DIY Fun: Balloons- An Experiment in Flying

Posted on January 31, 2013 by lauren

Lately, we’ve been checking out a lot of books from our local library. And just by chance, we were pretty inspired by one: The Berenstain Bears Fly-It! Up, Up, and Away. Along with telling simplified versions of the evolution of flight, it gives simple instructions on how to make your own balloon-powered flyers. We spent an entire afternoon experimenting with them until we found our favorite! And, since it is freezing cold outside, this activity was perfect for indoors, as balloons and paper are sure to please and are easy on your lamps.

First up: The Tiger Shark:

The shape of our cone before rolling/taping

This cylinder ended up way too long and top-heavy, as the balloon could only fit into the base/opening

… so we cut it.

The verdict? Cute, but not a great design. The balloon could not be inflated enough inside the capsule to make it fly well (or maybe our paper was too heavy?).

Next up: Balloon-powered paper plane:

Verdict: Better, but my paper plane skills are lacking. If we had used sturdier paper and a better plane design, I think this would have worked well.

Next and final experiment: Balloon-powered balloon!

Verdict: Hilarious, easy success! The boys enjoyed blowing up the power-balloon and watching it buzz around and around the room. All in all, all of the experiments were fun, we laughed a lot, and we learned a good deal about the difficulties of flight! Plus, it is a bonus if you hit your brother in the head with one.

DIY Fun: Popsicle Stick Farm House

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lauren

Last summer, we ate a lot of popsicles. Especially after this little fete. And of course, after rinsing them in soapy water and letting them dry in the sun, we collected them, put them in a bag and tossed them into our art supplies box for a rainy day. We made a few things with them, including a canoe with oars and a rocket ship, and a mini ladder for some mini imaginary people. But the real reason we saved all of those sticks was to build something really cool. And so, as the sleet rained down on us and the baby napped, Milo and I got to work on a popsicle stick farm house.

Supplies Needed:

large quantity of popsicle sticks (I estimate we used around 60)
craft or wood glue
strong scissors (to cut through the sticks)
optional: pen or marker

Obviously, you can build a little house any number of ways. I tried two methods: building an a-frame house, and building walls separately, then gluing all together. This is an example of the latter.

Step 1: Line up any number of sticks to build your first wall (I started with 12, no reason):

Step 2: Draw your door (hopefully better than how I drew mine!):

Step 3: Carefully cut out your door, then glue the entire first wall together by putting a strip of glue along the entire side of each popsicle stick before pressing together gently:

Step 4: Allow to dry completely before moving.

Step 5: Repeat with three more walls, adding windows if you like!

Step 6: After about 30 minutes to an hour, the walls should be dry. You can now attach the first two walls by using another strip of glue and propping one wall at a 90-degree angle while it dries (I used the counter top and the window):

Bonus joke for you (on above popsicle stick): Why did the window go to the doctor? It had panes.

I eyeballed it with the roof, gluing two more “walls” together but adding an extra stick in length so that the roof would overlap a bit, then glued these two identical walls together propped up in an A-shape. Once dry, the roof fit snugly on top of the house. I glued this in place too.

We added a fence and decided to paint the farmhouse since all of the popsicle sticks were stained and kind of yucky looking! The boys loved it!

This activity definitely turned out to be more of an activity to do for my kids rather than with them since they are still so young and it was kind of tricky to get the sticks to stay put while drying. But I imagine older kids would really enjoy building stuff with popsicle sticks. Definitely good for the old fine motor skills, for sure!

DIY Fun: Felt Ball Fun & Games

Posted on December 27, 2012 by lauren

I’ve read the praises of felt balls and kids for a couple of years now (see garland to make or buy), but never imagined that my boys would find them all that impressive. In fact, we found out quite by accident that they are in fact a lot of fun. Inside a box of presents, we found a cluster of these felt balls attached to each gift. One was coming unraveled. Milo gently pulled the cluster apart to reveal several shapes and colors of felt balls, which he proceeded to sort and stack.

I helped him cut the remaining clusters and allowed him to use them however he wanted. The results were pretty impressive! It was a good reminder that sometimes the best activities come from the imaginations of children, and sometimes the best gift we can give them is the space to use those smart little brains!

Here is Milo’s list of fun things to do with felt balls:

sort and stack
felt snowball fight with your little brother
pretend the felt balls are secret ingredients and make your own pot of stew
go bowling with the larger balls using markers for the pins
build a “snowball” factory:
play felt ball indoor hockey
string them on a thread and hang ‘em in your room!

Here’s a tutorial on YouTube on how to make your own!

DIY Fun: Sparkly Pinecone Ornaments

Posted on December 6, 2012 by lauren

Last weekend, the boys and I collected a plethora of pinecones from around our neighborhood. Many of them we used for decorating packages, but some we set aside for a different project: sparkly pinecone ornaments! It was only moderately messy, easy, and perfect for age 3 and up. Here’s what you’ll need:

Several pinecones (dry)
thread, string, or jute for hanging
a plastic baggie that zips shut (or two, or three, depending on how many people want to work at the same time)
multi-purpose glue or crafting glue
scissors
a cut-up grocery bag (optional: for containing the mess)

Step One: coat the first pinecone in glue. I allowed the boys to pour the glue on first, then spread it around with their grubby little fingers to cover each pinecone in a thin layer.

Apparently, this is really really super fun, as Milo exclaimed; “Mama! You’re the BEST! This is so awesome! I love it!” He makes it so easy.

Step Two: Fill a plastic baggie with glitter (we used Martha Stewart’s “white gold” glitter, which is more like glitter dust, so be careful about pouring because I imagine inhaling this or getting it in your eyes would be quite unpleasant), then drop the glue-covered pinecone into the bag. Close tightly, then shake the bag like the dickens until all the gluey parts are covered in glitter.

Step Three: Open bag carefully, tap glittered pinecone several times while still in the bag to remove excess glitter, and remove pinecone. Set aside to dry completely.

Step Four: Repeat with each remaining pinecone, or until your fingers are so stuck together and sparkly that you can’t take it anymore. We managed 14 before Oliver jumped ship, Milo lost interest, and I shooed them out of the room (after scrubbing their sparkly fairy hands with the kitchen scrub brush and warm water, of course). I finished the last 3 by myself, and honestly, I can’t tell the difference between the ones they did and the ones I did. It’s that kid-friendly! Also, it only took about 20 minutes start to finish.

The mess. Not as bad as I expected!

And easy to clean up… simply roll the paper bag onto itself and the glue will hold it shut so you can transport it to the trash when pinecones are dry.

Step Five: Tie thread or string around the top of each pinecone in a loop large enough to fit over a tree branch. We chose thread to make the pinecones look as though they are floating on the tree.

So sparkly!

Packages

Posted on December 4, 2012 by lauren

I don’t know how it happened, but somehow we are almost finished with our Christmas shopping! And this is a good thing- we will be sending packages to most of the people on our list since we are staying in St. Louis until after Christmas. Over the weekend and yesterday afternoon, the boys and I collected enough pinecones and small sprigs of pine to decorate a small city (or just to make some ornaments and decorate the presents we plan to send out in a week or so)! And though most of those sprigs went directly into the freezer (to keep them from drying out too soon, shedding their needles within cardboard boxes, and becoming a cursed mess upon opening), I couldn’t resist wrapping a couple presents… one of my favorite parts of the season is wrapping the gifts– is that strange?

Plus, I’m hoping the scent of freshly-cut pine will burst forth from those packages once they arrive! I can’t wait to send them!

DIY Fun: Apple Taste Test

Posted on November 8, 2012 by lauren

There are so many varieties of wonderful beautiful apples this time of year, don’t you think? And usually, since our own tree stopped producing about 3 weeks ago, we buy the same type of apple at the grocery store and just stick with it all through the winter. But last week, I noticed that there were 8… 8 (!) different varieties that all looked so wonderful. So I chose four varieties and tucked an idea up my sleeve for later.

Part of raising kids is teaching them to eat well. Part of teaching them to eat well is introducing them to a variety of foods, as well as a variety of tastes, textures, and subtle differences in the same food. Enter the apple taste test.

The idea is to present several apples, each with distinct flavors and textures, remove the skin to make the taste test truly blind, and encourage slow eating and experiencing food in a deliberate way. Here’s how we did our taste test:

Place the apples in a row and remove their stickers, placing each sticker behind the apple. This way you can keep track of each variety after you peel the slice you will use.

Next, Cut a wedge out of each apple and remove the skin from the wedge (we placed the rest of each apple into a plastic baggie and back in the refrigerator for later). Cut the wedge into several pieces and place the corresponding pieces in front of each sticker to keep track.

This next step is optional. I used toothpicks and washi tape to make little flags for the boys’ apple bites (Milo got the black and white flags, while Oliver knew that the blue flagged bites belonged to him).

I also made an extra bite so I could do the test with them to encourage description of the flavors and textures. On these bites, I placed a sticker to symbolize each apple (F for Fuji; R for Red Delicious; H for Honey Crisp; G for Granny Smith). Then, when the boys weren’t looking, I mixed up the order of the apple slices so they would not know what they were tasting.

Let the tasting begin!

Remember to prep your kids on the fact that a taste test is not a race. In fact, I told them ahead of time that we would be talking about each apple taste, so we would eat them together, then move on to the next together.

Discussing his first two tastes and which he preferred

That one was tart! (Granny Smith)

It was interesting! They both took this job very seriously and took their time tasting. Milo’s favorite was the Honey Crisp, and Oliver’s was a tie between the Granny Smith (he eats lemons– no surprise there!) and the Honey Crisp. No one really cared for Red Delicious, which is funny because, you know, the name is just trying waaaaay too hard if you ask me.

After the taste test, I cut up the rest of each boy’s favorite apple, and they enjoyed it with dinner. All in all, a success!

Happy Tasting!

DIY Fun: Leaf Match

Posted on October 18, 2012 by lauren

This one is another really quick, easy, and free DIY activity. We had some cardboard left over from an old box that we were tossing into the recycling bin, when I decided instead to cut it up and save it for later. And later turned out to be today! Instead of tossing this nice flat piece, we made a leaf match game. And when the boys are finished with this, we can toss it into the recycling bin with no regrets.

Materials Needed:

flat piece of cardboard or large piece of paper
marker or pen
various leaves

I picked up some leaves from the yard and found enough varying shapes to make the board relatively easy for my three-year-old to figure out. But my five-year-old enjoyed it just as much!

Simply trace around each leaf pattern, then place the leaves inside a big book to press them until you are ready to start the matching.

… preferably a big, heavy book!

When you are ready to start, place the leaves (or anything else you choose to use) to one side of the game board, and let the kids match up the leaves to each shape.

(fyi- I don’t recommend using flowers, as the petals will fall right off. Oops.)

Next goal? Work on sharing.

P.s.- Don’t feel limited by leaves. You can also use any household items or kitchen tools or even different toys to trace around for just as much fun!

DIY Fun: Monster Gloves

Posted on October 11, 2012 by lauren

Have you ever been pushing three kids through a store trying desperately to get the stuff you need and get the heck out of there as fast as humanly possible when suddenly you spot the perfect deal and your entire afternoon just comes together? Well, that happened to me. True story. Over two pairs of black kid gloves and a sheet of white felt – all for under $2.

MONSTER GLOVES!

Materials Needed:

gloves of any color
1 sheet of felt, also of any color
needle and thread

Cut 10 small triangles in the shape of claws. Simply sew a few stitches to attach each claw to each finger, and voila! Monster gloves!

Nothing fancy, but man are my boys (scratch that, boy, Oliver decided that he hates monster gloves) enjoying them!

Wearing monster gloves will probably impart some extra courage onto your little guy or gal- maybe enough to approach some scary ghosts!

P.s.- We had enough felt left over for two hanging ghosts!

DIY Fun: Alphabet Leaf Project

Posted on October 4, 2012 by lauren

The leaves have just started turning their beautiful fall colors (most are still green, as evidenced by the below picture of Oliver) but there are enough fallen leaves on the sidewalks to notice. I figure in about a week or two, it will be spectacular.

Earlier this week, we went for an after-dinner walk and I took along a little plastic bag to collect some of the prettier leaves we encountered. Oliver was very into the collecting, and tried to find leaves that were not too crunchy and nice and flat, just as his mama said! We had a serious goal in mind, you see!

Not only did he collect lots of pretty leaves, he also found some grass that had gone to seed, some berries, and some pebbles to use for our project! It was too dark by the time we got home that evening to complete our task, so we set aside the leaves for the next day… (and an important tip: if you try this at home, try to gather the leaves the same day you plan on doing this project, as many of ours had dried and wrinkled and curled up too much to use for this activity). But no worry. We collected more the next day while walking home from preschool:

I had come across this cool craft while browsing Martha Stewart’s website (and of course, she came up with a solution to the curling leaf problem: press the leaves in a book first- duh). Anyway, I decided to try it, as Oliver loves every art project he has ever set eyes on, and Milo is way into building and constructing things. They loved it! Here’s what we did.

Collect a bunch of leaves of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. If you are planning to use them later, make sure to press them in a heavy book for a few days to keep them extra flat. We used them the same day, so we chose leaves that were still rather malleable.

Using pre-cut card stock (anything thinner will curl up and distort once you apply glue), arrange your leaves any way you imagine. We decided to make alphabet creatures. Once you decide on your design, glue or modpodge the back of the leaf down to the card stock, then cover the front with a thin layer of glue (we used our fingers) to protect the leaf’s surface and preserve the colors. Allow to dry for several hours.

Milo was super creative: his letter was “P” and he made a person holding a popsicle! Do you see it?

His lucky person somehow ended up with TWO popsicles– the color doesn’t show well, but that leaf is bright purple, so he ended up with a purple person and two popsicles. I give up. He wins the alphabet game.

Oliver helped create this turtle. When I asked him what it was, he said, “It’s an alligator snapping turtle, Mom!” And you know what? There is such a thing- we’ve seen it at the zoo, and this really looks like one! He’s such a bright little guy!

And while we were nowhere near attempting a card for every letter of the alphabet, I know I will be pressing some of the unused leaves for a rainy day. It was a great activity for kids of all ages!

DIY Fun: Signs of Fall Nature Hunt

Posted on September 20, 2012 by lauren

Tuesday afternoon was a rough one. We’re still trying to find our groove with preschool and Emil’s nap time and when oh when do I get to sit down? I was feeling more than frustrated with the state of affairs over here… poor Emil has caught Oliver’s cold and wants nothing more than to take a nice long nap, but my two big boys are wound tighter than a rubber band and need desperately to get outside and RUN, and until they can do so, they keep waking up the baby. I was one-more-naughty-little-boy-thing away from throwing dishes against the wall when Andrew thankfully walked through the door and took over. Seems like we will be having days like these…

But before it got to that crazy place, we did something really fun and simple: we had a fall-inspired nature hunt in our neighborhood. First, I wrote out a list of interesting nature finds that I knew were around our neighborhood, plus some that I wasn’t so sure we would find, and a couple open-ended items (like something orange and two mystery treasures– that could be anything, right?). Then, we grabbed a basket and our “looking eyes” (as opposed to???) and went a-searchin.’

The cluster of mushrooms was easy– just in our front yard! But this easy find encouraged the boys and got them off to a good start. Milo started running ahead to find the next item…

… and nearly ran right past some yellow leaves!

And this activity really helped this old mama think outside the box– as I was searching for something orange (thinking leaves or flowers), Milo had to point twice before I saw it: he had found construction paint that was orange. Right under our feet!

Oliver was the master acorn-collector.

… before he started screaming to the skies… um. This should have been my first clue that the rest of the day was going to be a challenge.

And we found every item on the list! It was a lot of fun and naturally led us to the playground in beautiful weather. Next time I think I will leave more clues instead of a list of items… I loved watching their little minds work and figure out each riddle!

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