Angels and StarsThe Modern Art Christmas Tree colouring activity has had a great response, especially on pinterest, so I have created a couple more festive sheets, an Angel and a Star. Click on downloads to print some off - pretty useful on a rainy half term!
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Modern Art Christmas TreeThis festive activity is suitable for children age 3+. Free templates are available to print from my downloads page. Use paint, pastels, pencils, felt tips, add some glitter if you want! A sheet of 4 smaller images has been included for making Christmas Cards. Have fun! Let me know how you get on, I'd love some feedback.  It's a beautiful clear sunny day at The Wood School today. Lucky us, in rainy old Manchester! I showed the children, age four upwards, how to make 'mini webs' for Halloween with wool and matchsticks - based on the ancient craft of the 'God's Eye'. 
You'll need the following: Wool Matchsticks Plastic Spiders (I got these from Quality Save) How to make them Click above to take you to a great link, showing you how, with pictures Hang them in the garden, by your bed......Happy Halloween!
Looking at my diary, it's quite a shock to see that Christmas is only 9 weeks away. I used to be happy leaving my plans to the last minute, but now as a parent with growing children, I am finding myself getting excited already! Between now and mid December, I plan to offer all sorts of simple festive family projects for you to try with your children, across 10 blog posts, so please do follow me if you fancy getting creative! Creating handmade cards, decorations, and gifts can be beneficial in many ways.... It's easy on the budget It provides a great weekend activity for a winter's day Encourages quality family connection time Children learn to design and create finished artworks and objects Children can explore different creative techniques - textiles, printing, 3D, collage, drawing..... Helps share and build the excitement of Christmas in a productive way Takes the 'commerciality' out of Christmas Everyone loves to receive a handmade gift. Project 1 - Thumb Print Cards and Tags
Here's what to do!
Have a go at these easy thumb prints. They work really well on brown paper, so save any envelopes you get. Use your index finger for a small print and your thumb for a larger one. Use poster paints, it's best if they are washable! When the thumb prints are dry, use a black biro or fine liner to draw the details and add some essential glitter! I liked the rough edges, but you can cut them out if you prefer. Glue them onto blank cards, or make them into gift tags. Great for all ages, the little ones may need some help, but they'll love the finger printing! First travel art post 'Edible Jewelry' published by Pure Wander Magazine Today I am delighted to have hooked up with Pure Wander Magazine in Colorado.
Every Sunday, The Imagination Box will provide a travel friendly creative project for Pure Wander's Family Travel Tips section. We aim to inspire parents to occupy, stimulate and amuse their children on road trips, trains, planes, in hotel rooms and beyond, with more than just dvds and other similar props! Shauna, co-founder and executive editor says, "Pure Wander Magazine concentrates on unique, culturally relevant experiences for families to do with their kids, which will take adventures abroad and in the backyard to a higher level. We believe that children are capable of great things and are able to adapt to exotic and unique situations right alongside their more experienced counterparts. There is almost no limit to where and when a child can travel with their family and our mission is to encourage others to expand the minds of their little ones and explore the entire world." www.purewander.com www.facebook.com/PureWander Why not give this edible activity a go?  We didn't really celebrate Halloween when I was little, I just remember those scary 80's movies! Now our two are a little bit older, 4 and 6, I really have the urge to decorate the house and make more of Halloween - which isn't far away, October 31st. On this blog post, I'll share a few of my own ideas and also some great ideas I've found on Pinterest, my new obsession! All the ideas are pretty simple, you don't need to be an accomplished artist to give them a go, and generally, alot of the materials you may already have around the house! 1. Peanut ghosts and pumpkins!
Paint the shells with acrylic or poster paints and leave them to dry. Then you can put the spooky pumpkin and ghost faces on them a black marker pen! They are the perfect for little fingers and imaginative minds. Charlie my 6 year old, has named them, 'halloweenies'. 2. Giant Spiders Webs from bin bags!
3. Hand Printed Trick or Treat Bags  Potato and apple prints look great on brown paper! I bought a pack of brown paper sandwich bags from Quality Save - they work out at under 10p each. The bag on the left was printed with potato halves with the eyes and mouth shapes cut out. The bag on the right was printed with apple halves. Printing is a great activity and suitable for preschoolers as well as older ones. Wait for the acrylic or poster paint to dry, then you can draw on the black features with a marker - or cut out and glue on black paper shapes. Add green pumpkin stalks if you want to, and we used a stencil for the wording. Now they are ready to go trick or treating with! 4. Pumpkin Bunting!  Print print print! With a couple of children printing away with apples and potatoes, you can make metres of this in no time! Cut some cartridge weight paper to postcard size, punch 2 holes in the top. Print away as you did for the bags. When they are dry, thread some string or wool and you are ready to hang your halloween bunting! 5. Lollipop spiders!
6. Last but not least, decorate your FRONT DOOR!
I hope you have enjoyed reading this post, it's my longest blog to date! I'd love to hear what you like the most, which ideas you might try etc.
And talking of Pinterest (again), I have made a board of all the Halloween ideas I liked, have a browse....... http://www.pinterest.com/pagancreative/halloween/ HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE! 
This is a really cheap, fun and simple project, suitable for preschoolers upwards. You'll need 4 things: coloured straws pipe cleaners scissors string Cut the straws into 'beads', thread them on to the pipe cleaners - great practice for little fingers. Twirl the pipe cleaner into a spiral and tie a length of string or ribbon on - ta-da.....hang them on your ears!
I saw this picture on facebook this morning from Sallyanne McShane and felt compelled to share it. I totally agree with her sentiment! There are lots of creative folk beavering away at home creating beautiful products and gifts to sell online with Etsy, Not on The High Street, at Artisan Fairs, local markets and more - and LOTS of them are entrepreneurial mums, stitching, drawing, painting, crafting, knitting, crocheting, making in the evenings when their little ones are tucked up fast asleep.......Let's support creative folk this Christmas! 
Have a go at making this lovely tree picture, ours turned out so beautifully, I am going to frame them! 
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Hello! I'm Diane Pagan from Manchester, UK. Archives
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