If your kids are anything like ours, then they are already bored with summer vacation. There are many things that you can do to keep them entertained. One way is to hold your own treasure hunt. If you make it hard enough, you can keep the kids going all day or even several.

Materials Needed:

• Large piece of drawing paper
• Crayons
• Treasures to hide and be found
• Stop watch
• Paper lunch bag or plastic grocery bag
• Brown paint
• Water
• Paintbrush

Instructions:

1. First survey the campground area  or backyard that you would like to use for your treasure hunt.
2. Take a piece of paper and a pencil with you to jot down notes so you can create your map.
3. Draw out your map and decide where the “treasures” will be hidden.
4. Mark hiding spots with a red or pink “X”.
   
5. Age your map by carefully crumpling it up in your hands. Open it back up then crumple it again.
6. Tear the edges of the paper to give it a worn look.
7. Add a small amount of brown paint (about the size of a dime) to 2 tablespoon of water. Mix together and use the watered down paint to darken the edges of your map. Water the mixture down even more and paint the entire map. Let dry in the sun.
8. Go and hide your treasures. Some ideas might include a small stuffed toy, a plastic fork, a stick with a scrap of material tied to it, and so on.
9. Make a list of the treasure that need to be found and any additional instructions. For example, in addition to finding the treasures, one instruction may by to stop at the big rocks by the water and use a bucket (that you placed there) to collect some water. Use the water in the bucket to water a tree.
10. To play the game, you can either tell the player what they are looking for or give them a list. Hand them the map and paper bag. They are to use the pink or red X’s to find their treasures. Start the stopwatch and end it when they return with all the treasures. The player with the best time wins!

Piggy banks are something that everyone should have, young or old. What could be better than taking an afternoon and making a bank that your child can save for something special. This is something that I have done for myself to save for a trip West next year, so it can be used for older “children.”

Materials Needed:

• One plastic bleach bottle
• Felt
• Four tapered fabric softener bottle caps
• Pipe cleaner
• Scissors
• Pencil

Instructions:

1. Remove the handle and bottle neck from a half gallon bleach bottle by sawing across the bottle just below the upper end of the handle.
2. Using a knife, cut around the other end of the handle, leaving as small an opening as possible. Close the opening at the top of the bottle by inserting the bottle cap into the hole. Glue a felt flower cutout over the other opening.
3. Glue floppy felt ears in place. Glue on felt eyes and mouth. For the snout, glue a felt circle over the inverted bottle cap. Glue a narrow felt strip around the outside edge of the circle.
4. To make snug-fitting legs, glue a strip of felt around four identical 1-1/2″ to 2″ fabric softener bottle caps. Cut holes to accommodate legs in the bleach bottle. Insert the tapered ends of the felt-covered softener caps into the bleach bottle. Secure with glue.
5. To make a tail, curl a pipe cleaner around a pencil. Punch a hole in the bleach bottle to accommodate a tail. Insert the pipe cleaner coil and glue to secure.

With the great summer weather it is the perfect time to have a great party outside, whether it be for a birthday or just fun. To make any party more fun, for both kids and adults, is by having a pinata. This summer, make your own pinata and get the kids involved for more fun. By making your own pinata, you will save money and have a great family activity.

Materials Needed:

• 14-inch balloon
• Cloth tape
• Scissors
• Newspaper, cut into 1-by-6-inch strips
• Wheat-paste powder
• Strong white paper (20-pound copy paper works well)
• Spray mount
• Compass
• Craft glue
• Tissue paper in several colors
• Utility knife
• Large needle or piece of wire
• Tissue-paper streamers
• Strong cord
• Candy, treats, and small prizes, for stuffing

Instructions:

1. Inflate the balloon, and coax it into a round shape by wrapping it with cloth tape. Set it aside.
2. Make paste: In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup wheat-paste powder with 4 1/2 cups water. Dip newspaper strips one at a time into the paste, and place them on the balloon, overlapping the strips slightly, until the balloon is completely covered. Let dry overnight. Repeat this process twice more for a total of three layers.
3. Our pinata design calls for six cones; to make them, cut six sheets of strong white paper into 7-inch squares. In a well-ventilated area, spray-mount different colors of tissue paper onto the squares. Place the point of a compass at the corner of one of the squares, and mark a 6 1/2-inch arc. Trim the paper around the edge of the arc. At 1/2-inch intervals, cut 1/2-inch-deep notches into the rounded edge. Roll the paper into a cone, and glue or tape the straight edges together where they meet. Cut 1/2 inch off the tip of the cone to create an opening for streamers. Fold the notches outward, and using craft glue, adhere the cone to the pinata. Repeat with the remaining cones, gluing the first two cones at opposite ends and spacing the remaining cones evenly around the sphere’s center perimeter.
4. Begin by cutting tissue paper into narrow strips about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. A rotary cutter and a self-healing mat will enable you to cut through several layers of tissue at one time. Fold each strip lengthwise, creating a 1 1/2-inch strip, and cut the strip down the center from the open side, up to within 1/2 inch of the folded edge. Each strip should yield four “fringes.” Starting at the bottom of the pinata, glue the strips, fringed edge up, in a tight circle. Glue a second row above the first one (the circle will be slightly larger), tucking the glued portions of the second row behind the fringe of the first. Work your way up the pinata, gluing rows of fringe in circles of increasing size. Glue a couple of rounds of tissue paper over the fringe at the top and bottom of the pinata.
5. Use a utility knife to cut a small trap door near the top. Make two vertical cuts 3 inches apart, and connect them with one horizontal cut at the top to create a flap; fold the flap back. Using a piece of wire or large needle with a length of strong cord attached, punch two holes at the top of the pinata, and pull the cord through the holes. Knot the cord above the pinata, leaving enough to use for hanging.
6. Twist 10 streamers together for each cone; apply a dab of craft glue to the twisted end, and tuck it into the small hole at the end of the cone. Repeat this for each of the cones. Fill the pinata with a selection of candy, treats, or prizes; push the flap back into place, and hang your pinata.

It is almost the 4th of July and that means that people will be getting together and having BBQs or parties with friends. There are many different things that people will do including going out and buying paper plates and napkin that are already decorated for the 4th of July. Well this year, you can take the extra step and make napkins that will stand out.

Materials Needed:

• Tape or glue
• White poster board or heavy paper
• Starlight mint candies
• Double-sided tape
• Blue napkins

Instructions:

1. Tape or glue a strip of white poster board or heavy paper (ours was 1 inch wide and about 7 inches long) into a ring.
2. Fix a row of Starlight mint candies (in their wrappers) to the ring with double-sided tape.
3. Stuff the ring with a blue napkin and one set of utensils.

Finding ways to recycle old and used items into new things can be fun and helpful to the environment. Some of my favorite crafts have come from old things that I have made into something new and exciting. This is something that I have done many times and given them away because they make great holders for notes on the fridge.

Materials Needed:

• Denim jean pockets cut from old jeans
• Fabric paint
• Lace trim
• Ribbon flowers
• Fridge magnet
• Hot glue or craft glue

Instructions:

1. Carefully cut the pockets from the jeans.
2. Beginning and ending at the back, glue lace trim around the top of the pocket.
3. If desired, glue a small ribbon rose to each top corner.
4. Write coupons or whatever you wish on the front in fabric paint, following the manufacturer’s directions.
5. Glue a magnet to the back of each denim pocket and stick the fridge.