DIY BUNTING AND PAIRS GAME - ACTIVITIES FOR KIDS

As a parent to two boys, I'm often reluctant to go all out on themed bedrooms for them because they change their minds so often. One day they love trains, the next it's Lego. Batman is their ultimate hero only to be replaced with Princess Poppy from Trolls a week later. It's hard to keep up with their likes and dislikes. So when they ask for a certain type of room, I always take a step back and think about how I can loosely give them what they want without committing too much time and money.

For me, a neutral backdrop is nearly always the answer. I mostly paint rather than wallpaper walls (my five year old's bedroom is an exception, admittedly), buy good quality but plain furniture, and invest in clever storage. Instead, I use accessories and handmade touches to bring the theme to the forefront. If children can see something repeated two or three times, perhaps in the form of bedding, bunting and a bean bag, it gives them a sense of being in a themed bedroom even if everything else is quite plain.

As an example, how about a car themed room for all the cars, trucks and tractors enthusiasts out there?

You don't have to paint or paper the walls or buy special furniture, GLTC's 100% cotton On The Road duvet set is colourful and detailed enough to add real impact to a child's bedroom. There's a matching rug that also doubles up as a play mat and a similarly adorned storage cube, too.

For handmade touches, how about bunting and a card game? Yes? Well, here's a helping hand.

ON THE ROAD

Would you believe that you can use the same two templates for both? Well, you can, and you can download them at the bottom of this post. Simply print them out on a colour printer (card is better than standard paper) and cut out the squares. You might need to trim them down to make them all even - in these examples, I cut them up in to 9cm x 9cm squares.

SEW YOUR OWN BUNTING

Making bunting is easy. If you have a sewing machine, all you need to do is decide on the order of your squares and guide them through the machine one after the other.

And then hang them.

Above the bed?

Or, on the wall?

If you have a small chain of lightweight card squares, washi tape is sufficient to hold them in place. For a long chain of heavier card, I'd suggest using command hooks.

If you don't have a sewing machine, punch a hole top right and top left of each square and thread cotton or string through to link all the squares together. You'll end up with a very similar look and feel.

SUPER SIMPLE PAIRS GAME

Print out two sets of the two templates and you'll end up with 24 squares to make up the perfect game of pairs. With half term on the horizon, why not have your child practice their fine motor skills and cut out the squares themselves before they start to play? If you use thick card, you could even use them for a game of snap, too!

ON THE ROAD TEMPLATES

Tempted to have a go? Right click on each of these images to save them for printing.

One:

Two: