Pet Rocks - Ladybirds

This was a fun afternoon project which my girls took to quite enthusiastically. We collected the stones while on a beach holiday, and I already had the paint and the varnish, so this project cost me nothing. This is how we did it.

What we used:

* Round stones

* Acrylic craft paint

* Paintbrush

* Black permanent marker

* Crafter's varnish

How we did it:

* Paint the stones in a colour of your choice. You may need several layers to create a smooth surface. Allow to dry.

* Using the permanent marker, draw a face, as well as wing markings and "spots".

* Paint the face and spots in the colours of your choice. Allow to dry.

* Apply a couple of layers of varnish.

All done!

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!

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.