Kinder Days....

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Home Made FUN: How to make a Kinder *Play Tree house....

For a long time I have been wanting a pretend & play treehouse for the kinders....
There are some really adorable ones out there.. but also pricey. They range from $75-$125.00 plus shipping. So I decided to make one.

And here is my little Tutorial!

Here were my inspirations:

Here is what I did. I found an old wooden plant stand for just $2.

Differant sizes and levels.... Look at all the options of what you can create!!

You can find these at Thrift shops, and yard sales and even on Ebay...

I then found some flat pieces of wood.. a few of mine were old butcher cutting boards.. I found at a flea market for $1 each. And another is a craft plaque... you can find these at your local craft shop or here. They are not expensive..

I bought some "ladders" at the Pet store in the Bird section for .79-1.00 each. I unscrewed the hooks and they were the perfect size.

Next ,I used Gorilla Glue to glue the wooden pieces right on top of the plant stand.
I used heavy books to hold it down while it dried, as gorilla glue expands!

Here it is!

I made a hammoc by just sewing together a few scraps of canvas fabric. Cut the sides with pinking shears for extra cuteness, And hung it with yarn.

After I let it dry for a few hours, I then hot glued small wood branch slices for the steps. These you can find in a craft shop or go outside and have the Daddy in your house cut you some. I bought mine in a store in france, for $1 euro. I washed them and let them air dry. Then I glued them on.

I hot glued some more pieces together to make little chairs and a table.

I then used green felt ( grass) and glued it down on the bottom level.

I hot glued some rocks, and some craft faux mushrooms.
In the End I don't think I spent more then $10 for everthing!

KT loves it and plays with it all the time.

It fits her Callico Critter toys perfect!

joining in with

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Wildflowers: Life Size Field Guide & Flower Art

A few months ago I saw this amazing craft over at the ARTFUL Parent.

So we decided to go out and search for some wild flowers and make our own Floral display!

After a beautiful walk in our village we came home with a handful!

Supplies:

An old picture Mat

Contact Paper - clear

flowers

Scissors

Tape ( to hang on the window)

I laid it on the ground with contact paper facing up already attached to the picture Mat...The kinders placed them everywhere... No pattern, just random....

This part of the project took about 20 minutes.. not to long.. but they loved it!

TA DA!!!! Isn't it cheerful?

When the sun shines it's really pretty. The only thing though, was that it wasn't completely sealed so they did dry out and turn brown from the sun within 3 days... But all the more reason to go and make another one!

After we picked so many flowers.. I realized we didn't know the names of hardly any of them! So, taking a great idea and making it ours.... from Journey into unschooling (love this blog):

I created LIFE SIZE Wild flower field guides!

I copied them on my copier/printer with a white sheet of paper on top to help with the backround, and then laminated, hole punched and put them on a Metal Ring! Easy Peasy! It only took about 30 min or so to do it.. The Kinders LOVE it! I just bought a book on wildflowers in Europe and I labeled each on on the back for easy reference. If you live over here you NEED this book!

Now we have it ready to go with their nature bags!

As you find more flowers you can keep adding to your collection with the metal ring... especially

as there are differant flowers during the seasons. Next I am going to make one with only Tree leaves.

Garden Flowers Alphabet

Some awesome Coloring books for your Flower Study:
By Dover

Color and Garden Flowers

Download many Wild Flower coloring pages from

Exploring Nature Educational Resource:

Thank you for visiting! =)

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Summer Bucket List Series: Camping Adventure

Sometimes, the thrown together events at the last minute are the BEST events!

As part of our Summer Bucket List with our friends; we wanted to have a family night of camping in the back yard. But the weather just wouldn't allow it each time we planned it. We actually gave up on the whole idea.

Thursday we all met at the pool since it was so warm (90!) ; and here in Germany you better go if it's warm, becuase you may not see another day like it!

Camping was brought up and we checked the weather... and the very next day was scheduled to be RAIN FREE!

And this is the VERY FIRST time my children have ever camped out.

3 families, 10 Kids....

So Here is our Camping Adventure!

Since it was held in our backyard, the kinders and I spent that afternoon getting things together. Everyone came by the late afternoon to set up their tents and eat.

First, The Kinders all did a fun craft:

They made seashell necklaces.

By using and ancient technique, they were able to create small holes in the tops of the shells by rubbing them on a large stone/brick.

It takes a little while for thicker shells... Place your thumb in the little cup of the shell and rub back and forth. Then string on!

They loved it! And it was something they could keep working on during the weekend...

I made a camp site sign using an old board I had, and rocks. Super easy, and fun!

All set up!

A Very excited boy made it through the night in his OWN tent!

Roasted Hot Dogs over the fire, and side dishes shared by all!

(psst, there aren't any bears in Germany)

The childen loved this part of the day of course!

After Dinner we went for a Hike in the woods about a mile to this great woodland park. But before we could begin our adventure in the woods we handed out Survival kits for the rest of the night! (thankfully I had all this purchased earlier this summer so it was easy peasy to put together) I printed little tags onto each one and tied with yarn. (tag reads: Thank you for coming! Camp Happy Hollow)

Survival Kit:

* Colman Glo-stick ( for use as a night light in their tent)

* Water gun to scare off "Bears"

* one mini stuffed animal bear in case anyone is a little "scared" in their tent

* one band aid

* one bottle of water

* bandana for the hike (so we can spot the kids easily in the woods.)

* one small piece of candy

Bandana's on - Ready to Go!!!! ( Isn't it soo funny how they all have their own ideas on how to wear a bandana?!?!)

KT wanted a bow on top of her head.... =)

The Boys.....

It was fun! Wooden pirate ship, Tee pees, forts.... The sun was setting and so we arranged for my brother and another dad to drive the cars down to pick the crew up so we wouldn't have to hike back.