Its been raining, so outdoor fun has been reduced.

How else to entertain your child during the school holidays when you two are ‘stuck‘ at home?

Do kids craft!

This was one of Keatkeat’s school holiday project ~ making a paper stuffed animal.

Well, I told him that he should choose an animal that is ‘big and fat‘, so that it would be easier for him to stuff the paper balls in.

So he had changed his ‘Bird‘ to the biggest land animal, Elephant.

Things you need: ~

1. A4 Size Paper x1
2. Some unwanted thin papers
3. Scissors
4. Glue
5. Pencil / Marker

Step 1: Fold the A4 size paper into half

Step 2: Draw the animal on one side of the paper

Step 3: Cut out the paper animal with the paper still folded, so as to create two pieces.

Step 4: Use pencil or marker to draw the features of the animal onto the paper

Step 5: Put glue on the perimeter of the paper animal. Glue HALF of the two sides of the paper animal together, so that there is space for your child to put in the paper balls. If the ‘hole’ is too small, there is a chance that your child might tear his paper animal.

Step 6: Tear the thin paper into small pieces and crush them into paper balls.

Step 7: Put the paper balls into the paper animal

Step 8: Complete the kids craft by sealing up the other half of the paper animal. If the parts are too small for the tip of the glue, a cotton bud will do the trick. *wink*

Step 9: Ta-Daa! A very simple kids craft ~ Paper Stuffed Animal

These were Binbin’s little expressions made on his cup. It also shows what has been going on in his brain and the things that meant something to him at that moment when he did his artwork on his cup…..

I showed the kids how to create this simple handicraft fishing game once, many years back. If I did not remember wrongly, I think I did it when Keatkeat was in Nursery and Binbin was only 2 or 3 years old.

Today, Binbin surprised me when he made this all by himself without my knowledge.

He said: “Mummy come. Play fishing with me.”

I was expecting the ‘Fishing Ninja’ game app, which my whole family (except me) had been playing frequently. Instead, he brought me to the room and showed me the craft just made.

Something that was taught so long ago, yet he still remembers. *smile*

Pleasantly Surprised indeed!

***For blogging purposes, I asked him to make another fishing rod while I took photos…

There are some differences from the one I taught my children years ago. But I choose to show you HIS way, ‘cos I believe, if he can do it on his own without any supervision, your child will be able to do it too. *wink*

And you are ready to FISH!

1. The SIMPLE fishing: Use the big fat worm as bait (which turned out to be bigger than the fish!) *laugh* to fish. Let the magnet do the work and ‘suck‘ up the fishes one by one.

2. The REELING fishing: Use the big fat worm as bait again to fish. The difference is you REEL up the fish.

Have Fun!

Since this post is about creativity, I shall let the photos do the talking:

Though both boys were totally engrossed in their masterpieces, Keatkeat is the one who TRULY had his heart and soul in it.
Just look at the pictures, he was not interested in the photo-taking at all! Eyes were not looking at the camera, not one bit! *laugh*

…..Until this last picture, when he finally sat down and decided to call it a day.

Look at that Grin! Priceless! *smile*

The kids called it their very own PAC-MAN CITY!

On top of their artwork, they get to bring home a nice Art Sense badge and lots of colourful memories.

Their ‘teacher‘ told me, “Your boys are hilarious!” when I went back to fetch them after leaving them at the Art Studio for 1 hour.

I think its an AWESOME comment!
Its good that my children bring laughter to people around them.
*Super Grin*

Art Sense

How to Make Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern
Ok, its the time of the year again to show the Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern, which my boy made this year.

Recall the Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern for 2011 and the Complicated Chinese Hong Bao Lantern in 2010.

Response for Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern was better than the complicated one, so this year, I shall continue to post another simplified Hong Bao Chinese Lantern-making steps.

Things you need for this Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern:

1. 5 pieces of Long Hong Baos
2. Stapler
3. 1 Piece Chinese New Year Decorative Ornament
4. 1 Red String

Step 1: You would need to seal up all the Long Hong Baos.

Step 2 : Place the Hong Bao Vertically and Fold the Hong Bao into half, but ONLY PRESSING THE TWO CORNERS.

Step 3: Place the Hong Bao Horizontally and Fold the Hong Bao into Half, but ONLY PRESSING THE TWO CORNERS.

Step 4: Fold the 4 Corners of the Hong Bao shown below, based on the ‘folded markings’ made in Steps 2 and 3. Repeat Steps 2, 3 and 4 for All 5 Hong Baos.

Step 5: Staple 2 Hong Baos together as shown below. Stapler as close to the folding line as possible.

Step 6: Staple All 5 Hong Baos together. Stapling as close to the folding line as possible.

Step 7: You would need to bend the structure a little when stapling the 5th Hong Bao.

Step 8: Now staple the Bottom of the structure in the same way as the above steps. You would need to bend the middle part of the Hong Baos a little before you could staple the bottom part of the structure with ease.

Step 9: Join the Corners of Each Hong Bao by stapling them together as shown in the photos below.

Step 10: Repeat Step 9 for 4 Hong Baos.

Step 11: Before you staple the 5th Hong Bao, Fold the red string to form a loop and tie a knot to join the two ends of the red string together. Staple the red string to one of the corners, in the way whereby the knot would act as a stopper to prevent the red string from sliding out of the stapler bullet when the lantern is hung.

Step 12: Now after the red string is stapled, you can now join the 5th Hong Bao’s corners together by stapling them.

Step 13: Staple the Corners of the Bottom of the Lantern in the same way as the Top part of the Lantern. However, Before stapling the Last Hong Bao’s Corners, staple the Chinese Decorative Ornament onto one corner first. Once that is done, you can now join the Last Hong Bao’s corners together by stapling them.

Ta-Da!
And its ready to be hung on your ceiling or wall!
Well Done Keatkeat! *clap clap clap*

And there you have it, my boy’s Simple Chinese New Year Hong Bao Lantern for 2012. Have Fun With Your Child! *smile*

How to Make Simple Chinese Hong Bao Lantern