idea.  Enjoy xxx

To start them off we gathered paper plates, air drying modelling clay and green tissue paper. 

• Roll up some modelling clay and flatten it out a little and add it to a section of the paper plate.  How much you need will be dependant on what needs to "stand up".
• Add some PVA below and over the modelling clay and include the rest of the paper plate.  Use the sheet of tissue paper All over the top of the plate and modelling clay.  This we be the grass and the base of the garden.

From there it's really up to you what you want to add.  Here are some ideas:

•  Pipecleaners through buttons make great flowers.
•  Stickers can make a great path
•  Cut out shapes for trees and pond out of coloured paper.  Stick a twig or icypole type stick onto the back of the tree shapes
•  Add some stickers/split peas/rolled up crepe paper to the trees for colour
•  Modelling clay can make some great little ducks and small buttons can be beaks.
•  Button furniture
•  Icypole sticks or matchsticks for fences

The sky is the limit!!  My kids are 3 and 5 and they loved making them.  You will too!!!

Lion Mask activity with add on nose and rolled mane




Step 1:  Paint the paper plate with a lion type colour



Step 2:  Print off this Tigers/Lions nose (you can download it also from (http://www.abckid.com.au/images/uploads/arts-and-crafts/Tiger_Mask.pdf) and then cover in the paint colour of your choice.



Step 3:  Cut some strips of paper to use as a mane.  We chose orange, brown and yellow.





Step 4:  Pre roll the strips of paper to make the mane curly (although you could do this once the mane was glued on)



Step 4:  Assemble the mask.  Glue the curled paper strips around the edge of the painted plate.  Glue on the nose that was painted and cut out (fold over the tabs and glue them down somewhere in the middle of the plate).  Use a few pipe cleaners to make a mouth and whiskers.  Cut out some eyes and stick on a icypole stick (or similar) to the back of the plate (we joined 3 together).

And here are my 2 and a half year old boys with their completed masks.  Now they can really roar like a lion.....their favourite pass time!

Under the sea theme

Finally I have gotten around to taking close up photo's of some craft we did for playgroup. All crafts were really easy and you can see photo's of them hanging up in an earlier post.

Frogs

These frogs are great fun and really easy to make.

Your requirements are:

• Coloured paper plates (either bought or painted)
  
• Frog legs, arms and eye's template printed onto coloured paper or coloured in.
• Two googly eye's to stick on
• A tounge shape cut out
  

1. Cut out the frog's legs, arms and eye's template enlarge to the size you want)

2. Fold eye's along serrated mark.

3. Glue on your two googly eye's within the circles.

4. Fold coloured plate in half.

5. Stick on leg's, arms, eye's and tounge (see photo above)

**Additional suggestion ......... decorate frog further by adding sticky dots etc to it's back.