On Sunday, I did a couple of little Easter hunts in the house and garden for the girls. I just hid eggs and chicks for one and for another, I wrote clues that eventually led them to a creme egg 🙂 They always get so excited about Easter; I think they started eating chocolate at about eight in the morning 
We did some Easter crafts at home. I’ve been trying to avoid going out the last few days because I know everywhere will be unbearably busy 🙂 We drew an outline of an Easter bonnet each and then the girls cut it out and made collages on them using random craft materials. I always find they prefer freer art like that, where they get to decide how they want to use the materials. One opted for different features and the other just used a lot of gems 🙂 Afterwards, I gave the girls an egg outline on card and some tissue paper for them to rip up/glue onto the eggs. They completed about two rows before they ran out of patience, but I plan to come back to it again with them when they’re less hyped up on chocolate 🙂
We went for a walk nearby and got some hot chocolate/coffee from The Lamppost Cafe. The playground was empty; it seemed like everyone had left the area to go elsewhere 🙂 On the way home, we walked along Cyprus Avenue so my daughter could collect pine cones 🙂 She filled her pockets with as many as would fit and when I asked her what she was going to do with them all, she said she was going to make a pine cone display in her room. I like the way they regard natural items as something precious like jewellery, or collectables that cost money 🙂
My mum gave me some wild garlic, so I experimented with it in different dishes. My daughter helped me to make pesto with it. I didn’t have any pine nuts, so we used cashews instead and it turned out surprisingly well, and potent 🙂
We did some more activities out of the girls’ art boxes. They made puppets and props for a puppet show using different materials and techniques. They made some people with moveable limbs using pins. They had been supplied with black card and white pencil for drawing, which seemed to increase the novelty factor for them. I sat with them for a long time, making props and found it very relaxing. We made a little house, a sun, raindrops falling, etc. The materials provided were colourful cellophane, string, buttons and pipe cleaners. The girls enjoyed experimenting with them and making whatever they wanted. When we were finished, we added them to the sticks provided and some lolly sticks, so they could be used for plays 🙂
I hadn’t believed that snow was really going to fall in April, but it did 🙂 We have been in semi-hibernation the last couple of days. We baked some Love Heart cookies from a box. I love having the premade mixes handy for easy baking on lazy days. The girls enjoyed making the dough, cutting it out using the stencils and rolling the icing. They finished the biscuits with white writing icing so they looked like the messages on love hearts. They added some Love Hearts to finish them 🙂 It was the best shortbread I’ve had out of a box and the girls were a fan of the strawberry icing 🙂
We made a puppet theatre to go with the girls’ puppets. Their art box suggested using the empty box, so we intentionally saved it for last. I had to cut out rectangles to make the stage and then added tracing paper for the shadow puppets. You can add cellophane too to change the colours of the background. We added some “curtains” too. The girls set it up in the living room for a little puppet show and used their props and puppets from yesterday. They got out a keyboard for the “backing music” and I had coffee at the ready 🙂
The Funky Thrifter 