DIY Pallet Rockwall Climbing Frame & Slide

 

We have another outdoor play addition to our yard, a DIY climbing frame with a slide and rock wall. It is made up of mostly recycled materials and was pretty simple to put together. It also doubles as a cubby underneath.

It was easy to make out of two wooden pallets, we angled them into an A point and used triangle shaped plywood off cuts to brace them together at each side making an A frame shape. Next we used some artificial grass over one pallet and across the top to cover the rough pieces of wood. This was secured on with a strip off cut of plywood that goes the length of the grass edge and along the top we put a platform of plywood. This works to double secure the frame together as it is screwed to both pallets and holding the grass firm as well & gives the children a sturdy place to gain balance after climbing the rock wall.  you will also need these. 

The grass is secured on with some rock wall screw on stones Like these ones here, at play equipment supplies or you could do it the recycled was and use blocks of wood. Next we secured the slide part of an old slippery dip that had a rusty broken ladder, we picked this up next to nothing from the buy back centre as someone had gotten rid of it. All we did was dispose of the old ladder and screw it to the top of the climbing frame.



 

The back of the pallet Climber works like a ladder, the front as a rock wall and a slide.

It did not take very long to build and has been a fun addition in the yard.

It challenges Dimples & Miss Cherub, aiding in gross motor skills, strength, agility and balance.

While the underneath gives a secret hideaway great for imaginative play, it has been a mud bakery, a place to take playdough, a shop, a tent while camping in the wilderness, its been part of an Outdoor Obstacle Course,  it has been a shop and a sand/water kitchen and it has been used in Outdoor surface rubbing. I am sure their imaginations will use it in many other ways as time goes by.

Are your children naturally drawn to the outdoors or do you need to encourage outdoor play?

Here are some of our Outdoor Play Areas and Activity Ideas to help get them outside for longer.

Outdoor Music Wall

Bright Outdoor Balance Stump Yard Decor

The Outdoor Mud Station Renovation

PVC water wall

How to make an Outdoor Spider Web cave

Secret Gnome Garden

DIY Tire Dinosaur Garden

Happy Adventures 

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Thanks for visiting.

DIY textured play dough printing Balls

I made these cool salt dough balls with prints in them the other day so they could be used as textured printing balls in playdough.  Little miss Cherub (20 months) loves her playdough at the moment and squishing all sorts of things into it to see what pattern it will make so these worked really well. If you have a child with some measuring and cooking interests you could get them involved in the process of making these by introducing measurement, pouring, mixing, kneading, food prep and baking. Here is our easy DIY textured Salt Dough rolling balls for some super cool play dough printing.

 

DIY Salt dough;

Add 1 cup flour,

1 1/2 cup salt,

1 cup water and 

1 tsp oil.

Mix into a dough consistency by adding a sprinkle more flour if it's too sticky or sloppy.

Mix together well, knead it for a few moments then let it sit for 5 so it expands and toughens a bit, (this isn't necessary but I found it made it easier to work with). 

While you wait you should preheat the oven to 100- 120 degrees, remember your not going to stuff it up if you get the details a bit wrong 😊 it's a pretty flexible recipe.

 

Lay out some cooking paper ready on a tray & take the opportunity to clean up any flour dusted little hands (chairs, benches, walls and where ever else kids manage to splat ingredients on).  Once your happy with the texture of the dough roll it into even sized balls about the size of a childs fist (great size for them to hold & roll).

 

To make our textures in the salt dough ball we used a tooth pick to puncture small surface holes; the handle end of a wooden spoon to get large round deep holes; a fork to Criss-cross thatch lines; and a print on an ornament that had snake tails, the key is to look around and think abstractly.

Look for deep textured or significant prints that are highly visible and will last the cooking process. You might find a crochet cloth works, a glass 3d print vase, wood carved furniture, utensils, jewellery, a weaved leather belt (anything really).

The trick is to roll the salt dough ball around it enough times that its printed deeply on every side and do so with as little skin contact as possible because the more handling the more you flatten or smooth out the pattern, you want deep and noticeable patterns so it prints well in your playdough. 

Once your happy lay them on cooking paper and slow bake to dry them out for an hour at least, maybe even longer depending on how thick and large your salt dough balls are. You will see them dry out and lighten up changing colour as they cook, turn them a couple times just to even the process out & tap them to see if they're cooked right through. They should be very hard.

That's pretty much it, let them cool and they're ready to roll. 

Now all you need is some silky playdough and someone keen to roll them around. Both Dimples and miss Cherub enjoyed this playdough extension and experimented with rolling the textured balls in different directions, pushing hard and soft, rolling fast and slow then around in circles, they tried just plain pushing it in a ball of play dough and all sorts of cause effect experiments. It was lots of fun!

What do your children like to use on their Playdough?

 

 

More Printing ideas;
Outdoor Surface Rubbing
Play-doh printing everyday texture

More Salt Dough ideas;
Dinosaur fossils
Halloween Salt Dough



Happy Adventures 

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Child-made Construction Small World Backdrop

 

A few weeks before Dimples had his 5th Birthday Party, a construction themed party, I had an idea to make a back drop type play station for the party so the kids could play with all sorts of construction themed toys in a small world diorama.  Some kids are sensory challenged and don tlike dirt, mud and getting their hands all gross so this was an easy outdoor option on a smaller scale.

 

We started with an open cardboard box and some paint, it developed from there with some roads and cotton wool dirt piles and a rubbish pile glue in one corner. On the day of his party I put some cocoa pops and rice bubbles out for the kids to "dig into".  I had seen the idea of using rice bubbles a couple years ago on Paint on the ceiling and always kept it in the back of my head hoping that one year Dimples would want a digging themed party.

This was it and it worked a treat.

 

 

During the weeks before, Dimples practised his scissor skills cutting out some buildings or 'skyscrapers' to stick on the back drop, he helped paint, glue and decorate the back drop. So the cardboard box which was just opened up on an angle and then stapled together so that it kept steady yet open enough for play slowly turned into a mini world full of construction.  It was turning into a cool looking pretend play zone and Dimples had a blast making it come to life bit by bit leading up to his party.

 

 

Dimples loves craft, it was his idea to glue in some cotton wool balls and paint them brown to resemble a pile of rocks, and then in another corner he glued in "rubbish" which was ripped pieces of paper.  I added some drawings, like a demolition ball on a crane and the windows in the buildings.  It was looking more like a 3D small world by now. We added some road work signs and little traffic toys that he had along with a collection of construction vehicles and there he had his own construction area for pretend play.  Dimples loves imaginative pretend play and small world areas, they give play time a realistic element.  

 

It was a small construction zone for a couple of weeks before and he continues to love it for weeks after his birthday party, it proved to be a realistic little 3D small world on the day of his party and looked realistic with piles of pretend rubble. The coco pops and rice bubbles were a great sensory add on to the 3D world, they bought it to life and worked well getting dumped around and bulldozed over. The fit inside dump trucks and were able to get pushed around and cleared.  The boys were happy to taste some and it is a safe alternative for younger kids as well.

 

I imagined that on the day they would get spread out everywhere but it was a risk worth taking, the boys were quite happy to play with them at the 3D small world construction station and used them in their imaginative play the way they were intended. They were able to spread them out all over the table and a majority of them did exactly that, carting, hauling, dumping and loading trucks tractors and construction vehicles all over the scene. It was definitely a fun alternative to digging in the dirt.

 

 

What other alternatives to dirt and mud would your kids love to dig in to?

Small World Play Ideas from around the Web

 

Benefits of Small World Play - Happy Feet Penguins By Adventures at Home with Mum

Using Books to Create Small World Play  By My little Bookcase

Frog Pond Small world Play  By One Perfect Day

A Rainbow Stacker small world By You clever Monkey 

Sand Dough Small world Beach  By Adventures at Home with Mum

Farm Small World Play  By Two Daloo

Free Small World Printable  By Picklebums 

Outdoor Small World Magical Gnome Garden  By Adventures at Home with Mum

Monster Truck Sensory Track with Faux Dirt  By Paging Fun Mums 

Styrofoam Ice Capsules and Penguins in water beads  By Adventures at Home with Mum

 

Happy Adventures 

You can keep updated with all our Adventures by following Adventures at Home with Mum on Facebook, follow us on Pinterest, or check us out on Instagram.

A B C Reading Eggs Read-To-Cure Challenge

Dimples has been playing and learning with ABC reading eggs lately, its an educational site for kids ages 3-13 that helps and promotes a love of reading in children. Its really fun and easy to use, You just go to The Reading Eggs Webpage, create a log in and "add a child" then they can go online (or on an ipad if you have a wireless connection) and start completing books and learn to read activities. Sounds too easy right?

 

 Well it is that easy, and from the 4th August to 1st September 2014 ABC reading eggs is offering a 5 weeks free trial.  This is the second year they've paired up with the Children's Cancer Institution and parents to raise important life changing funds for the Children's Cancer Institution.

The Read-To-Cure Challenge will be open on 4 August and children who sign up will be encouraged to complete as many books and online reading lessons as possible, they can have their friends and family sponsor their efforts to raise money.  Not only does the Read-To-Cure Challenge support an important cause, it also inspires young children nationwide to read books and improve their literacy skills with this 5 weeks obligation free trial. Click here to read more & sign up to take part in the challenge

 

By joining in on the fun and signing up to be part of the ABC Reading Eggs Read-To-Cure Challenge, we aim to raise over $100,000 for the Children’s Cancer Institute. But not only this, there is another awesome benefit to all the children who join in; they will have the chance to win lots of cool prizes, too. There will also be prizes to children who complete the most books plus lessons, as well as to those children who raise the most funds. Its all for a good cause so why not give it a go? We will be.
       

It’s educational, fun and 100% FREE to register. 

ABC Reading Eggs will provide 5 WEEKS FREE ACCESS to their online reading program (ages 3-13).  Not only this but your child can WIN fantastic prizes and Family/ friends can sponsor their reading efforts with all funds raised going directly to the Children’s Cancer Institute.

         

Helping to find a cure for childhood cancer, one book at a time. 
Children’s Cancer Institute conducts vital medical research into finding a cure for childhood cancer. All donations raised go directly to supporting their lifesaving initiatives for the 625 Australian children diagnosed with cancer each year. Check out the picture below for some examples of how funds can help.

Learn to read in 5 weeks free abc reading eggs, an award winning program with many educational benefits.   Will you join in? 

Mud Paint Torture - Radiant Review and Give away

"Radiant Return proves that Radiant keeps your colours looking newer for longer".

Have you heard this and wondered if it were true?

Well I was given a Radiant No Sort liquid to try for myself and put this theory to the test.  As you already know if you follow this blog, we love mess! Messy Sensory Play, Playing in the dirt and in the Mud Kitchen, extreme Painting and slime making, all of which messes up the kids clothes good and well.  CHILDREN CAN NOT HAVE TRUE FUN WITHOUT GETTING A BIT MESSY!  Its a fact of nature and as parents of these some times chaotic, crazy and messy little people, we must accept this and learn to live with it, or do we?

So lets have a little fun kids, here goes...

Before

Crafting with ink dabblers and markers 

Finger Painting with a 15 month old

Mud printing and stamping, our usual play outside in the dirt.

After

No sorting and one wash

I was certain that the ink would still be slightly stained on the shirt and that the yoghurt paint around the neck wouldn't wash out first go, but it did. I was very surprised! In fact I think I had more trouble cleaning the children than I did cleaning the clothes.

Watch the video below for a real life torture test done by two best mates and one of their girlfriends on the actual brand new clothes they bought from a shop, they washed them in their own home and returned it (like new) to unsuspecting retail assistants... Did Radiant No Sort pass the torture test?

Impressive, really impressive.

If you're not convinced watch the other hilarious (and real life) Radiant Tests at www.radiantreturn.com.au  or visit https://www.facebook.com/RadiantAustralia to see what others think.  It worked for us and is suitable for both front & top loader washing machines!
Radiant is available in 3 great variants, Brilliant Whites Sharper Colours, No-Sort and Sensitive. Each variant contains Colour Guard technology which is how Radiant keeps your colours newer for long.
For more information visit the website. www.radiantreturn.com.au 
This is a sponsored post, I received a bottle of the product to try, all opinions are my own.

 Closed!

Now, one lucky Adventures at home with Mum Reader has the chance to win 1 x $50 Big W voucher that I have to give away. To enter, simply leave a comment in response to this question...

 

'Which variety of Radiant do you most need in your house and why?'

 

Now closed ; Winner, Rachel McGuire