Flubber

June 29, 2009
flubber

1 1/2 cups of warm water
3 teaspoons Borax
Food coloring
1 1/3 cups warm water
2 cups Elmer’s white glue

Mix together 1 1/2 cups warm water, with the glue & a few drops of food coloring. In another bowl mix 1 1/3 cups of warm water & the Borax. Mix the Borax mixture into the glue mixture until [...]

Read the full article →

Milk jug bird feeder

June 29, 2009
jug_feeder

Make a simple bird feeder by cutting out the sides of a gallon milk jug. We lined each hole with colored electrical tape for our Mondrian-loving bird friends. Poke a hole through the milk jug cap and thread a string through the hole. Tie a washer to the underside of the cap to stop the [...]

Read the full article →

Cardboard periscope

June 29, 2009
periscope

We all know that periscopes are for seeing around corners, above kitchen islands, and over the neighbor’s fence but until I made this cardboard periscope, I didn’t realize that when two people look into opposite ends of the periscope they see each other. This gives you the disconcerting sensation of looking into a mirror and [...]

Read the full article →

Baby food jar snow globes

June 29, 2009
snowglobe

This doesn’t have to made with baby food jars of course, but their small size is reminiscent of the snow globes you might remember shaking as a kid.
Collect items that fit inside your jars. Anything goes. Our snow globe hunt took us to the garden, where my son picked flowers and found some good [...]

Read the full article →

Shipping tube ramps

June 29, 2009
shippingtuberamp

In both ease of toy making and sheer playability, these ramps have been a real hit around our house. Balls roll down them, Hotwheels cars race down side by side, stuffed animals use them as slides, they’re endlessly configurable, and they even stack neatly when they’re not being used.
To make some, cut a shipping tube [...]

Read the full article →

Photo matching game

June 29, 2009
matchinggame2

This personalized matching game for a four year old’s birthday took a couple afternoons of gathering pictures and gluing them (I used matte ModPodge) onto plain wooden squares from Joanne’s craft store (25 cents each.)
For Mariela’s matching game, I choose things she liked that started with M: monkey bars, mom, melon, mazes, matzah balls, maps, [...]

Read the full article →

Oatmeal box doll cradle

June 29, 2009
notcradle

By making some cuts to an oatmeal box, you can make a doll cradle that rocks.  I cut the red front label off a Quaker Oats oatmeal box, and hot glued the plastic top back onto the cradle.  At that point, you could paint it with primer and have the kids decorate it.
I covered [...]

Read the full article →

Pie plate tambourine

June 29, 2009
pieplate_tamborine

It’s not easy to punch holes through two aluminum pie plates. In order to get the holes in the two plates to line up, I used a hole puncher around one pie plate and then placed it atop a second one. With a magic marker, I marked where the holes on the second pie plate [...]

Read the full article →

Balloon jet

June 29, 2009
balloonjet

Concoct a self propelled jet using a balloon, a straw, tape and some string and you can give yourself at least a good half an hour to paint your toenails or see what’s happening on Facebook.

Read the full article →

Styrofoam tray glider plane

June 29, 2009
styrotray_plane

She may not look like much but she’s got it where it counts, kid. I’ve made a lot of special modifications myself. – Hans Solo

My son just spent a good part of the rainy day today making “special modifications” to a glider plane I helped him cut out from a large styrofoam tray. [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →