Category Archives: way to play

Tree with homemade fingerpaint


tree with homemade fingerpaint

Today’s post is so colorful and fun, not just because of the art project, this time Nady is sharing it with his friend Fouad!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

Two days ago Nady came from the nursery with a painting made of dots. I knew then they are exploring circles and dots. As i mentioned once, my son is my inspiration for the activities, so lets paint a tree practicing dots!

To prepare this easy recipe you need:

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 2 1/2 cup water
  • food coloring

Mix water and salt in a pot. Set the heat on medium, slowly add the flour and mix with a whisk to not get lumps. Once it starts thickening, put down the heat and keep stirring until you get the right consistency, custard like.

Leave it to cool, then divide it in containers as many colors you want to have. Add your colors and mix well. And here is your homemade fingerpaint!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

With a brown paper i made the cut out of the trunk shape to set the starting point.

tree with homemade fingerpaint

Nady, already familiar with this type of painting couldn’t wait to start, Fouad (should mention he is 7 months younger) was exploring this messy art for the first time, but all what mommy needed to do is dump those tiny fingers in the paint and let the fun begin!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

tree with homemade fingerpaint

There are plenty of activities you can do to encourage creative play at your home. Painting is so tempting, one of the creative plays that offers many skills to learn especially when freedom is left to explore.

Children love being creative if they are given the chance, such activities develop a love for the creative process, enlarge their brain and set them up as creative thinkers in all walks of life.

Don’t hesitate to do such messy activities at home, children love the paint! Try not to stress about the mess and let them enjoy being creative. Of course shouldn’t be a war zone as well, set the rules and boundaries and let them enjoy! Homemade recipes are always the safest and easiest to be cleaned with less risk of stains.

The physical, emotional and social benefits and skills gained from such activities are worth the mess!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

Painting develop fine motor skills in early age which in turn helps them to be writing ready as they are near school age.

tree with homemade fingerpaint

Even at young age, creative activities help to develop maths skills such as geometry (size and shape).

Look at the art pieces we got at the end:

tree with homemade fingerpaint

This is the chef d’oeuvre of Fouad, he didn’t just use his hands but his feet as well! i loved how he was exploring the paint!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

And this is the chef d’oeuvre of Nady, we framed it and add it to his wall of art!

tree with homemade fingerpaint

Aren’t they beautiful?

We spent a really fun creative afternoon! A refaire sans dire!

clothespin airplanes – kids crafts


clothpins airplanes

We travel a lot, therefor airplanes became familiar to my son who is very enthusiastic for. Today we decided to travel somewhere in our imagination using clothespin, popsicles sticks and pompoms.

clothespin airplanes

Simple and easy activity (doesn’t need too much preparation) to strengthen his motor skills, enrich his vocabulary and widen his imagination.

We were bored at home, and i wanted to create a last minute simple activity to make him busy. But i didn’t want the fun to end fast. So we started by sorting the colors by naming them and the objects we are using before we create the planes. Very simple way to teach your kid the colors and adding new words to his vocab.

clothespin airplanes

Putting a popsicle stick inside the clothespin might seem easy, but for small hands and tiny muscles it needs fine motricity to pinch the clothespin. With a little help from mommy, here are the wings!

clothespin airplanes

clothespin airplanes

To make it more realistic, stick pompoms on each side of the pretending wings. Sticking is an interesting activity to nady. We kept on sticking and removing the pompoms for a while.

clothespin airplanes

Here are our lovely colorful planes!

clothespin airplanes

clothespin airplanes

Actually Nady enjoyed crafting the planes, but he didn’t want to pretend traveling in them. He was pointing at the sky for real planes. Well i don’t blame him 🙂

 

 

Bathtub basketball frenzy


bathtub basketball

There was so much excitement you would have wished to be a kid again to participate in this frenzy of delight!

All you need to do is hang a basketball hoop, (i made it with a foam piece, should be light in weight to be able to stick it), fill the tub with water (at desirable temperature), load it with colorful balls and let the energy flow!

bathtub basketball

Amazed by his concentration and fine motor skills as if he always played basketball, I showed admiration which encouraged him and made him keen not to miss any shot!

bathtub basketball

Such games are not just for finer motor skills but also to develop gifts! My treasure isn’t only a beautiful artist, he is a sportsman as well! Now Papa Antoun please rest assured, Nady likes sports too 🙂

bathtub basketball

He got so excited to dunk as well!

bathtub basketball

We guess Nady is ambidextrous with ability to use both hands at equal ease.

bathtub basketball

bathtub basketball

Fun game in the bathtub with lots of energy, skills and laughter. Watch this video:

You can also see from previous bathtub games:

If you like to join me to the fun and see more of interesting things, follow this blog and like marmite et ponpon facebook page. Happy reading!

DIY food art – kids under the sea breakfast


kids under the sea breakfast

Food art is so fascinating for kids as for adults. I will never mind to get such plate as breakfast in bed. I find it amusing too 🙂

Anyone can make this cute breakfast (could be a snack as well). Very simple and easy. You will need:

  • thin slices of cucumber cut lengthwise for the stems
  • 2 carrots slices to make the fish
  • handful cereal breakfast for the sea
  • small raisins for the water bubbles
  • one big raisin cut in 4 for the turtle hands and legs
  • one medium raisin for the turtle head
  • one kiwi slice for the turtle body
  • edible paint for the turtle and fish eyes (optional)

kids under the sea breakfast

It’s great to get your kid eat healthy food and have fun in the same time. When nady saw the plate he started waving his hands like a fish and singing. The turtle really grabbed his attention too! Amazed by his beautiful breakfast, he was hesitating whether to contemplate, play or start digging in!

kids under the sea breakfast

kids under the sea breakfast

Well he decided to polish off his delicious under the sea breakfast!

kids under the sea breakfast

Never mind if your kid didn’t like the taste of kiwi, It’s one of my many attempts to offer this fruit to him but he doesn’t like it so far! But i will keep on trying…

Try these edible cool arts for your kids and give them a reason to always be happy and enjoy food.

kids under the sea breakfast

Whatever you are doing, always add fun to you and your loved ones life! Happy day to all and lots of love and smiles x

If you like to join me to the fun and see more of interesting things, follow this blog and like marmite et ponpon facebook page. Happy reading!

Bring the sea to the bath


A great and simple way to bring the sea to the bathtub and add more fun to the bath.

In previous times we explored other fun activities to enjoy the bath time and encourage sensory play such as “the bathtub paint” and water balloons”.

Today we created a small sea world in our bathtub simply by adding cyan color gel to the water and tucked in all the sea creatures that we have with nady’s favorite toys.

sea in the bath

We are back in doha, the weather is too hot reaching almost 45ºC. This playtime was an opportunity to beat the heat, enjoy the bath and introduce new vocabulary words.

sea in the bath

When you try this play you will notice how hard to stop it! Nady can play for hours with water without giving any sign of boredom. He manages to invent games not to step out of the tub. The advantage of messy play in the bath is you can contain all the mess and clean up easily.

sea in the bath

Nothing will spoil this prolonged fun except the non desirable temperature of the water. It’s a sign to stop the play and take the bath!

sea in the bath

Bon Bain Nady!