are essential.
We are being "invaded" in mid-November - or that is the plan. My brother is bringing his family over from another state to see the Senior Cat.
They were here last year. The Senior Cat was delighted to see them but the experience was exhausting. He is noticeable frailer this year so it will be even more difficult. He is looking forward to seeing them but also feeling a little anxious about how he will cope.
Last year I provided "activity packs". They were large brown paper bags with handles and, inside, a variety of things to do. The Senior Cat's five great-grandchildren swooped and the contents kept them occupied for some time.
I have planned the same this year. I have bought new paper bags from the "cheap" shop. (They won't last but that doesn't matter.) There are mini coloured pencils and a colouring book. Those are essentials. There is a clock face they can colour in and, with some help, attach hands that will move. (Might as well provide something mildly educational was my thought.) Then there are some foam stickers - because they were bright and shiny and glittery and feature dinosaurs! There are sheets of stickers. There are some cardboard stars for making their own Christmas mobiles. And there are some hats they can decorate. These are smallish boater hat forms. I understand the material they are made from is called "sinamay" and that the forms themselves are actually supposed to be used to make "fascinators" but I found a pack of five on the internet. Five? How could I possibly resist? It was just the right number. Middle Cat and I went to a rather odd shop that I thought might have something to decorate them with - and found just the right thing. They can glue the decorations on and we will add some elastic to keep them on their heads if they want to wear them - and they might.
And then of course there is food. There are chocolate frogs, jelly garden bugs, and Smarties - and there are bear shaped biscuits which I have yet to pack into individuals packets.
I am also making the girls fancy snap hair-clips. They are just a token gesture in the "make" department.
Now, dear readers, I need to know what I can make the six year old male. Any suggestions. It has to be small - or do I go sexist and give him a miniature car instead?
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4 comments:
When my grandson was six he loved fancy hair clips, same as his sister did at that age. His had dogs or bears on them, and I think I remember making one with a car. He clipped them onto his shirt pocket or neck.
Perhaps something constructive? Not lego, far too expensive for your needs. I am told that you can find many things to be put together on the internet. Print them out and they can be coloured and put together. Perhaps a printout calendar of November to mark off the days, or a small notebook which can be used to illustrate their holiday, day by day. Kmart etc have cheap packs of playing cards for different games. I no longer need to buy games like dominoes but they could work too. Sorry, no idea of cost there. Dominoes can double as building blocks. Knitted finger puppets are fun and working together could also happen for a production. Loads of ideas for these are around and they use only a few metres of yarn. . Perhaos some materials for masks? My sons made pictures on piec3es of hessian with a blunt darning needle. I have also seen plastic wool needles. Some masking tape around the edges to stop fraying. I still have a car done by one of my sons very many years ago. It hangs by some wool.
Perhaps a game? I saw on Pinterest a Toc-Tac-Toe game in a hessian bag. It used smooth pebbles with the 'X' and 'O' in white paint/texta
It would be simple to make and you could crochet or knit a small bag .....
Linda B.
If you have clip fasteners for hair clips, would they be suitable for a clip on bow tie or badges? I have seen miniature top hats crocheted and then attached to a clip so they can be worn for St Patrick's day but you already have hats organised.
Continuing on from Jan's suggestions (above) about finger puppets, what about flat pieces of felt? The children could cut out pieces of felt to create their own finger puppets perhaps or cut out shapes in felt to make pictures - do you remember the "fuzzy felts" games from many years ago? I don't know whether that sort of thing is still around but could be easy to fashion DIY.
If you have an enclosed area, a bag of marbles can be fun for children and educational for adding up their scores. They can help to make the game. Turn a shoebox or similar upside down. Cut out little 'doorways' along the bottom edge. Write a different number above each door. The children need to see if they can get their marbles into the box through the doors. The next challenge is to see who can get the highest score by adding up the numbers above the doors that their marbles go through.
I have seen little packets of blank jigsaw puzzles which children can draw on and then challenge each other to complete the jigsaw. I saw them in a craft shop displayed with the party favours. They were inexpensive and my children enjoyed them.
Playing cards and dominoes are great and cheap - there are so many simple games. Happy Families/Go Fish/Quartet (different names for the same game) is an easy game for children to learn. It works with any kinds of cards as long as there are sets of four to match up; e.g. 4 hearts/spades/diamonds, 4 lions/kangaroos/cars/balls etc. The latter version can be used to develop reading skills. The game of 'old maid' can be played with the same deck. With dominoes, a simple draw game is easy. I love playing all sorts of domino games because they are easy to handle - much easier than playing cards which my hands find hard to hold after a while.
Boys like paper planes too! My son was once given a tin which contained instructions for all sorts of paper plane designs and all the paper to make them too. Paper planes, paper hats...Those tins used to be found in some of the larger newsagents or book shops. The internet would have plenty of instructions around the place too and if you can get your hands on some recycled paper, you are set.
Good luck! Enjoy the visit and I hope the children will be old enough to consider Senior Cat's needs too.
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