Arts & Crafts – Sassy Mama

Star Wars Paper Plate Mask Activity + FREE Star Wars Arts & Crafts Printable

Sassy Mama — Mon, 28 May 2018 03:00:38 +0000

Easy arts and crafts at home – May the Force be with you!

Stuck at home with the kids and wondering how to keep them busy (while keeping the sibling rivalry at bay) without splashing out on kids play gym or play centre? Try our special Star Wars themed arts and crafts activity and your little Darth Vaders and Princess Leias will thank you (or at least not poke you with a lightsabre, which is kind of the same thing).

Materials needed

Paper Plate (roughly 18cm in diameter)
Paint (Black for Darth Vader and Brown and Beige Paint for Princess Leia)
Paintbrushes
Crayons, Pen or Pencil,
Scissors
Pen Knife
Popsicle Stick
Scotch Tape or Double-Sided Tape
Glue Stick
Sassy Mama Darth Vader/Princess Leia printables (download here!)

Darth Vader Mask
Step 1: Measure and cut out 2 triangles for eye holes with your penknife.

Step 2: Paint the entire plate black, once done, place it aside to allow it to dry.
Step 3: Once the paint is completely dry, use a white or light grey crayon to add in the details.

Step 4: Cut out the shapes provided in the printable. Attached the black triangles to the side of the plate and glue the grey triangle just below the eye holes. For the final step, tape the popsicle stick to the back of the plate. Taadaa! Your Darth Vader mask is now completed!

Princess Leia Mask

Step 1: Sketch out the hairline and 2 circles for eye holes. Using your pen knife cut the circles out.

Step 2: Paint the bottom half of the plate where the face will be in beige. Once that is completely dry, you can start painting in the hair area with the brown paint.

Step 3: Make sure that the paint is dried down before using a pink crayon to colour in 2 oval shapes for the cheeks. For the mouth, you can draw a small heart shape with a red crayon.

Step 4: Cut out the brown circles provided in the printable. Attached the circles to the side of the plate for Princess Leia’s famous hair buns. For the final step, tape the popsicle stick to the back of the plate.

Good luck, and May the Force be with you, mama!

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Indoor Fun: A Mess Free Painting Activity By Little Miracles

Sassy Mama — Tue, 22 May 2018 03:00:30 +0000

A Fun Indoor Art Activity To Keep Your Kids Busy & Having Fun

IDK Little Miracles is a new monthly service set up by mama Victoria who was inspired by her little girl to create something which would not only give her the best start in life but also allow them to spend magical moments together (check out her super cute instagram page @idk_littlemiracles). With an NVQ in Children’s Care, Learning and Development, Victoria now offers monthly planned activities that are personally designed to fit in around your families, time and lifestyle. Many of us don’t have the time to plan these activities or don’t have the expertise, knowledge or imagination for what’s most suited for the kids – and this is where Victoria can help. You’ll be guided on how to have fun with your little ones and how to create time for the most important part of your life, your family.

How it works?

For AED 90 a month Victoria will send you 4 planned activities designed solely for your family, each with four sections including what you’ll need, instructions, full overview and guided duration time. For more details, email idk_lmb@outlook.com

Sounds amazing right? We’re all for supporting mama businesses and this is one we’re definitely trying over the hot summer months! Want to try it out? This mess-free (yup, mess free!) painting activity below is the perfect start.

Resources required:

Large clear plastic sealable bag
Washable paint
Sellotape / sticky tape / duck tape

Benefits from this activity:

Children learn to explore textures by themselves.
If your child does not like messy play, this is a great way to introduce paint.
Encourages your child to write.
Fun way to learn.
It is calming and soothing and provides relaxation, whilst having lots of fun.

Step by Step guide

Step 1 – Add a few different colored blobs of washable paint in to the large clear plastic sealable bag.

Step 2 – Remove air from the bag you can do this by pressing this out, seal the bag and line it with duck tape or sellotape to ensure there will be no leakages.

Step 3 – Tape the bag to a window (this is my favorite choice), table, highchair or floor.
As always, supervise your baby during this activity and do not leave unattended with a bag.

Step 4 – Once you have introduced this activity to your child, they will then begin to explore by moving the paint around the bag, by doing so the colors will then begin to mix quit quickly.
You can encourage your child to start writing on the paint bag, this is a great way to help a child learn spellings, numbers and sums.

If you would like your child to create a piece of art work from this activity, simply put a piece of paper (different shaped paper is a nice idea) in the sealed bag and when you add the paint blobs add this on to the paper, when the child moves the paint around it will move all over the paper. When your child is finished, carefully remove the paper and leave to dry. You will then have a great memory from this activity. I always date and mark the currant age on the work my child creates as I think it is nice to look back and I will know how old they were when they created that particular piece.

This activity is also nice for a baby/toddler, it is a great way for them to explore.

Guided duration time – 20 Minutes (however can be kept on the window, high chair or table for the duration of the day if supervised).

We hope you enjoy this activity just as much as you we do. Don’t forget if you take any pictures please email them to us to idk_lmb@outlook.com as we would love to see how much fun you all had.

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The Best Places For Cheap Art & Prints In Dubai

Kaya — Wed, 09 May 2018 03:00:33 +0000

Websites For Snapping Up Affordable Art & Prints

Want to jazz up your walls? There’s no better way of doing it than with a few gorgeous prints – and we’ve found some super sassy places to shop (and not go wild with spending!). Whether you’re contemplating a gallery wall, adding a little pizzaz to a boring little corner or giving your kids some framed words of inspo to live by, these places will help…

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How to Make Slime in Dubai for under AED 50

Sassy Mama — Thu, 05 Apr 2018 03:00:55 +0000

SLIME — it’s everywhere! But where do you get ingredients in Dubai, and how do you make it…cheap?

Watch our Sassy Mama sisters in Singapore’s easy how-to video on how to make fluffy stretchy slime, a great sensory activity for toddlers all the way up to older kids. The best part is, we have located where to buy all the ingredients in Dubai and you can make big batches of the stuff for well under AED 50. Add in colour or glitter and you have one big slime party of fun on your hands!

Slime

Ingredients
– 1 cup of White PVA Glue ( Available at ACE Hardware)
– 1 cup of Shaving Foam ( Shaving Foam from Life Pharmacy or any Supermarket)
– 1 tsp Baking Soda ( Carrefour, Spinneys or any Supermarket)
– 4-5 Squirts of Contact Lens Solution ( Buffered Saline Solution from any optical centers)

Instructions

In a medium-sized bowl pour in 1 cup of white PVA glue.
Then add 1 cup of shaving foam. This makes your slime nice and fluffy.
At this stage, you can add food colouring, glitter or paint to colour your slime.
In the same bowl add 1 teaspoon of baking soda.
Start squirting in some contact lens solution. You need to make sure that the contact lens solution contains Boric Acid in the list of ingredients. Continue to mix and add squirts of contact lens solution until the mixture is no longer sticky and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Enjoy your slime!

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11 Egg-Cellent Family Friendly Easter Events in Dubai

Sassy Mama — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 03:00:34 +0000

Check out our roundup of some of the most fun ways to celebrate Easter with kids in Dubai!

Whatever your take on Easter, one thing’s for sure – the kids aren’t going to want to pass up an opportunity to hunt for eggs, eat chocolate and get a visit from the Easter bunny! We’ve rounded up some of the most egg-cellent kid friendly events and treats, so hop to it and start planning!

psst..if you don’t want to head out and fancy doing Easter at home then we know just the place to stock up on all your seasonal treats (and then some) – we’re talking The Lime Tree Café & Kitchen where the team have been busy whipping up a storm in the kitchen and creating delicious cookies and confectionary. From hand-iced biccies to chocolate hens and eggs, farmyard babies, iced bunnies and carrots, Easter shortbread, Easter cupcakes and… drum roll please…THE BEST freshly baked hot cross buns with an added new apricot and dark chocolate flavour. Stock up and surprise the kiddos on Easter morning….

Available to pre-order via retail@limetreecafe.ae and also in-store at Jumeirah, Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Quoz.

Scroll through the gallery for some of this year’s most fun family events.

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The Best of Art Dubai for Families & Kids

Leanne Henderson — Mon, 19 Mar 2018 03:00:10 +0000

Art Dubai For Families Including A Fun Little Treasure Hunt To Enjoy!

Get ready for Art Dubai at Madinat Jumeirah, mamas! This key event is an annual celebration of all things art, design and culture and will take place from 21 -24 March with a huge program of exciting events which celebrate our city’s art scene. Think that Art Dubai is just for the grown-ups? Think again! From workshops to discovery tours for kids and teens, there’s plenty to enjoy for the whole family.

We’ve pulled together a guide to Art Dubai 2018, along with these top tips for introducing your kids to art, so the whole family can visit and have fun!

Top Tips Before Visiting

Don’t be nervous to take kids to museums and galleries! Just pick times to suit when the kids are at their best (i.e not when they’re exhausted at the end of the day!). Mornings are always good.
If your little one is not going to enjoy the art because they’re too young, time your arrival for their nap time and they’ll float around the generally quiet galleries in their pushchair and wake fresh and perky for the rest of the day. Our kids have “seen” many an amazing gallery this way – I liken it to being on a cruise ship – they go to sleep in one port and wake up in another.
Make sure the kids aren’t hungry – I have never been in a gallery which has not allowed kids to have a snack or drink in the open public spaces outside the gallery halls so pack their favourite things in your bag. If in doubt, feed!

How to keep them interested

If I have time ahead of a visit, I’ll go online and download some pictures of key artworks in the galleries and give them to the kids when we arrive. As you wander around enjoying the art encourage them to look for the pictures on the printout – everyone loves a treasure hunt!!
If you don’t have time to create your own have a look at the tickets – some include images of important pieces on them or pop into the gift shop and see if they have a kids activity book especially for the gallery or museum that you’re visiting.
If all else fails try my proven top four things to find – a horse, a man with a book, a bird and a yellow flower. Not so easy in very contemporary museums but you get the idea and you would be surprised where these four can be found.
If all else fails and your kids respond to reward charts (ie bribery) you can always use the gift shop to encourage them to be their best. Why not get them to start collecting postcards or magnets of the their favourite artworks.

To help you all enjoy Art Dubai I’ve put together a little treasure hunt for the Modern and Contemporary Galleries. Download it here and let us know how the kids get on!

All The Details:

Location
Madinat Jumeirah

Daily Opening Times
Thursday, March 22: 4-9:30pm (last entrance at 9pm)
Friday, March 23: 2-9:30pm (last entrance at 9pm)
Saturday, March 24: 12-6:30pm (last entrance at 6pm)

Admission
Day ticket: AED 60 if purchased online, AED 90 if purchased onsite
3-Day ticket (March 22-24): AED 100, AED 150 if purchased onsite
Children 18 years old and under are admitted free of charge. University students can also enter free upon show of student ID.

More information and timings of events can be found at www.artdubai.ae

Read on for some of this year’s most family friendly Art Dubai exhibits and activities….

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