Resist Tape Art

What a brilliant, effective process art and it makes lovely cards and gifts!  This was a gift to Wugs' "Nana" in England (which probably should have been spelt "Nanna").  The only problem we encountered with making names using the resist tape is that the names have to be fairly short in order to fit onto the card.

The preparation for this art took a little while as I needed to cut the tape and place it onto the card for Wugs.  A bit of precision is required here because if the tape is not aligned perfectly, the letter looks disjointed.  (For example, in the first picture, on the bottom of the first "N", the tape wasn't overlapped exactly and it shows up when the resist tape is peeled away).  The first picture also shows what the art work looks like before the resist tape is removed (see the two middle letters).

Once I had finished adding the resist tape, I let Wugs paint away and when he was finished I left the art work to dry a little before gently peeling back the tape.  The beauty of resist tape is that it sticks to the paper like sellotape, but doesn't tear the paper when it is pulled off like sellotape would.

What we used:
Scotch magic tape
Card
Paint
Scissors

Rain Art

It is the start of the monsoon season here in Singapore and I thought we would celebrate by trying some rain art. 

I gave Wugs the felt tip pens and let him colour in the paper plate.  Once he had finished, we went out onto our balcony and placed the plate in an area where the rain would reach it.  We stood back and watched as the rain water blended the colours together to give this beautiful effect.

What we used:

Paper plate

Washable felt tip pens/markers
Rain!

Alphabet Tubs

I wanted to find a fun way to introduce Wugs to letters and I came across the idea of doing an alphabet tub.  These tubs can either include all the letters in the alphabet or focus on single letters.  I didn't want to overwhelm Wugs so I focused on one letter per month.  The idea is to fill the tub with objects that have names beginning with that letter.  To compliment the activity, I added some flashcards so Wugs could match the images on the cards with the objects in the tub.  This was a great activity for building up his vocabulary.  I didn't continue with it beyond letter "C" though as creating the flashcards was a little time-consuming (and not necessary, but Wugs had come to expect it) and I found myself buying objects for the tub, so it might be a better activity to do with a slightly older child who has more toys.

Sun Suncatcher

I have been trying to build our activities around particular themes this year.  This month we were focusing on the sky and the weather.  As Wugs has just learned the word for “sun”, it felt appropriate to create a sun-shaped suncatcher. 

What we used:

Contact Paper

Coloured Transparent Paper (red and yellow)

Coloured Tissue Paper (red and yellow)

I cut up the paper into large squares and put it into the tub.

When we attempted this activity previously (see here), we attached the contact paper horizontally to the table.  This time I attached it vertically to the balcony glass door.  This worked much better as it reduced the chances of Wug’s hand and arm getting stuck to the contact paper.  I put the tubs of coloured paper on a chair near the balcony door and left him to play.  He engaged with it straightaway sorting out the tubs of cut up paper.  Although I offered him both yellow and red (anticipating that he would stick both to the contact paper and overlap to create orange) he seemed quite specific about only wanting the yellow coloured transparent paper on the contact paper.  He added to the contact paper over a number of hours (without any instruction from me) until his bath time when I took the paper off the door, backed it with a large sheet of tissue paper and cut out a sun shape.

Chinese Lanterns for Mid-Autumn Festival

Singapore celebrates the Mid-Autumn/Full Moon Festival on the 19th of this month.  There is a mass lantern walk taking place in Chinatown where the children will carry a lantern or come dressed as a lantern and walk through the streets.  We wanted to take Wugs, but it is too late in the evening and I know my routine-loving boy will flake out after 8pm.  I decided we would still join in the fun by creating our own lanterns. We made our lanterns by following the instructions on this site.

What we used:
Coloured Card
Glitter Glue Pens
Stickers
Scissors
Glue

Counting Apples

Wugs has recently learned the word "apple" and every time we go to the supermarket he helps himself to one from those baskets that are unhelpfully placed at toddler height.  (Seriously, if I worked for a supermarket after having two children, there are a few things I would change with regards to the placing of food...and breakable items). The apple usually ends up battered and bruised and uneaten in his children's kitchen and is thrown out once he goes to bed.  As I wanted to introduce Wugs to numbers and counting, I thought I would take advantage of his interest in apples and create a foam apple tree for him to add apples to.

I cut out the tree from coloured foam paper, dipped it in water and stuck it to our balcony doors. I made the apples by drawing around a spice pot and using a black permanent marker to number them. Then I placed the apples in a tub with just a tiny bit of water at the bottom so they would stay moist and stick to the tree.

What we used:
Coloured foam
Black permanent marker
Scissors
Bowl with water