Sticky tactile fun

Once again, I am trying to get the kids on a creative exploration. I saw this idea on the crafty crow. A little contact paper along with some geometric shapes makes for a lovely wall mosaic.

I was trying to get an idea where all three of the kids would enjoy playing with the same materials. It also helps that there is little clean up and no messes.

Jillian's work is on the far right, Sebastian's is in the middle, and Braedon's is on the left.

Jillian just placed pieces randomly but then began to set them on their edge for a 3D effect. Sebastian made Wheeljack, one of his favorite transformer characters. Braedon's was more elaborate and came with a story as well.

Braedon's piece is a bad man who has stolen all of the jewels and the police could not catch him because their guns were ineffective. That or he said the man was infected...I'm not sure. Then he said he robbed people's houses and stole all of their animals because he loved them. Then the man was never seen again because he burned up in the sun.

This project lasted a good 10-20 minutes which is a record thus far. I'm not sure how long it will remain on the wall, but I would like to try other materials.

At least I got their creative energy flowing.

Learning about Ireland

If anyone knows me well, you know I love homemade decorations. It brings back memories of making paper chains, hearts, snowflakes, and other miscellaneous holiday items. So now that I have kids, I can pass down the tradition to them. Except there is just one problem. My boys don't like doing crafts. I know sad. I'm hoping this will change as they get older, but in the meantime I will continue to present them with the options. Jillian is very eager to do the crafts. I try to gear any craft towards her age---2. Not an easy task but we are getting there. Mainly it involves stickers, markers, or paint.

March is a great month for our family. Both Rich and I celebrate our birthdays but more than that is St. Patrick's Day. Both of our families migrated from Ireland and its great to teach the kids about their heritage. Every moment I can, I try and teach them a bit of Ireland. They are still a bit young to really understand but I show them where it is in relation to America. I teach them about the religion, culture, and the green wonderful land. My poor city kids don't really understand that there is an abundance of land outside of the city. We look at pictures and videos.

Today, I stole a moment with the 2 youngest because they wanted to participate. We made shamrock window clingies--as I call them.

I traced shamrocks on green paper, cut them out, cut out their insides, purchased some "sprinkles", cut out some contact paper, and then attached more contact paper. Instant decorations and instant conversation. They were so busy trying to put on their Irish men and clovers, that I couldn't resist just talking to them. Ok, this lasted all of about 2 minutes, but heck every minute counts.

We are wishing everyone a early Happy St. Patrick's Day.