Make and Takes

Summertime Links O’ Fun

Marie — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:42:30 +0000

Since I’ve posted about Keeping the Kids Busy this Summer with the Summer Tub ‘o Fun, I’ve come across some great projects to use our supplies on. Check out some of these fun ideas that are perfect for the kiddies.

Mini Crafty Pinatas by Milkshakes and Margaritas (pictured above)
Lazy Summer Lunches by Let’s Explore
Flower Printing by The Artful Parent
Fairy Wonderland by 4 Girlies
Balloon Bean Bags by Flip Flops & Applesauce
Giant Foam Lacing Beads by Her Cup Overfloweth
Plastic Bottle Jump Rope by Zakka Life
Summer Activity Series by Good n’ Crazy
20 Summertime Activities by The Inspired Room

What fun projects are being created at your house? Share it in a comment below!

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Homemade Memory Game

Heather — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:11:11 +0000

What’s more fun than playing a game? Making your own game! One of our favorite preschool games is Memory, the matching card game. My son usually plays the official version at Grandma’s house, but we don’t have that game at home. The concept is so simple that we decided to make our own with readymade stickers and cardstock.

The stickers that come with many stickers to a sheet, with repeating images are ideal, like the ones sold in the education/teacher aisle at your local dollar store. Or, buy two packages of identical stickers. Any kind of unmarked cardstock will work. The heavier, the better!

Project Materials:

Stickers (you must have 2 of each image), $1
1-2 sheets of cardstock or heavy paper, $.50 or less
Paper cutter or scissors, on hand

Total cost: $1.50

To Make:

You will need one card per sticker. Determine how many cards you will need based on the number of stickers you have.

Cut cards from cardstock. To cut 16 cards from one sheet of paper, cut paper in half from both directions. Cut resulting rectangles in half again in both directions. This is easiest if you have a paper cutter, but you can also do it with scissors.

Stick stickers to cards. Your child can help with this (my two year-old did a pretty good job! The images weren’t perfectly lined up on the card, but he didn’t care, and he had a ball
sticking the stickers on the cards).

Note: it is best if stickers are different-looking enough to not be confusing to little ones. In other words, two different shots of the same breed of doggie might be a little too similar! We
used these stickers that all have a different baby animal on them.

Play the game!

To Play (ages 3 and up):

Mix cards up.
Lay all cards face-down on table (in a grid pattern).
Youngest player goes first and turns two cards of her choosing
over. If cards match, she takes the cards and has another turn. If
cards don’t match, move to the next player.
When all cards are matched, the player with the most sets of matching cards wins.

To Play Simplified Version (ages 2 and under):

Limit total number of cards to 8, or four sets (you adjust for your child’s skill and interest level).
Youngest player goes first and turns two cards of his choosing
over. If cards match, she takes them, but does not have another turn.
Next player takes a turn.
When a match is made, everyone cheers.
When all cards are matched, start over again.

The Not-Ready-For-Organized-Games version (younger 2s and under):

Turn 4 sets of cards face up.
Take turns looking at each card and trying to find its partner.
Cheer when child finds a match.

Other tips:

You can also use these cards to play other games like Go Fish.
If you don’t have stickers that match, how about making your own? Print photos of your family (faces are good) on labels and stick onto cards. Avery has free label-making software that makes it super easy to print straight to labels! This would also be a fun handmade gift for a birthday boy or girl.

Heather Mann is a regular contributor at Make and Takes. She’s is the mother of two boys under age 3, and another boy on the way. She publishes Dollar Store Crafts, a daily blog devoted to hip crafting at dollar store prices, CROQ Zine, a print magazine devoted to hip crafting, and also CraftFail, a community blog that encourages crafters to share their not-so-successful craft attempts.

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Ready, Set… Mashoonga!

Marie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:43:33 +0000

My brother, Bryan, introduced me to the art of Mashoonga and we are loving these fun fighting flinging foam toys. Here’s a video Bryan put together of his son’s birthday (Bryan is the mean ugly Ogre at the end :)

Try playing some Mashoonga at your next birthday party! MASHOONGA!!! (it’s just so fun to say!)

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Mom’s Who Make It Conference

Marie — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:27:58 +0000

If you’re a Mom who “makes it”, this is the conference for you. The Mom’s Who Make It conference, organized by Created By Mom, is in just 2 short weeks, on July 16th in Salt Lake City, Utah. I just signed up for the Mini Class session, ready to learn some great tools for business, as my blog has now become my business.

There are some fantastic women on the docket to speak, I can’t wait to learn from them. There will be classes to help manage your business and your home. You can sign up here for either a Full conference pass, Mini Class only pass, or Main conference & party only pass. I hope to see you there, come say hi!

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Tie Dye for the 4th of July

Marie — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:16:20 +0000

I’m contributing over at Alpha Mom’s – Once Upon a Holiday again today. Come see how we Tie Dyed patriotic shirts for the whole family, right in time for the fireworks this Saturday!

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Red, White & Blueberry Skewers

Marie — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:28:33 +0000

These festive 4th of July skewers are the perfect treat for your upcoming holiday party. They’re a great snack for little hands to help with, and they make a colorful treat for the table.

Supplies for 4th of July Kabobs:

skewers, these are 10 inch
strawberries, cut up in 4ths
mini marshmallows
blueberries

Wash and dry your fruit, cut your strawberries in fourths, now you’re ready to go. You can make them in fun patterns or just random. A helpful tip: add your fruit first, as it will help the sticky marshmallows slide right on down. If you try to add a marshmallow to a dry stick, it will get all gummy and sticky.

The funnest part is seeing what the kids choose to place on the skewers. My son loves blueberries, so after a few of the skewers made with patterns, he made one for him with all blueberries. Yum.

These would be a perfect treat for any summertime party. Have fun making these, beating the heat with something sweet to eat.

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Americana Crafty Round Up

Marie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:13:22 +0000

There’s been lots of red, white, and blue floating around the web. I’ve collected a few fun links to some super star-bangled crafts for the 4th of July. Below is one of my hand-stitched cards, The American Flag.

Cupcake Liner Fireworks by No Time for Flash Cards
Red, White, and Blue Pinwheel by Skip to my Lou
American Flag Recycled Windsock by Better Homes and Garden
All American Flag Dessert by No Biggie
Confetti Poppers by Alphamom
Bubble Wrap Fire Crackers by Make and Takes

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Rosetta Stone Giveaway Winner

Marie — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:44:38 +0000

Thanks to all of you who entered! So many of you enthusiastically wanting to learn another language, I love it. Probably the majority was Spanish, but there was Greek, Chinese, German. But Congrats to #193 Amy who said she’d love to learn French to help honor the memory of her Grandma! Have fun learning a new language!

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Crafty 4th of July Firework Pom Poms

Marie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 18:19:38 +0000

Get ready to cheer on the fabulous floats at this weekend’s parade with these fun Firework Pom Poms. They’re the perfect sparkle for your child to hold as the clowns and marching bands go by.

Supplies for Firework Pom Poms:

yarn, preferablly red, white, and blue
2 pipe cleaner (aka chenille stems)
scissors

First, measure out 4 yards of each color of yarn, red, white, and blue.

Then group them together and fold them over in half, again and again and again. Now depending on how long you want your pom poms, you can stop folding when ever you’d like. I folded mine in half, until the very end, I folded it in thirds, as I wanted it a little longer than folding it in half again. You’ll see when you make these yourself.

Wrap the pipe cleaner around all the yarn in the center of the folds. Then take your second pipe cleaner and split the yarn and pull it through and around again, this secures it. (For the pipe cleaners, you can leave it all in once piece or for short pom poms, cut one long one in half to make your two pieces.)

Then twist up the pipe cleaners together. I even cut off the ends of the pipe cleaners to make an even look, and it makes the ends not so pokey.

Now cut all your loops of yarn to make them into strings, and it’s ready to firework away! My kids are way too excited for Saturday’s big parade, practicing their cheers “go USA”!

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Kid Art: Textured Paintings

Heather — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:06:54 +0000

I have always liked the look of chunky paint applied to canvas in swirls (a la Vincent Van Gogh), but most kiddie paints aren’t capable of making that kind of texture. Enter a secret household ingredient that you mix into your paint that takes it from runny to chunky in ten seconds! What is this secret ingredient? Flour! Adding flour to paint adds dimension to kid art, and is fun to apply.

Project Materials:

Washable paint
White flour
Popsicle sticks
Small containers to mix paint in
Paper or recycled cardboard to paint on

To Mix Paint:

Adding flour to your washable paint is simple. Just use a small container like a paper cup, add a bit of flour (start with a teaspoon and add more as desired) and some paint. Add more paint if mixture is too thick. Mix with a popsicle stick. The popsicle stick will also double as your “palette knife” for applying the thick paint to your surface.

What to Paint:

My son is not quite three, but he is able to paint inside the lines (mostly) of pre-printed coloring pages, and that’s what he wanted to do with this paint. Depending on your child’s age, they can use their fingers or the popsicle stick to apply the paint. Of course, painting on blank paper is also a great idea, and one that most kids will enjoy. Older kids might like to choose an “inspiration” picture–it can be anything from a fine art painting of Van Gogh’s to a photo of an elephant at the zoo) and recreate it using the chunky paint. I painted the picture in the top photo because my son enjoys art time a lot more when I am participating too!

We painted on plain paper and construction paper, but you might want to use a piece of recycled cardboard (the inside of a cereal box would work well!) because this paint is heavier than regular paint.

If you are homeschooling, this is a great activity for an art unit on Impressionism.

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