Read, create and love me too.....

The Marvellous Moon map!

Posted on 10/13/2017 by readcreatelove

“The marvellous moon map” by Teresa Heapy and David Litchfield is delightful story of friendship and determination!

cover

Mouse and Bear are best of friends and live together in the woods. Mouse decides he want to find the moon on his own. Mouse creates an amazing moon map. Bear offers his friend help but Mouse is certain this is something he will do on his own, all you need is a map, right??? As Mouse sets off into the wood in the dark, Bear is worried about his friend going on his own so he follows closely behind. When Mouse realises maybe he needs more than just a map, bear is there to help his friend. Will they reach the moon? Will the map come in handy in the end? Is there anything better than finding the moon?

tumblr_ot3rg3YFNM1qam5nvo1_1280

What a stunning story of friendship, I am sure you can’t read this book without having a big smile on your face by the end. The illustrations are beautiful, full of lovely details which makes you want spend time looking at each page. At the end of the book there are instructions on how to make your own paper boat.

We are big fans of David Litchfield, we love “The bear and the piano”, check out my post about it here.

Highly recommended!

Happy reading! x

8 Thrifty creative ideas

Posted on 10/11/2017 by readcreatelove

Honestly getting creative with children doesn’t require lots of money and resources there is so much you can do with things you already have in your home! I ran a series over on Instagram sharing every Wednesday an idea for getting creative with the things you already have in your home so no added cost necessary. I decided to share the ideas here on the blog too.

I hope you find some useful ideas!

Bubble wrap – check out this post for more details about bubble wrap printing.

2017-07-11 14.33.54 (2)

Muffin tin printing- for more details about printing with a muffin tin, check out my post about printing with things you have in the home.

IMG_20170726_191221_507

Explore paint inside a bag – this idea is not only thrifty but no mess too! If the child is age/stage appropriate allow them to put paint onto a piece of card or you can do this part. Then put the card in the plastic bag, seal it with a little tape and allow the child to explore spreading, scrapping and mixing the paint without getting messy. Once the child has finished, take the card to reveal the masterpiece!

IMG_20170802_180932_845

Scrape art – check out this post about our favourite creative activities including scrape art.

IMG_20170809_181109_936

Cotton bud painting – instead of always using paint brushes try cotton buds, they make great dotty marks!!!

2017-09-06 14.57.34 (2)

Lego printing – Super simple – dipping the lego in the paint and printing onto paper, younger children will make random marks while older children enjoy making patterns.

2017-09-12 14.18.39

Printing on a freezer/sandwich bag – for more details check out my post about printing with things you have in your home.

2017-09-19 15.02.10-2

Mini paint pallet- another super simple one – put a little paint on a scrap of card and invite the children to mix their own colours and use them to paint a picture.

IMG_20170719_181401_240 (1)

What are your favourite thrifty creative ideas? Remember if you are on Instagram add to #thriftycreativemums to your pictures to share your thrifty ideas.

Enjoy getting creative! xxx

Posted in Get crafty, Uncategorized | Tagged art on a shoe string, bubble wrap printing, muffin tin printing, printing, process art, scrape art, thrifty creative ideas | Leave a comment

Camille Walala inspired!!!

Posted on 10/03/2017 by readcreatelove

During the summer we visited the Now gallery in Greenwich which was exhibiting Camille Walala’s fantastic artwork. The children loved exploring and getting to interact with real art. We have then gone on to research some of Camille art and found ourselves very inspired!

Here are two different pieces of art we have created:

2017-10-03 09.08.05-1.jpg

Printing shapes art

Need: paint (various colours including black), paper and shapes to print (we used wood toy blocks).

The children first printed with different colours and shapes. When it was dry we printed black rectangles over the top.

2017-10-02 16.01.19

Shapes and washi tape art

Need: Paper, pencil, ruler, circle template, paint, paintbrushes, washi tape.

I invited the children to draw their design using a ruler, adding circles if they wanted to. They then painted their shapes different colours. When it was dry they added washi tape around the edges of the shapes.

Which artist are inspiring you at the moment???

Happy creating! x

Posted in Get crafty, Uncategorized | Tagged Artist, artist inspired, Camille Walala | Leave a comment

“Mrs Mole, I’m home” by Jarvis

Posted on 10/02/2017 by readcreatelove

Some books I pick up I instantly fall in love with and this book definitely falls into that category. “Mrs Mole, I’m home!” by Jarvis is a fun and warm-hearted story!

9781406367270

Mrs Mole has had a busy day at work and is keen to get home to her family. Unfortunately she can’t find her glasses anywhere. She thinks she must know the way home by now. So she sets off, she enthusiastically pops up is various different homes, including Antarctica! Will she find her way home? Where are her glasses? She won’t lose them again, would she?

mole

The illustrations are fantastic and add to the story perfectly! The book is great for a wide age range and even a few little added humorous details to make the adults smile as well as the kids!

If I was still teaching I would defiantly use this book, as it has a great structure for retelling and it even has a story map illustration. The children could use the structure to create their own story. Also it would be a great story if the children were learning about habitat too.

Love love love this story! Highly recommend!

Happy reading xx

PS. I need to check out “Alan’s big, scary teeth” which is also written by Jarvis! x

Posted in animal stories, Great reads, picture books, Uncategorized | Tagged animals, Jarvis, Mrs Mole I'm home!, picture books | Leave a comment

“Oh no, George!” By Chris Haughton

Posted on 09/19/2017 by readcreatelove

“Oh no, George!” By Chris Haughton is a wonderful thought provoking book!

41VS2Siy+IL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_
In the book, Harris is leaving his dog George on his own, George reassures Harris he will be good….. well he hopes he will be! However George comes across a few things that tests how good he can be. When Harris returns home, George is very upset that he let Harris down….. but most importantly what will George do next?

118586-6828925-Screen_Shot_2014-02-04_at_23_17_00
What a great book about choices and consequences of our actions! Throughout the book there are questions which gives the reader the chance to guess and discuss what George might do next which makes it a great resource of discussing right and wrong choices.

The text and the storyline is very simple, which engages a wide age range of children. The pictures are also simple yet vibrant.

We also love Chris Haughton book “Shhh, I have a plan”, it always makes us laugh out loud! Check out our book share here.

Happy reading x

Posted in Great reads, picture books, Uncategorized | Tagged chris haughton, thoughtful book, thoughtful reading | Leave a comment

Cosmic sun-catchers!

Posted on 09/14/2017 by readcreatelove

We were inspired by “Babble dabble do” blog post to have a go at making these cosmic sun-catchers (click on link to find out more). They look beautiful hanging in the window!

2017-08-16 17.01.13
Need: Lid from a jar, PVA glue, paint (we used liquid watercolours and pipets but could use food colouring), cocktail stick, hole punch, string.

2017-08-09 14.21.57

First fill a lid with glue.
Add drops of paint.
Invite the children to spread the paint using a cocktail stick.
Leave the lid to dry, then peel out the glue. Punch a hole into it and hang it in the window.

2017-08-16 16.56.21
Happy creating xxx

Posted in Get crafty, process art, Uncategorized, watercolours | Tagged cosmic suncatcher, glue, process art, watercolours | Leave a comment

“Giraffe’s can’t dance”

Posted on 09/12/2017 by readcreatelove

“Giraffes can’t dance” by Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees is a wonderful classic picture book with a great message!

51qvh4MALwL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_
“Giraffes can’t dance” is about a giraffe called “Gerald” who’s legs are particularly bandy and thin, which means that he wasn’t great at running. Every year in Africa there was a jungle dance, Gerald felt sad because he didn’t feel he could dance like the other animals. When Gerald did pluck up the courage to have a go the other animals laugh at him and jeered “Giraffes can’t dance”, Gerald felt awful! He moves away from the crowd and finds a quiet spot, where a cricket speaks some wise words to him. Can giraffe’s actually dance?

71MNKNRXSkL
What a great story! It is great to share with children that message about that we are good at different things we have just got to find our thing. This book is a pleasure to read because of the rhythm and rhyme in the text. The pictures are bold and vibrant which enhance the story perfectly.
I always remember when my son was younger calling all giraffes “Gerald” because we read this book so much!

Here are some creative giraffe ideas:

Oil pastels/watercolours/sharpies pictures

Need: paper, oil pastels, watercolour paint, black pen (we used sharpies), scissors and glue/double sided tape.
To create the background the children drew stars using white/yellow oil pastels, then they covered the paper with blue and purple watercolour paint. While it was drying I invite the children to draw a giraffe with a black sharpie – adding brown/yellow/orange oil pastels marks for the giraffes pattern then they painted yellow watercolour paint over the top. Finally when all is dry I cut out the giraffe and stuck it onto the background.