Mini Me Puppets - An Idea by Nuturestore

My friend Cathy from Nuturestore has done a wonderful guest post for me all about making Mini Me puppets, which is fantastic.   Nuturestore is a fantastic blog with a wealth of ideas of things to do with children, so please pop over and say hello (she doesn't bite honest).

Music various Artists Kazoomzoom

Lets make a list outdoor games

I was asked about outside games by the very funny Mr Shev and seen as I didnt have the answer, I asked him to write a post and said that I would throw open the floor to my wonderful readers.

Browsing through the average toy shop, I sometimes wonder what kids did on a sunny day before Nerf, Supersoakers and themed paddling pools.

But then I realise that I do know because I grew up in a world without them and we had to invent our own entertainment. So, we played football, developed innovative ways to kill ants and trawled the streets looking for useful trash to transform into go-karts or even more sophisticated and intricate ways to kill ants (makes me sound like I came from a family of pikeys, but the kids toy market was not as sophisticated as it is today.)

I still don't know why we hated ants so much.

The reason that I have been ruminating about this is because this weekend my Darling Son reached the ripe old age of four. Being neurotically proud parents we went through emotional turmoil about what to buy him (a bike), what to feed him (his favourite: chicken wings), what to do with him (boat trip) and who to invite to his party (everyone). We decided, because the weather is so good, to have it at the park and do a barbecue.

We obviously organsied the ubiqitous, much maligned, steeped in corruption (with allegations of bribery): pass-the-parcel. The kids all knew what to do, even the really young ones. It's as if there is an infant internet using Leapfrogs or something and they all learn how to do it on web forums in the dead of night.

I did face-painting. *RANT ALERT* I searched high and low in both Swiss and French toyshops for decent facepaints and eventually found a box. They are the worst facepaints I have ever used. They are like proper make-up and if I (an animator, with 7 years of art school tuition and years of industry experience) can't paint a kid to look like a bloody dragon then no one can. ALSO, they supplied make-up remover because once this stuff goes on it stays on - try explaining that to a 2yr old as you're scrubbing their face for the third time. FFS.

Afterwards we hadn't organised a children's entertainer - NO! - or a ballon modeller - WHAT?! - or a travelling menagerie of animals - EVIL PARENTS! What we did was bring a football or two and left the kids to themselves - BAD, EVIL PARENTS! So, what did they do? Well...

1. Stick-in-the Mud One person is 'it' and then have to run around like a nut-nut trying to tag a kid. However the difference with this is if you tag someone then they are 'stuck in the mud' and only their team-mates can free them. What happens, in reality, is that the kids go all Thatcherite and don't give a monkey's about anyone's skin but themselves and carry on running (in a pack!) away from the person who is it. You can play this in teams.
2. Peep-Behind-the-Curtain Someone stands at a tree or a wall and all the children line up 20m away or so. They have to creep up on the 'peeper' and tag them. If the peeper sees someone moving then that someone is out. The first one to tag the peeper is the next peeper. Best to have a parent as a peeper as they can do slow-motion turnarounds that give the younger kids a chance to stop moving. If kids do it they end up turning around every second and it ends up looking like everyone is vogue-ing.Also, kids like nothing better than to become bonefide supergrasses and will stop at nothing to win. The little buggers.
3. Wolves & Sheep This is, essentially, tag but when the person who is it (the wolf) tags a sheep then they become a wolf as well. Growling is optional...as is wearing wool.
4. Runaway Train I don't know what this is called, but we coined it as this. Get a big picnic blanket (preferably one that you don't mind getting a bit trashed) and a Daddy runs around trailing the blanket behind them and the kids have to jump on and stay on. If you get more that two or three kids on you might need to get another couple of big lads involved to drag the weight. The kids go bananas for this.

After this lot we ran out of ideas and I wanted to put it to the people: what games do you know that involve minimal props and lots of kids? Explain the game, what it's called and the rules and let's compile a list!

Children Craft Showcase - Red Ted Art

I am delighted to welcome Maggie from Red Ted Art to TheMadHouse and to present this weeks Children's Craft Showcase. 

Over at Red Ted Art, my son (Red Ted (2)) and I (Maggy (old)) do lots of crafts projects. Sometimes Pip Squeak (0) joins us. Usually we are inspired by books that we read - the tagline from another crafty mum being – story + art = great stART. I love the idea of bring books and crafts together. And some days, when I really don’t know what to make, picking up one of Red Ted’s books really does inspire! 

 So. Today, I brought out one of Red Ted’s older books:  Tell me about The Sea, by Justine Smith. We have two books in the series and also have Tell me about Baby Animals. When he was a little younger he preferred Baby Animals. Now I think he prefers The Sea. But they are both lovely books – nice simple images with things to “do” on every page (count, find, look), some nice shiny surfaces to touch, as well as some flaps to lift towards the end. Lovely for them. Lovely or you and a little education on the side!

This time we decided to make a boat!

1)    Materials: although I knew I wanted to make a boat at some point and thus bought a 12 egg egg carton, I did wing this a bit. So my photo doesn’t show all the materials needed. But to be honest, just be crafty and do what works for you! My basic materials: egg carton (12 egg & 6 egg), chopsticks (for mast), paper & paint (for sails), ribbon/ string (to secure mast & bunting), glue, scissors, blue tack, staples…

2)    We began with the sails. To be honest you can do WHATEVER you like for these. We decided to paint, as Red Ted likes painting. Also, I we use the “water technique” of wetting the paper and letting the colours run a little, as I thought it fitting with “The Sea”. However, you can re-use an old drawing, draw a new one. Paint patterns or even use a scrap of fabric! Whatever takes your fancy.

3)    Once the sails where done, I made the basic boat, whilst Red Ted ate a pair, looked at the book again and got excited! The 12 egg egg carton is ideal for a boat, as it has a raised bit right in the middle of it – perfect for a mast. Whilst he 6 egg egg carton, has a dip in the middle and the mast is a little wobblier. I just poked it through, put bluetack underneath and added some precautionary glue.

4)    The ribbon/ string helps secure the mast – I tied round the top, threaded it through little holes on the side and tied them again underneath. Seems to do the trick! Also added some blobs of glue just in case!

5)    Once dry, I cut out some sails and flags. Glued on the sails and stapled on the flags. Using clothe pegs to help keep things in place.

6)    FINISHED! And ready for play!


If you enjoyed this post, do pop over to Red Ted Art and see what we get up to on a regular basis – Get Inspired by our monthly Get Crafty or just visit for Wednesday Crafts!! We look forward to meeting you!

Maggy & Red Ted (& sometimes Pip Squeak)

If Maggie has inspired you to get crafting with your childrern, or you have any blog posts about art and crafts, then please link below.

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Guest Post Day - Rock n Roll Baby World

It is the second guest post day, which is the fab idea of Erica at Little Mummy. I took part in the first day and was matched with the fab Kelly at A Place of My Own. This time I have been paired with Rock n Roll Mummy, who has just started blogging at Rock n Roll Baby World. Her post is pretty close to my heart as my wonderful Neice, who will be 5 on Monday is Ginger too

Ginger and Proud

When I was little I didn’t realise having ginger hair would make me the subject of cruel jibes and jokes; as I got older and started middle school I began to realise my hair which I had always loved made me stand out and made me different.

Over my teen years I began to hate the colour of my hair and wished it was just brown like many of my friends not only was it bright red when the other kids called me names my face also went bright red.

Rock n Roll Mummy with Rock Baby

I had gone through a blissful childhood of my parents and family telling me what a beautiful colour it was and my mum used to dry it for me and spend ages perfecting it for me after bath time as it was so long, pretty much to my bum that I couldn’t do it on my own. I used to love the time we had, whilst she would lovingly tend to my hair, gossiping about my day at school, her grilling me as to whether I liked any boys, and just spending quality time with each other. My mum passed away when I was 17 but I have really fond memories of this time together.

My brother had it worse than me his hair was even brighter than mine and he wore glasses he was particularly bullied and used to get called Duracell by the local school thugs. No wonder he has now shaved his head!

In my late teen years, early 20’s I started experimenting with different colours trying to make it more brown, I went really dark at one point, then I tried highlights but ended up looking like Ginger Spice; nothing really worked for me. Not only was my hair ginger it was like a thick bush not a very glamorous look!

But then something happened in my early 20’s, people kept commenting on how lovely my hair was, I had started seeing boys and they were always complimenting it, I had grown in confidence and started to realise its actually quite cool to be different and stand out from the crowd. I got a new hairdresser who just happened to be male, gorgeous and even better straight! And he told me my hair colour was actually copper gold not ginger and so now when people comment, normally just when they think its for a laugh I firmly correct them well actually it’s Copper Gold. When I discovered GHD straighteners, they literally changed my life. This will probably sound very shallow but when you were the geeky ginger kid at school with a bush for a hair cut only then can you appreciate how much of a difference they make.

It is amazing how much discrimination you can get from having a different hair colour and how victimised you can sometimes feel. I was actually ashamed when I was younger and at many points wanted the ground to swallow me up. Even now music videos like M.I.A ‘Born Free’ are highlighting this in a particularly disturbing video in which US troops are gathering up ginger haired boys and assassinating them. The video is supposed to be art and a symbol of discrimination as a whole but I wonder what impact the video will have on all the children at school who are already the butt of numerous jokes, will this video make it worse for them?

Pop Princess

Then I think about my own children, my two girls Pop Princess who is 2 ½ and Rock Baby who is 4 ½ months. PP was born with a massive mop of thick dark hair and while it does have a red hint she is darker than her little sister. RB on the other hand was born with bright red hair, very much like her mummy. I think she is stunning with gorgeous red locks and bright blue eyes. I just hope that she will love her hair as much as I love mine now and that she doesn’t suffer from the same old jokes and jibes and that society and the media may change their perception. I want her to grow up proud to be ginger!

I am over at Baby Budgeting

In  case you are wondering where I am today, you can find me over at fellow Mads Finalist's Baby Budgeting where I am cooking with glue.

There is still still time to vote, so please do vote for me by clicking here.