crafts, create, education, key stage 2, kids, monster

Minecraft toolbox – Build electronics with Piper

Piper – a Minecraft toolbox for anyone to create and invent with technology. Build electronics. Invent power-ups. Create the future.

So – the kids were pretty excited last week to hear from Mark at Piper all about their fabulous new toolbox for budding engineers who happen to like Minecraft!
As a family we tend to use ‘screentime’ as a reward at the end of the week, for best behaviour, and finishing homework without it being an excruciating teeth-pulling exercise. Minecraft is their favourite ‘go to’ game, and without further ado, read what our 10yo thought of Piper, and then watch the video!

In short, my son, 10yo RB says this:

“Minecraft toolbox – Build electronics with Piper. Piper is brilliant for seven and ups. I think it is really awesome because the instructions are in the game so it would make children and adults interested in making things outside of the game. Minecraft is a good way to get people that like Minecraft to play it. It will make a brilliant Christmas or birthday gift. It will entice people to play because it is easy to build so you can get started really quickly. Raspberry Pi is what all of the software runs on. Raspberry pie is a mini computer if you’ve got all the right equipment and gadgets luckily all of that comes in a really well made wooden box. The screen comes readymade and all fits in.

There are ten action-packed levels to complete in the game. You have to make your own buttons and fit the wires in the right places. The mouse comes with the box so you can look around.

There are lots more interesting exciting things about the game but they are for you to find out.”

RB Age 10 says – “NOW watch this video!”

How it works:

– First you assemble the wooden toolbox and connect it with the Raspberry Pi 2, a 7 inch LCD display, a power bank, and an assortment of electronics.

– Once assembled, you enter a Minecraft adventure map viewable on the LCD screen.

– Your Mission: guide a robot to rescue astronauts on a foreign planet. The robot’s hardware is damaged on the way over, and you have to build it in real-life to control the robot in the game to save the day!

How this educates kids:

– Each gadget you build gives you a special power-up and progresses you through the game

– First build the controller to navigate your robot. Add switches to activate hidden bridges and doors. A row of lights to serve as a proximity sensor and more.

If you want to find out more, click here. Piper are on facebook and twitter.

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and FunCraftsKids.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

create, kids

Room Makeover for boys

A Room Makeover for 10 year old boys

Lucky Boy! He’s next on the list for a room makeover, and has very strong ideas himself of how that might look!

Room Makeover for boys

He’s always had the biggest room – and it’s been the shared ‘playroom’ for the two boys, however, with more and more homework and less time to play with ALL of their toys, we thought it would be a good time for a bit of a de-clutter.

He has a great cabin bed already, so we’re going to give that a lick of paint, and although we have watched a great video on youtube, with a ‘space up’ bed which opens up to store your clothes and books – I’m not sure we’re quite ready for that yet!

So we’re planning a room makeover for boys refresh with some fab brick patterned wallpaper, love the look of this white loft brick wall mural on one wall, and a chalkboard on another – using blackboard paint, and some fun cupboard handles to hold the chalk!

He really rather likes yellow too, so we’re on the hunt for an anglepoise lamp – and an Alarm Clock is a must – He struggles with the mornings!

He also has a sofa bed in his room, which we’re going to keep there, it’s ideal when unexpected guests arrive, and he bunks in with his brother – so we’ll add a few scatter cushions from new Finnish designer Nora instagram.com/projektityyny to tie it all together – His brother has plans for his own room too so watch this space!

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and FunCraftsKids.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, father's day

Fimo Moustache jewellery

I’ve been using Fimo as a modelling clay for a very long time – back to my Art Student days when I was making rather scary necklaces, with big spiky teeth!

And the husband is bit of a moustache fan, so we decided to make him a Mustache badge from fimo, for a little stocking filler for Christmas.

You will need:

Fimo
Kitchen knife
Grease proof paper
Template

Position the template on the fimo, and cut around with the knife.

Place the fimo onto the greaseproof paper and bake in the over for 25 minutes at 120 degrees.

When cool, glue a jewellery brooch back attachment (or safety pin) to the back of the moustache to create a brooch…

click this link to download the template Moustache Jewellery KidsChaos

Another fab idea is to take the Moustache brooch, and pin it to the front of a folded card, and get your child to draw a face to go with it! I’ve attached another Happy Birthday template KidsChaos template to illustrate just what I mean!

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, key stage 2, kids

Traditional Paper Star

Traditional Paper Star

The boys just love a paper craft, and we can thank our lovely friend Maggy for that (she told me to say that…) – Maggy taught them how to make origami paper boats when they were very little, and now at 10, the youngest is forever making Ninja Stars, Jumping Frogs and Paper cranes – and now his latest, the Traditional Paper Star.

For this lovely origami traditional Paper Star you need 14-15 square origami sheets, of various colours (we tried to persuade him to make them in Christmas colours, however, he is ‘his own man’ and went with these colours!) It literally only takes minutes to learn how to make this!

Fold each piece of paper to the long triangular shape, follow the youtube instructions linked here… demonstrated by the lovely Maggy from RedTedArt… and insert one into another until you join the first with the last to create this star shape – how lovely, we’ll be hanging this creation on the Christmas Tree next weekend!

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, google+ hangouts

T Shirt Yarn Pom Pom

We’ve all of us got an old T-shirt lying about don’t we? I had a very favourite, Breton Stripe T which had sadly come to the end of its life, and was just to scruffy to go to the charity shop, so we decided to DO something with it, and as we’ve gone a little pom-pom crazy this month, thought we’d have a go at the old classic – a T Shirt Yarn Pom Pom!

So, you could use a big pom-pom maker, or, like us, grab a couple of ‘donuts’ of cardboard, and have a go…

Step 1 – using a mug as a template, we cut two circular donuts, and lay them on top of each other.

Step 2 – cut your T-shirt into long strips to make ‘yarn’ and lay one piece of this yarn between the two donuts.

Step 3 – Wrap the T-shirt yarn around and around the donuts, and tie off the centre strip of yarn in a knot.

Step 4 – Push your scissors between the two donuts and snip around the circle as you would a regular pom-pom!

We love how this one turned out and will be collecting our old T-shirts to have a go and MORE T Shirt Yarn Pom-Poms soon!

If you liked this post you might like to click here for FULL HOW TO instructions on making paper pom-poms

If you have a thing for giant paper pompoms, click here to see our crepe paper version, with raindrops!

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, halloween

HOW TO make paper pom-poms

We posted a link to one of our most popular instagram pictures a few month’s ago – these crepe paper pom-pom clouds, with button raindrops which had everybody gasping with delight – and didn’t get around to actually posting a full how to, so here we go… (you can see why it took so long to post a ‘how to’ – LOTS of photos!)

1, 2) Concertina fold 8-10 sheets of tissue paper
3) Tie a length of string to the centre of the folded paper
4, 5) Trim the two ends of the folded concertina paper in a curve (keep the off-cuts, you never know when you might need them!)

6) Fan the pom-pom out flat as it will go
7) Pull up one thin sheet of tissue paper at 90 degrees
8) Pull out the opposite sheet of tissue paper, at 90 degrees

9) Rotate the tissue paper pom-pom and pull out opposite sheets of the paper
10) Keep pulling and fluffing the single sheets of tissue paper to create the paper pompom.

and that’s it! – to see how you can create something quite amazing to hang in your bedroom, click here to see our crepe paper version, with raindrops!

If you fancy having a go yourself click here, alternative you can purchase them here at Delights in packs of three!

Ali also blogs over on aGreenerLifeforus.com and is a new lover of Instagram too… pop over and say hello!

crafts, create, education, key stage 2, kids

Papier Mache Disaster Meteorite

So, we decided to make some Papier-mâché hot air balloons… that’s how it started out, all good intentions.

So 7yo being the possibly more crafty of the two (yep, the 5yo is crafty in other ways, say no more) got stuck right in….

1) We made the glue: mixed one cup of flour, and two cups of water, and a teaspoon of cinammon (that way it smells nice too)

2) We ripped the newspaper into strips

3) 7yo took off his brand new hoodie as he didn’t want to get it mucky

4) We pulled each strip through the ‘glue’ and let it drip back into the bowl (AND all over the garden too, much to SAHD’s delight)
5) We layered and layered until the balloon (Oh, I didn’t mention that bit did I? – blow up a balloon, and balance it on a bowl to stop it blowing or rolling away) was covered in paper mache.

Then we had to leave it to dry for a day (which is where 5yo lost interest, so I’d say stick with one layer if you’re not bothered about keeping the masterpiece for ever!)

We learnt an important lesson here, on Day 2 when we went back to add another layer, 7yo’s balloon had shrivelled, but we layered on some more paper mache…. MISTAKE, with no balloon inside to hold it’s shape this happened…

Not to be out-witted by the wilted balloon, 7yo spun it round (phew, was waiting for a tantrum) and said he would make it into a meteorite – which is what he did! Job done…

Thanks to Maggy at RedTedArt for continuing to encourage us to ‘get crafty!’

For a more successful foray into papermache check out our post here on Paper mache seed pots – using the blender! and using pulp from cereal boxes … this time it worked!

Follow Ali on twitter as @incredibusymum and twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos for more posts like this one… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x Like it? Pin it! and come say hello at instagram.com/incredibusy too x

Ali also writes over on AGreenerLifeforus.com

crafts, create, gardening, kids

Pineapple pinecone

A quick blog post to share with you the wonder that is camping… and the sort of crafts you can do whilst you are stuck in a Pine Forest in #FrenchFrance and the boy’s pineapple pinecone.

We go on holiday every year with some lovely family friends, and as the kids get older, they get more and more feral, and tend to take themselves off in packs, doing their own thing, whether it comes to popping to the camp playground to make new friends, or getting crafty with the paints and pencils we still take with us every year… So it was with much delight that I found this Pine Cone Pineapple creation by our eldest, he liked it so much he posted it onto his new ‘now I am going into Year 7 please may I have an Instagram account?’ instagram feed….

It was a very visually inspiring place it has to be said… with the largest sand dunes in the World on our doorstep in a pine forest at the foot of the Dune de Pyla. You just had to look UP and the view was pretty awesome too… Look at those leaves!

Ali also writes over on AGreenerLifeforus.com

crafts, create

Frozen Crown Craft – paper cup craft

Frozen Crown – paper cup craft

We’ve said it before, paper cups are a great asset to a store cupboard…And for no other reason that they can be VERY handy to have around for that impromptu Frozen Crown making session – what better way to spend an afternoon, making paper cup crowns, and then sitting down to watch the Frozen film on DVD!

You will need:

Paper cups
Scissors
Pom-poms
Glue
Alice band

Instructions:

1) Cut a series of triangles around the rim of the paper cup.

2) Turn the cup to sit on it’s base, and glue the pom-poms onto each point of the triangles.

3) Using the scissors, push two holes into either side of the base of the paper cup.

4) Thread the Alice band through the holes, and WEAR with pride! (seen here modelled by our Italian student Marta!)

For more quick and simple paper cup ideas, check out our W is for Whale and Red Ted Art’s pom pom party poppers!

Follow Ali on twitter as @incredibusy and twitter.com/MoreKidsChaos for more posts like this one… Erm, and funnily enough on Google+, Facebook and Pinterest! Pop over to say hello x Like it? Pin it! and come say hello at instagram.com/incredibusy too x

Ali also writes over on incredibusy.com

crafts, create, google+ hangouts, kids, Uncategorized

W is for Whale paper cup craft

W is for Whale – paper cup craft

Paper cups are a great asset to a store cupboard… you never know when the post school playdates may descend on you, and for this time of year, paper plates and cups are often safer in the garden for the al fresco dining that may take place!

They are also VERY handy for a last minute craft session, particularly if you are practicing your alphabet crafts – and all you need for this W is for Whale paper cup craft, is two paper cups, some parcel tape and a couple of googly eyes!

You will need:

Two paper cups
Parcel Tape
Googly eyes
Pipe cleaner (white or blue)
Hama or Perler Beads in an array of blues and white!

Instructions:

1) Using the parcel tape, stick the two cups together facing each other to create the body shape of the whale.

2) Wrap the parcel tape all over the body of the whale to cover it.

3) Fashion the whale’s tail from more parcel tape and attach to one end of the paper cup whale.

4) Do the same with the two front flippers, and attach just below the position on the eyes.

5) Add the googly eyes, essential in any paper cup craft!.

6) Pierce a small slit where the blow hole on the top of the whale’s body will be.

7) Push the pipe cleaners, or wires, into the hole, and add some Hama or Perler beads to look like water drops and you are DONE!

For more quick and simple paper cup ideas, check out our Paper Cup Frozen Crown and Red Ted Art’s pom pom party poppers!

Ali also writes over on AGreenerLifeforus.com