Theatre, Puppet Theatres, and Kids Clothes Week Challenge.

Theatre

This weekend has been wet wet wet!


Iain works every other Saturday at 'The Bank', so I try to find activities which wont require an extra pair of hands. This week we went to The Lighthouse Poole to see a Mini Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra show of 'Myths and legends'. They do a lot of these, and they are really good! Very paired down group - percussionist (Lucas' fav), French Horn (my fav as I play it), Violin (Islas fav - really hope its just because she is the only female performer, not a sign that we will need to invest in violin lessons. I do not do strings!), Bassoon and Trombone. They are shows for kids generally - about an hour long - lots of quick explanations about classical music/how the instruments are played etc, combined with silly songs, actions, popular tunes and more traditional classical pieces. Its always packed, and lots of the kids are desperate to be chosen to get on stage and play the percussion (which around 12 kids per show are allowed). My two sink down as deep as humanly possible into their seats jic, even though both are great musicians (especially Lucas of course who is 'Gifted and Talented'). We took my Mum "Grammy" with us this week, and also a school friend of Islas. She was absolutely gagging to get onto the stage - so I held her as high as I could so that she was picked - and it worked! She spent most of the piece waving inanely at us, which made for lots of chuckles, but was a great experience for my kids to see that it is fun, and for me to see what its like to have a confident, gregarious child.

Then home for some dry clothes,  lunch and some crafting (hurrah!!!). Lucas very quickly decided that a wet afternoon spent with myself and two 5-year old girls was not his thing - so ate and legged it upstairs to his room, and we started making:

Puppet Theatres!

Equipment:

Large sturdy box (multiply for each child - and try harder than me to find ones the same size (doh!)

Kebab skewers/wooden sticks and bluetack

Cardboard

Fabric/yarn/googly eyes/felt tips/glue/etc etc

I found some toys of Islas in largish sturdyish boxes, and basically chucked the toys on her bedroom floor. The I gathered as many crafty fun bits and pieces as I could find (I have a lot - surprised?), and then I set the girls making the puppets. They started off asking me to draw a puppet outline. Then they saw my paltry efforts, and decided that actually perhaps they might draw their own people! Isla's friend Grace proved a STUNNING artist - and I think Isla and I were both a little jealous. (Quick question - is it possible to teach Isla to draw better I wonder? - half her gene pool is against her, but it would be a shame if she didnt achieve more than me). 

Meanwhile - I sellotaped the flaps of each of the boxes so that they were more sturdy - and then cut out a 'front' for the stage, and holes in the sides for the girls to poke their puppets. Then I helped them plait wool for hair, cut out their puppets, choose fabric for 'clothes' etc. I then cut the pointed bits off the skewers, and we bluetacked the skewers to the back of the puppets.

Then we chose 'curtains' which were just taped on, I gave the girls bits of paper for scenes, which they chose to fix on with bluetack so that they could change them as required (which impressed me a lot), and we decorated the boxes a bit and covered the 'stage' bits with paper.  

At this point Iain came home and demonstrated superior drawing skills which had both girls asking for lots of his help and none of mine anymore (see 'Daisy cow' puppet below), and we played! 

Islas Theatre - quirky?

Graces theatre. More 'Traditional'

Islas face here makes me melt - she is SO chuffed!

Best picture yet! Isla is working on using different voices for her characters - as clearly shown here. Actually nearly makes me pee my pants laughing!

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Kids Clothes Week Challenge.

I am on a commitment roll at the moment - and I wonder if reblogging is part of this process. I have been discussing a little with some online friends about why I blog - and will look to consider this properly sometime here on my blog. Anyway - since last year I have wanted to take part in Kids Clothes Week Challenge whereby you agree to spend at least one hour a day for seven days making clothes for your own kids. I have wanted to do it but 1) I am scared, 2) Life always gets in the way - but this year I am going to bloomin give it a try! 

It starts on 22nd April, so I have ordered various bits of fabric, looked through the patterns I already have, spent some time looking through the chids wardrobes with them to see what they need most, and of course started a Pinterest board ( predictable? Procrastinator? Me?).

The way it stands at the moment - the wish lists dependent on time are:

Lucas - 

*Cord trousers/shorts (he likes the noise cord makes when he walks - need to be elasticated waist as he has bowel issues that mean his stomach shrinks and grows a lot).

* T shirts - especially long sleeved. If I can embroider or applique train/underground/transport things on them then he may love me for ever!

*Pyjamas.

*Cool scarf/buff thing - not wool or fleece as he has a Static phobia.

Isla-

* Baggies trousers (she is a Mini Boden addict - wears mostly boys clothes, and hates anything fitted or 'skinny'

* A dress or two (Not sure I should call her bluff on this - she sometimes seems to feel the need to conform and try to wear skirts or dresses, but only once, then they get hidden under the baggies and shorts).

* Scarf thing - see above - may do scarf/hat combo.

A plan?

Honestly I dont know - my Pinterest board has way too much on it - I need to break it down to manageable chunks and commit to the specific items I will attempt.

I am also a little thrown by it being a 'Spring' challenge - yet our weather here is truly shite at the moment, so I may need to be a wee bit flexible.

I would love to hear any ideas/patterns/thoughts about my lists, and actually whether you think its a crazy list?!