Modeling Clay Stamps

As soon as I’ve seen this idea on filthwizardry.com, I knew it would not be long before I tried it out. It’s so simple, it’s unbelievable it’s the first time I’ve heard about it. Just take some modeling clay, shape it any way you want to… poke it, squeeze it, cut it… and then stamp with it. It’s simple and the results are amazing. This flower was made by Martin (now 2.5 years old) just with some coaching… I love it! And I’m sure it’s not the last time we tried this.

Sailboat Car

We began exploring different elements and themes with Martin. And today it’s AIR and WIND time. So, we did different things: trying which objects fly and which don’t by blowing onto them with a straw, moving a feather by blowing it from start to finish, making a straw into a “pipe” that can hold an aluminum ball in the air.. and this sailboat car. It works great. Thanks Usborne ;)

Gone Fishing

Martin wanted to go fishing so we decided to try it with our new felt fish first. We made three (so far). He helped me select the colors of the felt and the yarn (as well as the 1-3 buttons to go on it)... we added a little washer to the mouth of each fish... and voila... we got fish. Fun and easy.

ABCs

We have finally finished our never-ending alphabet project. So, here it is. Each letter is supposed to be one animal, starting with the same letter. We tried... but some letters were a bit tricky ;) We also tried different techniques for different letters. We got watercolors, tempera paint, finger painting, finger prints, bubble-wrap prints, collages, paper - cutting, tearing, crumbling... using sea shells, feathers, fabric, colorful sand, photo paper, foam, felt, etc.

Btw, the animals are supposed to be: Alligator, Bumblebee, Cat, Dog, Elephant, Flamingo, Giraffe, Hippo, Iguana, Jaguar, Kangaroo, Lion, Mouse, Newt, Octopus, Parrot, Quail, Rhino, Snake, Turkey, Unicorn, Vulture, Worm, X-ray (or any animal you want), Yak and Zebra.

Gnome Village

We spent our spring and summer working on the garden... and we thought that it isn't fair not to make something for the little gnomes that helped us so much... so we did. This is our new Gnome Village. It has 5 settlers so far - mom, dad, 2 kids and a friendly dragon (who lives in the cave by the magic shell tree). They have a house with a bed and restrooms (and a stash of pots and pans and tea kettles and cups), a swing on a pink daisy, a bathtub, pond with sparkling seashells, patio with sea-shell table and chairs, a fire pit where they like to cook their dinner... and much more. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy. Our gnomes certainly do.

color wheel

For the past three days Martin and I have been working on our first book: about colors. We started with red, and then added yellow and green. Each time, Martin painted the background with everything we could have found: yellow markers, yellow crayons and pencils, yellow chalk and paint... then we went through our boxes and found yellow scraps of papers, some feathers, stickers, drinking straws, pipe cleaners, fabrics, ribbons, foam, felt, nuudles, etc. Then we either tore them or cut them (first time with scissors... pretty interesting ;)) and then we glued them onto the paper (either Martin put the glue on or showed me where to put it, it was a real mission cooperation). And then some glitter to finish it off. We really had a good time and are looking to start working on the blue...

Martin's AutoMall

This was supposed to be Martin's 18-months-old gift but he found it even before I finished working on it, so... here it is. It's a car dealership, repair shop, car wash, and a gas pump. I think Martin's favorite part is swiping the card after getting the gas, lifting the cars up (or using the machine to lift up guys working in the repair shop), and polishing the cars after their car wash ;) My favorite part was getting rid of the broken cars we got to make this all happen. It's been quite fun working on it ;)

KoKo

Our dilemma over what to put on our living room wall was finally solved. We just needed to ask Martin. His answer was simple and immediate: koko. So, rooster it is. The next day Martin created couple of finger painting/brush painting (and whatever-else-he-could-get-his-hands-on-painting) papers and I cut it out Carle-style. Now, we need to start working on a cow.

Easy Easel

Every artist needs an easel... and after seeing the only one we liked (for $50), we finally made one (all we needed was a box, paint, paper, and duck tape). And it's not bad ;) It has chalkboard/cloth pins for paper on one side and magnetic/dry-erasable part on the other one. It's pretty big and after some adjustments it even fits on our art table. Well, gotta go... we need to try it out.

Practical Bowl / Stylish Hat

Couple of days ago we got a new issue of FamilyFun and thought their yarn-into-bowl idea is worth of trying. So, we got some colorful yarn, dipped it in glue, put it on a ball and the next morning, got a neat bowl (or, in Martin's eyes - a newest hat).

Carle's Look-Alikes

I have always loved Eric Carle's books and thought it's a high time Martin tried doing something similar. So, he painted couple of papers yesterday and this morning, while he was still in bed (he was so exhausted after our Oregon weekend that he slept till noon), I cut them out and made couple of pictures for our friends. I'm seriously thinking about starting a business with these ;)

Cute as a Caterpillar

I rediscovered oriental trading company and got a package of their stuff... including these cute caterpillars. So, today we painted the bubble wrap (mostly with cars) and printed it on the paper caterpillars, then glued on some eyes, put a pencil through them and voila... here she is.

Doggie Bag

Since Martin loves to collect things on our walks, grandma made his this stylish bag. It's easy to open (and empty), it has dogs on it, and it is light... so it became an instant hit.

Time on the Farm

Since Martin has a little obsession with a farm life (from tractors and cows), we decided to make his farm more fun to play with... We made a rabbit cage and a hen house, a well with a bucket, fields with crops he can pick, and a mill with three sacks (on with whole grains, the other two with flour), a ladder and a platform from animals, etc. So farm, the platform that helps the cow get to the second floor of the farm is the biggest success ;)

Nuuuuudles

And we also played a little with the nuudles we bought today. I don't know who had more fun: Martin, grandma, or I ;) We all loved it!

Wash Away Your Sins

After the play dough success, we decided to take on another challenge - bath paint. So we cooked 1/4 cup of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 cups of water, then added 1/4 cup of dish-washing soap... and finally, added few drops of food coloring. And to my surprise, not only did Martin like the bath (after a month), but he actually didn't come out as messy as he went in.

Play Dough 101

Making it was half the fun... we decided that it's time to try our home-made play dough, made with 2 cups of flour, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of cream of tartar, 2 tablespoons of oil, and some food coloring (green was Martin's color of choice ;)). He helped mixing it and kneading it, then we cooked it for a while and finally, tested it on the most important thing ever - a dog! And, it passed. Cool.

I Won't Forget

One more "mask" or "headband" or whatever pretend-play thing you want to call it. A paper plate, some masking tape, and a piece of paper... and you got yourself an elephant that Martin thought was really cool (and hilarious) when mommy wore it - but totally unacceptable (and freaky) when he was supposed to give it a try ;) Hmmmm, maybe tomorrow.

Bean Me Up

since we have already finished the patriotic headband couple of days ago, there was nothing but a red-white-and-blue butterfly to do today. We took some small coffee filter and a cloth pin, some chalk and water (Martin just loves it) and put it all together.

Puzzling times

I was looking for some puzzle Martin would actually like to put together and couldn't find any with the right picture and the right number of pieces... so I decided to make some. And it actually works. It's just simple foam but he seems to enjoy it much more than the wooden ones we have. He played with the car for an impressively long time (meaning about 10 minutes) - time to make some more.