Wet weather gear

It hasn't felt much like Summer so far this season.
We have had so many cold windy, rainy days. The kids have been getting a bit of cabin fever.
But we've been keeping busy, with games and puzzles,

doing craft and reading. I am reading the Harry Potter books to the kids.

Mr T has been helping me pull apart an old sewing machine, I love how he is fascinated with the gears and moving parts.

And we made Tui some wet weather gear out of old shopping bags so she could go play in the rain.

Butterfly prints

I love doing these with the kids. They make such wonderful patterns and are so simple. It's as easy as splotching paint onto a piece of paper and folding it in half! And the kids are always delighted at how beautiful they turn out.

Rainy day activities, pirate stuff

It's been raining for so long my repetoir of indoor activities has been sorely tested. So we have been looking up things to do on the internet and last week my dad gave Mr T a set of books Things to make and DO full of activities for just this type of stuck inside weather.

So we made some pirate stuff.

First was a treasure map.

Roughly rip the edges of a piece of white paper.

Scrunch it up into a ball to make i look old and tattered.

Brew some strong coffee, have a cup if you drink the stuff but save some to soak the paper in.

Lay the paper somewhere to dry.

When dry it'll look like aged paper.

Create a map on the paper, you an include sharks and crocodiles and beaches, caves and buried treasure.

And then we made an outfit to wear on the treasure hunt.

The evil (cute) pirate captain and his faithful side-kick!