Safer Sleep Awareness Week

What is safer sleep week?

The Lullaby Trust provides specialist support for bereaved families and anyone affected by a sudden infant death

They have taken to social media with #safersleepweek to spread awareness.

What is S.I.D.S.?

‘Sudden Infant Death’ is the term used to describe the sudden and unexpected death of a baby that is initially unexplained.  ‘Cot death’ was a term that was used in the past to describe the sudden and unexpected death of an infant. It has largely been abandoned, due to its misleading suggestions that sudden infant death can only occur when a baby is asleep in their own cot, which we know to be untrue.

So how can we prevent this from happening?

The Lullaby Trust have shared a video on the do’s and don’ts for your babies sleep.

Want to get involved?

If you want to get involved, please contact The Lullaby Trust.

If you are already getting involved in an event this week, we would love to see your photos of support. Please upload your images with #creationstation to our Facebook or our Twitter.

Find your local #creationstation Baby Discover class to inspire you and your baby.

Day #90 Mess-Free Finger Painting

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

Izzy and Boo are really starting to enjoy playing together.  Izzy has reached the point where she now has the physical ability to actively join in with Boo’s energetic antics which is so lovely to watch.

I wanted to get some paint out for them to play with today, but couldn’t face the clean-up for two tiny explorers.  The perfect solution – mess free finger-painting!

What You’ll Need

• Resealable plastic bags – something like ‘Zip-Loc’
• Paint – whatever colours you like
• Shaving foam
• Masking tape

This was a really straightforward activity which was also cleaned up in less than a minute!

We poured a bit of each colour into one of the resealable bags making sure there was a gap between each ‘blob’ of colour.  In the other bag we sprayed some shaving foam.  If you wanted to, you could even add some glitter to the shaving foam to make it sparkle!

Both bags were masking taped to the mat – making sure the ends were sealed properly and folded over before they were taped down (just in case!).

Time to let Izzy and Boo explore….

They squidged and poked at the bags, mixing the colours together and moving the shaving foam around.  Izzy enjoyed looking at the colours as they mixed together and Boo really liked flattening the shaving foam.

When we were done I simply pulled up the bags and threw them away.  You could always save them to use again though, and maybe even add extra colours to the bag…

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 10 minutes

Day #90 DONE! 10 to go!

Sara x

Day #85 Baby Art!

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

Izzy was a happy bunny today.  What better time to get her suited up and get messy!

What You’ll Need

• Large canvas
• Paint – we used Crayola washable
• Card shapes – we used hearts and stars
• Masking tape
• Fluffy brush
• Marker pen
• Decoration – sequins, glitter glue etc

 

I used some masking tape to attach the card shapes to the canvas and poured the paint into dishes ready to use.  Wet cloth at the ready…..

Izzy loves paint!

She swirled it around with her fingers and started to make marks on the canvas.

Fluffy brush painting!

We switched colours halfway through……

When she was done we had a quick clean up and pulled the card shapes off the canvas.  When the canvas was dry I added a bit of ‘Mummy Sparkle’ and it was done!

Fabulous!

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Activity Time: 20 minutes

Day #85 DONE! 15 to go!

Sara x

Day #63 Germ Central!

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

Our home has officially been invaded by the dreaded cold lurgy! Both kids have now been struck down with awful, fuzzy colds.  Izzy is generally coping fairly well and still manages to play a bit, but Boo just wants to lay on the sofa under his blanket and be cuddled 😦

So whilst Boo was napping on the sofa I decided to spend some time with Izzy developing her creative skills.  I dug out an ‘iron-on crayon’ set that we were given a while ago.  Izzy has begun to show an interest in crayons and really loves making marks on paper.  I thought that it would be nice to capture the moment in a bit of a different way…

There are many different products like this available from any good art and craft retailer but the one we’d been given contained the crayons, tracing paper and doodle sheet (plus instructions).

 

 

The kit was very straightforward and we got down to drawing our picture.  Izzy was having great fun trying to make marks on the tracing paper but the crayons were actually quite solid.  You needed to press quite hard to draw anything so instead she decided to hand me her colour choices each time and let me do the work! – whilst she also tried to eat the crayons – oops!

Yes, those are fluffy dinosaur pj’s she’s wearing – it’s a duvet day after all!

When we were done with our doodling I grabbed one of Izzy’s white onesies and used a hot iron to fix the crayon picture to it.

Definitely one to keep!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 10 minutes

Day #63 DONE! 37 to go!

Sara x

Day #60 Merry Mistletoes by The Incredible Hulk (a.k.a Izzy)

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

So I just couldn’t resist…….we had more cards to make and Izzy was very cheery this afternoon!

What You’ll Need

• Card – whatever colour you like
• Paint – we used green Crayola washable
• Sponge & Dish
• Marker pen – whatever colour you like 🙂

Wet cloth at the ready….!

Once again we squidged little toddler toes into the painty sponge – this time she was ready for me though and the hands went in too – oops!

Izzy looked a bit like the Incredible Hulk – unfortunately there are no photos I’m afraid as I was trying to fend her off from happily painting me too – there were huge squeals of delight as she tried to chase me around the room with her painty hands!

Eeeeek!

So after lots of giggles we got cleaned up a bit and got back on track with our cards….

We had pre-folded our cards into an A5 size again and placed them on the counter ready to be printed on.

Ta Dah!

Very Merry Mistletoes! (and a very happy memory)

Cards done!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 10 minutes

Day #60 DONE! 40 to go!

Sara x

 

 

Original tutorial found on Pinterest (by Kailee Smith)

Day #59 Creative Christmas Cards

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

Next on our ‘to do’ list is Christmas cards!

When it comes to our children I will always insist that they make their Christmas cards to give to our extended family – until they reach their teens anyway and then it’s up to them 🙂

Receiving any sort of present is just wonderful, but the ones I love the most are the homemade ones.  I know just how busy people are and to receive something that they have taken time out of their hectic lives to make just for me makes me love and appreciate it so much more.

So Izzy…..time we got those ‘tooties’ out and made our first lot of Christmas cards!!

 

What You’ll Need

• Card – whatever colour you like
• Paint – we used brown Crayola washable
• Sponge & Dish
• Wiggly eyes x 2
• Red collage item – sequin, pom pom, gemstone etc – using a red felt tip would also work just as well
• PVA glue or glue stick
• Black or brown marker pen

We used our ‘tried and tested’ method of how to prepare paint for handprints or footprints.  You can of course simply use a paintbrush to get the paint onto a child’s hand or foot, but by using a sponge you just seem to get a more even coverage, create less mess and even use less paint – plus who doesn’t like squidging their feet into a painty sponge 🙂

We had pre-folded our card into an A5 size and placed them on the counter ready to be printed on – make sure you have a wet cloth handy to wipe painty baby feet afterwards otherwise you may end up covered in it!

Ta Dah!

2 perfect footprints ready for decorating……..

Hey Ruldoph!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 10 minutes

Day #59 DONE! 41 to go!

Sara x

Day #56 Squishy Squashy!

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

So we’ve been quite focused on actual ‘makes’ for a while that I thought we’d just go back to basics today and explore…..

I grabbed my bag of air-dry clay, a splash suit and off we went!

We squished our clay, added some water, and just played…..we rolled the clay and made strange shapes out of it.

“Squish Mummy!”

Izzy was very intrigued with the squidgy grey stuff and kept poking it with her fingers and trying to put her feet in it.

Boo wanted to do footprints and use a paintbrush and glue spreader to make marks in the clay…..

 

The aim was never to actually ‘make’ anything today.………just memories 🙂

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Activity Time: 15 minutes

Day #56 DONE! 44 to go!

Sara x

Day #52 Baby It’s Cloudy Outside

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

With Boo at pre-school I decided to ditch the laundry pile and get messy with Izzy again.

Today’s adventure is ‘Cloud Dough’.  I managed to find a recipe on the ‘Lemon Lime Adventures’ website that was for edible ‘baby-safe’ Cloud Dough.

AWESOME!

So many dough and foam recipes contain ingredients that cannot be eaten and with Izzy putting EVERYTHING into her mouth at the moment I didn’t want to spend our entire time saying ‘No Izzy, not food’ 🙂

C’mon Izzy – time to get messy!

What You’ll Need

• 1 cup of baby rice cereal
• 3 tablespoons of coconut oil – we used 100% natural oil
• Tray – we used a shallow Gratnell tray
• Something to cover the area you will be using – we used the disposable floor mat from Poundland that we used in ‘Gloop, Glorious Gloop’ but something like newspaper, bin bags or pvc tablecloths/tarpaulins would work just as well.

So preparation first – suit on Izzy, floor mat down and off we go!

Cloud dough was so simple (and quick!) to make.

Pour 1 cup of the baby rice into a tray or container.  Izzy loved playing with the dry rice….

Melt the coconut oil – it literally takes seconds in a microwave – you don’t want it to be hot!

Mix the oil and the rice cereal together and if necessary allow it to cool before you start playing with it 🙂

Izzy was memorised!

She kept poking at the mixture and giggling to herself…….then she got stuck in…..and tried to start a food fight with Mummy!

 

I felt completely at ease knowing that if she ate some of the mixture it was absolutely fine – quite healthy really 🙂

When she was finished I took off her suit, gave her a quick wipe down and off she went!

Love it….

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 15 minutes

Day #52 DONE! 48 to go!!

Sara x

Day #50 Gloop Glorious Gloop!!

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

We’re halfway through our challenge!

Wow!

Whoohooo!

Don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely loving doing all our activities and seeing my children get so excited each time I suggest that we ‘make’ something – it’s just that some days (not many!) it’s harder to motivate myself to get things planned and ready – I’m only human!  We now have more creations than I know where to put and have very happy memories together 🙂

With Boo at pre-school I decided to get messy with Izzy today.  There are so many lovely sensory play activities that are simple and very cost-effective to make at home.  Whether it be flubber, slime, gak, moon sand, cloud dough, play doh or any other of the amazing things that you can concoct, many recipes are now also being adapted so that they are safe for babies to enjoy.

Today I decided to start simple and raid the food cupboard to make GLOOP!

C’mon Izzy – time to get messy!

What You’ll Need

• 1 box of corn flour
• Water
• Tray
• Something to cover the area you will be using – we used a disposable floor mat from Poundland that I’ve had in for ages but something like newspaper, bin bags or pvc tablecloths/tarpaulins would work just as well.

I have to say that a key part of ensuring my own enjoyment of messy play has to be the preparation.  By spending a bit of time covering the area we will be working on and getting everything together that we may need such as towels, wipes etc. I know that I will relax so much more, and not get all stressed about all the clean-up I’ll have to do later – home and kids!

So – suit on Izzy, floor mat down and off we go!

Gloop is really simple to make.  Pour your corn flour into a tray or container.

Izzy loved playing with the dry corn flour and after a few minutes I began adding the water bit by bit until the consistency was just right – thick enough to scoop into a ball and then return to liquid form when you open your hands again.

Izzy was hooked!

We dribbled, scooped, squished and squashed…….

When she was finished I took off her suit, gave her a quick wipe down and off she went!

Love it….

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 15 minutes

Day #50 DONE! 50 to go!!

Sara x

Day #49 Feet That Smell Like Flowers

by Sara le Roux,  Owner and Inspirer at The Creation Station Penistone and District

Izzy always loves to sit and watch Boo and I during our ‘creative’ time – when she’s not stealing some quiet cuddle time with Daddy that is!

Over the next few weeks I have some lovely creative, sensory activities planned for just me and her to explore, but on this quiet afternoon after classes we decide to keep it fairly mess-free and make some painty feet flowers…

What You’ll Need

• Card
• Paint – we used red Crayola washable
• Green marker pen – we used a ‘Sharpie’
• Sponge
• Dish

We prepared the painty sponge the same way as before in ‘Butterfly Baby’ and our other printing activities.  Izzy wiggles her toes every time we do painty prints – she giggles and then scrunches her feet into the sponge so that the paint squidges between her toes.

We printed onto the card and after the paint had dried Mummy did a bit of drawing to finish off our artwork……

Ta Dah!!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Activity Time: 5 minutes

Day # 49 DONE! 51 to go!

Sara x