Creative Rockets For Play or Display Made From Recycled Junk
Posted Apr 30, 08 -Filed Under crafts (recycled materials), gifts from recycled materials, reuse "trash", reuse bottles, plastic, reuse toilet paper or paper towel rolls | Leave a Comment
I’m not going to give you step by step instructions, rather, I hope to spark your imagination. I will, however, supply a few tips.
Start collecting supplies. Over the next week (more or less) keep an eye out for rocket parts. Ask friends to check their recycle bin for you.
Note: Keep an “arts and crafts junk box” for kids’ projects. Inside the box add bits and bobs of “trash” such as plastic bottles that have been cleaned out, Styrofoam trays, bottle tops, thread spools, used but clean popsicle sticks, toilet paper rolls…
This rocket was made from all recycled parts
Adjusting the circumference of your cylinder is easy.
The above rocket needed the toilet paper roll to fit snugly in the top of a paper towel tube.
The nose of a rocket can be made this way.
Design your own spacecraft. I call this The Penguin for obvious reasons.
Make a space themed mobile . Don’t forget to add a few asteroids or some silly aliens.
Do You Suffer From Game Clutter?
Posted Apr 16, 08 -Filed Under children's activities (recycled materials), organize | Leave a Comment
Game clutter.
I condensed these four games into one box. I put each game’s cards and pieces in its own reused, yet clean, self sealing plastic bag. I use new plastic bags sparingly and reuse them for non-food storage jobs like this or for craft supplies etc…
I recently decided to do something about my game clutter. I didn’t pay a lot for the games because most of them are second hand; however, we had to many. First I picked out a few to give to charity. Then I realized that I could condense several games into one box. Why do game companies insist on putting games in an unnecessarily large box? Alright, you need to fit in the playing board granted but why does the board need to be so big? Some actually do make an effort and have the board folded in four parts. I think they give us a big box so we will think we are getting something more/ better.
We enjoy playing games as a family and especially when company comes over. Yet, keep in mind that Milton Bradley did not invent Charades. It is so much fun and you don’t need any special equipment or even the boxed game.
How-to Play
Charades is a game that someone acts out a word and everyone else tries to guess what that word is. Sometimes people divide into teams and keep score. To keep it fair, everyone thinks of a word and writes it on a scrap of paper and puts it into a hat. When it is your turn, you randomly pick from the hat. That way you will not intentionally pick really hard words because your team is just as likely to get that word. Also, if someone is acting out the word you put into the hat, be honest and don’t call out the answer. The actor is not supposed to talk or make sound affects but we aren’t particularly strict especially when playing with young children.
Alternate play; take turns acting out an action or event and have people guess. This can be really funny!
Guess what I’m drawing games like Win, Lose or Draw and Pictionary are like Charades only you draw instead of act. You will need a few supplies; some scrape paper and pencils or a chalk board and chalk. For really large groups a picture easel works well. Another great idea is to save last year’s desk calendar and use the backs for drawing the pictures.
When playing, feel free to make up your own house-rules. When no one can guess the correct answer, we allow clues.
Have fun!
MYO Magazine Letter Magnets
Posted Apr 13, 08 -Filed Under crafts (recycled materials), gifts from recycled materials, home décor (recycle and upcycle), party favors, reuse game pieces, reuse magazines, reuse magnets, promotional flat flexible | Leave a Comment
Magazine letter magnets are perfect for teaching. Use with a child that needs to learn their ABC’s or with a beginner reader. He or she will have fun playing around with these tiles and showing you what words they can spell. Pretty soon they will be making whole sentences!
Use on the refrigerator or on a magnetic cookie sheet.
Note: not for the very young; tiles may be a choking hazard.
Teens and preteens will enjoy leaving messages or sayings for others to read. Or they can make sets of tiles with their friends’ names and gift them. Magazine letter magnets will personalize your friend’s locker.
How-to:
A. Cut letters from magazines. You will find a great variety of fonts in all sorts of colors. Go searching for just the right ones. You may want to find all the letters in the same color or you might want the letters to be as varied as possible. Cut out the letters and make sure they fit on the tiles.
B. I used the tiles from a salvaged My First Rummikub game which was missing some of the pieces. Paste a letter on the front of each tile.
C. The magnets I used are promotional flat flexible magnets. (Promotional flat flexible magnets are often given out by businesses for promotional reasons, are ususally business card size and are easy to cut.) This is a perfect use for those unsolicited magnets. Use scissors to cut a piece large enough to cover the back of the tile and glue it there.
You might also be interested in seeing a related post: Special Valentine Message Magnets Made From Salvaged Materials.