Paper mâché. Just don't.

I have no idea what made me think this would be a good craft to mark the Zebra turning 18 months... It certainly isn't one we will revisit until she's much older. I'm usually fine with mess and chaos but this pushed it a bit to far!!

Having not done paper mâché since I was a child, I was a bit sceptical that one part flour to one part water would be sticky enough - so I had PVA on standby. Trust me, it is sticky and gloopy enough and we didn't touch the glue.

For the paper we used the reams of junk mail catalogues sat in the recycling!

To make things a little easier, blow the ballon up just bigger than a bowl, then wedge it in so it stays upright while making 

I think the first sign that this activity was not one for the Zebra was when she refused to rip any paper strips and just wanted to stick her head in a bowl.

Things improved a bit and the Zebra got stuck into the gloop, happy to dip in the paper and lay across the ballon like I showed her.

But the Zebra soon decided she would rather play in the mixture!

It wasn't long until the Zebra had the great idea to paper mâché herself instead... At this point I gave up and quickly did as much as I could before trying to bundle her to the bathroom. 

The mixture sticks to everything. And sets hard. It particularly sets well in hair.

The creation was left to dry in the window while we went away to brighton for a week.

After popping the ballon, we was left with a flimsy, ragged and holey bowl. At least things can't get any more messy when it comes to painting the thing...

Spoke to soon. By this point I just gave up and let her go for it, even throwing the Zebra a pot of glitter to go nuts with. 

Never again. 

Accidental Christmas decorations

I've had a little bucket of shells in the cupboard for a while now and wasn't sure what to do with them. Being a stones-throw from the beach means we can get more at anytime so we usually just play with them till they crack or get stepped on.

I've also have some rubbish finger paints so thought I'd throw the two together and see what happens. The paint will just make paper wet and vaguely stain it a dull colour.

The Zebra really enjoyed painting the inside and outside of the shells

She would also paint the paper and push the shells around the coloured parts 

Next we got a pot of glue to dip the shells into, before putting in a clean bowl.

Out comes the glitter! The Zebra loves getting her glue covered hands all sparkly 

Shake it all about to make sure each shell is covered, before leaving them all to dry

The glittery shells looked pretty, and the green and red was really Christmassy. I grabbed some ribbon and superglue, turning them into quick tree decorations..

While I did the finishing touches, the Zebra played with the shells and finger paints some more 

I clearly should have been paying more attention as it wasn't long until she had painted her feet and started making foot prints!! At least she had good fun

5 Minutes of Fun - Pom Poms

Alongside our big craft projects, we also do lots of mini-activities. They generally entertain the Zebra for long enough for me drink a cuppa while it's still warm...

They are simple, basic, open-ended play activities which are fun!

Today - Pom-poms and toilet rolls!

Middle Farm, Lewes, East Sussex

While on our venture to Brighton, we took a day trip to Middle Farm. The weather was a bit pants, but it is November and this is England! Once the Zebra was snug in her Regatta all-in-one and Hunter wellies, she was ready for the day and the puddles...

I have to say, we had a brilliant day! It had the right balance between real-working-farm and kids tourist attraction. At £4 per adult and under 3's free, it was also very well priced. There was lots of room to just run and play, and everywhere we went was full of free range ducks and chickens and birds 

Due to the weather we couldn't make the most of the outside play areas - but no trip to the farm is complete without a ride on a tractor 

There's no generic soft play here, instead there's a barn with hay bales stacked up to run, crawl, climb and hide in! It took a while for Zoe to work out how to walk on the springy floor, but once she found her feet she was off!

And no day out is complete without some peephole fun!

The first building we entered had some of the cutest fluffy bunnies you could imagine - along with guinea pigs and even more birds. At feeding time the staff put out a big tub of veggies for anyone to hand feed the animals. Or for toddlers to chew on. 

They also so a 'pat-a-pet' session where the fluffiest, friendliest bunnies come out for a cuddle. That was a major hit with the Zebra (and mummy!) 

Across from the pets was a big barn with yet more very friendly animals. There were llamas, sheep, goats, horses and the loudest donkey I've ever heard. And even more chickens! Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen so many birds in my life.

All the animals were clearly well look after, and they were happy and content. Many would come up to the sides looking for cuddles, which is perfect for a toddler who loves to stroke and pet the animals 

They also have a 'meet the sheep' session where two sheep are popped on a lead and taken outside. It was rather funny seeing a sheep taken on a walk, but they were more than happy to go along with it 

Next it was onto the pigs - after recently discovering the joys of Peppa, I expected big things. However, the Zebra was suitable unimpressed. We did get to feed them, although not by hand due to the size of their teeth. Scary things.

The cows were milked in the afternoon, but as we were there for the morning we missed out in that. But we did get lots of licks from some lovely young calves! 

No trip is complete without a visit to the tearoom for a spot of lunch. All the food is very farmy, hearty and tasty. A kids lunch box was huge and only £4. There was easily enough for two 18 month olds in one box. The tea room was in a lovely building and the Zebra was fascinated by the old beams.

There was also a lovely gift shop with lots of tradition wooden toys, along with the usual soft cuddlies. Zoe picked out a cute little brown pony to take home.

We can totally recommend a day here - it was enjoyed by all the family! It was well priced, well looked after and the staff were fantastic. It had all the basic you need and the loo's surprisingly warm and clean! Can only give Middle Farm a 5* rating 

Jam tarts

I'd forgot just how fun jam tart making was until a recent session at Active Tots so we had a go at home today!

I haven't made me own pastry before, usually I buy the ready made rolls, so I had to find a recipe. 

I am shocked at how simple it is - butter, flour and water. We will be making all our pastry own from now on. 

Mix together the flour, butter and salt until fine like breadcrumbs. 

Add 3 tablespoons of water and three use your hands to mix. 

You can then leave it in the fridge for half an hour to help it roll better, but we are too impatient! 

At this stage I relaised I don't own a rolling pin!!! A quick scout through the toy box and I found a plastic carrot which worked just as well...

Cut out the circles and place into a greased pan.

Fill all the cases with jam and lemon curd, don't forget to regularly lick the spoon.

Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes at 180degs and make sure doggie gets a good look at them cooking.

They are ridiculously hot when they come out from the oven, so I left them to cool for a couple hours and we will have them after our tea. Delish! 

Potato prints

After finding some very old potatoes buried in my vegetable rack I decided today was a good day for trying potato print painting! 

After cutting off the shoots, the potatoes are halved, and then handles cut into the top of each one.

Next the tricky bit - cutting the bottoms into shapes. Despite starting with 8 stamps I was only able to make 4 prints! The biggest tip I can give is remember anything you cut will print with a mirror image - my Z looks great in potato, but was backwards once printed!

I wanted to go for two different types of picture, so we did:

*Paint on white paper  

*PVA glue on black paper 

While the glue was still wet we sprinkled white glitter all over, hoping for a zebra effect.

 It was lots of fun but with the backwards Z, it came out more as bright splodges

The painting was great fun and kept her occupied a good 20 minutes.

The more she stamped, the more the paint mixed and gave some really funky prints 

There was more dragging than printing but it was a good fun session with some pretty prints