Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

They say an army marches on its stomach and for the want of a horse shoe nail a battle was lost. Well, what playgroup runs without using some kind of junk?

In this day and age, it's also, I guess, a responsible thing, especially if there's bits and pieces that we just cannot put into local recycling schemes.

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

We use a fair amount of recycled bits and pieces and here are some of our favourite:

1. Play-doh pots

We use Play-doh every week at our playgroup. We like to put our fresh pots every so often and it's quite surprising many we get through. Once, emptied and cleaned, they make great pots for keeping lots of bits and pieces, but I love using them as glue pots, for PVA glue. If you keep the lid and put it on the top, once you've finished, and if you've  put the lid on properly, it helps keep the glue from drying out. This also helps prevent glue wastage.


2. Ready meal trays 

The black plastic trays are apparently the worst for recycling. It seems they are difficult for recycling machines to separate. in our area, the local authority won't collect them. However, at our playgroup we often use them as pots to put out bits and pieces for craft, or as trays for holding paint, for craft activities. They can be washed out and used again, if you need to.

Re-purposed ready meal trays being used for printing.

3. Plastic bottles

These can be used in all kinds of ways. Either for junk modelling or making into skittles. My use for plastic bottles, however, is for a craft - turning them into instruments.

Once decorated with stickers and or washi tape, they can be transformed.

The bottle tops can also be re-purposed in various ways - wheels on models of vehicles, for example.


4. Cardboard tubes

Who hasn't made something using a cardboard tube at some point in their lives? These days, I'd recommend using kitchen roll tubes rather than toilet rolls, as I consider them more hygienic. However, I have heard that a quick blast in the microwave can make your toilet rolls hygenic.


5. Glass jars & dessert pots

Obviously you have to be careful, when using glass around young children. Nobody needs or wants broken glass around. However, occasional use, when warranted, is also the perfect opportunity to teach little ones about handling things carefully. 

We love using little glass ramekins, bought containing desserts, as Christmas candle pots and glass jars can make great nightlight holders.

A little decoration can transform a plain glass ramekin.

6. Bubble wrap 

We use bubble wrap for printing. It can be used to great effect, when wrapped round a cardboard tube.


7. Wool

Odds and ends of wool can be used to recreate hair, as seen in this farmer craft.

8. Buttons

Embellish crafts with buttons. Sometimes they can also be used as a feature. In this Poppy craft, buttons worked well in the centre.

And in this Snowman craft, they made great buttons down his front, but black buttons could also have been used for the mouth, although in this case we used stickers.

9. Plant Pots

Whenever we have a planting activity, we like to reuse the smaller pots that you get when you buy bedding plants. A simple clean in a bucket, makes them suitable to use once more.

Plastic pots like these cannot be recycled, so why not reuse them?

Do you recycle?

I would love to know what you reuse, in your craft activities and also how you transform it!

Autumn Leaf Plaques

This craft was inspired by a jewellery workshop I participated in during the summer in which we made pendants and earrings using a form of porcelain clay. 

One of the ideas we were encouraged to try involved pressing plant materials into the clay, then colouring the impressions with under glaze paints. The pieces were later glazed and fired for us.

For the purposes of our craft, firing was not going to be a possibility, neither would painting the pieces once dry. It needed to be an all-in-one process. So we came up with the idea of using leaf stamps, to make plaques like these:

Just like the jewellery project, this craft proved extremely popular.

Leaf Plaque

We used air dry clay for our project. I would imagine that salt dough clay could also be used, but it would require a little baking.

Equipment:

• air dry clay (we used white, but you can also buy coloured clay, although this is likely to be more expensive)

• poster paint/plastic trays/sponges

• leaf stamps (or you could use natural leaves)

• rolling pins

• paper plates or small piece of card

• pens (to label paper plates with names)

• cutters - ours was 10 cm diameter (optional)

• ribbon

• drinking straws (cut in half)

• scissors (to cut ribbon)

• PVA glue to act as a 'varnish' & brush to apply

We used these leaf stamps*

Preparation:

In advance:

• order/buy clay 

• order/buy leaf stamps (or gather leaves, you need to dry them a bit before use, but not too dry, or they will become brittle and fall apart)

• cut ribbon into short lengths

• cut a few drinking straws in half (these will be used to make a nice clean hole in the top of the plaques)

On the day:

• pour poster paint onto sponges and work into the sponge, so that it isn't just a blob on top, then place in a plastic tray. I provided just two colours: yellow ochre and brown.

Soaking the paint into the sponges helps to prevent blobby prints

• roll lumps of clay into small balls

• make an example, to show the children, before they begin

Here's the 'one I made earlier'

Method:

1. Help children into paint overalls.

2. Give each child a paper plate, ball of clay and a rolling pin. The paper plate will be used to roll out the clay, but also to take home the finished piece. This avoids making too much mess on the table, but also avoids lifting the clay plaque before it has dried, which could lead to the plaque becoming deformed. A small piece of card could be used as an alternative.

3. Children roll out clay. A round cutter can be used to make a distinct shape, or it can be left as a 'free' shape, which also looks quite visually appealing. Excess clay can be peeled off from around the edge, once the cutter has been pressed in firmly. 

This plaque is a 'free' shape. No cutter used. 

This plaque has been cut to shape with a round cutter.

4. Children make their designs, by pushing collected leaves or leaf stamps into the paint, then into the clay. As you can see from the illustrations, some used more than one stamp, creating various effects.

Another 'free' shape.

 5. Children press the end of the drinking straw into the top of the plaque, to make a hole for the ribbon, which may or may not need to be threaded by an adult. Some of the older children may be able to do this completely by themselves.

6. Write the child's name on the edge of the paper plate, on which the children will take their leaf plaques home to dry.

7. Place the paper plates on the 'home' table, until the end of the session, then use baby wipes to clean up. It is important to be thorough when cleaning up clay, as tiny dry clay particles aren't great for you, when breathed in.

8. If parents and children are returning the next week, you may wish to provide PVA to 'varnish' over the clay, or to quickly varnish them yourself, for them to pick up the following week, although this is not entirely necessary.


*We sourced ours from Baker Ross. We are not affiliated to Baker Ross in any way. We do not profit by mentioning them. Baker Ross are mentioned merely to assist sourcing of materials.

Autumnal Leaf Wind Spinners

The idea for this craft was acquired from a group I helped with the other year, who were putting on a Light party. 
I carefully stored the idea in my head and up it popped at our Autumn Term planning meeting. 

Unusually for me, I'm posting it BEFORE we've done it, as I'll be missing from the group next week, and wanted to leave my instructions where they could easily be found!

Hey presto...

The original completed flat 'Spinner' that inspired this week's craft.

The craft is based on those snake spinners you may have made as a child. You cut out a spiral, which once decorated and opened up, looks something like this:

Hanging 'Spinner'.

Unfortunately, this one has dropped slightly. The more you stick on it, the more it will stretch and drop, so you might need to warn the parents that this could happen.

Hopefully, the cute little foam stickers that we ordered from Baker Ross*, which are smaller than the leaves in the original version, will drag our spinners down less!

Equipment:

• Card in Autumnal hues

• Scissors

• Hole punch

• Ribbon

• Leaf stickers/shapes

• Paint in Autumnal hues

• Paint trays

• Baby wipes

• Overalls

Foam stickers are great for little fingers

Preparation:

This craft is quite prep heavy!

• Order/buy leaf shape stickers.

• Photocopy spinner onto light card in Autumnal hues (eg. red, orange, yellow).

• Cut spinners out.

• Use a hole punch to punch a hole in the end of the spinner. Or you could stick yarn on with sellotape.

• Cut short lengths of ribbon or wool (ours is from Baker Ross*).

• Pour poster paint in Autumnal hues into some paint trays.

Painted fingerprints add additional skill and interest.

Method:

1. Help children put on overalls.

2. Give each child a spinner with their name written on the back first. It may help to add the ribbon at this stage too!

3. Show children how to finger print paint along the spiral (great for practicing the kind of motor skills they need for tracing letters).

4. Give children a selection of Autumnal leaves to stick on their spinner. I would suggest doling these out, once they've finished their painting, to avoid running out before the end of the session.

5. Place on 'Home' table to dry. Wipe sticky fingers off with Baby wipes.


*Please note: We are not affiliated to Baker Ross. Any mention of brands is purely to aid sourcing of materials. There is no financial gain from running this blog.

Leaf Puppets

It's funny how some crafts are real crowd pleasers, and often it's the ones you wouldn't imagine that really spark interest, like these leaf people puppets that we made last year.

How d'you do?

This is a great craft for those who don't like too much mess.

We only provided the bare minimum of materials, but somehow these leaf creatures have a real life of their own!

Equipment

• Photocopier card in autumnal colours (red/orange etc.)

• Googly eyes

• Twigs

• Lolly sticks

• Selloptape

• Felt pens

Preparation

Somewhat more laborious to prepare than some of our crafts, unless you can buy pre-cut leaves online. 

• First photocopy leaf shapes onto Autumnal coloured card and cut them out. 

• Gather leaves and twigs.

Method

1. Children choose the leaf shape that appeals to them.

2. Help children fasten lolly stick to the back of the leaf, with selloptape.

3. Children stick on googly eyes and add limbs to their creatures, using twigs and sellotape (children will need help with sellotape).

4. Name leaf creatures on the back and place on the home table.

Autumn Wreath

I don't know about you, but I love seeing art 'in progress'. 

There are so many decisions to be made; over colours and composition. I love watching little ones working this out for themselves. Sometimes the art produced is not what you had in mind, but its all part of the learning process for those little brains, eyes and hands. 

This particular craft created so much opportunity for taking pictures, I couldn't help myself. I hope you enjoy them too, as I take you through this simple and effective craft. It was another one of 'those' that the parents loved straight away. It was inspired by our Holly Wreath craft from last Christmas, and was just as fun to make.

Focus on the process

Equipment:

• Paper Plates

• Leaves cut from light card in various autumnal hues

• Autumn Leaf shapes (bought pre-cuts)

• Ribbon

• Scissors

• Sellotape

• Poster paint in autumnal hues

• PVA/pots/glue spreaders

• Paint trays

• Paintbrushes

• Painting Overalls/shirts

• Wet wipes

Preparation:

1. Buy pre-cut leaves* and/or cut leaves from light card stock. We had a mix of both, to keep costs down, but you could use all card, or all bought.

2. Cut out centre of paper plates.

3. On the day, when setting up, mix poster paints with one at least third PVA, so you can stick leaves directly onto the paint. We gave the children a choice of a mustard yellow or brown, to paint onto the wreath.

4. Cut short lengths of ribbon for hanging, and stick them to the back of the cardboard circle shape, using sellotape.

5. Make an 'example' so the children can see what you're aiming for.

Easy craft for little ones

Method:

1. Make sure each child is wearing an overall and has sleeves rolled up before they start. This one is going to be messy!

2. Give each child a card circle and help them to write their name on the back (you can do this at the end, but it will be a lot more messy).

3. Show the children how to apply the paint to the card circle and then to stick leaves on to the paint.

4. As the children begin to layer leaves, they may have difficulty making some to stick, this is where the pots of glue and spreaders come in to play.

5. Once the child is finished, place the wreath to dry and clean up. At this stage it is advisable to clean the child's place before the next child comes along, otherwise their work well may stick to the table.

A completed wreath

*We got our leaves from The Works (£1 a packet). You can also buy them at The Range. We are not affiliated to these stores, but mention them purely to aid sourcing. There may be other places that also stock them.

Muffin Case Poppies

Its coming up to that time of year again, where we remember those who gave their lives in the ultimate sacrifice. 

Its a humbling time for those of us who understand the momentous weight of it all, when we consider the price that they paid. I often wonder whether of faced with the same situation again, if we would find it within ourselves to play our part. 

Obviously, working with toddlers, we know that much of this is beyond their little worlds, so in toddler group, for now, we just concentrate on the scarlet of the poppy that is the symbol of our Remembrance.

This poppy craft doesn't allow much for individuality, but they were easy and proved a popular craft when we made them last year. Lets' put it this way; none were left behind!!

Poppy craft

Equipment:

• Red Muffin cases

• Black buttons or large black sequins (we preferred buttons, because they were easier to handle. Bigger buttons are the best.

• PVA glue/glue pots/glue spreaders

• Green lolly sticks

• Felt pen (for writing names on sticks)

• Overalls

• Baby wipes

Preparation:

• Order red muffin paper cases and green lolly sticks (we ordered ours from Amazon). This may need to be done some time in advance, in order to ensure it arrives in time.

• Source/gather black buttons (we bought a selection from Hobbycraft and teased out the black ones.

Method:

1. Show the children how to place a blob PVA glue on one end of their green lolly stick, and place their red muffin case over the top.

2. Show the children how to place another blob of PVA glue in the centre of the red muffin case, and place their black buttons over the glue. Some children used more than one.

3. Write the children's names on their lolly sticks and place on the home table.

Please note: any links to or mentions of specific materials are purely to aid sourcing, no earnings are made via these links.

Autumnal Trees

One of my favourite seasons as far as craft is concerned is Autumn. The colours spark joy in me, especially when I see blazing Autumnal colour contrasting with a bright blue sky, on a clear, sunny Autumn day.

Capturing those colours in toddler craft is so much fun, especially when its a craft as simple as this one. The children had great fun doing this one, so much so, that the little artist responsible for this picture made three versions!

The original aim was to use photocopied sheets, such as those used in another Autumn Tree craft, but in the event, the photocopier broke, so we ended up drawing the trees for the children, using brown crayon. In some ways this probably actually resulted in a nicer finish.

Autumn Tree

Equipment:

• Photocopied tree sheet (A3)

• Paint in autumnal hues

• Paint trays (paper plates on this occasion

• Aluminium foil

• Pens (for labelling pictures)

• Painting overalls

• Baby wipes

Preparation:

• Draw tree shape and photocopy copies for each child.

• Scrunch up foil into loose balls and place in the paint trays, ready for 'blobbing'.

Method:

1. Roll up sleeves and put on overalls.

2. Show children how to apply paint to the foil balls and use them to dab paint onto the tree shape.

3. Children apply paint to the trees.

4. Tree pictures labelled and left to dry on the home table.

5. Clean up children, before they leave the table.

Sheep Craft 2

I've made some form of sheep craft with little ones, almost every year. This year, we decided to opt for printing our sheep, in order to give the children a chance to try something different. As we have some children for several years in a row, before they go to school, we can't do the same thing year on year for everything, although we do repeat some ideas that work really well.

We first saw the idea on Pinterest and liked it a lot, but the version we saw still involved cutting out lots of heads and legs, which we weren't too keen on! So we decided to modify the idea by drawing a sheep outline, head and legs legs onto a sheet of A4 paper, then photocopy it onto light green card.


The only drawback, to this idea is that it does limit the children's creativity a little bit. Some children like to apply multiple legs and eyes to their creations! 

However, at our group we try to achieve a balance some crafts allow for more creativity than others. This is in the hope that mums who like their children's work to look recognizable, or who don't like too much mess, will be drawn into the craft. Once drawn in, they are more likely to participate again.

A photocopied sheet certainly saves on preparation time!!

Equipment:

• Photocopied sheet with sheep outline

• Large corks (champagne bottles seem to have the best)

• White poster paint

• Googly eyes

• Paper plates (easy palettes)

• Painting overalls

• Baby wipes

Preparation:

• Collect some corks! Big corks are best. We managed to blag some big champagne corks off someone. They work great for tiny hands. 

• Draw sheep outline on A4 paper and photocopy onto card - card holds poster paint better than paper. We used a pale green card to give the sheep a background.

Method:

1. Roll up sleeves and put on overalls.

2. Show children how to apply paint to corks and how to print with them. 

3. Children apply googly eyes to their sheep.

4. Sheep can be left to dry on the home table.

5. Children can now be cleaned up!

Addendum:

When we have a 'messy' craft, we aim to clear some mess as we go, in order to keep the table looking inviting for those who have yet had a go.

How to include kids with food allergies at Playgroup

I'm not sure how many children with food allergies you encounter in your daily life, playgroup, pre-school etc. but it probably hasn't escaped your notice that numbers on are on the rise. 

Although I was aware of kids with food allergies when I was working as a teacher, it never really hit my 'radar' until I had a child of my own and she was diagnosed with milk allergy as a newborn. It was quite a bolt from the blue, I can tell you!

My daughter eventually grew out of her allergy (fortunately many do) but it was an incredibly isolating experience in many ways, as it made going out and about so much more difficult. As a result, it has made me determined that at our playgroup, those with food allergies can come and feel welcome. Although it may not always prove possible, we do our best to include them in whatever way we can. 

If you would like to do the same, here's just a few pointers to think about:


1. Registration

We register all children when they come to our group for the first time. The registration form includes a section on allergies, so we can identify who may be at risk. At this point we try to fit in a chat about the severity of the allergy and what we can/cannot provide. We cannot guarantee 100% safety, but we will do our best. We never turn anyone away, it is always up to the parent to make the risk assessment for themselves.


2. Catering for all

a) Our catering team have a checklist of which children have allergies and what they are. We communicate with them about which children are present that session.

Our chart just shows the allergens present in our group

b) Our catering team have clear instructions about procedures (see picture above). The important thing is to avoid what's called 'cross-contamination' of food.

Orgran are usually a 'safe' bet

c) We usually provide healthy snacks for the children involving fruit/veg. and rice cakes/bread sticks, but we also have a few treats in the cupboard like these. *Orgran are a great company for producing allergy alternatives. If not available at a store near you, they can be purchased online.

d) Some nurseries and pre-schools use separate coloured bowls for children with food allergies. We prefer to label the bowl, if necessary, but usually it's not, as we only usually have a few each session, so we can easily keep tabs.

3. Separate activities and food

We try to avoid having drinks or food in the main play and craft area. This also helps with clearing up afterwards and reduces some risk of accidents with hot drinks. 

We do this by having a separate room for coffee/snack time, immediately followed by singing (whilst we have everyone seated) this allows time for everyone to finish.

A separate area for food/drink also helps any parents who would prefer to avoid this part of the session. We have only had one do this regularly and one of our volunteers usually takes her out a drink and chats with her, whilst the singing takes place.

4. Keep clean

a) A quick visual inspection (as you are setting up) is vital for safety anyway, especially if, like us, you share the use of a hall, so keep an eye out for any traces of food/drink as you do so.

b) We try to ensure baby wipes are always on hand for any sticky fingers! This way we can try to avoid traces of food transferring via toys and helps keep the toys cleaner too! 

c) Regular toy cleaning sessions help too and not just for food allergies, but for general hygiene. We try to avoid buying/accepting (people always try to pass on toys) which cannot be washed easily. Toys that can go through a dishwasher are the best!

d) Clear up any spillages as soon as possible, which makes sense in terms of safety too!

5. Food Free Craft/Activities

a) We avoid doing activities involving food, unless they can be made suitable for all. Particularly be aware of any that involve cereal, or bird seed, especially regarding children with nut allergies. There are so many fun crafts and activities out there, so there is really no need to include food!

b) Check materials, when purchasing e.g. paint, chalk, play dough, to make sure there are no hidden allergens!

6. Food Free Prizes

We try to avoid giving out food/sweets as prizes, which in this day and age is probably for the best anyway. When giving out sweets for special occasions e.g. Easter we try to give them all the same. *Haribo have always been great for us, so far. At Easter they do multi packs containing Easter sweets, which is what we use!

8. Communicate!

Keep the channels of communication flowing between you and the parent. It helps build relationship and trust on all sides and not just in relation to food allergies. Sometimes our Mums just need to talk to a fellow human being.

8. First Aid

A number of our staff (all volunteers) are trained in first aid, including with use of an Epi pen, but thankfully, we've never had to use one yet!

May be it's just because I'm so used to it, but I don't think including children with food allergies is that difficult. We've had a number that have been regulars over the years, without any incident. You may have noticed that most of these tips are just good practice anyway, in keeping safe and clean. So let's be welcoming and inclusive and let ALL the little children play!

*Just to be clear: we are not affiliated with any of the companies listed. Any products recommended are purely to assist in sourcing.