Homemade Rainstick

This is another addition to our do-it-yourself musical instrument collection - Poppet got FAR more enjoyment from making this than she does from actually using it so it tends to stay sat up on the windowsill but it was still worth it for a day of crafting activity!

I saw the instructions for how to make a rainstick over on The Imagination Tree ages ago and kept it in my mind for such a time when I had a cardboard tube available; well I finally framed and hung up a print that had been languishing in a tube in the cupboard for a long time so we gathered our materials together and got started! We used

• 1 cardboard tube (thick type)
• small nails (type for hanging pictures)
• hammer
• glue
• craft paper
• collage bits to stick on
• split peas and peanuts for the inside (you could use anything you have to hand - lentils, dried beans, rice, pasta etc...)

To start off you simply hammer in the nails at random intervals all around the cardboard tube - the more you use the better it will sound. Poppet was very insistent that she have a go at banging some in so I started them off for her then held the tube while she hit them, being careful to keep her hands away from the nail. She LOVED this.

Once we had finished the inside of the tube looked like this:

We filled the tube up with some nuts and some yellow spilt peas and made sure the lid was sealed very securely. We tried it out and they gave a good sound but I think you would get an even better sound if you used shiny, hard, dried beans like kidney beans or something. We will definitely try this again once I get around to framing some more prints that I have lying around! Then Poppet covered some pieces of paper (she chose pink and purple) in glue and rolled them around the tube to cover it and pressed it all down. It doesn't really matter if it creases as it will get covered in collage bits anyway.

We left it to dry (as usual, copious amounts of glue was used), and then in the afternoon Poppet decorated it with some torn up tissue paper, feathers and foam shapes.

And here she is trying out the finished product. The girls were distinctly underwhelmed by the noise it makes in comparison to the drums we made! But it was free and we had great fun making it!

Poppet : 2 yrs 8 mos

Little: 11 mos

Parcel Tape Drums

I was going to send a copper lampshade we weren't using to the charity shop but thought it might be able to become quite a good drum instead. I have been eying up toy drums online for a while as whenever the music box comes out at our toddler group the drums are the most popular instrument, but this alternative cost me nothing and has given the littles just as much enjoyment!

We had to experiment a bit with potential drum skins - starting off with a sheet of baking parchment secured with cellotape. This worked and produced a sound like a snare drum but was too fragile and tore after some enthusiastic drumming. 

We then tried some vinyl tablecloth but it was too thick and we tried cling film too but that didn't work at all. Throughout all this Poppet was excitedly declaring "lets make a drum mum!" And had a great time going mad wrapping cellotape around things she found lying around trying to make her own one "I making a drum!"

Making a 'seat-belt' with the tape

I did a bit of googling and came across this youtube video from Child's Play Music which shows you how to make a drum using parcel tape (I also really liked the video they had on water play and music exploration and plan to do this one day). The parcel tape worked really well and produced a great sounding drum. Poppet loved helping. We stuck down strip upon strip of parcel tape, crossing them all over in the centre until every inch was covered in at least two layers. Then we pressed it down all over to make sure all the strips were stuck together.

Finished drum!

We were on a drum roll (gettit?!) so we also made a smaller one using a cake tin with the bottom removed. We learnt that a drum needs air underneath it to allow it to vibrate, so when the drums were flat on the floor they didn't sound as good as when they were raised up. With this in mind we raised them up using crates or books to improve the sound. We used chop sticks for drumsticks and set the drums up along with the other instruments we own (an xylophone and a set of maracas) to create a complete music station!

Mid-song

Both girls loved it and so did I, you could make some really good beats with them (is that even the correct terminology?! I have no idea!). We have played many different games using the drums. Poppet was really good at banging along in time while singing, although if I attempted to join in she would yell at me "no, I sing it!". We also explored tempo and volume by pretending to be dinosaurs (big, loud, slow thumps of the drum) and mice (little, light, quick taps of the drum), rhinos and rabbits, elephants and spiders.

We used them to explore numbers and counting, with me counting out a certain number of beats and then getting Poppet to copy me. We used different utensils for drumsticks to see what sounds they made - whisks, wooden spoons, plastic sticks etc... The drums have been really popular toys, even with Little!

Poppet: 2yrs 7mos

Little: 11 mos

Playing with bubbles!

   

The girls were given a tube of bubbles by their Grandad at the weekend so yesterday we had lots of bubble related fun! Poppet was so excited and amazed by them, and Little was very cute staring intently at the bubbles floating around her as her sister flew around the room catching them all.

Poppet loved trying to pop (or eat) them all and was so fast that Little rarely got anywhere near one. Only twice did one get near enough to her that she tried to touch it. And the only way I could make that happen was by first quickly blowing lots of bubbles in the opposite side of the room to keep Poppet occupied and out of the way!

Of course monkey was brought in on the action, apparently he liked popping them too. So lovely how she wants to involve monkey in everything nice that she does.

Little finally managing to pop a bubble!

Every now and then I managed to make a really big bubble which Poppet loved - 'that's a big one mummy!'. She wanted to catch the bubbles but they kept popping so we added some glycerine to the mixture as apparently that makes them longer lasting. Then we made a 'bubble catcher' from a pipe cleaner and a lolly stick. She really loved catching the bubbles and holding them for a while.

    

    

Poppet of course insisted that Little also got a bubble catcher but this really only got chewed.

We mixed the leftover bubble solution with some red paint in a bowl and I showed Poppet how to blow it to make bubbles (quite anxiously telling her 'it's not milkshake it's paint OK? Blow don't suck!). But she managed fine.

Once the bubbles were overflowing we pressed a sheet of paper against them to make bubble prints.....

 

We are going to use the resulting painting as wrapping paper for a certain aunties upcoming Birthday!

She is so proud of it she was still pointing out her 'bubble painting' to me this morning at breakfast. Later in the day Poppet asked me for some water in her little pot, then she did this with it, so the activity obviously stuck with her! 

Poppet: 2 yrs 4 mos

Little: 8 mos

Water Bottle Skittles

We got caught in a hail shower on our way home from toddler group yesterday, but after lunch the sun made an appearance and it was a lovely day again so Poppet and I played some garden games while Little slept.

We brought out a basket full of all the balls that we own and a collection of plastic bottles from the recycling to play skittles with. Our garden has a long sloping path down it and Poppet has always like throwing balls down it.

We filled the bottles up with water from the outside tap and using the watering can and funnel. This in itself was a game for her!

We then put them at the bottom of the path and Poppet starting flinging balls at them. It was too easy with the footballs, every throw was on target. But she found it harder with the smaller lighter balls. So she preferred to stick to the footballs! Every hit was met with an excited scream and shouting for mummy to "pick up the bottle!".

This was repeated many times. Bottles refilled. Repeated many times again. Felt slightly guilty about the waste of water but this was quickly outweighed by toddler laughter. Also this is Scotland we have no shortage!

We rolled the balls down the slide as well.

When we were all skittled out I told her to use the leftover water to water her garden, so she gave her sweetcorn plants a wee water.

Then the heavens opened up again and we made a dash to the greenhouse for shelter. The hailstones sounded pretty loud in there. This is her amazed face!

A Fairy Garden

I remember creating little gardens in seed trays when I was little, so thought it would be a nice thing to try with Poppet. I had all of the things already apart from the glass beads which I picked up in town this morning for  £1.50.

We started off by sitting down together and reading some of Flower Fairies to set the scene, this got Poppet pretty excited about the prospect of a fairy garden but I have to say she did seem pretty disappointed at the lack of actual fairies when we were finished!

I laid out a seed tray, bucket of compost, trowel and rake, glitter, already painted shells, green glass beads, little bird house and some flowers from around the garden. We did this in the back garden, it's been another lovely warm day.

She started off filling the seed tray up with compost but lost interest so I finished filling it for her. I gave her a bit of direction as to where the fairy house should go and started off the garden path and she was away. 

For some reason she buried a lot of the glass beads. I can't remember if I did any seed planting with her last year which she might be remembering,  I don't think we did, but it seemed very much like she was treating them like seeds. The glitter as ever was very popular. The finished garden looked very pretty!

Ideally it would have been finished off nicely with a couple of toy fairies but unfortunately I don't have any so the garden is currently home to a panda and a horse. The fairy garden now has pride of place in her play garden. I'm hoping to sneak some fairies in there at some point to surprise her!

Toys from the recycle bin

These simple free 'toys' go to show that you don't need to spend money to keep little ones entertained. I collected a variety of washed out containers - a golden syrup tin, miniature jam jar, milk carton, soft cheese carton, yoghurt carton, spice jar etc... and put them in a cake tin along with little kitchen things like an egg cup and ice cream scoop. Little loved exploring them all, and Poppet uses them as props for her play kitchen, especially liking prising the lid off of the golden syrup tin with her toy kitchen utensils, and sprinkling pearl barley everywhere when I fill the spice jar up with it.

Exhausting work!