Friday Thoughts - For Dad

It has ended up being a very busy week at work. One of the main projects that I wanted to complete with the children was making some special gifts to say thanks to our dads.

We made a number of cute little gifts. Firstly we made these simple little soaps. These 'Soap boats' are simply a cake of soap, with a popstick pushed into the centre. The masts consist of decorated triangles that are glued onto the popstick. I wrapped them in cellophane bags, placing a small piece of blue cellophane under the boats for the 'sea'.

We also made cute photo ties. The children decorated a tie shape with pencils, crayons and dots of paint. I took photos of the children - a series of three shots. The first one, the child held an 'I'. In the second, they held a red heart and in the final shot they held a 'U'. I made sure that I had a sheet hung up for a background to make the photos look more professional. After I edited the photos and cropped them, I combined them in a row to make the series "I (heart) U". The children used double sided tape to stick them in the middle of their 'tie' and sticky taped some curling ribbon on the top. This then makes a novelty frame for dad with a cute series of photos of their child. They looked so lovely!

Finally, to keep with the previous boat theme the children made a boat card, once again using the triangles for sails, half a circle for the base of the boat and a rectangle for a mast. A bit of a Maths lesson, as we were using shapes and the children had to move and turn them so they created a boat. Of course, the children were very excited about taking their gifts home.

I do hope that all fathers have a special day on Sunday for 'Fathers Day' and feel very special and loved by their families. Here are some suggested activities that children could do for Dad/with Dad:

• Play together - set some time aside to play a game outside (frisbee, football, tennis, bike ride, etc) or play a board game/card game together.
• Share a book together - find a nice comfy place (sofa, cushion) and enjoy a favourite book.
• Write down '10 Things I love about my Dad' and present Dad with your encouraging thoughts.
• Make up a treasure hunt for Dad to follow.
• Make a special meal or treat for Dad - make up special table decorations to show that this meal is special.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!