{Spring Wreath Flower Fairy Crowns Quick Craft}

Spring Wreath Flower Fairy Crowns

Quick Craft

We made these sweet flower crowns as our Easter bonnets this year, but they make perfect fairy crowns! You can tie them on with a bit of ribbon to make bonnets, leave as is for fairy flower crowns, or even hang them as spring wreaths.

You need: [affiliate links provided]

paper plate

a synthetic flower lei (one lei will make several crowns)

thick markers (or paint)

other decorative items such as stick-on jewels or sequins, butterflies, etc.

glue

To make them into Easter bonnets or wreaths, you'll also need a hole-punch (I like this rectangle one for ribbon) and some pretty ribbon.

1. Cut out the centre of the plate, leaving just the ring edge (to make it easy to cut out, just bend the plate slightly and it's easy to snip a hole through with scissors).

2. Use markers to colour the crown all over (or paint, if you prefer, but then it will take longer because you'll have to wait for the paint to dry.)

3. Cut the string of the lei and pull off the individual flowers. Attach them to the crown with glue. Use stick-on jewels or sequins in the centre of each flower to make it fancy. Add any other decorative items you choose.

4. If you're making Easter bonnets, use the hole punch to make holes on opposite sides of the crown to string the ribbon through. We made two small holes on each side and threaded some pretty yellow ribbon through. The ribbon also makes a hanger to hang it up as a spring wreath if you like!

Wear with pride, or hang up on the wall or door. 

 

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{Made-With-Love Daffodils Spring Craft for Kids}

Made-With-Love Daffodils

Spring Craft for Kids

These sweet daffodils made from recyclables are a classic spring craft for kids, and a bouquet of them makes a lovely gift for Mother's Day or for grandparents or teachers. They look beautiful in a makeshift bottle vase! I remember first making them at school when I was very young, and now the tradition is being passed on to the next generation. They are very easy to make; even the youngest children can be involved.

You need:
An egg carton
Paint - yellow; optional: orange, black
Pipe cleaners - preferably green
An empty glass bottle or vase

First, cut out each individual 'cup' of the egg carton (you'll probably want to do this part for young children.) Then have them paint each carton cup inside and out with yellow and/or orange paint. Leave to dry.

Next, if you like, paint a blob of black in the middle. Leave to dry.

After that, use the pointy end of a pipe cleaner to poke a hole through the centre of the carton cups. Push through about 1/3 of the pipe cleaner and leave the other 2/3 hanging straight down the back as a stem. Curl the 1/3 third inside the centre of the flower, to make a spiral. This will hold the pipe cleaner in place and also looks like the inside of a flower. 

Finally, pop them in a glass bottle or vase and put them on the shelf to admire them!

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{Free Printable Easter Egg Hunt Invitation}

Easter Egg Hunt Invitation

Free Printable

Image: Patou / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt party is a highlight of the year for my kids. Hidden eggs to find, games, crafts, lots of yummy food, and a special bunny cake - it's a favourite Pea family tradition! This year will be our 5th annual Easter egg hunt party.

I'm busy in planning mode right now, but I thought some of you might also be planning Easter egg hunts, either for friends or just for your own kids, so I thought I'd share a printable template that I made for our invitation. It's in jpeg format and it should print nicely as a 4x6 inch postcard size.

Have a great Easter!

You can see some of our past Easter Egg Hunts here:

3rd Annual Easter Egg Hunt Party

2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt Party

and some of our Easter crafts here:

Egg Decoupage for Preschoolers

Easter Craft for Kids: Fluffy Chicks

Easter Bonnets

Easter Bunnies Craft

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{Best Board Games for Preschoolers}

Best Board Games for Preschoolers

Board games are a great way for young kids to work on many important preschool skills - social skills, math skills, language skills and problem-solving skills can all be developed through a good quality board game! Counting along spaces on the board helps develop counting and one-to-one correspondence, turn-taking is an important social skill as are winning and losing with grace, and many board games also incorporate strategic problem-solving skills and more. So if you think your child might be ready for board games, here are our top recommendations of the best ones for preschool-aged children to start out with. Let the Family Games Nights commence!


The Busytown Eye Found It! Game is a family favourite - great for developing teamwork, social skills and observation skills as well as one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get your entire team (all players) to the finish line before the naughty pigs eat the entire picnic. Along the way, you need to search for clues on the board using the mini magnifying glasses before the sand runs out of the timer.

 

If You See A Crocodile...  - this was Princess Pea's first board game when she was 2 1/2 and she just loved it! Teaches colours, counting, and one-to-one correspondence. The object of the game is to get to the finish first. Along the way you need to hop along coloured spots and watch out for crocodiles. Even more fun if you sing along to the tune of 'Row row row your boat'.

Fancy Nancy Positively Perfect Parfait Game - develops problem-solving skills and social skills. And, of course, what kid doesn't get excited at the prospect of building the ice cream sundae of their dreams?! The object of the game is to build an ice cream sundae consisting of at least 3 different flavours with a cherry on top - but be careful someone doesn't switch your scoops!






















The Game of Ladybirds - great for practicing counting and adding on, important early math skills, as well as familiarity with dice, which is useful for quick number recognition. The object of the game is to collect as many ladybugs as possible, keeping count of how many you have.

The Busytown Busy, Busy Airport Game - this one is perfect for those active little ones that aren't quite ready to sit down for a board game yet, as it involves moving around the room to deliver passengers to their destinations. Super for practicing strategic thinking and problem solving. The object of the game is to deliver all the passengers to their destinations and collect souvenirs from all the places.

Any kind of Snakes and Ladders type game - games where there are unexpected 'gains' and 'losses' that can't be helped are good for developing social skills and good graces. We have the My Little Pony version, but for some reason that is now very expensive on Amazon, so try this popular Chutes and Ladders version instead. The object of the game is to reach the finish first, but beware of setbacks. If you're lucky, you might even find some shortcuts.

What are your family's board game recommendations? We'd love to hear them!

 

{Cool Dinosaur Small World Play}

Cool Dinosaur Small World Play

with Play Dough and Nature Items

This dinosaur small world play scene was a big hit at Sweet Pea's dinosaur birthday party! The kids had so much fun playing with it, and it was really easy to set up in about 10-15 minutes with just a little preparation ahead of time. All I used was some no-cook homemade play dough and nature items collected from the garden!

A few days before her party, I made several batches of no-cook homemade play dough in 'earthy' colours - shades of blue, brown, grey and green. To make the brown I first tried mixing red and green food colouring, but it made more of a greyish colour (which I used as 'rock' in our dinosaur world.) Then I found it worked much better to make brown if I just added some cocoa powder instead - and it smelled divine, too! In total, to fill our whole sensory play table [affiliate link], I made 5 batches of this no-cook homemade play dough recipe. I stored it in resealable plastic bags to keep it soft and fresh.

I flattened the play dough down in sections to make different landforms - blue for a lake, grey/beige for sand/rocks, brown for mud/earth, and green for grass/forest.

Then I went out to the garden and collected some bits and pieces of nature - clippings from some bushes, bits of grass, twigs, rocks, wood chips, and some flowers. I brought them in and placed them around the dinosaur world - bush/tree clippings, grasses and flowers in the grass/forest area, wood chips and twigs around the brown parts, and rocks to section off areas.

I used some brown play dough to form a volcano shape and rose buds and petals to make the red lava. Then I hid our Playmobil dinosaur set and all the dinosaur toys [affiliate links] I could find in amongst it all.

Doesn't it look fun?

If you have a little dinosaur lover, too, you might also like our Decorated Dinosaur Eggs and our Rainbow Dinosaur Dig!

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