Halloween

Well as today is Halloween, I thought id start with some Halloween activities.
Today we hosted a little Halloween party for the girls and their friends. Very noisy and crazy but fun non the less.


The biggest hit of the party was the Bottle Bowling.
Save up plastic bottles, could be any size really or even plastic milk cartons and give them a good wash out. Decorate each bottle with a face. Obviously we choose a Halloween theme but can be anything really that relates to the theme of your party. We intend to do Snowmen for Christmas.
Then you need a bowling ball. My first thought was to use a small pumpkin but I couldn't find any suitable that weren't abit squished meaning they wouldn't roll very well. In the end I used a large Orange and drew a pumpkin face on it.  A simple ball would be just as good! The children loved seeing how many they could knock down and counting them. Also great for large motor skills with the rolling of the ball.





Another game we played was 'Bat Box'.
Adapted from a game I remember playing at school myself with trying to throw bean bags into hoops during PE lessons.
I started with an old cardboard box then cut the flaps of the box to form wings and eyes then covered the box with black paper. Painting it would have been easier but I had run out of Black paint!  I then added two big eyes on the bat and it was ready to use... quick and simple.
The beanbags could be bought ones or like mine, home made from squares of felt and filled with split beans.  Another good game for Gross motor skills.

Finally, The Ghost handprints. 

These were a huge hit and the kids all loved doing it. Another simple one really.  You will need some Black or dark coloured paper ,some white paint and a black pen. Paint the children's hand with the white paint or let them place their hand in a tray of paint then place the painted hand onto the paper. When its dry add the ghosts eyes and mouth.... A ghost! Told you it was simple :)

You can also use upside down foot prints which work equally as well.

Welcome everyone

Please bare with me as blogging is new to me and I'm learning along the way!
The aim of this blog is to share with you the numerous craft and messy play activities I enjoying doing with my own children. I have two daughters with a 21mth age gap between them.
Before the children were born I was a supervisor at a local nursery where I loved getting the children involved in all sorts of various educational activities. Some activities I have picked up during my 10+ years of working with children, where as others have just developed from other activities.
I hope this blog will inspire you to try some new activities with your little ones. They may be messy but that's half the fun... I mean, what child doesn't enjoy getting messy! :)