Kids Get Crafty – Only Dad’s & Sock Monsters (nice ones)

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In this week’s Kids Get Crafty, we had a very special craft in mind. It was set as a special Christmas task by “Only Dads” – a support website for single parents, set up by a lovely single Dad from Devon. And so we did.

Don’t forget that this is also a link up party/ blog hop for all craftiness with and for children! Do take part. Do be inspired! Link up at bottom of post! Hooray!

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Here is the brief:

OddSocks! OnlyDads needs your help this Christmas

This year, www.onlydads.org has been asked to decorate a Christmas Tree which will be placed in the Mediaeval Courtyard of the Dartington Hall Trust. It will be a wonderful setting for what we hope will be a memorable Tree.

The Dartington Hall Trust is committed to work in the fields of Arts, Sustainability and Social Justice. Picking up on these core themes, OnlyDads is inviting Mums and Dads to get involved in this event and we have proposed to have Socks as our theme. This is where you come in!

Socks!

We aim to decorate the OnlyDads tree with hundreds of bright and wonderful socks. We are inviting parents of children to:

  • Make and/or decorate a sock that can be hung on the tree.  Artistic imagination will be required!
  • Ask the child to place a message in the sock – based on the following prompt “make a wish for your Dad?”. Being a Dad’s based lone parent organisation we know that many children will have Fathers who have died, or are absent, or in the case of some, their sole carer. For other children living with both Mum and Dad, this will still be a fun and creative exercise. The important thing for us is not to exclude any child from participating

Via Twitter @onlydads challenged us to a sock poem, here is my quick and not particularly good attempt:

There once was a rather old sock,

Who lived in a can by the dock.

When the sun used to shine,

He came out with a smile.

The rest of the time he would not.

***If you have written a Sock Poem or have made a sock puppet, esp once you want to share with Onlydads.org, then visit MetaJugglaMum for her Sock Poem Linky Party.***

Our Craft

As you know Red Ted is not even three yet, so our decorating skills are limited to “sticking”. I decided that we could make a simple sock puppet. Sadly,my camera battery died JUST as we were about to start crafting. So you have to content yourself with the final result and some description!

Materials: an old sock (Dad’s), some felt colour scraps, scissors and glue

I cut out simple shapes: blue circles, 2 white circles, 2 black small circles and one big red oval out of felt.

I held the sock over my hand and Red Ted stuck everything on (I added the glue for him first). HE decided that one of the blue dots should be a nose and giggled madly at doing so. I think it looks rather effective! After some vigorous playing and when Red Ted went to bed, I did top up the glue!

Ta-da:

It is a very friendly monster that loves to tickle and kiss you!!!

We are now going to play with the lovely monster for a few days and then post him off to Only Dads.

Our Book

Well.. I am sure there are some books about socks out there. But you know, this is a post celebrating Dads, so I thought a book about Dads is much more appropriate (won’t The Englishman be proud!).It goes without saying that Red Ted adores his father. So we looked at this book:

The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish (Book & CD)The Day I Swapped my Dad for Two Goldfish, Neil Gaiman.

In some ways, this is a funny old book to choose in celebration of “Dads”. As this is a story about a boy who decides to swap his Dad for 2 goldfish. He doesn’t think too much of it until his mother sends him out to get his Dad back home. He then embarks on a journey – finding that his Dad has become the “latest” swapping trend (you know how kids like to swap). They seem to keep swapping him, as the children see things that their friends have and desire. So why choose this book about Dads? Well there is one phrase near the end the boy used, which simply is: “He is a very good Daddy”. And that is all you need to know. Of course it is a very cheeky books, but aren’t children supposd to be very cheeky? You may want to give your dad away at times, but ultimately you know, that you are lucky and have a “very good daddy”. The illustrations are amazing (they are much more big boy like: a dark cartoon style)and it is a fabulously different book, this is one for the eclectic book shelf! Ahem, after all that gushing, I have to admit, that Red Ted is interested  in the book, but is still a tiny bit young for it and can’t quite concentrate until the end. Give him another year or two and I know he will adore.


For more Kid’s Craft ideas, click here for a full list.

If you have been crafty with your kid’s be it at home, in the kitchen or outdoors, I would love for you to link up:

If you enjoy blog hops and link up parties.. do go and visit Cathy at the fabulous Play Academy every Friday! Just click on the badge below!

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