Kalinga Park - Fun For Everyone

It seems like forever since we've gone on a girlie outing and chased down a cupcake. Winter time was filled with sickness and other things taking our minds off our usual outing fun. Spring is so lovely for getting out and about and I was inspired to go to the Cupcake Parlour when I read In Search Of the Perfect Cupcake at http://www.ourbrisbane.com/food-and-drink/gallery/cupcakes-gallery Our outing this morning started at The Cupcake Parlour. I don't need to tell you how good this place is as you can read all about it in my previous cupcake blogging. Oh why not.....it is SO GOOD! The girls and I had a special time having morning tea together before taking off to our next destination.

I've been keen to find all the school holiday fun happening around town but for some reason haven't come across much at all except for the Ipswich Art Gallery fun. I've searched online, in magazines and looked elsewhere but nothing within budget + age group has shown up so we made our own fun. During my search online I came across what seemed to be a terrific park in Clayfield so we set out to find it and have a morning of park play.

This amazing park is called Kalinga Park and you'll discover it on Park Avenue in Clayfield. It's set amongst big, beautiful shady trees and has a bike path running alongside it. With school holidays in full swing there were many mums and kids out enjoying the park. Kalinga park is definitely one of the best I've been to. Miss H and I found a shady spot for her feed time while Miss M ventured out (in my eye view) to explore the huge forts. There's climbing and slides for every age and development level so the kids from toddlers right up to the school aged kids were having fun.

The park also has a sandpit with a bridge going over it, three great swing sets with plenty of baby swings and a long rock climbing wall for the kids and adults to master. We'll be telling Daddy that Miss M had a go as he is a keen rock climber!

This is the part that I regret to tell you. My camera stopped working while we were there so I'm afraid that the photos I took will not show you just how amazing this park is. You'll just have to go and check it out for yourself if you live in Brisbane or are visiting our sunny state.

Why not take a BBQ or picnic and enjoy the shade of one of the lovely trees - the kids will be busy for hours. Just don't forget to pack the bikes or scooters. There were scooters everywhere today and my little Miss M loved getting hers out of the inside of the house (doing laps) and scooting along both the big bike track and the one curling its way in and around the play area.

I'm curious to know what holiday fun other families have found. I'd love to hear your ideas.

Fruit On a Stick

Sometimes morning teas and afternoon teas become a little boring around our house so I've been trying to think of some new ideas, especially ones that involve eating fruit. Now that Miss M is 3 (a big girl!) I thought she may like to try and make her own for something fun. She LOVED the idea! Miss M made fruit skewers.

Fruit Skewers

You will need...

A few different types of fruit
Wooden skewers
Plate
Knife
Bowls

Cut up the fruit into pieces - you can get creative and use small cutters but rough cutting works too.
Put the fruit into bowls.
Demonstrate how to thread the fruit carefully making sure the tip is away from the threading hand.
Let your child thread the fruit on to the skewers.
Cut the pointy tip off the skewers before eating.

EAT - as Miss M would say, "They are t-licious!"

To extend the activity you could...

• Serve with yoghurt as a dipping sauce.
• Make the skewers in a particular colour ie. all green fruit or all red
• Sing the traffic light song from Playschool's 'On the Move' DVD, using red, orange and green fruit.
• Create a pattern to copy with the threading for something fun.

Mixin' It Up

A home day to start the week this week. The girls and I spent a lovely time together downstairs in the garden this morning. We did sand play, swings (hanging upside down), chasing, reading books and quiet fine motor activities at the table. A friend gave Miss M a bag she had to decorate as a gift for her birthday so that was a lot of girlie fun to do together too. We have recently purchased a new round kids table from Ikea which has opened up more opportunities for different types of play downstairs. I enjoy varying the girl's play settings sometimes....books in the garden, play dough in the shade etc.

We need to head back upstairs most days for an 11 o'clock feed for Miss H so I set up some more quiet activities for Miss M to keep her busy while I did that. Easel painting, threading cards, chalk drawing and Mega Bloks were on the list of fun today but the best fun was a cooking activity that I thought Miss M could try all by herself. Really it was just a whole lot of fun and sensory play mixed in together.....literally.

I set up bowls of flour, cocoa, icing sugar, rice and coconut. Then I found measuring spoons, a wooden spoon, a small jug of water and the salt shaker. Miss M was beside herself with the chance to mix whatever she wanted to and use the twisty salt shaker all by herself. Of course the end result wasn't at all edible but the fun came from creating. Actually a BIG sloppy mess was made but thankfully most of it was kept to the bowl. Miss M played with this activity for a very long time so Miss H was able to enjoy a quiet, long feed.

To extend the activity.....

• Sing 'Stir Up the Pudding' - from It's Playschool CD
• Try different ingredients next time around
• Read 'Spot Bakes a Cake'
• Bake something together - a cake or biscuits
• Do measuring activities
• Pouring fun in the water trough

Box of Tricks

Now that Miss H is crawling nothing is safe. She is in to EVERYTHING! One of her favourite areas of discovery has been the kitchen bins. The general rubbish bin is stainless steel so Miss H enjoys looking at her reflection in it. The recycling bin is different as it is a box on the ground. As you can imagine there are all sorts of treasures in there from cardboard rolls, crinkly paper, jars and plenty of other interesting stuff but most of it just isn't safe. After a week of chasing her away from it Daddy came up with a fantastic idea.....

Miss H needs to explore the world around her so rather than stopping her all together we have put the recycling box up high and created a box of tricks of her own. The good thing is we can vary the items inside and keep them safe for her to discover. For now it contains some plastic kitchen items and toys to keep her amused. Each day will be a new discovery.

While out and about today I told Miss M (3) that we'd be doing some special shopping tomorrow with Daddy. We are in the process of buying a house so I told her that we needed to shop for a new kitchen and bathroom. She asked, "Will it be heavy?"

I immediately imagined us carrying our new kitchen and bathroom home in a carry bag. If only it was that easy!!

Art Gallery - Holiday Happenings

School holidays are a super time to get out and about because there is usually a long list of activities around town for kids to get involved in. One of our favourite places to visit is the Ipswich Art Gallery and we go there throughout the school term too but in the holidays it comes alive even more. To get to the Gallery is quite a drive for us but I have always found it to have excellent programs and exhibits on so it's a pleasure to take the effort to get there.

The Gallery has its very own space for kids so there's always something happening. We've enjoyed the 'Bright and Shiny' and 'Disco Puppy' programs but the display this time around is something of a very different and unusual kind. I Wish I Lived in Wonderland shows the artwork of Rose Skinner, a Perth-based artist. To walk through Wonderland is incredible, there are toys and things of all kinds, some from our childhood right up to those we see today. It's very hard to describe other than to say that it is amazing and you just have to take your kids to see if if you live in Brisbane, Ipswich or somewhere nearby. I don't want to tell you too much as it will give it all away. Check out the photos that I have posted.

This week the Gallery has extra holiday programs available. In the nearby mall and on the Gallery lawn there are huge blow up animals that the kids can sit inside to enjoy face painting, story telling, origami and a magic show. They can also get involved in plasticine art and other crafts.

Parking can be an issue if you are not from Ipswich but if you go close to the Gallery there are usually on street parking spaces available so take your coins or go to the Woolworths car park for free parking and walk up the mall. The Gallery is found in d'Arcy Doyle Place, Nicholas St, Ipswich Central. To get to the Woolworths car park turn right at East St and follow the parking signs. (turn left just before the ramp)

To book for one of the exciting programs check out http://www.ipswichartgallery.qld.gov.au/ and go to the children's gallery page. Some of these programs have a cost but you can go to the gallery after 10am each day and it's free. I Wish I Lived in Wonderland is open till November 1.

Party Pinata

It was only a little while ago that I wrote about a simple idea for making a pinata using a cereal box but I thought I'd share the more difficult version which is still fairly simple to make.

Pinata

You will need...

A large balloon - I bought a punching balloon for ours

Newspaper

Glue - Cel Mix works well or you can make a flour + water version

Wrapping paper

Thin rope

Large paddle pops or something similar

String

Prizes to go inside - I used a pack specially for pinatas or you can be creative. Wrapped lollies are great also.

• Make the glue following the directions on the Cel Mix container.
• Cut the newspaper into strips.
• Blow or pump up the balloon.
• Coat the balloon with glue and stick one layer of paper on, (paper mache) making sure to overlap the pieces.
• Hang the balloon to dry using string attached to the top of the glue.
• Once dry repeat the process over and over again until the paper is strong enough to carry the prizes inside.
• It is really important that you allow each layer to dry or you'll end up with a soggy mess.
• 5 or so layers seems to work just fine.
• Before you do the final layer, let the balloon pop (if it hasn't already). You should have a hole left at the top so fill the pinata with the prizes.
• To hang your pinata use two large paddle pops joined to make a cross with the rope. Close them up and lower them inside the pinata. You should be able to open them back out once they are inside and they will support the rope.
• Make your final layer one of wrapping paper so your pinata is bright and colourful but to add texture to your pinata you can add strips of paper from the bottom to the top, only sticking at the top of the strip. You'll get a wonderful fringed effect.
• Find what we call in our household a "pinata whacking stick" but I'm sure it's called a pinata stick (or something similar). A metre long piece of wood is good. You can buy these sticks from party supply places and big retail stores.
• Cover the stick in wrapping paper or crepe paper so it's decorative too.

Be creative as you like! You can make this simple design into all kinds of pinata shapes....flowers, Santa, Christmas present, funny faces and teddy bears. The list goes on....and so does the fun!

Party, Party, Party!

This party has been a long time in the making! My Little Miss M has been talking about her 3rd birthday since last years' birthday ended. (Anybody find the same thing happening?) Well it finally arrived! Last week Miss M turned a big 3, not that we are allowed to say big yet. She received a groovy pink scooter from us which she has been riding and riding and crashing everywhere.

Yesterday was the party with her special friends and family attending. Until now we have kept things very simple with just family or family and one special friend helping to celebrate, so this was IT. We have launched ourselves into the party planning stage of life - eek! It was so exciting to plan everything but the real fun came when we could put all the planning into play.

We set the yard up with free-play activities....sand play, swings, collage, fence painting, bubbles and play dough which was intertwined with party games. I like to keep kids busy and having fun all at the same time. All Miss M's been asking for is "parcel parcel" (pass the parcel) and musical statues. We added a butterfly hunt (my very first memory ever, playing this at my own 3rd birthday party) and a pinata too. We couldn't go without a pinata! (I was keen to try a different design)

Butterfly Hunt

You will need.....

Cellophane

Scissors

Cut the cellophane up into smallish rectangles, about 6cm long.

Twist in the middle to make a butterfly.

Hide the butterflies and have the children find them.

The child who collects the most butterflies wins the game.

Miss M likes to play shops so we had an ice-cream shop during afternoon tea, then the requested Dorothy the Dinosaur cake and to end the afternoon we opened up a lolly shop for the kids to choose some lollies to take home in a bag. These were really fun to make.

Lolly Shop

You will need.....

Glass or plastic jars - I bought ours at the cheap shops

Lollies of all kinds - I was looking for ones from our childhood (remember the days?)

Table

Sign

Small tongs or scoops

Small paper or plastic bags

Fill up the jars with lollies.

Make a sign from a large piece of cardboard or paper.

Set your jars up on a small table at child height.

Have the children choose some lollies to put in their bag to take home, with parental supervision - even the mums, dads, aunties, uncles and grandparents got to dip in!

Lots of tired little poppets went home at the end of the party and I heard Miss M ask Daddy as he closed the door for sleep time if she could have another birthday party very soon. So much fun for one "little girl". And we start all over again......

Not So Busy Brissy Mum - Holiday Time

It's been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything for you so you may be wondering where I've been. We went on a wonderful two week family holiday to Coolum in Queensland and then to Byron Byron Bay in New South Wales, our favourite spot! The weather couldn't have been better. We enjoyed lovely plays at the beach and parks, ate some wonderful food and just rested....as much as a family with littlies can.

Oh and Miss H decided that holiday time was a good time to crawl.

Here are just a few pics.......

Byron Bay was the place where we got engaged and were married (see church) so it was lovely to take the girls to our special place. We did a day trip to Bangalow, the place where our reception was. Great memories!