Kid Craft: Football Sensory Bottles

After making the Fireworks in a Bottle sensory craft, I had all kinds of ideas for more sensory bottles swirling around in my brain. Both of my kiddos really liked the bottles and Hudson had fun making his own, so I knew it would be something we would do again.

Since football season in just around the corner, and in our house, we are pretty big college football fans, I thought making some football themed bottles would be fun! We made two bottles again, but this time we made one bottles with Nebraska Cornhusker colors and one bottle with Iowa Hawkeye colors. We are a divided house when it comes to football. I'm the Nebraska fan and my hubby is the Iowa fan.

Anyway, on to the craft!

Football Sensory Bottles

supplies

plastic water bottles
ribbon-I used red & white, black & yellow
football confetti
glitter

instructions

Cut ribbon into strips of all different lengths. I was trying to make my ribbon resemble pom poms.

Add the ribbon to empty bottles.

Add football confetti to bottles.

Add glitter to bottles. I used silver because that's what I had on hand, but I think it would be cool if you used the school colors. *Tip* I made a funnel out of a sheet of paper so that Hudson wouldn't get it all over the place.

Once you have everything added to the bottles that you want, fill the bottles with water leaving a small amount of space at the top and then seal the lids on with a little bit of glue. By sealing the lids with glue, you don't have to worry about the lids coming loose and the contents spilling out.

Let them dry for a few minutes and then they're ready to go! Shake, shake, shake and watch it swirl!

Cost breakdown:

bottles-free, had on hand

red, white, black and yellow ribbon-$2.00, each roll cost $.50 at Michael's

football confetti-$.99 at Michael's

silver glitter-free, had on hand

total: $3.00

This is a simple and inexpensive project for little kids. I already have an idea for a fall inspired sensory bottle. I'm obsessed!

If you end up making your own, come back and post a link. I would love to see what teams you cheer for and how yours turn out!

Have Fun!

Kid Craft: Washi Tape Binoculars

Hi! I'm back with a fun kids craft to share with you. Now this is not an original idea. I have seen other binocular crafts while surfing blogland, but I've never seen any made using washi tape.

This would be a great craft for older kids to make themselves, but my kids aren't quite old enough yet.

I've been meaning to make some for Hudson for some time now, and finally did it yesterday! I know, I know...but sometimes I just don't have as much time in the day as I would like. I'm trying harder to make more time for crafting and diy though! There are just so many things I want to make! Ahhhhhh...

On to the project!


Washi Tape Binoculars

supply list:

2 cardboard tubes-I used toilet paper rolls, but you could also cut a paper towel roll in half

washi tape-I used 4 different patterns

stapler or hot glue gun

hole punch or scissors

ribbon, string, baker's twine, etc. for the strap

instructions:

The first step is to decorate your rolls with washi tape. This is the fun part! You can make them look however you want! Hudson has been really into hunting for dinosaurs lately, so I wanted to make his look safari-ish (I think I just invented a word...). I used scissors to cut the tape so that my lines would be straight, but you can definitely just tear it.

one down, one to go

completed rolls

Step two is attaching the two rolls together. I used a stapler and attached them together where the washi tape seams came together. I didn't really want to get out my glue gun, so I convinced myself that the staples would hold better anyway, and it actually worked out great! *note* If you're worried about the staples not being safe for your kiddos, then you can attach them together with glue or even tape. This was not an issue with Hudson's binoculars, but I made some for Harper too (so that she wouldn't constantly be trying to steal Hudson's) and I made sure to press the sharp ends tight to the cardboard and then covered them with pieces of washi tape. *not pictured*

here is a shot of the staples

Once the rolls are attached, you can use a hole punch (or scissors) to make a hole on each side of the binoculars where you want the string for the strap to be.

Then chose a ribbon or string, whatever you have laying around, string the ends through the holes and double knot. You now have an awesome pair of washi tape binoculars!!

That's it! So, so simple! I think it took me less than 15 minutes to make and they turned out great! I did it while I was sitting outside on the deck watching Hudson play soccer. They were instantly a huge hit. He was immediately using them to hunt for dinosaurs! Look out T-Rex!

I love washi tape! Don't you?! There are so many great projects you can make with it!

I'll be back tomorrow with another kid friendly craft!

Have a great Monday!

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All About The Kids: Outside Soup

It's SOOOOO hot and humid here right now, but I'm still trying to get the kids (especially Hudson) outside for a least a little while everyday. I've been pinning ideas on Pinterest and just browsing blogs for simple ideas that don't require too much energy. I've also been trying to think back to when I was a kid to remember the creative/imaginative things we would come up with when we were bored.

One of my memories involved making "outside soup" or "nature soup" using everything we found in the yard. We would fill a bucket or bowl with hose water and wander the yard in search of ingredients. It would entertain us for hours. We would make a soup play for a while, dump it out and make a new soup. So much fun!

I figured that it would be a fun activity for Hudson to do this morning while Harper was taking her morning nap before if got too hot outside. We filled his bucket about 1/4 way up with water and then went searching for as many different "ingredients" as we could find in our backyard.

Here is a list to give you an idea of what could be added, but the list could go on and on depending on your surroundings. So many possibilities!

Outside Soup Ingredients

twigs

grass

leaves

dirt/mud

acorns

pinecones

clovers

dandelions

pebbles

bark

wild strawberries

(We have some of these growing in our yard. Bad for our yard, but awesome for outside soup!)

flower petals

moss

crabapples

seeds

Hudson had so much fun hunting around, adding and stirring the ingredients! We left it outside in the sun to "cook" and he goes out to stir it every couple hours. I tried to incorporate as many different things as possible, as well as, tried to make it as colorful as possible. It was even kind of fun for me and brought back a lot of memories!

So there you have it! A simple outdoor activity to keep those kids busy and keep their imaginations working!

Have a great weekend and stay cool!

 

Fireworks In A Bottle

Once again I've been inspired by a project that I found on Pinterest. Big surprise, I know, but there are so many great ideas floating around out there!

I give you, Fireworks In A Bottle!

This project is all about the kiddos. I love all the sensory bottles I find on Pinterest and thought the kids might like them too. They're basically homemade snow globes using items that you have on hand, such as plastic bottles, beads, glitter, ribbon, confetti, etc. I have a couple different ideas pinned, but since the Fourth of July is just around the corner, I knew I wanted to make my own version of these from No Twiddle Twaddle:

I already had plastic water bottles, red ribbon, white ribbon and silver glitter on hand, but wanted to pick up some blue ribbon and some star confetti. I loaded up the kiddos and we took a trip to Michael's. When I got there I came across a whole 4th of July section and they had some awesome glittery red and blue ribbon for 30% off, so I picked up a roll of both colors. I also grabbed some silver star confetti. Then on the way home, I decided that I didn't want to use the water bottles I had on hand. I wanted to use the square Fiji water bottles, so we stopped at the gas station to get a couple bottles of water. I didn't mind spending the extra couple bucks because Fiji water is my favorite and I was thirsty anyway!

Once we were home, we got to work. First I cut up all different sized ribbon strips. Then I grabbed the rest of the supplies:

red glitter ribbon (Michael's)

blue glitter ribbon (Michael's)

white ribbon (already had on hand)

silver star confetti (Michael's)

silver glitter (already had on hand)

Fiji water bottles

super glue

 Then it was time to fill the bottles with all the goodies.

 Once we were done filling the bottles with "fireworks", I filled them up with water. Oil would work better for keeping the glitter and confetti swirling longer after shaking, but I didn't have any on hand.

Once the bottles were filled with water, I used super glue to seal the lids on to ensure no spillage.

Fireworks In A Bottle!!

Each kiddo has their own bottle of fireworks.

Hudson thinks it's pretty cool! He had lots of fun putting everything in the bottle.

He has a fascination with fireworks and makes all kinds of "firework" sounds when he shakes it! It's kind of funny!

One thing I noticed about the water though (that was also mentioned here on No Twiddle Twaddle); it does start to turn a little pink from the color bleeding off the ribbon. If you took the time to pre-soak the ribbon it might not bleed, but this was supposed to be a quick, easy project, so I wasn't too worried about it. It doesn't bother me..okay, it bothers me a little, but not enough to make new ones! Ha ha!

This was a fun project! I even liked making one! Plus it's a safe way for kids to play with "fireworks"!

Has anyone else made any 4th of July projects or crafts?

I still have a couple more things I want to make before the holiday arrives. We'll see if I have enough time!