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Start a stamp collection and learn about endangered animals including the Southern Corroboree frog

 

Brought to you by Nuffnang and Australia Post.

 

Do you collect stamps?

Receiving a letter or card in a real envelope with a real stamp on it is such a treat! Admiring and collecting the stamps makes it all the more magical.

With October “Stamp Collecting Month”, Australia Post releases a new series of stamps. I’ve quietly applauded the topic choices of previous years, but I hadn’t realised until now that these topics intentionally focus on Australian primary school curriculum areas, such as history, geography, science, technology and the environment.

This year’s Stamp Collecting Month theme is endangered wildlife, and was chosen to encourage children to learn more about animal conservation, to recognise efforts being made to conserve endangered species, and to understand the need for biodiversity.

The ‘Endangered Wildlife’ stamps include:

  • $1 Southern Corroboree Frog
  • $1 Snow Leopard
  • $1 Asian Elephant
  • $1 Western Lowland Gorilla
  • $1 Western Swamp Tortoise
  • 50c Orange-bellied Parrot
  • 50c Northern Quoll

We were lucky enough to receive some collector sets, as below. You can also purchase these stamps (individually, in sheets or as collector sets) at your nearest Australia Post retail outlet or online at www.auspost.com.au/stamps, while stocks last. Or keep an eye out in your letterbox – you may even receive one on an envelope, the old-fashioned way!

australia-post-endangered-animals-stamp-collector-set

I think this endangered wildlife stamp series will be a great way to encourage kids (and adults!) to learn more about these unique and fascinating endangered animals, and perhaps nurture a few budding philatelists (stamp enthusiasts) along the way.

For more information on Stamp Collecting Month, including educational activities around this year’s theme and advice on stamp collecting in general, visit www.auspost.com.au/scm.

australia-post-stamp-collector-set-endangered-wildlife

The focus animal in this year’s collection is the southern corroboree frog. It’s actually an animal my girls have been particularly interested in. They’ve heard the infamous Wiggles song, and how this frog makes a sound that’s “not a croak, it’s more of a squelch.” They’ve also seen the southern corroboree frog-breeding program at Taronga Zoo, and heard about how wild populations have been in peril and how zoos like Taronga are breeding captive frogs to release back into the wild.

So, of course, I decided this was excuse enough to create a paper plate corroboree frog craft!

critically-endangered-australian-southern-corroboree-frog-craft

 

Make a southern corroboree frog craft

We used:

  • paper plate
  • yellow acrylic paint
  • black wool (yarn)
  • clear-drying glue
  • scissors
  • buttons

 

  1. Paint the paper plate yellow and let dry.
  2. Cut out a frog shape.
  3. Cover in glue.
  4. Stick on buttons for eyes.
  5. Stick on strands of wool to create a black and yellow striped effect.
  6. Cover in more glue and let dry. (This both ensures the wool is stuck down, and creates a glossy effect).
  7. Trim any overhanging wool.

 

For the visually-minded, here’s the same process, but in photos.

paint-a-paper-plate-yellow-and-cut-out-a-frog-shape

Paint a paper plate yellow and let dry (or use a yellow plate to begin with). Cut out a frog shape.

cover-with-clear-drying-glue-and-stick-on-button-eyes

Cover in glue. Stick on buttons for eyes.

stick-on-strips-of-black-wool

Stick on strands of wool to create a black and yellow striped effect.

cover-generously-with-glue

Cover in more glue and let dry. (This both ensures the wool is stuck down, and creates a glossy effect).

southern-corroboree-frog-craft-idea

And lastly, give him (or her) a trim!

 

My four year old daughter Bee decided to make one too. (I did the first two steps for her though).

4-year-old-making-her-frog
adding-yarn-to-her-frog
trimming-off-the-excess-wool

 

And here are our two finished frogs!

make-a-southern-corroboree-frog-craft-and-learn-about-a-critically-endangered-species-biology-for-kids

 

Did you know that:

  • the southern corroboree frog lives only in a small area in sub-alpine Mt Kosciuszko National Park in southern New South Wales.
  • numbers of this frog have declined more than 99 per cent since the 1980s because of its susceptibility to the chytrid fungus, which is associated with widespread amphibian decline around the world, hindering the ability of the frogs to breathe through their skins.
  • captive breeding colonies are being successfully maintained at the Amphibian Research Centre, Taronga Zoo, Melbourne Zoo and Healesville Sanctuary. Since 2010, hundreds of captive-bred eggs and frogs have been released back into the wild in Kosciuszko National Park. This program aims to maintain frog populations long enough for scientists to develop a cure for the deadly fungus.
  • the (southern and northern) corroboree frogs are unique among frogs, in that they are the only frogs to produce their own poison, rather than obtaining it through their diet. This poison is secreted from the skin as a defence. Its bright colours warn predators.
  • the southern corroboree frog is listed as critically endangered. There are estimated to be fewer than 200 left in the wild.

make-a-southern-corroboree-frog-and-learn-about-this-critically-endangered-animal

You might also like this corroboree frog leaf craft on our sister site Go Science Girls.

Or for more Aussie art and craft ideas, we have a Australia for Kids page, including:

 

* Disclosing that this is a sponsored post for Australia Post, via Nuffnang. Whilst I was compensated to write this post, all opinions are my (or my kids’) own.

Make a Southern Corroboree Frog craft and learn about a critically endangered australian animal and the conservation efforts of environmental scientists to save it

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15

Imaginative play for kids: encouraging unstructured fairy play in the backyard.

Encouraging Fairy Play in the Backyard

This is a sponsored post, brought to you by Nuffnang and OMO.

In today’s world, we’re all so busy. Busy, busy, busy! Our family is no exception. I try really hard to provide the kids with ample free time for real unstructured play, but somehow the busy-ness still creeps in. There are play dates (socialisation!), piano lessons (music!), swimming classes (potentially life saving!).

New research, commissioned by Omo as part of their Dirt is Good campaign, shows that “Australian children are growing up in a world where real play time (involving activities such as climbing a tree, playing imaginary games and making a mud pie) is in decline”. Omo believes that Dirt is Good: that children need plenty of exploratory, hands-on play – the kind where they can go out and get dirty – because it is essential for their learning and healthy development.

I know, deep in my heart, that my kids need time to just be. They need time to unwind. Time to ponder. Time to digest everything else that’s going on around them. They need the freedom to get messy. The freedom to make mistakes. The freedom to do or explore something, just because. And so, ironic as it is, I’ve started to schedule several big ‘free play’ time slots into their weekly agenda. And because it’s scheduled in, it makes it more official. It forces me to prioritise their free play, just as much as I would prioritise any other activity.

Sometimes we do jigsaw puzzles. Sometimes the kids jump on the trampoline. Sometimes we get engrossed in a project. Sometimes they climb trees. Sometimes they dress up, make up stories and put on a show. Sometimes they play with their blocks and magnetic tiles, creating houses for their fairies.

 

Encouraging imaginative fairy play outside

Just recently, during a dry break between the autumn showers, I thought I would see if I could tempt some unstructured fairy play outdoors. I grabbed a bunch of random things from inside (blocks, fairy and horse figurines, fake flowers, pebbles), and set them up next to a large patch of dirt. The girls noticed, and asked what I was doing. “Oh, just setting out some things to make a fairy garden. What else do you think we might need?”, I asked. “We’ll need feathers,” they replied, “lots of feathers.”

Supplies for making a fairy garden

They pottered in their fairy garden for most of the afternoon, making up a narrative as they went along. There was a fairy school going on in one section. A fairy wedding in another. The settings shifted along with the story.

Imaginative fairy play in the dirt

Block play outside

Playing fairies in the garden

Imaginative fairy play in the garden

Fairy Play outdoors in the garden

While all this was going on, I was nearby, hanging clothes on the line, eavesdropping on their play. (It’s so lovely listening to kids immersed in imaginative play – they say the darnedest things! And sometimes it gives you a hint about what might be troubling them in the real world…)

 

“Peggy” by Omo

And you might be wondering exactly how I knew that the showers would hold off for the rest of that afternoon? I’ll let you in on a little secret. I’m actually test running a new prototype backyard weather device from Omo called “Peggy”. Peggy’s not on the market yet, but essentially it’s a little weather station in your backyard. It sits on your washing line, and calculates the amount of sun (or shade), the temperature, the humidity, and the forecast from nearby official weather stations, to work out how long it will take for your clothes to dry. Peggy then sends all this information to an app on your phone, which notifies you when the clothes should be taken in, either because they are now dry, or because the forecast has changed and rain is threatening.

Peggy

How cool is that! A weather station that sits on your own clothes line, giving you a forecast based on the specific conditions in your own backyard! The geek in me thinks this idea is awesome. 🙂

 

 

The whole idea behind Peggy, is that Omo is trying to make laundry easier for parents, so they can spend more quality time with their kids. (We all know how frustrating it is to do the washing, hang it out to dry, only for it to be rained on a few hours later…) Omo believes that dirt is good, and that dirt should not be a dirty word. After all, when your kids are grown, you’re (hopefully) not going to remember the laundry. You’re going to remember the together-time. You’re going to remember the play.

peggy mobile weather station

peggy app

Now, before I get you too excited, Peggy is only a prototype at this stage. There’s still lots of ironing out that needs to be done before would be ready to launch, pending consumer reviews. So I don’t have an exact time-frame yet for when Peggy might be rolled out to market just yet. But if you’re keen, you can pre-register your interest at this web address: https://www.omo.com.au/peggy/.

xx Danya

Brought to you by OMO, via Nuffnang.

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Rainy day healthy snack for kids

Here’s a fun ‘rainy day’ healthy snack idea that little kids can help make (Bee was a 2.5 year old toddler here), using blueberries for storm clouds, cheese for rain and a multigrain wrap for the umbrella.

You can sing along to some wet weather nursery rhymes while you munch. Here are a few of our favourites:

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring
He went to bed with a bump on his head
And couldn’t wake up in the morning.

Continue reading Rainy Day Healthy Snack for Kids

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9

Four Gross Motor Games for Active Five Year Olds

This sponsored post is brought to you by Nuffnang and Clarks.

I know a five and a half year old girl called JJ who loves active play! She loves to run, she loves to climb, and she loves to chase.

All this playing, running, climbing and chasing is much easier if you have well fitted shoes. I’d rather JJ have one pair of well-fitting shoes, than half a dozen of ill-fitting ones. Which is why we always get the kids’ shoes professionally fitted by a Clarks approved fitter (trust me, there’s a difference). Even though we’re usually presented with a choice of shoes, we almost always end up choosing Clarks. They just fit better, and JJ says they help her run faster. It’s one of the tests we do at the shoe shop – I ask JJ to sprint around the shop, so she can pick which shoes feel the ‘fastest’.

Speed, confidence and comfort are all very important when you’re a kindergartener, playing kindergarten games! I asked JJ what her favourite gross motor (or movement) games were. Here are her favourites:

 

JJ’s Favourite Gross Motor Games for Five Year Old Kids

 

How to play: Tip

The rules are simple: one child is ‘it’, and that child chases all the other players until they manage to touch or ‘tip’ someone, and then it’s that person’s turn to be ‘it’ and chase everyone.

Kids have been playing this game forever. Tip’s a great unstructured game for any sized group, and is loved by boys and girls alike. The kids at JJ’s school play tip at lunchtime, running around (and climbing on the playground equipment), in an attempt to either tip someone, or avoid being tipped. JJ joins in almost every day.

What do you like best about tip, JJ?
JJ: You get to run, and you get to play all over the equipment.

 

How to play: What’s the time, Mr Wolf?

A group of kids line up along one side of an open space, with one child (who is ‘Mr Wolf’) standing on the opposite side, with his/her back turned towards the others. The group call out “What’s the time, Mr Wolf?”, and Mr Wolf responds with a time (2 o’clock, or 4 o’clock for example). The group of kids walk forward for the corresponding number of steps (counting as they go), and then they ask the question again. Tension mounts as the kids get closer to Mr Wolf, because at some point, Mr Wolf will choose to reply instead with “Dinner time!” and turn to chase all the kids back to the starting line, trying to tip someone along the way, who will then become the next Mr Wolf.

This is a fun game that always elicits lots of squeals during the ‘dinner time’ chase. It works well for large groups, which is why it is often played at birthday parties. Sometimes we change the name ‘Mr Wolf’ to something else (like Captain Barnacles for example) to suit a particular party theme. I love how it includes lots of playful maths practice as well.

What’s the best thing about playing What’s the time, Mr Wolf?
JJ: You get to be the wolf, and you get to run fast when it’s dinner time.

 

How to play: Hide and Boo

One child closes their eyes, and counts aloud to twenty, finishing with, ‘Ready or not, here I come!”. Meanwhile, the other children (and grown-ups) hide themselves around the house. When the first child finishes counting, he/she searches for the others, whilst the other people try to jump out from their hiding spot and shout ‘Boo!’ before they are found. Once every one is found (or has jumped out and said ‘Boo’), a new person is chosen to be the counter/seeker.

This is an easier and faster paced version of the traditional hide and seek game, which is great for including younger siblings who might not be particularly good at finding hiding spots, or waiting patiently to be found.

What’s the best thing about playing Hide and Boo?
You get to hide, and if the person can’t find you, you get to jump out and say ‘Boo!’

 

How to play: Duck, Duck, Goose!

The kids sit cross-legged in a tight circle, except for one child who is the ‘goose’. This child walks around the outer edge of the circle, selecting who will be the next goose, by patting the other kids on the head, saying “duck, duck, duck, duck, duck… goose!” The child who is chosen to be the new goose, stands up and chases the old goose around the outer edge of the circle, trying to tip the old goose before he/she can make it back to sit in the newly vacated spot. Then the game repeats.

This is a fun game that is great for large groups of kids at birthday parties or for preschool / school groups. You can easily change the words to something else (like ‘shark, shark… seal’ to suit a party theme. JJ plays this game in her Mandarin class, except the kids say duck and goose in Mandarin. We’ve also recently played a fun version, where the kids get to choose their own words each time. They came up with things like ‘knife, knife… fork!’, ‘money, money… wallet!’, or ‘toilet, toilet… sink’. (My kids found this version absolutely hilarious!)

What do you like best about playing Duck, Duck, Goose?
We get to choose our own words, and if you get tipped by someone you have to sit in the middle, and if you don’t, you get to sit in their place.

 

I grew up wearing Clarks school shoes too. (Apparently they’ve been fitting school shoes for the past 170 years, but I can only vouch for the past thirty years or so…) I still remember that the shoe shop lady paid a lot of attention to getting the right fit, and they still pay that much attention now.

JJ has a very narrow foot and heel, and so properly fitted shoes are very important.

Clarks school shoes for kindergarten
JJ’s new school shoes, after a week or so of wear.

Clarks shoes just fit better. JJ’s school shoes for this year are Clarks, and she’s been wearing them 3 days a week at school (compulsory), and most weekend days (by choice). They fit so well, that she’d actually prefer to wear her school shoes on sports days too, if she were allowed. After eleven months of intensive wear, they are still holding up remarkably well. Compare that with people who have bought their children 2 or 3 pairs of school shoes, not because their child has outgrown them, but because they’ve ‘worn them out’, and I think Clarks shoes make a lot of sense.

Wearing 100 sequins for the 100th day of school
Wearing 100 sequins on her dress for her 100th day of school party.
Leggings and school shoes with mismatched socks
Complete with her (just over 100 days old) Clarks school shoes – and intentionally mismatched socks! (She’s suck a little punk!)

Did you know that with Clarks shoes, you can go back and check the fitting (for free) mid-year? We did this after the first three terms of kindergarten, just to make sure that her shoes still fit well for term 4.

Recently I also bought a pair of Clarks sandals for JJ to wear this summer. They are really pretty, and fit high and snug around her narrow heel, with adjustable velcro at the front to keep the shoe on properly (even if she’s climbing half way up a tree). She loves wearing them on the boiling hot days, (although on milder days, she still chooses to wear her school shoes, lol.)

5 year old watching a lizard
Lizard spotting at Taronga Zoo in October, wearing her (now 10 month old) school shoes again, minus the socks this time.

We’ll be heading in to our shoe shop to get a new pair of school shoes fitted shortly, as JJ will be going into Year One in 2016. Whilst I’ll let JJ choose the pair of shoes that feel the ‘fastest’, I’m fairly confident they’ll be Clarks.

xx Danya

Disclosing that this is a sponsored post for Clarks. All opinions are, as always, my or my kids’ own.

Gross Motor Games for Five Year Olds

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19

Exploring the Blue Mountains with Kids!

I love the Blue Mountains. We spent many of our family holidays up there as children, and now I’m sharing these same experiences all over again, this time with kids of my own. In case you’re thinking of travelling to the Blue Mountains with young kids, I thought I would share some tips and places we’ve enjoyed.

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang and Scenic World.

 

Tips for travelling to the Blue Mountains with kids

 

The drive up and back
The Blue Mountains is a do-able 1-2 hours drive from Sydney, but that’s still a fair distance for young kids. Depending on where in Sydney you’re coming from, there can be long sections of the motorway without an easy place to stop, so make sure everyone goes to the toilet beforehand. It’s almost always a few degrees cooler in the mountains than in Sydney, and sometimes the difference can be greater. We like to have an extra set of clothes in the car to put on if it gets too chilly.

 

Leura
We usually stop for a coffee or a bite to eat in Leura. Leura is a pretty little town, that’s in a handy location off the main highway on the way up to Katoomba. It’s well known for it’s quaint restaurants and cafes, and somehow captures that ‘mountains feeling’ perfectly.

 

Bush Walks and Views
The Three Sisters is a really cool rock formation that juts out over Jamison Valley, and is the Blue Mountains most iconic site. The view from the lookout at Echo Point is amazing, but once you’ve seen it (and taken the obligatory photograph), there’s not a lot left to do up there except buy a souvenir spoon to say you’ve ‘been there, done that’.

A better way, I believe, to experience the beauty of the Three Sisters, and indeed the whole Blue Mountains region, is to go on one of the local bushwalks and ‘get amongst’ nature. There are many bushwalking tracks that are suitable for young kids. My advice would be to pick one, and be prepared to do it very slowly.

We like to sing a few songs as we walk. Here’s one that we learnt from Playschool – I like it because it encourages my girls to look up to the canopy as well as down to the path.

 

“Walking along, looking around.
Looking up, and looking down.
You never know what you’ll see.
Look, over here. What can it be?
What’s that lying beside the track?”
(as we point out whatever we’ve spotted)
 

Look for pretty leaves, seedpods or unusual rocks as you stroll along. How many insects you can spot? Can you hear any birds? What does the bush smell like? How does it make you feel?

 

Turpentine tree seed pods, blue mountains
JJ gathered these turpentine tree seed pods…
Obligatory family shot with the one thousand year old turpentine tree, Blue Mountains National Park
…which may grow into a beautiful old turpentine tree like this one, estimated to be about 1000 years old and still growing…

 

Scenic World, Katoomba
A good bushwalking option for families with young kids are the walks around Scenic World, at Katoomba.

We were invited to spend an afternoon there recently, and the kids loved every minute of it. Scenic World have four main attractions: Scenic Skyway, Scenic Cableway, Scenic Railway and Scenic Walkway, all with stunning views of Jamison Valley and the Three Sisters.

The Scenic Walkway is 2.4 kilometres (around 1.5 miles) of elevated boardwalks through the rainforest and into the valley. Dotted along the way are historical artefacts of the region’s prior coal mining times. Most of the tourists stick to just a few short sections of the track, but if you meander a little further along, you can find a slice of peace amongst the tall ancient trees. There are also side tracks leading off the Scenic Walkway into the Blue Mountains National Park.

Boardwalks near Scenic World, with spectacular Blue Mountains cliffs

Bushwalks (and rest stops) around Scenic World, Blue Mountains, Australia

Coal miners hut - bushing walking near Scenic World, Blue Mountains

As guests of Scenic World, we were lucky enough to be shown around by an employee who told us all about the region, including how to find water if you ever get lost in the bush (look for five-leafed water vines), how the Blue Mountains achieved world heritage status (because of it’s unique varieties of eucalypt trees), and why there are great boulders on the valley floor (from an earthquake 10,000 years ago). My kids loved following a ‘teacher’ around and peppering him with questions.

You can access Jamison Valley and the Scenic Walkway from Echo Point via the historic ‘Giant Stairway’ track, which, whilst amazing, is something that I’m saving for when the kids are older. I’ve done this 4.2km one way trip loads of times as an older child and again as an adult, and I remember well how slippery it can be in some sections, and how much my legs ached when I realised I had to walk all the way back up again. Which is why, especially with young kids in tow, I am very grateful for two convenient options, being the Scenic Cableway and the Scenic Railway.

The Scenic Cableway is a very gentle (and pram-friendly) choice that’s perfect for even the youngest tot. You can relax and enjoy the absolutely spectacular views of the Three Sisters, Orphan Rock, Mt Solitary and Katoomba Falls as you glide back up the mountain.

Approaching the lower terminal on the Scenic Cableway

Kids view from the Scenic Cablecar - notice the BLUE mountains in the background

View of The Three Sisters from inside the Scenic Cableway, in Katoomba, Blue Mountains, Australia
View of the Three Sisters, taken through the glass, from inside the Scenic Cableway.

 

The Scenic Railway, on the other hand, is for the thrill seekers amongst us. It’s the steepest passenger railway in the world, and it feels more like a roller coaster ride than a legitimate form of transporation. You even have the option to set your seat at three different angles, Cliffhanger, Original or Laid Back, depending on the level of thrill that you seek. We chose Cliffhanger: the kids sat on our laps, and we held on tight!

About to board the scenic railway, with view of The Three Sisters in the background

Scenic Railway, near Katoomba, Blue Mountains, Australia

Riding the Scenic Railway, and this isn't even the steepest bit!
Apologies for the blurry photo – it was hard to hold the camera steady and hold on to the rails at the same time!

 

When you’re back up at Scenic World HQ, there’s a horizontal cablecar you can ride as well: the Scenic Skyway travels between the two cliff tops, with 360o views of the valley below, linking up to bushwalking trails that lead back to Echo Point on the other side. I love how the cablecar has nice low windows, making it easy for little kids to enjoy the views as well.

Views from the Scenic Skyway, in Katoomba, Blue Mountains

View of the Scenic Skyway and Katoomba Falls waterfall from the Blue Mountains National Park
View of the Scenic Skyway (and Katoomba Falls) from the valley below

To make the most of your day at Scenic World, it pays to arrive early. In fact, some days if you arrive before 10.00am, you might be eligible for an early bird discount – check the ticketing options when you book.

Single day entry tickets to Scenic World are $35 (for adults), $18 (for children 4-13 years) or $88 for families, all of which include unlimited rides on the Railway, Skyway, Cableway and Walkway. Children under 4 are free.

If you love the great outdoors, it might be worthwhile looking at an annual pass. (This could make a great experiential gift for Christmas perhaps?) Family annual passes are available for $239, including unlimited access 365 days a year, with discounts off retail, dining and additional guest passes.

This Christmas season, for the first time ever, Scenic World will open in the evening as well (until 8.00 or 8.30pm), with staggered ticket entry times to minimise queues and keep access fair for everyone. I’ve not seen it myself, but I reckon the views would be spectacular on a hot summer’s evening, with the setting sun splashing red and gold over the cliff faces…

And then make sure to come back again in Autumn when they hold their annual Sculptures at Scenic World event – from what I’ve seen, it looks amazing!

 

Free camping in the Blue Mountains

If you are campers (or campervanners like us), then you may be interested in hearing about a few places where you are allowed to camp overnight for free in the Blue Mountains.

We stopped one night in Old Ford Reserve, in Megalong Valley. The reserve is on the bank of a creek, and is very natural and earthy. There’s lots of open space for the kids to run around, and of course, it’s full of nature’s toys: leaves, seed-pods, sticks, dirt.  There are limited flat sites, so I’d advise getting there early to nab the best spot (unless you don’t mind sleeping on a mild slope). We tend to be fairly self-sufficient when we camp, but there are some basic facilities available, like a fire pit, picnic tables, and a (slightly gross) composting toilet. Bring your own everything else, including drinking water and toilet paper!

We also stopped one night in Cathedral Reserve, on Mt Irvine Rd, near Mount Wilson. This is an absolutely stunning part of the world, and I highly recommend a visit, even if just as a rest stop.

Cathedral reserve

The reserve is a large (flat) open space surrounded by liquid amber trees, backing onto a lush rainforest. Directly across the road is an easy 10 minute bushwalking trail to the Cathedral of the Ferns and the giant tree. My kids are convinced this trail is populated by fairies. I think I agree.

Cathedral of the ferns bushwalk the giant tree, cathedral of the ferms walk

 

The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden, Mount Tomah

This area of the Blue Mountains has deep, rich, volcanic soil, which just encourages plants to thrive. The whole area is bountiful, and the botanic gardens are no exception. The gardens specialise in cool weather plants from around the world, and is split up by regions, including wetlands, arid regions and rainforests. The garden’s are expansive, so be prepared to carry kids part of the way, or just stick to a small section. Entry is free, 364 days a year.

Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens

Mount Tomah Botanic Gardens

 

We’re planning to head back up the mountains again in the new year. So my question to you is, where should we go next? Do you have any hot tips to share??

xx Danya

Disclosing that this is a sponsored post for Nuffnang and Scenic World. All opinions are my {or my children’s} own.

Exploring Australias Blue Mountains with kids

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18

How to make a DIY scratch off advent calendar by modifying Christmas ornaments with this simple trick!

Make your own scratch off Christmas advent calendar (Christmas countdown) with this tutorial

Scratch-off advent calendar idea using wooden Christmas ornaments

It’s November, which means it’s time for Christmas crafts! And the first Christmas craft in our household is usually making our advent calendars. We started a few years ago with this easy recycled Christmas card advent calendar (which is a great one if you’ve left it to the very last minute). Last year we got a little craftier, with our Christmas tree advent calendar that we made from toilet paper rolls. This year I thought I’d see if I could make a DIY scratch-off advent calendar because, well, scratching off and revealing things underneath is kinda cool. It adds a little bit of intrigue to all the advent fun. 🙂

 

DIY scratch-off advent calendar, that doubles as decorations for your Christmas tree

 

How make scratch-off advent calendar ornaments for the Christmas countdown

I gathered most of our supplies for this project from Spotlight. (If you haven’t heard of Spotlight before, it’s an awesome Australian sewing and craft superstore {aka my happy place}, and the lovely sponsor of this post today).

To make our scratch-off ornaments, I used:

  • Two dimensional wooden Christmas ornaments
  • Gold acrylic paint
  • Dishwashing liquid
  • Paint brush
  • Paper and pen (or computer / printer if you prefer)
  • Clear packing tape
  • Glue stick
  • Scissors
  • Thin permanent marker

 

DIY scratch off Christmas activity advent calendar for kids

 

I’m just a little bit in love with the Jolly and Joy wooden ornaments that we found at Spotlight, in 2D heart, star, angel and tree shapes. They have a subtle gold stamp design on one side, and plain white on the back. They also have a little clay bauble on the loop (which came in handy for adding dates later on).

 

1. Decide on your list of advent calendar activities
I took some care in deciding on our advent calendar activities this year, trying to balance of fun ideas that I can pick ahead of time, and yet won’t put us under too much pressure if our days don’t go as planned. A few of our activities are things that we will be doing anyway (like the school Christmas concert). A few of our activities are simply the titles of Christmas books we have on our bookshelves (especially great for days where our calendar is already looking busy). Some of the activities are intentionally vague so we can decide on the day exactly what we want to do. And I may also have thrown in “Carols on the piano”, just so I can have the kids check if there’s someone called Carol sitting on our piano. I’m fairly sure they’ll think it’s hilarious. 🙂

 

2. Write (or print) out your activities onto paper. Cut them out, making sure they are small enough to fit on your ornaments, with space to spare.
I decided to handwrite our advent activities for a home-made touch. I don’t get to practice my handwriting very often these days!

 

3. Lightly glue each activity to the back of the ornaments.
You could skip this step if you like, but I found it handy to position each activity in place on the ornaments before adding the tape in the next step.

 

4. Cut packing tape to size, and stick over each activity, allowing for a few millimetres overlap on each edge.
This will seal the activities, so that they will be protected from the scratch-off paint later on. I actually tested out three different ways to seal the activities, using clear sticky-backed contact paper, Mod Podge sealer and regular clear packing tape, and I found packing tape to be the best for this particular project.

 

5. Add dates to your ornaments
I know you’re keen to get to the scratch-off paint part, but before we get to that, you’ll need a way to remember which activity is which! For ours, I used a thin permanent marker (Sharpie CD/DVD Marker) to add numbers 1-24, according to my activity list, onto the little clay bauble on the loop of each ornament.

 

6. Make your own scratch off paint mix
OK, here comes the fun part! To make scratch-off paint, mix two parts gold acrylic paint with one part dishwashing liquid (which my international readers may know as ‘dish soap’).

 

7. Paint several coats of scratchable paint over the entire back of the ornament, allowing time to dry between coats.
Our ornaments needed three coats before they were opaque enough to conceal the secret advent calendar activities inside. The first coat was quite transparent, but I was able to apply the second and third coats quite thickly, leaving lots of time to dry between coats. (Tip: try to be gentle when painting over the taped area, lest your paint brush scratch off earlier coats. I found gently dabbing the paint on to be more effective than ‘brushing’ it on.)

 

Making DIY scratch off advent calendar ornaments
First coat (wet)
Waiting for the second coat of scratch-off paint to dry
Second coat (wet)
DIY scratch off Christmas advent calendar ornament
Third coat (dry)

 

Once I reached an opacity I was happy with, I just had to grab a coin and test it out! I found the paint scratched off the sealed taped area quite easily, revealing the secret message inside.

 

Make your own scratch off Christmas advent calendar ornaments

 

I scratched off our 1st December activity, which by tradition, is always ‘put up Christmas tree’, so I haven’t really spoilt the surprise too much. The kids are busting to know what other activities are hidden under the scratch paint on the other ornaments though! They’ll have to wait and find out (although, if you keep reading, I might let you in on our secrets in a minute or two….)

But first, we needed a Christmas tree to hang our advent ornaments from! We couldn’t decide if we wanted to hang them from our mini fir tree (while we wait until December 1st to put up our ‘real’ one), or to paint our own Christmas tree table centrepiece, so we tried out both.

 

For our Christmas tree table centrepiece, we used:

  • Standing Christmas tree centrepiece
  • Red acrylic paint
  • Mod Podge matte waterbase sealer
  • Paint brush
  • Sticky tape (or blu-tack) to attach the ornaments

 

Painting the Christmas tree table centrepiece

Hand-painted Christmas tree table centrepiece

 

Even with two coats, I totally over-estimated how much red acrylic paint we’d need. The smaller tube size would be plenty. Bonus that we now have lots of extra paint to play with though!

Here’s how it looks with just twelve activities. (Perfect if you are doing the twelve days of Christmas perhaps?)

 

DIY Christmas advent calendar with scratch-off activities using items from Spotlight

 

And here’s how it looks with all 24. It’s a tad crowded at first, but you could remove one activity a day, perhaps hanging it as an ornament on your regular Christmas tree, and gradually revealing more of the pretty cherry red as Christmas day approaches.

 

Scratch off Christmas activity advent calendar using beautiful wooden ornaments from Spotlight

 

The kids have opted to keep the the advent ornaments on the mini fir tree for now, but I have a feeling they’ll be moved around from one tree to the other over the next few weeks.

 

DIY scratch off advent Christmas ornaments. Hang them on a mini fir tree for the kids to scratch off and reveal a new activity each day.

Our advent calendar activity list

I’ve included our advent activity list below, in case you’d like some inspiration.

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve added in some of our family Christmas traditions (like putting up the Christmas tree on December 1st), and some organised events that we’re planning to attend.

Some of the ‘activities’ are actually the titles of books that we always bring out at this time of year. My kids love reading, so they will think snuggling up and reading a Christmas story together is very special (even if it’s a book they’ve read before). If we’re feeling up for it, we might use the books as inspiration for a Christmas craft, activity or themed snack too. But… we’ll wait and see how we feel on the day.

Otherwise, I’ve left many of the activities intentionally vague, so we can decide exactly what we want to do, depending on our time and energy levels. For instance, ‘Gingerbread’ could mean: make a gingerbread man; buy a gingerbread man from the shops; give a gingerbread man as a gift to a friend; make and decorate a gingerbread house; create a piece of gingerbread house art using mixed media; or play with some gingerbread playdough (which was something we did last year and the kids loved it.)

Pretty advent calendar Christmas ornaments, including instructions on how to make your own scratch-off paint
Our 2015 advent calendar activity list
1. Put up Christmas tree
2. Pearlie & the Christmas Angel
3. Dance to Christmas music
4. Write to Santa
5. Make Christmas cards
6. Candy cane
7. Santa Claus & His Elves
8. The Little Christmas Elf
9. Carols on the piano
10. Eggnog
11. Christmas biscuits
12. Christmas craft
13. The Bears’ Christmas
14. Carols by Candlelight
15. Christmas art
16. School Christmas concert
17. Christmas movie
18. Gingerbread
19. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
20. Candy cane
21. Christmas craft
22. Christmas movie
23. Christmas game
24. Treats for Santa and Reindeer

Are you making an advent calendar this year? If you do activities, what do you add to your activity list?

 

For more homemade Christmas fun, check out our Christmas Activities for Kids page. Or you can always subscribe to our newsletter, to be kept up-to-date with all our latest activities.

xx Danya

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Spotlight and includes affiliate link(s) where appropriate. All opinions are, as always, my and my kids’ own. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.

 

Make your own scratch-off advent calendar (Christmas countdown) with this recipe and tutorial for DIY gold scratch-off paint. Customise with fun Christmas activities that your kids will enjoy!

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13

No more boredom! How we encourage good old-fashioned child-led play in the backyard with our young kids.

8 ways to encourage good old-fashioned backyard play by Danya Banya

The kids have been directing their own play more and more lately. It’s gold! They can easily spend a whole day in the backyard, deep in good old-fashioned play.

One of the contributing factors for this is their age. At 5 and 3 years old, the girls have got to the point where they can play collaboratively together, and are looking to me less and less for direction and entertainment.

Another big factor, is that we’ve tried really hard to set up an environment and atmosphere where open-ended, child-led play is encouraged. I believe that this has made a big difference in the way that they play. It’s a work in progress (and I don’t think we’ll ever be truly ‘finished’), but I thought I would share some of the things that are working for us so far. Continue reading Good Old-Fashioned Backyard Play

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12

Glow in the dark balloon party decorations

This is a sponsored post for Nuffnang and illoom balloons.

I just heard about this really cool new product: glow-in-the-dark balloons! Seriously! They are called illoom balloons, and they have an actual little inbuilt LED light inside each balloon, that lights up for up to 15 hours.

Genius!

Illoom balloons would be perfect for a night-time party or a dark indoor disco, where you can hang up them and add a bit of light and festivity to otherwise dark corners. The darker the room (or night), the better and brighter they appear.

Illooms come in a bunch of different shapes, colours and patterns. We were lucky enough to receive a few different ones to trial. (I love my ‘job’ sometimes!) Continue reading Glowing Balloon Party Decorations

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