TUTORIAL: Paddlepop Stick Animals!

We have been preparing our Paddlepop Stick Animal craft for Dapto Messy Church this coming Sunday 24th Feb. 

They are totally cute and super easy to make!

  
YOU WILL NEED:

• Jumbo paddlepop sticks (or popsicle sticks for our international friends)
• Coloured paints
• Paint brush
• Craft glue
• Google eyes
• Scissors
• Crafty things to decorate e.g. foam shapes, felt scraps, buttons, pipe-cleaners, stick-on gems 

 

N.B. Make sure you use the jumbo sized sticks as the smaller ones are too small and fiddly for young children to decorate. We found coloured sticks at our local discount variety store. We also had to paint some tongue depressors in the extra colours - black, brown, white, pink.

WHAT TO DO:

• Choose a coloured paddlepop stick to use for your animal.
• Start to create your animal's face by gluing on google eyes, foam shapes, buttons etc
• Use the scissors to cut out manes, ears
• Use a black permanent marker to add extra features e.g. tiger stripes, cow print, mouth, eye brows, nose

 

QUESTIONS TO ASK FAMILIES WHILE COMPLETING CRAFT:

• What is your favourite type of animal?
• What would it have been like living on a boat crammed with lots of animals?
• What would it smell like on the ark?
• What would it sound like on the ark?
• What do you think the animals ate? 
• Why did God ask Noah build the ark?
• How do you think Noah felt when he was teased for building the ark?

TUTORIAL: Making Rainbow Rice!

We have been making 'Rainbow Rice' for our sensory table at Dapto Messy Church this coming Sunday. 

It is very easy to make!

YOU WILL NEED:

• Rice
• White vinegar
• Measuring cup
• Tablespoon
• Food colouring
• Large ziplock bags
• Baking trays
• Foil

WHAT TO DO:

• Measure rice into ziplock bags and spoon in vinegar. You will need one tablespoon of vinegar per cup of rice. 
• Add food colouring to bag and seal it shut. 
• Gently knead the ziplock bag on kitchen bench until the colour is evenly distributed throughout the rice. If it is not dark enough simply add more food colouring!

• Line a baking tray with foil and tip the wet coloured rice mixture onto it. 

 

• Spread the rice into a thin layer using a spoon.
• Leave trays in a sunny spot until the rice is dry. The vinegar smell will go away as it evaporates :)
• Store the rice in fresh ziplock bags until it is ready to use.

 

Too easy!

We are using our rice as part of our Noah's Ark theme. You could add funnels, little cups, glitter, plastic animals and boats to the rice to add an extra element to the sensory play.