How to make Hama bead Emoji magnets

I was sent a bottle of Gorilla Glue Clear to use in my craft. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

These Hama bead Emoji magnets are really easy for children to make and you can have lots of fun coming up with your own designs to represent your favourite Emojis!

All my Emoji designs are created on the square pegboard. Once you've made a basic circle you can adapt it for other face Emojis, or you can come up with your own designs based on different Emojis.

Then I ironed the beads on both sides. Make sure that you iron the magnets well, especially in areas where you have beads that aren't attached to other beads on all sides.

Related article - Ironing tips for Hama beads

Then you need to stick a magnet to the back of each design. I used these magnets - Very strong disc magnets (affiliate link) - they are small but very strong! They are glued in place using  Gorilla Glue Clear (affiliate link). A tip - apply the glue to the magnet rather than the Hama bead design so that you don't lose any glue through the holes! You just need to put a small blob of glue on the magnet and press firmly to the back of the Hama beads. Allow to dry for 24 hours for a full cure. If you are gluing larger items it is recommended that you clamp the pieces together for two hours.

I found the Gorilla Glue really easy to apply, there's no smell, and no stickiness when it ended up on my fingers. The glue dries clear and the magnets really are stuck very firmly, they aren't going to be coming off!

I'm really pleased that I've found an adhesive that works well with the Hama beads and now I'm a little bit addicted to making magnets! They'd be great for party bags or for children to give to their friends.

The children loved the Emoji magnets that I made so much that they went on to make a whole selection of them using their own designs!

You can find lots of ideas for Hama bead projects over on my dedicated Hama beads page! Click the link below:

Lots of Hama bead ideas

Goodwood Home Farm on Open Farm Sunday 2018

Open Farm Sunday is a yearly opportunity for farms across the UK to open their gates for free and welcome people to their farms to discover the world of farming and learn more about how our food is produced. We always try to make the effort to visit one of our local farms, and after a lovely visit to Goodwood Home Farm for Open Farm Sunday back in 2014 we decided to return again this year. Goodwood Home Farm is part of the Goodwood Estate near Chichester in West Sussex, and is one of the largest lowland organic farms in the UK. The farm produces cheeses, beef, ales and lager, lamb, milk and pork.

We started our visit with a tractor ride to the dairy, where we tried some of the delicious milk and cheeses and saw where the cows are milked. The children had a go at milking a (pretend!) cow, and we saw how butter is made from milk with the chance to sample some. Then we headed to Seeley Copse where there were a range of forest school activities for children.

The favourite activity was building fires. The children were given a tile, some cotton wool smeared with Vaseline, and a flint and steel lighter. Harry was the only one that was able to get the lighter to work successfully without help, and he spent ages building up his little fire with sticks. Then they had fun toasting marshmallows!

Mia also enjoyed using some tools to saw a circle of wood from a branch and drill a hole in th etop. Then she was able to decorate it and make it into a necklace to wear and remind her of the visit.

We finished our day at the main part of the farm to see the sheep and lambs, pigs and calves. There was a sheep shearing demonstration which was fascinating to watch, and also some ladies showing how to use a spinning wheel. Outside the children had the chance to plant some seeds to bring home and grind some flour which they loved.

There was so much going on for children and adults of all ages and it was really well organised to make sure that there was plenty to keep everyone busy. We had a really lovely day!

Enjoying the World Cup with Twinkl Resources

The World Cup starts next week, and it will definitely be dominating our household television for the next few weeks! I really like to help the children get into the spirit of big sporting events, whether that's by decorating the house, doing some crafting, or enjoying other related activities. Today I'm sharing some of the resources that Twinkl have produced to help get children involved in the World Cup celebrations.

If you don't have a Twinkl subscription, in the second half of this post you can find links to some fab free resources that just require a free Twinkl account to download!

I started our World Cup planning by printing a World Cup Wall Chart. This lovely colourful poster has spaces to write in the scores and then follow the teams through to the finals. I've stuck it on the door to the living room so we can keep it updated as we watch the games!

If you want to up your World Cup decoration game, Twinkl have lots of different options. You can print some cheerful World Cup Bunting (subscriber resource) or even download a World Cup Display Pack  (subscriber resource) which includes lettering, banner, posters, bunting and more - fantastic for decorating a classroom or role play area and perfect if you are hosting a World Cup themed party.

I've also printed some World Cup Countries Cards (subscriber resource) which are a great way to learn about the flags of the different countries taking part.

When it comes to football and World Cup related activities, Twinkl have plenty to choose from. Harry really loves the longer mystery games that Twinkl has produced with a variety of different themes. In the Football Maths Mystery Game (subscriber resource) which is aimed at KS2 children you need to work out who has sabotaged a team's football kits by narrowing down a long list of suspects using maths activities. There are lots of different clues to solve based around telling the time, working out the perimeter of shapes and more and it will keep him busy and entertained for ages.

He also loves a crossword, so I've printed him the World Cup Crossword (subscriber resource) which will also teach him a few facts about football and the tournament.

For Mia I've printed some Football Colour by Number sheets (subscriber resource) which she loves, and she also enjoys a word search so I found the World Cup Word Search (subscriber resource) which has three different levels so you can choose the most appropriate one for your child. These activities would all be great for the classroom to keep on hand when you need something to fill a few minutes.

If you don't have a paid subscription, Twinkl also offer a number of great free printable resources, and you just need to create a free account to access them.

Here are some of my favourite free football themed resources:

Football World Cup bookmarks - These football themed bookmarks make a great gift - they'd be perfect for party bags if you are hosting a football themed party or event for children.

Design a Football - This would be a fun activity for children to work on while watching the football.

Football World Cup Players Colouring Pages - Another great activity to keep children entertained while the football is on and great to keep on hand for a football themed event.

Football Word Mat - I love the Twinkl word mats, they are great for introducing new themed vocabulary to children and helping them to spell the more tricky words.

Football Page Borders - A lovely way to display your child's football themed writing or artwork.

I hope that you have lots of fun watching the World Cup with your children!

I'm a Twinkl blogger and have been provided with a subscription in exchange for sharing the resources on my blog and social media.

Tour de France jersey bunting craft

With my Bostik craft box this month I'm sharing a Tour de France themed craft for children. The scale of the event is a lot to take in for little ones so I thought I'd come up with a craft based on the different coloured jerseys that the cyclists wear and make some Tour de France jersey bunting. Looking for the different coloured tops is a fun thing to do while watching the race with children!

There are four different coloured jerseys that are used in the race:

Green jersey - For the fastest riders - points are awarded at every stage to the first riders over the line, and the points vary depending on the day's course and in what place the rider finishes.

White jersey - Awarded to the best young rider (under 25 years old)

White jersey with red polka dots - The King of the Mountains jersey, awarded to the first rider to reach the top of a designated hill or mountain.

Yellow jersey - The most famous coloured jersey, awarded to the overall leader of the race so far.

To make the bunting you need:

Thick cardboard (to make a template)
Coloured cardboard in green, yellow and white. If you don't have the correct coloured cardboard you can paint or colour white card
A red pen
String or ribbon
Bostik Fine & Wide Glu Pen

Instructions:

First create a template for the jersey using some thick card. My template is very simple. Make sure to add a tab at the top which you can use to attach the jersey to the bunting.

Use the template to cut out jerseys in the different colours.

Use red and black coloured pens to add the red polka dots and other details to the jerseys.

Fold over the tabs at the top of your jerseys. Measure out a piece of string that is the length you would like your bunting to be. Position the jerseys along the string and make sure that they are evenly spaced. Then bend over the tab and secure in place using the Bostik Fine and Wide Glu Pen. The glue will make sure that they jersey is fixed firmly to the string.

When the glue has dried you can hang the bunting in pride of place - ours is underneath the television so we can watch all the action!

The box of craft materials was provided to me free of charge by Bostik as part of the Tots100/Bostik Craft Bloggers Club.

My crafty plans for the year - an update

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At the beginning of the year I wrote about my crafty plans for the year ahead, and I thought that it was time for an update.

The last few months have been all about the cross stitching. I'm really enjoying cross stitch at the moment - I like that you can pick it up and put it down easily, you can carry it around the house or out and about with you, and it's very satisfying to watch a picture come together. My main project is the Design Works Christmas ABC Sampler (affiliate link) which is made up of different festive pictures, one for each letter of the alphabet.

Normally when I work on cross stitch I work by colour, but for this project I'm completing a box at a time, apart from the beads which I will add last. There is quite a lot of metallic thread which I've not used before and I'm finding it a bit of a pain to work with if I'm honest - it gets bunched up really easily and keeps slipping off the needle. I'm having to force myself to keep up with it as I go along! It's also quite complicated in parts with lots of colour changes, it's really keeping me on my toes.

As much as I'd like to finish the sampler in time for Christmas I don't think that I'll manage it. I've only completed 10 of the 27 boxes (the last one says Merry Christmas) and along with the beading and framing I'll be cutting it fine to have it ready to display by the time we put up the decorations in early December. Hopefully by Christmas 2019 though!

The other cross stitch project I've been working on is the Cross Stitch Map (affiliate link). I'll confess that I've not quite finished adding in all the countries I've visited yet - some of the states in the US and Canada are quite tricky to fit in so I've been putting it off. I have made a start on one of the pictures around the edge though. It's a representation of a Center Parcs cottage which I'm quite pleased with, and I've come up with a simple design for a lucky cat to represent our holidays to Hong Kong and Singapore which will be stitched underneath.

I'm planning on having different shaped rectangles with pictures all the way around the edges and in the middle of the continents. They will all have blue borders in different shades, and then I'll fill in the gaps with blue patterns for the sea. It's going to take a while to get it all done though! There are also going to be large gaps in the map because for larger countries I'm only filling in the state that I've visited. So large sections of Russia and China for example will remain empty.

I share updates of my crafty projects on Instagram if you want to see how I'm getting on, and I also co-host a monthly crafty linky - you can currently find us sharing our projects under #craftingismytherapy_june and I'd love to see what you've been up to -we share our favourite photos each month. I'm also venturing into Instagram stories to share some crafty updates. You can find me here - Jennifer Jain on Instagram.

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

Book review - STEM Quest books from Carlton Books

Over half-term Harry received four brilliant new books to review from Carlton Books. They are from the STEM Quest series and each one covers a different subject area - "Fantastic Forces and Incredible Machines" (Engineering), "Tools, Robotics and Gadgets Galore" (Technology), "Fabulous Figures and Cool Calculations" (Maths) and "Astonishing Atoms and Matter Mayhem" (Science). 

The books are aimed at children aged 7+, and each one is packed with information, fun facts and activities. Each double page spread covers a different topic, with an introduction, examples along with related games, experiments, crafts and other activities. Children can either read the books straight through or dip in and out, choosing the pages that appeal to them. Harry pounced on the books as soon as he saw them, and he has hardly put them down since.

All the information is presented in an easy to understand and fun way that really draws in the child. Harry has been sitting down with a pen and paper to work on the activities, and the books came along with us while visiting family and camping over the half term holiday. I really like the way that the books encourage you to interact with them and he has loved learning some new facts to impress me with.

 Here's what Harry had to say about the books:

I really like how they have taught me lots of new things, like in the maths book I never knew that each number has a prime factor. I like how the pages are laid out and that they have a different person and robot in each book. They are quite easy to understand and they are very interesting. 

I'd definitely recommend these books for your little scientists!

We received copies of these books to review.

Mia's sleepover birthday party

We've hosted various birthday parties over the last few years, mainly whole class affairs involving soft play as that seemed to be the done thing. I'm hoping that we are coming to the end of these now, and the invitations have definitely tailed off as children start to opt for smaller parties with just their closest friends.

This year when we asked Mia what she would like to do for her birthday, she immediately came back with - 'a sleepover!'. I wasn't sure at first, she's only 7 and she's never even been to or hosted a sleepover before. We chose a couple of her closest friends and I approached their Mums to see whether they thought their daughters would be up for it. Neither of them had either been to a sleepover either, but they all seemed very excited at the thought so we decided that we'd go for it.

With a date set we started to plan activities. Mia didn't have much idea what a sleepover would involve so I made some suggestions. We arranged to watch a film and I came up with ideas for party food. I suggested that we have a go at making some bath bombs (we found a fab, simple recipe here - Red Ted Art bath bombs) and Harry offered to lead a slime making workshop. I purchased a gingerbread man decorating kit and we got out all the toys that she thought her friends would like.

When it came to sleeping arrangements they all wanted to sleep in the same room. Mia has a loft bed, so I put a double airbed down on her floor for the other girls. We decorated her room with all the birthday themed things that we could find, including this Happy Birthday banner from Twinkl in her bedroom along with a Fairytale themed Happy Birthday banner from Twinkl. for the kitchen. I also turned to Twinkl for some Birthday party toothpick flags to decorate some cupcakes.

To my relief, the party all went very well. I was worried that one or other of the girls would back out at the last minute and I'd be driving them both home, but I managed to get them all settled down to sleep by 10 pm without any mishaps! They were all up at 5.30am the next morning but I'm used to an early start and at least they all played happily until it was time to go home. Mia seemed to be pleased with how it all went and they all appeared to have fun - now I'm wondering if it will become a yearly event!

I just can't believe that my youngest is 7 years old already, she's growing up so quickly!

I have been provided with a Twinkl subscription in exchange for sharing the resources on my blog and social media.