Dinosaur Pasta Necklace

My boys adore dinosaurs. They love they way dinosaurs look. They love dinosaur names. They love playing with their dinosaur toys. They love pretending to be dinosaurs.

You would think this love of dinosaurs would lead to absolute joy when visiting our local dinosaur museum. Instead, you can find our boys cowering behind us, hugging our legs as they gaze up at the gigantic dinosaur models. When dinosaur roars echo through the exhibit, our little guys want to scurry and hide.

Still, they do love dinosaurs! As I do our weekly grocery shopping, I spot dinosaur pasta. How could I resist?

With so many varieties of pasta, the pasta craft possibilities seem endless. Make a pasta necklace that tickles your fancy.

Obviously, the dinosaur pasta tickled our fancy!

Materials:
* Dried pasta of your choice. We had some nice large penne and adorable dinosaur shaped pasta.
* Paint of your choice. We couldn’t go past our glitter paint.
* Stiff elastic or cord.

Method:

Paint your pasta. My boys had two methods of doing this: using the paintbrush; and dumping it in the paint to cover it with paint. Surprisingly, the dumping it in paint method seemed to yield better results.

Let the painted pasta dry. We left ours on a plate for a few days. As it dries, the pasta soaks up the paint and becomes wonderfully vibrant.

Thread the pasta onto the elastic or cord. Experiment with different colours and patterns – this is the creative part! Play around with the possibilities. At first we alternated the dinosaurs and penne; then we decided to place all the dinosaurs together in the middle of the necklace. We grouped the dinosaurs into colours and threaded them on in a ‘rainbow’ sequence – lighter colours on one end and darker colours on the other. We finished the necklace by placing the penne on both ends of the necklace.

When you’re happy with your design, knot the ends together to complete your necklace.

Can’t get enough of dinosaurs?
Check out these other fun dinosaur activities for a roaring good time.

N & M: 4 years, 2 months
E: 2 years, 1 month
August 2012

(I first published a version of this post on KidsActivitiesBlog.com)

The post Dinosaur Pasta Necklace by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Some things are different: the gigantic corsage that once adorned my chest is replaced with a baby tightly wrapped to me with her sleepy wrap; my date’s responsibilities has extended from one young lady, to a lady and four young children.

The place however remains the same –
it is still filled with many strange and wonderful things.

SKELETONS

INSECTS

DINOSAURS

When N&M entered the dinosaurs exhibit they were taken aback (and a bit frightened) by the sheer size of the dinosaur bones. The dinosaur sounds playing throughout the exhibit also ensured they stayed close by.

They got to touch some dinosaur eggs and also dug up some dinosaur fossils.

DANGEROUS AUSTRALIAN ANIMALS

N, M & E spent a long time around a giant bench / touch screen. Different dangerous Australian animals would suddenly pop up and “bite” you.

KIDSPACE
A wonderful area for under 5’s to touch different artefacts and play.

M spotted some LIVE frogs!

The place remains the same,
it is still filled with many strange and wonderful things,
and since that first dance with the man who would be my husband,
many wonderful things have happened.

N&M: 3 years, 7 months
E: 1 year, 6 months
K: 1 month

This post was shared in the following linky parties:

It’s Playtime
Today at Play
For the Kids Friday
Play Academy

The post The Australian Museum by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

“Insanity – heard of it?”

I think to myself, “Insanity. Yes. Most mums know it very well. We try to avoid it. Is this a workout that we want to avoid?”

Turns out that Insanity is a type of fitness program on DVD. A quick google search reveals, “The secret to the Insanity workout is max interval training, where you do long bursts of maximum-intensity exercises with short periods of rest”. The promo video ends with “Are you ready?”. I answer, “No.”

Ever notice how the rhythm of the home is like a workout? There are periods of maximum intensity followed by periods of rest. There are days that are Insanity type days: long bursts of maximum intensity followed by short periods of rests. Those days are hard work.

I try to plan my days so it’s not long bursts of maximum intensity followed by only short periods of rest. I would like to keep my sanity, thank you. A key part to this is to have one planned activity to engage the kids in the morning. It could be anything, so long as I’m giving them my full attention for a period of at least 15 minutes. Making easy peasy cookies is one such activity to help keep my sanity.

EASY PEASY COOKIES

Ingredients
250g plain flour
125g sugar
125g butter
1 egg
1tsp baking powder
few drops of essence

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180C

2. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix.

3. Roll out the cookie dough and cut out your shapes. (We used dinosaur cookie cutters).

4. Place cookies on a baking tray that has been lined with baking paper and bake for 20-30mins (or until golden).

 N&M: 3 years, 7 months
E: 1 year, 6 months

This post was shared in the following linky parties:

It’s Playtime
Today at Play
For the Kids Friday

The post Easy Peasy Cookies by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.

Paint it! That was Day 20’s Challenge from the 30 days to Hands on Play hosted by the Imagination Tree & Hands On: As We Grow. Here’s how we played.

We started with some marbles, paint, baking trays and coloured paper.

 N & M have not tried rolling ball art before. I did a quick demo and they jumped straight into it themselves.

They had so much fun rolling one marble around, they decided to add more marbles to their trays.

M moved onto using his hands. He experimented with different ways to move the marbles around: using a pinch grip and also rolling them around using his palms.

Then he left the marbles behind and decided to just move paint around with his hands – swoosh!

I then brought some dinosaurs to the table to join in the fun. I asked them to make some dinosaur footprints. Spoons and brushes were used.

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

N had the brilliant idea to combine both rolling ball art and dinosaur fun.

The dinosaurs had a wild ride.

M decided to paint dinosaurs. His favourite colour at the moment is red.
(I think the expression on Mr. T-Rex is priceless.)

M changed his mind, cleaned up Mr. T-Rex,

and painted him blue.

(Again, how fitting is the expression on Mr. T-Rex?)

The aim of this activity was to spend 15 minutes of uninterrupted time with my kids. We did that and so much more. By the time we had finished I was surprised to find that an hour had passed. We had so much fun playing together. Many skills were also practised through our play: fine motor skills, gross motor skills, life skills, language and creativity – all without the drudgery of dry drill & repetition. I could not have asked for a better morning.

N & M: 3 years, 5 months.

This post was shared in the following linky parties:

Today at Play
Kids Get Crafty
It’s Playtime
TGIF
For the Kids Fridays
Play Academy
Sunday Showcase
Crafty Moms Share Sharing Saturday
No Time for Flash Cards Link & Learn
After School Linky Party

The post paint it: let the good times roll with dinosaurs by Pauline appeared first on Lessons Learnt Journal.