Book Review- Harry and his bucket full of Dinosaurs

When Harry helps Nan to clear out the attic he makes a wonderful discovery - dinosaurs!

He carefully fixes, washes and unbends them all and from then on they go everywhere with him in a bucket. Then one day his beloved dinosaurs get lost!

How will Harry prove to the Lost Property Man that they are really his?

Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs is a series of children's books written and drawn by Ian Whybrow and Adrian Reynolds. The series is about a 5-year-old boy named Harry, who has a bucket full of dinosaurs. In the books the dinosaurs talk to Harry but seem to be toys to the other characters. The other main characters are Mum, Nan, Harry's best friend Charlie, and Harry's sister Sam.

Of course at toddler age both boys & girls find dinosaurs fascinating! Joshua loves this series of books, and also watching the tv shows, which you can watch free online. there are two seasons to the tv program so far. It's great for young ones and problem solving strategies, so give it a try.

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The Imagination Team

Vegemite Pasta

Today I copied a recipe for marmite pasta from Nigella Lawson's new book Kitchen.

I love Nigella Lawson, she is the epitome of a beautiful curvy woman who loves food & also loves to cook.When I read this recipe I thought to myself "how gross" but Joshua was making for a trying afternoon today so instead of fighting another dinner battle I decided to give it a try. Well the photo below says it all. :)

Here is the recipe

Ingredients:

Angel hair or fettucini pasta

equal amount of Vegemite/marmite and butter/margarine ( We used about a teaspoon of each)

Method:

Cook pasta till al dente

After draining the pasta, reuse the pot to melt the equal amount of Vegemite & butter

When sauce is melted down & thoroughly mixed, pour over pasta & toss lightly

Serve :)

It's that easy, I love it.

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The Imagination Team

Chalk Family

Joshua had a fun lesson in chalk. It was family day at kindergarten and so when we got home, I continued on with the theme, but made it extra fun with chalk. Being as hot as it was, outside under the cool patio was lovely.

We got everyone in our family to lie down on the patio, I drew an outline with chalk, and then Joshua had to color/fill it in according to what he thought they looked like. He needed to figure out if they needed a skirt (girl) or shorts (boys), what type of hair they had etc. Some of these additions proved harder for him to figure out then others, eg: the shorts/skirts.

We had a ton of fun, adding extra things such as Narla the cat, the goldfish and his fav characters at the moment Wall E and Eva. Joshua just didn't want the game to end. It lasted us at least an hour, then all we needed for clean up was the hose :) Simple, easy & cheap as the bucket of Jumbo chalk only cost me $2 at our local discount store.

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The Imagination Team

Happy Days #1

I have decided to open up this blog again to post about things you can do with your child, that are cheap, easy & fun. Lord knows I don't have the endless bank account to entertain my child with, like most other mum's out there I'm searching for fun things to do with my toddler that don't hurt me in the back pocket.

Today Was Volcano Day :) Joshua didn't want a red one, ours was a blue one.

Materials:

Bucket ( laundry soak bucket)

Sand ( bucket of sand scavenged from beach)

Plastic Bottle ( left over coke bottle)

Bi-carb soda (Pantry)

Flour (Pantry)

White Vinegar (pantry)

Food coloring

So as you can see, for this experiment it cost us next to nothing, I had everything with the exception of the sand, which was an easy trip to the beach. If a beach isn't close by, then sand from your local gardening store is just as good.

Steps:

1. Place sand in bucket, add enough water to make damp & stick together, without being soggy.

2. Place the plastic bottle in middle & form sand around bottle to make your volcano. The 2Lt soft drink bottles give the best volcano's, but just what ever is on hand works :)

3. In one cup mix 2tablespoons worth of Bi-carb soda to 1 tablespoon of flour. In another cup mix 1 cup of white vinegar with enough drops of your desired food coloring to create a vibrant colour.

4. using a funnel, pour your Bi-carb mix into your bottle, then when ready, using the funnel, pour the vinegar in quickly, take away the funnel then stand back & watch your volcano go :)

It's that simple and as you can see, toddlers can get really fascinated about them. The best part of this experiment is that because it's so easy & cheap, you can have a few goes of it. :)

Our Video is uploaded onto our facebook page. Visit us at Imagination

Keep Safe & Have Fun

The Imagination Team

Book Review - Treasure Hunt

Tilly loves treasure hunting - and so does her family. Tilly's mum hides Tilly's breakfast banana in the kitchen. Tilly's dad hides Tilly's toy rabbit in the garage. On Tilly's birthday, Tilly's grandma hides chocolate money all over the house and Tilly hunts for it. "My treasure!" she cries when she finds it. But at bedtime, it's Tilly's mum and dad who do the hunting! Allan Ahlberg's affectionate appreciation of family love and ritual finds the perfect match in Gillian Tyler's warm and delightfully detailed illustrations.

This is a delightful book, a combination of great story & hide & seek. Your kids will love it!

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The Imagination Team

Flying Fish

If your looking for a cheap & easy indoor activity, go for flying fish! They are so simple to make & Joshua just played with it for ages. He asked me to make more so I ended up making handfuls of them, he loved throwing around 5 of them all together. Too cute!

Here's how!

Materials

Page from an old magazine

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Directions

Using the ruler, pencil, and scissors, mark and cut a strip of the magazine page that is as long as the page and 1 inch wide.

Mark a line on each end of the strip that is 1 inch from the end.

Cut a slit halfway into the strip at each point. (At one end of the strip cut from the top halfway down to the middle, and at the other end cut from the bottom halfway up to the middle.)

Bend the strip into a loop and push the slits together so that the loop closes.

Toss the fish into the air to see it fly.

It's that simple!

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The Imagination Team

Christmas Craft.

With Christmas coming up fast, holiday craft need not be expensive!

Making little wreaths for the tree, like displayed here by Martha Stewart is great for children, even toddlers! It engages them in something fun, something that they can personalise with their own color scheme, and also helps develop their hand /eye coordination.

Photo Source: Martha Stewart.

Deck the doorknobs with jolly kid-made bells. It's a great activity for days when it's too wet or chilly to play outside and -- between your craft bin and the refrigerator -- you probably have all the supplies on hand: an egg carton, paint, glitter, glue, and yarn.

Bell How-To

1. Cut the cone-shape pieces that separate the eggs out of a cardboard carton (one egg carton will produce five bells).

2. Paint each divider, using acrylic or poster paint. Let dry; apply glue along the edge of the divider, all over the outside, or wherever you like, and sprinkle with glitter.

3. Thread an embroidery needle with yarn, poke a hole through a bell's crown, and pull yarn through partway. For a clapper, slip a jingle bell onto the end of the yarn; tie a knot above the jingle bell. Tie several bells around a doorknob, staggering the lengths of the yarn.

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The Imagination Team