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Summer Craft Ideas
Hot summer days are a perfect opportunity to get crafty in the great outdoors. Taking your messiest craft projects outside extends outdoor playtime, and makes clean up a snap. Simply hose down your workspace – and maybe the kids too! Try some of these crafts outside:
Sparkly sand picture: mix some of the sand from your sandbox with a few spoonfuls of sparkles or glitter. Choose an item to decorate, such as a construction paper shape (e.g. flower, balloon, bird), a plant pot, or even a rock. Spread glue over your item and sprinkle sand and glitter on top. Repeat until the item is completely covered in sparkly sand. Let dry.
Squirt gun or Spray bottle painting: mix powdered tempura paint with water to make a runny consistency. Fill squirt gun or water bottle with the runny paint. Lay sheets of paper on your outdoor work surface or hang them on a fence or wall, and start squirting. You can also lay interesting objects (such as leaves, flowers) on top of the paper and spray around the objects. Let dry and then remove the objects to reveal their painted ‘shadows’
Toothbrush painting: a great way to reuse old toothbrushes! Dip your toothbrushes into washable liquid paint and run your thumb or finger over the brush to spray paint onto work surface. Paint rocks, paper, cardboard, or even the sidewalk!
Fairy Flower Garden: choose a corner of the garden, or your favourite planter, and make it fairy friendly! Make a fairy path with sand, small pebbles, or glass beads. Turn an old yogurt container into an in-ground fairy pool by digging a hole that fits the container, and then filling the container with water. Add a fairy shelter by placing an old teacup on it’s side. This was a big hit with my six year old fairy lover!
And remember that the simplest activities such as drawing, colouring, or cutting and pasting can take on new life with a simple change of scenery! So get outside and get crafty this summer!
Keri Zingle is mother of two and owner of Craft Caravan. If you love crafts but are short on time or ideas, let Craft Caravan do the work! Receive new craft projects at your door every month with the Kids Craft Club. www.craftcaravan.com
Posted by
@ 5:44:13 PM
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Thursday July 30, 2009
Celebrity Babysitters
Lately, I have been posting blogs on serious topics. Since it’s Friday, let’s do a fun one!
In your opinion, which of the following Canadian celebrities do you think would make the best babysitter?
- Sarah McLachlan (singer/songwriter, born in Halifax, NS)
- Ryan Reynolds (actor, born in Vancouver, BC)
- Pam Anderson (actor, born in Ladysmith, BC)
- Mike Myers (comedian/actor, born in Scarborough, ON)
- Celine Dion (singer/songwriter, born in Charlemagne, QC)
- Wayne Gretzky (hockey legend, born in Brantford, ON)
- Alanis Morissette (singer/songwriter, born in Ottawa, ON)
- Steve Nash (basketball player, raised in Victoria, BC)
- Margaret Atwood (poet, born in Ottawa, ON)
- Jim Balsillie (founder of RIM, born in Seaforth, ON)
- Kim Cattrall (actor, raised in Courtenay, BC)
- Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, born in Toronto, ON)
- Shania Twain (singer, born in Windsor, ON)
- Rick Mercer (comedian, born in St. John’s, NF)
- Diana Krall (singer/songwriter, born in Nanaimo, BC)
Post your answer here, and let everyone know who you would pick as a celebrity babysitter!
Posted by
@ 6:08:58 PM
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Friday July 24, 2009
Q & A: Additional Duties Exptected from Babysitter
We have just hired a babysitter for the summer. She is great with the kids, but not catching on when I leave her hints to provide a little extra help around the house, like folding laundry and putting dishes away. What is the best way to communicate this to our babysitter?
Everyone feels different about cleaning. Some babysitters love to clean while others don’t feel it’s a part of their job. I always recommend covering the expected duties at the beginning, before the babysitter starts providing service for you. If there is one thing that I have learned over the past 8 years running this business, it’s that babysitters usually do not make good housekeepers. If the babysitter does have some free time during the day when she is not caring for the children, it is not unrealistic to ask to help out with some light housekeeping duties like folding laundry and putting dishes away, but not much more.
The best way to communicate this to the babysitters is not to give hints – they may not be taken seriously or noticed. Have a sit-down meeting with the babysitter, asking her how the job is going, providing her with feedback on her work so far, and giving her a chance to ask questions and give you feedback on her experience. At this time, you can also ask her if it is possible for her to assist with some duties around the house. If she’s willing and able, provide her with a list of the desired duties and ask her which she prefers to be in charge of. This gives her some control of doing duties she doesn’t’ mind, rather than getting stuck doing something she dislikes and feeling overwhelmed with her duties. Be sure to give a sincere thank you to her for making your family’s life easier by assisting.
The key to a good employer-nanny relationship is open communication. Keep the lines of communication open and two-way, so that she feels just as comfortable approaching you about something as you are about approaching her.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at info@canadiansitter.ca!
Check out Martha's blog on Today's Parent at www.todaysparent.com/marthasblog!
Posted by
@ 11:18:55 AM
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Friday July 17, 2009
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Amidst all the daily commotion of raising two daughters and running a home-based business, Martha takes time to blog about her life as a woman, mother, wife, and entrepreneur.