Duct Tape Fun

I have been looking forward to this activity getting picked as I was sure they would love it and it was something we had never done before!

Its very simply, I wrapped the boys in duct tape with the sticky bit facing out. Then I tipped a jar of pasta on the floor and they rolled around trying to "pick" it all up! 

They really did love this, but I had been very stingy on the duct tape so I had to add more!

They rolled around for about 15 mins!

It wasn't overly successful at picking up the pasta, although some was collected

Thomas tried with his feet:

Then they asked to be tied together!

That was hilarious as a spectator!

Finally as I am sooo kind  (!!) I let them hoover it all up!

I actually think they enjoyed this more than the duct tape itself!

As always thank you for scrolling down!

Fizzing Dinosaur Eggs

Life seems to be a bit hectic of late, but seems to be settling down enough for me to now catch up on some things we have been up to, one of which was fizzing dinosaur eggs.

As I have mentioned before the boys LOVE anything that fizzes, so when I saw these I knew I was onto a winner.

There are just 4 ingredients and it is not a very messy activity:

Bicarbonate of Soda
Citric Acid
Food Colouring
Olive oil (although next time I think I will use baby oil)

In a bowl you mix a couple of cups of bicarbonate of soda with the food colouring and a couple of spoonfuls of citric acid. 


Then add the oil, a spoonful at a time until you have the right consistency - it needs to be a bit like moon sand - it can be compacted together but also breaks apart and crumbles.  

Olly then sorted out all our dinosaurs in size order (!) so that we could choose the smallest to put into the eggs.

You then build and egg(ish) shape around the dinosaur. And hey presto you have your eggs!

The boys couldn't wait until bath time.  They sink so they lowered then slowly into the bath on a saucepan lid!

It really is fascinating to watch them disintegrate and fizz away leaving the baby dinosaur! 

They do leave the bath a bit oily and the boys had silky soft skin with a slightly olive oil aroma, hence the change to baby oil next time!

Of course you don't to do this in the bath, you could just let them hatch in a bowl of water!

If you have a go at this, I'd love to hear how you get on!

thanks for reading, next post will include duct tape fun!

No Preparation Needed

This week the activities that were picked were very easy and needed no preparation at all. I do love preparing for the activities, but its nice to have a few days off, but still feel like I'm enjoying time with the boys!

Feeding the Ducks

We haven't been to feed the ducks for literally ages! The day this was chosen it was really wet and drizzly, but the boys didn't care, we were going to feed the ducks whatever the weather. So straight from school off we went.

The boys were trying to throw the bread as far as they could for the ducks to race to it!

  These races ended in a few fights!

This one tried to be sneaky, but turned and ran when he saw who he was up against!

Thomas got quite concerned about a small coot that was not getting a look in on the bread stake so Olly lured them all away so that Mr Coot had the pick!

All in all a fun afternoon in the rain - it doesn't look like it here as the boys refused to wear coats, but it was a constant drizzle!

Build a Massive Train Track

We have accumulated a serious amount of train track and the boys used to play with it all the time, but the last time we built a "massive track" was probably about a year ago. 

The aim is to try and get it going through most of the downstairs rooms (almost). It has to be complete and the trains have to be able to go around the whole track without assistance. There must also be NO dead ends!

It was interesting this time, because I was not needed nearly as much as I used to be. Now for those who know me, this was pretty difficult. I am Mrs Train Track, I used to put the TV on whilst I built the track so that the boys were entertained and not "in the way" until it was built (I'm not joking!). Anyway this was a good learning experience for me and I enjoyed it! Mainly because they have learnt well and all my rules were stuck to!! It even looked pretty much like mine!

Its hard to picture the track, as it goes through 4 rooms! But this is the turning circle at then end in the playroom, into the kitchen....

 
This is the magnificent junction that goes into the hall and round the kitchen...

Through the kitchen...

Into the living room from the kitchen...

Into the living room from the hall to join the other end...

In use...

This literally entertained the boys for about an hour! AND when I said it was time for a bath they took (an I am not exaggerating) 2 mins to have it all put away!

All in all a great couple of afternoons with no preparation needed!

Coming up - dinosaur bath bomb eggs......

Thank you for reading as always, if you like this, or indeed do not (!) please leave a comment so I can see.

Conkers - things to do with them!

A growing supply

Our conker supply is growing every day now and I really want to do something with them all. The boys favourite thing with them is the collecting. They are not happy with just looking for them in the leaves under the tree, they like to knock them off the tree. The other day we were collecting them and a dad came along and shook the tree - this was like a dream come true for the boys - it was literally raining conkers! Consequently that day produced a few:

I have done some intensive research into what to do with conkers and there really are not many uses. So after trying to think of my own interesting things to do with these beauties (other than putting them in corners to scare away the spiders) I decided to take the bull by the horn and introduce the boys to the real use and teach them conkers!

We got the tools ready:

Robin explained the scoring system - I had no idea how intricate this was - and away we went. I was very nervous giving my boys essentially the license to hit each other with a round stone like object, but actually they were very sensible.

We had a few tangles, but were able to sort though out and then I left them on their own for a while and spied them really getting into it - I love the concentration!

They even had a spectator!

 This was all very good, but not a craft! So we then decided to thread some and make some decorations - 

Conkers are surprisingly soft and easy to put a needle through, but we did start it off with a bottle opener. I think the out come was very pretty - 

Self Indulgence

 Still not completely satisfied, with the arrival of a glue gun and the boys at school, I decided to have a play with these little conkers. This is what I came up with - 

 
I basically glued them all onto a polystyrene ring, I am really pleased with the outcome. It looks nice with a candle too

We still have loads left, and will no doubt collect more tonight, so I might even let the boys have a go at making one of these too!

Song

I had to just finish with this - its a lovely song and the boys sing it at school in the Autumn term!

CHORUS        Conkers! I’m collecting conkers,

                        I’m trying hard to find the biggest and the best.

                        Conkers! Lots of lovely conkers,

                        I want a conker that is bigger than the rest.

1.       Under the chestnut tree,

          There waits for me,

          A sight so marv’llous to behold.

          Amidst the autumn leaves,

          It gleams at me,

          A conker, beautiful and bold.

I found this you tube clip of it to give you the tune - I guarantee you won't stop humming it! 

Conkers song

This afternoon our activity is to feed the ducks, very easy and no preparation needed!

 Thank you for getting this far again!