Portable Dollhouse

Kids like small things. And kids like to play with miniature versions of real life objects. So, sooner or later you end up with a box full of small dolls, animals, furniture and accessories. You might go and get a dollhouse, or if you are like me, you might decide to make one instead.

This is our recent project. The Dollhouse. It took only an hour to put it together. It's portable. It's cat proof (can be closed and put away). It does not take a lot of space, and is easy to clean up: all pieces stay inside the suitcase when the playtime is over.

Here's how we made it. Take one cardboard suitcase. We had a medium size one, and the room is spacious enough for two kids to play together at the same time, or to use larger furniture, if you wish.

We used a Calico Critters Deluxe Kitchen Set.

Open the suitcase. Line the "floor" with some scrap paper or newspaper, trace along the perimeter. Take another sheet of paper and repeat for the "wall". Take it out, carefully cut along the lines. Now you have your templates.

Take some construction paper, scrapbook paper or contact paper, trace the templates, cut out carefully. Affix the "flooring" first, using double sided tape or glue. Open and close the suitcase a few time to create the crease. 

I used the Contact cork for the floor. The result is nice and cork is more resistant to scratches, but it will be more difficult to remove, should I ever change my mind.

Glue the "wallpaper". I used a sheet of scrapbooking paper. I glued it on with the regular school glue.

Arrange the furniture. You may use a double sided tape or a mounting tape to affix the pieces to the "floor" and/or "walls".

I think I'll make a "window" to put above the sink/counter. To do this, you can either buy a Dollhouse window or just make a pair of curtains and a small picture (aka "the view"), and glue this onto the wall.

The only thing left now it to invite some toys over for a house warming party. Enjoy!

Coloring skills evolution

I've just noticed this, and I wanted to share. I was sorting out the pictures that my daughter made over the last couple of years and I could clearly see that there were several different phases of coloring skills development. This is based just on my observations of my own child. She never had art lessons.

1) If you give a coloring book to a toddler, he'll be doodling on it as if the list is blank. The fact that the crayon leaves a colored line is too fascinating for a child and he is too occupied trying to figure it out so he does not notice the image on the paper, he would not care to color it.

2) The child notices the image, and uses the crayon to color it. But he is not coloring, he's examine the image, points to the parts that interest him, and the crayon colors them. For example, the child first notes the face, doodles on it, when goes on to a next face/object that interests him on the picture (if any) or proceeds to the next picture. He can make as little as a few strokes.

3) The child colors the whole image with the crayon just to cover it, he is not even trying to stay in lines. Covered = Colored.

4) The child colors the image area by area, trying to stay in lines if possible, BUT forgets to change the crayon OR changes the color but just because he's tired of yellow and he wants blue now, not because the scene needs it. So the end result may be very similar to the stage (3) unless you can see the strokes or watch the process. The child will most often color only the main object of the scene or the one that interest him the most, leaving the rest of the page blank. (image on the left = 3.5 yo)

5) The child colors the image using different colors, thoughtfully assigning the color to a specific area. The colors are not always true to life (the clouds can be orange, and the trees purple). The child soon learns to use the yellow crayon to color all the areas that need to be yellow before putting it down and taking another one. He is likely to color the whole scene not just the main object. (image on the left = 4 yo)

6) The child may add his own details to fill up the blank page, such as a sky, clouds, sun, grass, etc. He makes the coloring book page look more like a free-hand artwork. (image on the left = 4.5 yo)

7) The child tries to make colors true-to-life. I don't think that, unless the child is taught so, he'll ever attempt to make images look 3 dimensional (by adding shades, shadows, using mixed colors -like different shades of yellow, red and brown to color a leaf).

Do you pay attention to how your kids color/draw? I would like to hear what other people think about my theory. I'm sure that professionals like OTs and art teachers can explain why exactly the child does what he does. And I know that the key answers will be concentration skills and hand skills (strength and endurance). This is fascinating to me nevertheless.

Propellers

We went to a science museum this weekend, and we bought a simple toy at the gift shop. It basically is a propeller on a stick. To launch it (note that the propeller stays ON the stick, it does not fly off), hold the stick between the palms of your hands. Quickly slide your right hand forward while keeping it pressed against the left hand.

Aside from being a fun toy to watch flying or to try to catch, it is a good practice for hand-eye coordination. You can buy it on Amazon.

Rocket Science

Preschoolers may be too young to understand the Third Law of Motion, but they still have a lot of fun watching Alka-Seltzer rockets soar. Forget about paper templates, to make a rocket easy enough for a small child to handle, all you need is:

- clear air-tight plastic canister (e.g. film canister) - rocket's body
- stickers, permanent markers, etc - to decorate your rocket (optional)
- Alka-Seltzer ORIGINAL pill, broken into 4 pieces - rocket fuel
- water
- flat surface in the open area (e.g. driveway, patio) - launch pad

1) Turn your can lid-side down. Decorate the rocket, making sure that you can put the lid on and off easily.
2) Go to your launch pad, make sure there is no breakable things within 6 ft (2 meters) off the launching area.
3) When ready to launch, put 2 tablespoons of water in the rocket, put 1/4 of Alka-Seltzer pill into the water, QUICKLY snap the lid on, turn the rocket right-side up and set it on the launch pad. DO NOT try to pick up your rocket up once you set it down for launch.
4) Step away! Count backwards from 10. And watch your rocket take off.

Once your rocket has launched, collect the rocket, cap and leftover fuel. Clean it up, and it's ready to go again.

Crochet flower pattern

I see more and more things for little girls decorated with crochet flowers. Dresses, hair accessories, bags, scarfs - most anything nowadays gets decorated with crochet flowers.  It's very cute, romantic and very "homey", but a pair of hair barrettes with crochet flowers can cost as much as $5! There's no way I'm going to pay that much for something my daughter will lose right after leaving the house.

If you know how to crochet -just basic stitches, really- you can make your own flowers in just a few minutes. And then you can decorate your little girl's things. Not only she'll look trendy but she'll be proud to tell everyone that her mom  (grandma, aunt...) made these for her.

I don't know how to write the crochet patterns, so I've made a chart instead:

Notes: Use two different colors to make a "daisy", or use one color and sew a button in the middle.
I recommend using mercerized cotton yarn as it's very strong and "shiny". It also washes well.

Catching a ball

This came up in the conversation today...
Do you know how to tell a difference between 3.5 and 4.5 yo? Ask a kid to catch a ball. The eye-hand coordination is much better in 4 yo.

When my daughter was learning to catch a ball, we did not use a ball, we used a ... balloon! Yes, that's right, regular air filled ballon.

A ballon falls slower, giving a toddler a change to track it with his eyes and get his hands ready for catching. It also it lightweight and easy to hold. And it's won't break the chandelier should it be thrown too high.

"Can I paint on your computer?"

We have an EEE PC (with Linux) that we bought for travels. It came with a Tux Paint software that our daughter, then 3, mastered quickly. It was and still is a big life saver during long flights.

The program has an easy kid-friendly but not too-cartoony interface, and a very good set of tools (brushes, stamps, "magic" effects, etc) and some coloring pages. It's all your child needs and even more.

It supports various operation systems, so it will run on whatever you have. And you know what the best part is? It's FREE! You can download it from their website: tuxpaint.org


We also got some "painting" apps for iPod. They are not exactly drawing apps, but are fun nevertheless.

Doodle Kids -this is good for small ones, there are no tools or controls, everything is random. All you do is doodle. But doodling is good too, right?

Make a Martian - this is an alien making "factory". It's fun, cute, simple, and makes my daughter giggle every time she plays with it.

If you like an educational twist, the Dot-to-Dot Number Whiz is a good one. The level of difficulty can be adjusted. So your child can practice 123s or ABCs, or skip counting.


Let me know in the comments if you know about any other good paint/doodle apps for small kids.

(photo by mamalya, snapshot of the Martian we made)