Rainy Day Arts and Crafts

Typical summer weather and R had friends unexpectedly pop over as they were bored at home.  We broke out the crafty box and used glue, tissue paper, paper plates, pipe cleaners, egg boxes, ice cream tubs, straws, feathers and dried pasta to create decorated plates, shakers, fans and treasure boxes.  All the girls did their own thing and were allowed to use anything and everything in the box which was "so cool" to quote one friend. R even decided that the straw offcuts made excellent pan pipes when stuck together with masking tape - that's my girl!
Here is  just a small selection from the two and a half hours where they amused themselves.

Maths: Practising Fractions: Pizza Pursuit Game

Fractions game for 2 or more players from Family Fun, all ready to print in the form of a pdf.  Players take it in turns to roll the dice and take the slice indicated. The first person to complete their pizza is the winner.

I have to confess I did have to re-draw the segments though as the dotted lines didn't print out.  After laminating the pieces so they would last longer I also wrote the fraction on each piece to help A who has not really "done" fractions before;we had lots of "threeth's" and "fourth's" as a result.  Both A and R particularly enjoyed stealing a slice from each other :)

Cutting and Sticking: Astrosaur Puppets:

If you have a boy between about 6 and 9 he will probably have heard of Astrosaurs.  They are the space- going action hero dinosaurs invented by author Steve Cole.  A downloaded these from the Steve Cole website and spent the afternoon practising his cutting skills and making these babies.

If your own Steve Cole fan would like to make his own versions you can donwload them from here.