Have some indoor fun with the kids this winter and create a toadstool house. You can add a battery operated tea light and hang it up, or let your little one play with it, minus the tea light, of course.
here's what you'll need...
- Cylindrical cardboard tub (normally used for hot chocolate or crisps)
- Pen
- Craft knife (for adult use only)
- Acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Straw
- Spotty wrapping paper
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Thin card
- Double sided sticky tape
- Glue spreader
- PVA glue
- Green paper
- Brown paper
- Battery operated tea light
- Thread or string
important
Not suitable for use with a real flame tea light. Keep battery operated tea lights out of the reach of children as the batteries are dangerous if swallowed.
here's how it's done...
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1
Using the craft knife, cut a 3 cm strip away from the top of the tub, and cut a circle out of the side too. (The adult will need to do this part.) This needs to be just big enough to fit your tea light through. I found this was easier to do before sitting Felix down, as he would become frustrated at waiting.
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2
Paint the outside of the tub, and leave to dry.
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3
Cut a circle in the card and stick it to the back of the spotty paper. Use the glue stick for this and press out any bubbles that appear.
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4
Cut around the card and then cut a slice out to the centre. Twist into a cone shape and stick together with double sided tape.
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5
Cut a strip of green paper and snip along one edge to create a grassy effect. Then make a door out of the brown paper. Draw lines on to create a wooden effect. Stick these onto your toadstool house. Cut a circle in the roof for an extra window. We left this until the end so we could check that the top of the tub didn’t cross it. Cut a little cross too, and insert a small piece of straw for a chimney.
Felix likes his so much, he is going to make another, one to play with and one to hang up as a light. Why not change the decor, or even decorate the inside too? You could make yours into an igloo, or teepee, or…?!?