Each week DaddiLifeForce brings inspiration curated from the community, to help you create more quality dad moments quickly and easily.
This week we’re tackling one that lots of dads have had some issues with – HOW TO GET THEM OFF THE TABLET! So instead of being an expert of Peppa Pig this week, we want you to be an expert at brilliant home crafts that you and your children can do together.
Time to set dad-creativity to warp speed. Engage!
Hands + Paint, by Craig Lawless
If you’re in the mood to make a little mess for a big prize then this one is for you. Grab some paint (and some protective overalls) and let the kids help you make some special works of art.
This one works particularly well for any upcoming birthday gifts for friends or family!
You can even make the paint hands into different animals (like the elephant above), spaces, or just a colourful heart shape.
Price: Medium, depending on number of paint pots.
Time needed: It will take around 10 – 30 minutes depending on what you’re making.
Age Range: 4 – 8.
Fun factor: Do this outside and you’ll be able to see some great art you produced together.
Shadow Puppets, by Hatching Dragons
Cenn John, founder of Hatching Dragons Bilingual Chinese Nursery School built his own home made shadow puppetry theatre to make sure his boy spent less time in front of the big screen and more in front of (or behind) the silk screen. It allowed them to make up stories, build characters for those stories, landscapes to frame the stories and then the “cinema” feel to deliver those stories. Was such a success that he rolled it out in the nursery.
Really simple steps to make your own:
- Picture frame from Amazon or Ebay – any old one will do but they went for an ornate looking goldy gilt thing to make it feel a little more special.
- Roll of silk screen mesh – from ebay or any art dealer worth his / her salt.
- Staple gun to stretch and staple the mesh into the reverse of the picture frame.
- Stanley knife to cut away the trimmings.
- Angle Support struts – you can either pop to your local woodshop and get two pieces of wood cut or buy metal support struts online to drill into the base to keep your shadow puppetry theatre vertical.
- A lamp for the lighting behind it all.
After that, then it’s all about making the puppets but it’s great for any shadow work too – hands, shapes…whatever…..
Price: Low (depending on your chosen pairing).
Time needed: It will take around 3 hours, but the payback is massive!
Age Range: 2 – 6.
Fun factor: Literally hours of entertainment, and you’ll have your own magician too.
Special Decorations, by Daves Dad Adventure
After a major holiday like Christmas we always seem to have those little bits of paper and wrapping laying around. For those of you who also took the chance to get some home decoration done, this is a chance to put those trimmings to good use.
This couldn’t be easier. Just take a outline shape you want to make, e.g. a balloon, animal, car etc, and cut/stick the trimmings you have into the shape. If your left over decorations already feature the shapes you want then it’s even easier.
Price: Low (depending on your chosen pairing).
Time needed: It will take around 3 hours, but the payback is massive!
Age Range: 2 – 6.
Fun factor: Literally hours of entertainment, and you’ll have your own magician too.
Your Magic Box of crafts, by Craig Lawless
Craig keeps a couple of boxes of craft stuff that he and his son go to on a rainy day or for just when he’s feeling a bit creative. It’s full or random bits and bobs they haven’t thrown away. Stuff like egg/cereal boxes, straws, wrapping paper etc. They just buy paint and glue.
This particular piece of wonder was made as such:
- The middle out of kitchen foil.
- Same as the legs, which were a feat of engineering!
- The eyes are a pack of mixed eyes from paperchase (about £1).
- Lollipop stick for mouth.
And that’s it – except for some “circuitry” on the front in the form of the plastic out of a Ferrero Roche pack, but it kept coming off!
Price: Very Low (literally what you’d otherwise put in the recycling bin).
Time needed: At most 15 minutes.
Age Range: 2 – 7.
Fun factor: Literally hours of entertainment, and you may find these become the new favourite toys!
Tried these? Tag #daddilifeforce into your special moves on Facebook and Instagram and we’ll share with all dads across the community.
Got a #daddilifeforce move of your own you think we should feature? Send it into us at [email protected] for our next roundups.
Keep those dad-moments strong. ?
1 comment
[…] we shouldn’t. Making stuff is great, and many dads we speak to feel exactly the same. Children love it, and it sparks their creativity. It’s also a wonderful – and weatherproof – way of bonding. With that in mind, and for the sake […]