Tag Archives: way to play

Process art – Spinning for spring

Posted on March 4, 2016 | 3 comments

Process art is when you’re enjoying the creative process, trying or inventing new techniques, introducing new elements from daily life, and the least you care about is working for the end result. In few words, process art is when the process of creating matters more than the result product.

Kids love process art, naturally they enjoy the journey more than the delivered product. They unleash their creativity, being all messy and mostly happy. Discovering and experiencing is the key! I was searching for a fun way of painting to start the spring/Easter decoration. I wanted Nady to be excited about the activity and enjoy the preparations. I came across the spin art paint.

Without thinking twice i knew this is the type of activity that Nady will love. I got a

salad spinner
vibrant colors paint
card boards (cut in 18x18cm square)

… and here we go!

Put the paper inside the salad spinner, squirt some paint and spin!

We repeated many times with different colors combination and each time was more beautiful. In spin art paint we didn’t just enjoy the process but we were in love with the end product as well! Nady didn’t want to stop.

We kept them overnight to dry before mounting them on foam boards.

Nady was so happy he couldn’t wait to hang them on the wall. We both enjoyed this process art and the surprise effect with each time we open the salad spinner to discover a new painting. We decided to do all our decorations this way!

The next day we repeated the same process with smaller pieces of paper to create a spring garland!

That’s it for now but it’s not all. Wait for more posts of spin art process, we still have almost 3 weeks to Easter and a lot to do. Stay tuned!

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 interesting posts are yet to come.

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Posted in design, DIY, way to play

Tagged art, colors, creative kids, easter, handmade decoration, jaymmy, kids craft, marmite et ponpon, process art, spin art. spring, way to play

How to reward instead of punishing your kids

Posted on February 29, 2016 | 2 comments

I know how hard to always act calmly, not to yell and keep a positive and wise attitude around kids, especially when they provoke you with an unacceptable behavior.

All parents see their kids as perfect as they wish them to be. It’s so frustrating when they start acting stubborn or refuse to eat or do their homework…. there are many behaviors that make you disappointed to a point you might loose it on them. Here comes the easiest solution: punishment!

Have you ever tried to reward and praise instead of penalizing? Because our kids learn better with love, punishment was never the ultimate solution. In contrary, punishments push your kids to be more stubborn and aggressive. Instead of telling your kid: “if you don’t finish your plate the ball will be confiscated for 3 days” get closer to give a hug and kiss and tell him”my big boy, if you finish your plate you will stay up one extra hour watching your favorite program”.

Rewards help to keep children motivated. You give them a choice and let them be the decision makers. You develop their logic and reason to know how to choose what’s best for them and push them to be responsible for their choices.

But between reward and blackmail there is a thin line. You should be careful not to let your kids manipulate you and put conditions to do things. For example he could tell you, if you buy me this toy i do my homework! This is the trap that you might fall in. To keep the game on the safe side, It’s the other way round; you suggest and not the kids. You explain that this is a reward and nice gesture from you to appreciate the efforts and not a condition to do their duties.

For that reason i came up with a way to reward Nady showing love and appreciation without opening his eyes to the blackmailing thing. We cut out together colorful hearts and stars (made with a homemade salt dough) and told him that each time i see that he deserves a gesture of kindness i will offer a heart/star, he will collect them and by the end of the week, we count how many he has to replace them with a reward. The more he has the bigger the reward is.

Rewards can be privileges, things or activities;

Going to the park
crafting together
going for a bicycle ride
going out for ice cream
extra tv hour
sleeping an hour late
buying a toy of his choice

You know what your kids fancy and make them look forward to! But don’t forget along with the rewards should offer hugs and kisses to remind them how dear and precious they are, and no matter what they will remain the biggest love.

Actually i am thinking to give my son some hearts and stars and ask him to reward me too when he thinks i deserve it. I like this game 🙂

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 interesting posts are yet to come.

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Posted in way to play

Tagged gesture of love, hearts and stars, jaymmy, love rules, marmite et ponpon, praise your kids, raise a healthy child, reward, salt dough, say no to punishment, way to play

Guess, smash and splash -kids art activity

Posted on February 18, 2016 | Leave a comment

A messy art activity, teaching kids geometric shapes and colors while enjoying and having fun. All you need is

large white cardboard
watercolors (washable ones)
geometric shapes paper cutout (circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle, rhombus)
toy hammer

Squirt a generous amount of different colors of paint all over and cover up each one with a geometric shape.

Let the kids name the shape and predict which color is underneath, then splat it with their hammer. The color splash will prove them right or wrong!

This educational activity in the same time so fun and crazy. You will hear so much laughs and cheers during the process. It helps your kids practice their knowledge (geometric shape and colors) and develop a love for the creative process, enlarge their brain and set them up as creative thinkers in all walks of life. Without forgetting the use of the hammer requires fine motor skills; let’s exercise those tiny muscles!

Once your kid is done smashing all the shapes, pull them off to reveal an awesome art piece to frame!

It’s a messy game, better be done outdoors if you have space and if not, cover well the things you want to protect from the paint splash. Try not to stress about the mess and let your kid enjoy. Of course shouldn’t be a war zone as well, set the rules and boundaries and leave the space for exploration and amusement. It’s washable paint at the end!

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Endless ways i love you

Posted on February 10, 2016 | 1 comment

After the success of last year’s wheel of love i found an urge to revisit this activity, to express my endless reasons i love my family especially my family has grown since then.

As said before, telling your children “I love you” more often and expressing it for every occasion develops their secure attachment to you, knowing that they are loved unconditionally. Strong closeness to the family will lead no doubt to positive relationships in adulthood and high self esteem.

I still have faith in celebrating love if done in deep and expressive ways. Lot of you including me, find Valentines day becoming very shallow and commercial. Lets not go this path and teach our children the true meaning of love, the way of Valentinus the patron saint of lovers.

I used an old wood tray; i gave it some festive bright look by painting it with vivid colors.

I prepared our homemade clay dough, and hand it to Nady to cut out heart shapes and color them.

A quick reminder on how to do the dough:

You will need:

1 cup cornstarch (cornflour)
2 cups baking soda
1 1/2 cup water

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to medium heat. Whisk continually until it starts to thicken. It will take couple of minutes to look like mashed potato in consistency, remove it immediately from the heat. Place it in a bowl and cover it with damp cloth until it’s cool. Knead it on a smooth surface by adding cornstarch if it feels a bit sticky. And it’s ready!

Stick the hearts on the tray:

Enjoy writing on the hearts the many and endless reasons why you love your children and husband/wife too 😉 It’s not just for kids! Do it to your significant other and let love flourishes in your hearts and homes!

Hang it on the wall as a frame, and 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 filled all the hearts.

My boys are still too small to be able to read, Antoun and I filled all the hearts and read them to Nady. Joud (6months) was enjoying the colors and kisses!

I wasn’t surprised with my Nady who visually memorized them and was telling me each heart is saying what! This is a reason why i love my smart boy.

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 love xxx

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 interesting posts are yet to come.

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Posted in design, DIY, special occasions, way to play

Tagged blog, colors, design, DIY, frame of love, hearts, homemade dough, jaymmy, kids activity, love, marmite et ponpon, reasons i love you, St valentines day, valentines, way to play, wood tray

Christmas candle holder -DIY- crafts for tiny hands

Posted on December 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

Christmas decoration fiesta is still going on. My little Lutin is so excited and counting down to the big day D. Meantime we are enjoying crafting some decorations to add our personal touch in every corner in the house.

I really loved working with the baking soda dough that we explored this year. Last week we did the keepsake ornaments and the result was amazing, so we decided to use it again for candle holders. For a reminder to the dough recipe, click here.

Cut out star shapes and while the dough is still soft, mark the place of the tea candle before baking. When it’s totally dry and cool, hand it to your little helper and watch the lovely golden fingers coloring them. Red, green and golden are the dominant colors in our house for this season.

I am amazed how dedicated Nady is. I love Christmas more and more because of his excitement, to the extent i feel like a kid again and i believe in Santa 🙂

After the paint is perfectly dry, place the tea candles. We used vanilla scented ones because we are planning to light them the Christmas eve at the dinner.

Like i always say, personalized things are the most meaningful. I am sure these candle holders will remain for many coming christmases.

If you are doing this with your little girls, add glitter on the paint they will love it. Little details make the difference. Always give options to your kids to develop their creativity.

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 interesting posts are yet to come.