Tag Archives: DIY

Solve the riddle to find the egg surprise – Easter kids activity


riddles cardsIt’s very important for your kid to have interest in the play to enjoy it. This game was inspired by my son, seeing him Lately enjoying hide and seek game, and leaning toward riddles.

Since we’re preparing for Easter season i thought of doing an “egg surprise” hunt (stretched over 10 days for more fun). Everyday i hide one egg surprise and i give him directions in the form of riddles.

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Putting everything he likes in one game was absolutely the ultimum!

Riddles are fun and challenging, they have been shown to improve children’s comprehension and creativity, by working their brains.  At 2 years, riddles are very simple, the aim is to have fun and not break their heads, but if your children are older and can read than you can make the challenge harder, in this case riddles increase reading comprehension and strengthens problem solving and critical thinking skills.

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The written riddles was read by his father. They were both playing, since Antoun is a big fan of such games as well. For french version click on french riddle cards to download a high resolution file if you’re willing to play this game and for english one click on english riddle cards.

Such a fun and highly beneficial game, excellent to set Easter mood and bond with your kid.

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If you try it with your children, expect to see proud and victorious faces especially when they found the egg! it’s priceless!

This is what i call a way to play! If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More posts yet to come, stay tuned!

Easter/spring burlap door wreath


IMG_4525The second item falling in the burlap decoration series, a colorful door wreath! Last year we did buttons made bunny, we had to remove it after Easter which made Nady a bit disappointed. This year our door decoration is more springy to keep it longer!

Cut a big circle of styrofoam then a smaller one within to make it look like a hoop. Wrap it with burlap and here it is, ready to decorate with pinwheels and flowers done with your sweetheart’s tiny hands with so much enthusiasm and love!

All you need is felt and burlap cut in squares and glued back to back. This is how we do pinwheels, step by step.

how to do a pinwheel flowerDepending on the size, you decide how many pinwheels to do. We made 3 different sizes and colors, as per Nady choice. He was the leader of the craft and i was following his instructions.

spring wreathInitially i prepared for only pinwheels, but he asked to add flowers, specifically green, yellow and purple 🙂

Click on flowers to download a high resolution file to help you trace them before cutting.

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Such activities develop your child’s motor skills while having fun cutting, pasting, folding, drawing, tracing, and coloring. . .  These are big skills for tiny hands. It’s beautiful to see your children growing and being proud of their achievements!

“i can paste”! don’t undermine this sentence. Motor skills enable your child to perform important everyday tasks, and when combined with hand – eye coordination also open new doors to exploration, learning, and creative expression.

Researches show that emphasis on purely intellectual activities such as memorization of letters and numbers… is far less useful at this stage than encouraging fine motor abilities and hand-eye coordination. These skills lay the foundation for academic learning in later years. In order to learn to write or draw, for example, a child’s hand must be strong enough to hold a pencil steady for a long period of time.

The best way for you to help promote motor skills is to provide your child with a good choice of materials (blocks, crayons, nontoxic and washable markers and paints, paste, glue, modeling clay, safety scissors…) to manipulate as his imagination dictates.

IMG_4524We played a bit with the wreath before mounting it on the door. That was the best part; my precious is exploring the different usages of it 🙂

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This is what i call a way to play! If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More posts yet to come, stay tuned!

DIY – Baby aviator Palm sunday candle


IMG_4599Sometimes when you have a baby (who is not able to hold his candle on his own), you found yourself hesitating whether you get him a decorated candle or no. Personally i do encourage having one, if you choose a smaller size candle with convenient decorations. When your baby is 3 months+  it’s possible he can keep a firm hold of it, with your help. I did it but without lighting the candle, he really enjoyed it!

If you are willing to do one, follow the step by step tutorial for a baby aviator Palm Sunday candle:

how to do plane palm sunday candle

  • Wrap a blue ribbon around the candle you choose. I used a baby blue one
  • Stick a cut out cloud (foam) on the ribbon
  • Make a bow of the same blue ribbon and stick it on the cloud
  • Metal, wood or even paper plane look beautiful on the cloud, direction up as if flying

It’s a very easy craft, It doesn’t require too much skills and the outcome is amazing. When you DIY something for your kids, it holds lots of love and memories and It means a lot to your kids as well, they will remember it for a long time!

IMG_4596If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More posts yet to come, stay tuned!

DIY Palm Sunday candle – nautical theme


IMG_4542The most beautiful things in life are found in the simple!

Make your kid a unique Palm Sunday candle, done with love and in less than 10 minutes. All you need is a candle, piece of burlap, white ribbon, blue rope and a nautical motif, could be anchor, ship helm or even fish…

Follow this step by step tutorial:

how to do

  • Wrap the burlap ribbon (7-8cm width) around the candle, almost at the 1/3, so it’s above your kid hand grip.
  • Fold a piece of 20 cm rope( could be blue, red, beige….) and attach it to the candle with a thin white ribbon.
  • Hang the nautical motif you chose, at the center of the white ribbon

And that’s it! I told you it’s a less than 10 minutes craft.

IMG_4545You can adapt it to any color of your choice, related to the nautical concept and matching your kid cloths if you wish so. Boy or girl can enjoy this candle depending on the colors you use.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More posts yet to come, stay tuned!

Endless reasons i love you…


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It’s so important to tell your children “I love you” everyday. Knowing that they are loved unconditionally, develops their secure attachment to you. Strong closeness to the family will lead no doubt to positive relationships in adulthood and high self esteem.

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We celebrate love everyday at home, I never miss a chance to express my love to my precious son (verbally or by actions)  and for this valentines i decided to put the reasons i love him in written words on cutout hearts to celebrate love.

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I know many of you stopped celebrating valentines for how commercial it became. Don’t lose faith in this beautiful occasion and teach your children about love in deep and expressive ways.

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It won’t take too much of your time. Cut a big circle of styrofoam then a smaller one within to make it look like a hoop. Wrap it with colorful ribbons (or paper, whatever you have available at home). Cut out heart shaped papers. I attached to you an A3 paper with many drawn hearts. Click hearts to download the file.

how to do

Enjoy writing on the hearts the many and endless reasons why you love your children then stick them on the hoop.

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Hang it on their bedroom door as a wreath or simply on the wall as a frame. This is Nady’s wreath of love written by papa Antoun and I. We will be reading it to him for now…

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If your children are old enough to write, you can get them involved in the game and stretch it for a longer time. Ask them to write the reasons they love you too and play this mutual love game starting a week ahead, hanging everyday one heart from each, until valentines day when you have a full wreath.

By the way, it’s not just for kids! Do it to your significant other and let love flourishes in your hearts and homes!

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Don’t forget that love is not only words, it should be followed by actions, and the most important the presence. Be present for your kids, in love, protection and service. Happy valentines xx

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