Build-A-Bear

For a truly Pawsome experience, Build-A-Bear is a real treat! Not an everyday adventure, but a special indulgence, Build-A-Bear is an event that leaves an indelible mark on one's memory.

From choosing the critter that tugs most at your heart strings,

to giving it a voice.

From stuffing it with love and a gentle satin heart,

to giving it a fresh air-shower and a good brush down.

From choosing an outfit with accessories from head to toe,

to taking your new best friend home,

Build-A-Bear has become my children's event of the year!

Admittedly, a Build-A-Bear outing can also work out to be quite a costly excursion, but there are ways to have the experience without having to donate a kidney. For instance, we converted credit card points accumulated over a season to gift vouchers at a local shopping center which we then blew on Build-A-Bear, so our little trip didn't take cash out of our pockets.

Balloon Buddies

Another very simple project! And one that inflates your inspiration to new heights!

What you will need:

Balloons.

Scraps of firm cardstock.

Scissors.

Permanent marker.

Pencils, crayons, kokis.

How to do it:

Draw two large ovals on the cardstock, slightly overlapping one another.

Detail and colour the ovals to resemble shoes - any kind you can think of: pumps, sneakers, boots, slippers, lace-ups, mary-janes.

Carefully cut out your prepared "shoes".

At the point where the ovals overlap, punch a small round hole.

Blow up the balloons and knot to close.

Using a permanent marker, draw faces on the balloons - human or animal, realistic or fantasy.

Slip the knot of the balloon through the hole in the cardstock from the detailed side.

Go on, create an entire Balloon Buddy Clan today!

Bird Feeder

This is a fun, and relatively quick activity which not only keeps little hands busy, but also enhances environmental awareness.

What you will need:

A pine cone. We picked ours up while out for a walk.

About 5 table-spoons of peanut butter, but it will depend on the size of your pine cone.

A knife or teaspoon for spreading.

A cup of bird seed.

String.

How to do it:

* Spread the peanut butter directly onto the pine-cone. Try to press it in between the branches of the pine cone to cover as much surface area as possible.

* Roll the peanut-buttery pine-cone directly in the bird seed. (This is a wonderful tactile experience as the bird seed quickly clings to the peanut butter - removing the stickiness - and creates a wonderfully smooth, yet bumpy texture on the pine cone. It's marvelous to run your fingers over!)

* Tie your length of string securely to the top of the pine cone.

* Choose a suitable branch from which to suspend your organic bird feeder and wait for your feathered friends to drop by...

Fun Spaghetti

I received this idea via a forwarded email, so I don't take responsibility for it, but I wanted to share it because it is a fun way to get the kids involved in the meal preparations. (The photos are my own original pics - just to prove that all ideas posted on the Vacation Station have been tried and tested by me and my crew!)

Quite simply, this is a fun way with an old favourite: Spaghetti and viennas.

You'll need:

Twice as many viennas as there are mouths to feed (two each).

Uncooked spaghetti.

Pot of boiling water (add oil and salt as you would when cooking any pasta)

How to do it:

Chop viennas into bite-size pieces.

Get the kids to push the spaghetti sticks through the viennas - about 6 or 7 sticks of spaghetti per piece of vienna.

Place the prepared spaghetti into the boiling water and cook as you would normal pasta.

Drain and serve!

This makes eating spaghetti a lot easier for little hands that usually lose the slippery strands from their forks - by stabbing the vienna onto your fork, you've got your spaghetti quite securely too!

Happy Banner

Ok, so this was a wild grab at something that turned out to be a greatly satisfying activity after all. The resulting effect was so gratifying, in fact, that we repeated this activity for a birthday party held later in the week, and had the same great results with the birthday girl's name. Try it over your kids' bedroom doors for fun.

The girls' dad had been away on business for a few days, and to welcome him home, they made him a happy banner.

They chose the word "DAD" for this banner. Each letter was traced onto an A4 page. The girls coloured and cut out each letter.

They cut strips of gift wrap ribbon and

attached the letters to the ribbon with tape.

A couple of extra strips of ribbon were twirled to add to the banner. (Run the blade of your scissors at an angle along gift wrap ribbon to make it really twirly).

Ribbons and letters were pasted up over the doorway that their daddy would come through.

Popcorn Threading

Ok, so this is an easy one. What's really great about it is that the kids get to polish off a healthy treat once it's done too.

All you need to do is pop up a whopping big bowl of popcorn (which the kids can do if you have an air popper, but you'll need to supervise if it's on the stove). HINT: Make more than you think you'll need - there's a lot of snacking that goes on while the creative juices are flowing!

Thread a nice long cotton onto a sewing needle - it mustn't be too sharp (for pokey little finger pricks) but it mustn't be too thick either (thick needles split the popcorn pieces into bits).

Set the kids to threading the popcorn. When they're through, tie the edges together and you'll have stylish popcorn jewelry - fit for any vacation!

*Including the actual popcorn making, this activity will probably take about an hour*

And what's popcorn without a movie, anyway? When it's all done, set them up in front of a good ol' Disney classic, and let them eat their jewelry!

Easy Bake Biscuits

I usually steer clear of baking because 1. I am not very good at it and 2. the recipes I have tend to be complicated and finicky, but the truth is: The children LOVE baking! And since The Vacation Station is all about keeping the children happy, we waded into the murky waters of home baked goodies.

After a little reassurance from my dear friend, Chef Sam, I tried out this recipe for butter biscuits which was easy, easy, easy! I had all the ingredients, for a start, and happened to find some choc chips stashed in the back of the cupboard, so we were even able to turn it up a notch on the fancy scale!

So, here it is then, Chef Sam's super easy biscuit recipe:

Hard Butter Biscuits

INGREDIENTS:

300g butter, softened

165g sugar

2 eggs

500g flour (you may not need all or you may need extra flour, depending on temp of butter and size of eggs.)

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 180˚C.

Cream butter and sugar and add eggs.

Mix well and add half the flour.

Mix together, using your hands or a wooden spoon.

At this stage, extras can be added (like choc chips or jelly tots).

Continue adding flour until the dough is no longer sticky.

Shape into desired shapes and bake on a greased baking tray for approximately 15 minutes, or until golden brown. (This depends on thickness of the shape.) - ours baked for 7 minutes at 160C

Allow to cool and harden slightly before lifting from the tray.