Storytime:Dragons

After picking up a copy of Hector and the Big Bad Knight at the library last week, we have been dragon mad in the Little Scribbles household. The book is a fun journey taken by little Hector saves the day, despite his doubters, after his Grandmother's wand was stolen by the bad knight. With plenty of laughs along the way,  Hector's escapades offer great fun for toddlers and older children alike.

The book started us on a dragon book spree, taking in Barefoot Books fantastic Herb The Vegetarian Dragon then dancing along to A Dragon on the Doorstep singalong CD book.

We left the CD playing whilst we got stuck in to our dragon crafts. After returning from France with a knight helmet, we had previously made our very own shield so it was time to make a dragon so we could go into battle. We used an old tinfoil tube for the body and cut a dragon head from some cardboard before paining it all read and adorning with feathers and gold crepe paper. A simple crafts that allows for lots of messy play and creativity.

If you don't have time to make your own dragon, you could always use this fun Folkmanis dragon puppet or make your own little paper dragons with this Djeco Dragons and Chimeras Folding Paper Toys.

Once our crafts were finished and dried, it was time to get active and have some dragon fun. I love how a simple bit of cardboard can a lot of imagination can allow for hours of fun. Free play is an essential part of a child's development in terms of nurturing creativity and spontaneity. Although I admit that after 3 hours of playing shopkeeper I get a little bored, I can see how much fun my daughter has during role play so it something that I always want to encourage. Speaking of which, its time to leave you and get practising my dragon roooooaaaaaaar !