Autumn is the season of colour, and by far my favourite. I remember I used to go out of my way to step on a crunchy leaf, and for some reason it still brings out the child in me!

These activities have been created with young children and preschoolers in mind, but they’re equally as satisfying for older age groups too (ahem, even really big kids at heart!). They’re easy and quick to put together and especially great for keeping those toddlers busy while you get something else done, or better yet, sit down and have a cuppa, or read that magazine you bought three weeks ago that’s still sitting on the kitchen counter!

Contact Art

You will need:

• Clear contact
• Black card or brown paper, cut into a trunk and then some branch shapes.
• Homemade leaves (you could pre paint/fingerpaint some autumn colours with your child and cut it into leaf shapes)
• Or craft leaves from a variety shop
• Sticky tape

To begin… Cut some contact off the roll and round off the top. Then pull off the paper backing. Stick this (with the sticky side of the contact facing outwards) to a window, wall or sliding door with sticky tape on the edges (you’ll only need a little.)  Press on the trunk and branches!

Pop the leaves in a bowl and let your child enjoy adding them to the tree!

This activity is very easily adapted for other themes! You could make a basket instead of a tree and decorate with homemade cardboard glitter eggs for Easter, or a Christmas tree with round painted baubles or even a snowman made with cotton balls!

I found the autumn tree worked a charm, our leaves even fell off a few times which made it look like a real tree dropping leaves!

Sensory Zip Lock Art

You will need:

• Two pieces of coloured card
• One zip lock bag
• Sticky tape
• Red, Yellow, Orange and Brown paint

To begin…

• Trace around a large leaf or freedraw and cut out the two pieces of card, so that they are the same. It’s easiest to cut one and use that as a template for the other.
• Place small squirts of each paint colour in the zip lock bag and zip it shut.
• Place the bag in between the two pieces of card and tape the edges.
• Attach to a window with tape at the top and bottom.

Watch as your little one discovers the joy of mess free painting!

This activity can also be adapted to different themes. Easter eggs, trees, stars, suns, moons… the ideas are endless!

HOT TIP: For crawlers, this is a brilliant activity to tape to the floor or high chair!

Broccoli Leaves

Every child loves to stamp, and for some reason using vegetables or fruit makes it extra fun! This activity is extremely quick to set up and will bring you much needed quiet time as your child enters that relaxation ‘zen’ mode whilst they paint! Bliss! Beware! It could get messy, so it’s a great one to do before a bath!

You will need:

• Large piece of paper
• Red, Yellow, Orange, Brown paint
• Broccoli
• Pencil or texta

The only prep required is to pop the paint on a paper plate or a palette (if you have one) Draw the tree trunk and branches. Then chop up the broccoli!

You may need to do a quick little demo to explain the activity to your child! Just dip the broccoli in the paint and add the pretty leaves to the tree!

Adaptation: If you don’t have broccoli you could also use cue tips, bubblewrap, fingerprints, toilet roll ends squashed into a leaf shape, flowers, cotton ball paintbrushes (cotton balls held by a peg)

The talented art work is thanks to funding through the Regional Tourism Bushfire Recovery Grant, which aims to boost tourism within regions that were directly impacted by the 2019 bushfires. This funding supports the Southern Yorke Peninsula (SYP) Water Tower/Tank Mural Trail Project which will see the SA Water owned water towers in Edithburgh, Stansbury and Yorketown and the water tank in Coobowie painted.

Yorketown and Edithburgh are towns who were directly affected by the 2019 bushfires, with Coobowie and Stansbury serving as recovery centres for those community members suffering hardship. Hence these are the towns that were selected. Community consultation occurred within each town to ensure the chosen artists and designs reflected the character, history and individuality of each community.

All photo credit used in this feature must go the the very talented local work of father and daughter

We are certain the CFS hold a place in every South Australian heart, The images of the Country Fire Service (CFS) Brigades in Edithburgh, Port Vincent, Yorketown and Stansbury spraying down and cleaning each tower prior to painting give us all the feels, and remind us that these community volunteers indeed deserve celebrating and our support, whenever and however we can.

If you are travelling through any of these towns make sure you take some time to have a look and snap some selfies with the tanks!

Coobowie: Creature Creature and Jason Parker
• Gumbowie Road, Coobowie

Yorketown: Jasmine Crisp
• Stansbury Road, Yorketown

Edithburgh: Mike Makatron
• New Honiton Road, Edithburgh

Port Vincent: Joel Van Moore and Elizabeth Close
• Lime Kiln Road, Port Vincent

Stansbury: Mike Makatron
• Brentwood Road, Stansbury

There are many fantastic playgrounds on SYP. View them on our playground finder here. We particularly love Stansbury, Yorketown and Edithburgh

Heading further south to Innes National Park? You’ll want to read THIS

If you love these water tank mural, you will also love the Silo Art of South Australia. Click here to see our favourites.

If you haven’t heard of Artventure before, it is an online video art lesson platform giving kids the ability to express themselves, extend their art skills and build their confidence. It’s perfect for kids aged 4-12 or for your teenager, their Art Eye Deer program will be perfect. It’s really simple to use – you (there is a 48hr free trial available too!), choose the lesson and off you go!

There are plenty of lessons to choose from as well (over 470 to be exact!)- firstly you choose lessons from Levels 1 -5. If your child is up for a challenge or wants to hone their skills, choose a higher level. If you have a beginner artist or they just want to relax while they create, choose a lower level. As well as the levels there are themes to choose from such as animals, nature or Olympics, so your child can choose a lesson that aligns with their interest.

Art has such a benefit for kids – A report by Americans for the Arts says “young people who participate regularly in the arts are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, to participate in a math and science fair or to win an award for writing an essay or poem than children who do not participate in the arts”.

Artventure is perfect for any household – whether your child does a lesson daily, maybe you homeschool, perhaps you spend time in the school holidays doing art or maybe you are looking for something different to keep the kids occupied when it’s wet outside or when they are sick. It’s not all painting either – if your child wants to up their drawing skills or you can’t face the mess that can come with painting, choose a drawing lesson where all you’ll need is a pencil or texta.

There are 3,6,or 12 month subscriptions available – click on the link below to sign up or do a free trial.

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We recently found a version of this ‘hot wheels’ style shelf on Pinterest and thought we would give it a go. Not only was it easy, and fun, it was quick and the job was done for under $50. It’s a great gift idea or just an excuse for a trip to Bunnings and to spend an hour in the shed, with or with out the kids.

Here’s what you will need:

1 x Mountain Bike tyre (we picked one up from 99 Bikes for $18)

1 x Pkt of black countersunk timber screws. We used short 16mm and picked them up for about $3 for 45 screws at Big Red Hammer (Bunnings). Depending how many shelves you want to insert, just ensure you have four screws for every shelf. We made ours with 9 shelves, so 36 screws.

2 x 2.4m length of pine that will fit widthways inside your bike tyre. (Is it called pine trim? Pine battening?) You may need more if you have a bigger bike tyre than ours or want more shelves. Grabbed ours from Bunnings it was around $13 per 2.4mtr length (Take the tyre to the shop and you will ensure to find the most suitable timber)

Drill (we used a cordless Makita)

Saw of any kind (We used a cordless circular saw, but a hand saw would also do)

Pencil

Set Square

Calculator (Optional)

Safety glasses

A work bench and vice would be handy. We didn’t have this luxury.

Here’s how to make it:

Measure lengths of wood to fit inside your tyre as shelves. Start with the middle / widest part of the circle and move outwards towards the top and the bottom, measuring for as many shelves as you’d like. Nine was nice spacing for ours. I have seen more. Mark up the timber with pencil and a set square.

Cut timber to length for all shelves.

Insert the cut timber lengths one at a time, and then hold in place with your black countersunk screws. Each shelf will need four screws

Erase any pencil lines that are visible and you are done!

Hang and place cars!

You could stain the pine before screwing it in place if that’s your jam.

Thankfully here in SA it isn’t quite mandatory to wear masks due to Covid-19 like it is elsewhere, but it may be worth preparing just in case and this seemed a cool way to get the kids involved and hopefully make something they will wear!

Spotlight’s page have some fantastic tutorials and instructions (Download free pattern ) but we found it best to use a tightly woven cotton and printed poly cotton. You can also use broad cloth or top pop cotton though. We used top pop for the middle layer as it needs to absorb moisture, so any material similar to pillow protectors are suitable for the middle layers.

All this info was given to us by the uber helpful staff at Spotlight when we went in and asked for help.

Vaselina lives the quiet life, working as a receptionist in a very tall apartment block. But all that changes when she is forced to confront a terrifying resident who plays her music far too loudly and eats jelly babies with her mouth open.

Direct from a sell-out season at the 2018 Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, join Windmill Theatre Co for this uproarious musical journey for the whole family, starring Christine Johnston from The Kransky Sisters.

Wed 27 Feb, 10:00am, 1:00pm
Thu 28 Feb, 1:00pm
Fri 01 Mar, 1:00pm, 6:30pm
Sat 02 Mar, 2:00pm, 5:00pm
Sun 03 Mar, 2:00pm, 5:00pm
Tue 05 Mar, 10:00am, 1:00pm
Wed 06 Mar, 10:00am, 1:00pm

“★★★★ Deliciously [and] spookily imaginative…”
The Guardian

★★★★★ A brilliant new version of the alluring old Russian fairytale”
The Scotsman

Buy tickets: