Tag: upcycling

Sunscreen Paint

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If you’re feeling nostalgic for summer, the smell of this paint will instantly bring you back to warmer days, at least for a moment. Meanwhile toddlers will love the sensory play involved in this craft.

I squirted a tube of old sunscreen into a foil pan, and added three dollops of food coloring around the sides, one each for yellow, blue, and red.

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I handed over paintbrushes and it was time for Veronika to mix it all up. She loved this activity! To start, she was so into the color aspect, seeing what happened when she swirled each color individually into the lotion…

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…and then what happened when they started to mix.

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Truth be told, the mixture did turn a muddy purple-brown, but that didn’t stop her. “It’s beautiful!” she said as she stirred it all around with a paintbrush.

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She didn’t actually do much painting, although I had laid newsprint underneath as a canvas in case she wanted to try a few swirls.

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And the best part about this “paint” is that it won’t matter a bit if your toddler decides to paint him or herself instead of paper. There’s nothing wrong with a little extra sunscreen!

 

K is for Kiss

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Veronika loves to play with the makeup under the bathroom sink, so today I decided to let her have free reign with a tube of old lipstick. We even threw in some early letter recognition and phonics!

To start, I drew a big letter K on white paper and cut it out.

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Then I showed her how to apply lipstick first on mommy and then on herself. This girl loves to make herself up!

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Now we each gave the K a kiss, and I emphasized the beginning letter sound as I told her what we were doing. She thought this was so silly! I added lots of kiss marks so our K was covered.

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There was still a little lipstick left in the tube, which she could use like a paintbrush on an extra piece of paper.

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She also loved taking the tube cap off and on again, which was great for fine motor skills.

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Who knew a tube of old lipstick was a great toy for a toddler!

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Halloween Countdown Day 24: Hallo-Bowling

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Halloween 24 Hallo-Bowling (2)

In the summer, it was giant inflatable unicorn bowling around here. Now that it’s fall, it was time for Hallo-Bowling!

To make this spooky spin on regular bowling, first cover paper towel tubes with white crepe paper. You’ll need to work carefully, wrapping a layer of crepe paper, applying glue, wrapping again, and then repeating all the way down the tube. It was almost like making mummy wraps!

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I then added big round Os for eyes and mouths with black marker. Set up your pins in a triangle, and now here’s the extra Halloween twist: your bowling ball is a round pumpkin!

The rounder your little pumpkin, the better. Then just set up the pins and give it a roll.

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Travis, especially, loved watching those wide-eyed ghosts get knocked down.

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Paper Bag Faces

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We had a few extra paper bags from the grocery store lying around, so today Veronika and I had fun with them in two ways. You can turn a paper bag into a face… or be the face inside one!

Similar to a recent game with paper bag “blocks”, first I stuffed a medium-sized bag with crumpled up pages from an old magazine.

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Fill nearly to the top, then gather together the extra material and secure with a rubber band.

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I invited Veronika to come help draw a face on the bag. We added cheerful eyes and a big silly smile so the bag wouldn’t scare her.

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Kids will love saying hello to this new friend, or might want to pick it up and carry it around. Veronika almost seemed to think it was alive, asking it to sing songs with her!

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Now that she had a new friend, what would she think if she was the face inside the bag?

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After she scribbled on a second bag with marker, I cut out two big eye holes, then popped it briefly over her head.

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Boo! She thought it was silly for a few minutes, but then tired of it.

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But there’s no better season than Halloween to scare up some fun with an activity like this.

Mansion of Mystery

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Cardboard Haunted House (10)

We’re kicking off Halloween with a big BOO around here! This project is definitely a complicated one, but so worth the effort when your kids see not just a dollhouse but a haunted dollhouse… that includes its very own witch!

To assemble the house, start collecting cardboard boxes, empty paper towel tubes, and empty toilet paper rolls, and wait until you have a good assortment. Paint all of the cardboard pieces with black acrylic paint and let dry. I recommend two coats of paint for maximum spookiness.

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The next day, I mixed and matched the boxes and tubes until I liked the arrangement, and then used hot glue to attach everything together.

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On the third day, I added adornments. Cut squares of yellow construction paper to be window panes and arrange in groups of 4 around your boxes. I also had one arched window for added spookiness.

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For tower tops, cut circles from black construction paper and cut one notch in toward the center of each, then fold into cones and use tape or glue to attach atop each paper towel tube

For doors, cut shapes from brown construction paper, either rectangular or arched. One door couldn’t actually open, and had a red bead glued on as a handle.

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Because Travis requested we actually be able to put figures inside the house, I cut one box so it was open in the back and added doors that could swing open and closed.

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You can get a lot crazier with decoration, using construction paper for a fence or shutters, or adding additional boxes cut on the diagonal for a roof. But I reined in the haunted-housiness there.

All we needed now was a witch! Paint a toilet paper tube black. Once completely dry, paint a green square on the top for the face. You’ll need several coats of green to hide the black. Cut a rectangle from black felt and fringe the bottom with scissors, then glue on for hair.

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Add facial details with marker. So as not to spook the kids, we had a happy witch.

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You can make a whole witch family if you have enough cardboard tubes. Want to get really crafty? Add brooms! Just glue fringed brown construction paper around the bottom of a short stick.

Needless to say, I think the kids will find ways to play with this house all October.

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Nesting Cans

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Although Veronika has a set of stacking cups, she always seems to prefer using what I’m using, rather than her toys! I made this quick set of nesting cans from real kitchen supplies instead.

You’ll need at least three sizes of cans to make this activity, but certainly feel free to use more! I had a 28 ounce, 14 ounce, and 6 ounce can. Once the cans are cleaned, rinsed, and dried off, tape around the tops with duct tape to cover any sharp edges.

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They’re ready to nest!

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Veronika adored stacking them (one, two three!) and then taking them apart to do it again.

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Turn them upside down and they can be used for towers instead!

The cups were excellent for keeping her occupied while I cleaned up breakfast. Because the “toy” stows easily, I can trot it out as needed any time she needs a quick distraction.

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Make a Mini Troll

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After reading in Highlights magazine about an artist who makes troll sculptures from wood and recycled materials, Travis was eager to make his own. A walk to a nearby beach was the perfect opportunity to collect pieces of bark, branches, and wood shavings on the ground.

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We returned with a plastic bag full of pieces and now needed to design the troll! Travis loved setting this out, initially with the troll lying down.

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He carefully arranged arms, legs, and a head.

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I then used hot glue to make his creation stand up in 3D. We even added a little orange peel as a hat!

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What a ferocious little troll it was, and a neat concept to boot.

Shark Ball Toss

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Here’s the perfect sport to bring along to your family’s next day at the beach. The homemade charm has a leg up on all the koosh ball competition!

To assemble, cut about 2 inches off the ends of two empty (1 L) soda or sparkling water water bottles. The edges were rough, so we sanded them until smooth with squares of sandpaper. Travis thought this was neat, wondering if the roughness of sandpaper can ever be completely worn away.

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Paint the bottles with two coats of blue acrylic paint; let dry overnight.

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In the morning, we drew shark features on craft foam, including jagged teeth, dorsal fins, and eyes.

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Because our wiggle eyes had long lashes and our foam was pink and purple, our sharks had a decidedly feminine appearance!

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Now simply head to the beach (or another outdoor location) and bring along a tennis ball. Toss back and forth, catching the ball in the shark “mouths”.

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A word of caution: This is hard! The players really should only be a few steps apart and it takes some practice to give the ball the right toss out of one shark’s mouth and into the other.

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So don’t worry if kids just end up rolling the tennis balls into the shark bottles. That was fun, too!

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Coffee Can Drum

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We have several real drums that Veronika loves to bang on, but toddlers are even happier when things are sized just right for them. You can easily make a tot-sized drum that’s perfect for toddler hands with a few upcycled items.

To make the drum, clean out a coffee can and remove any outer labels. From there, Veronika was in charge of decoration! I gave her paper and markers and she was so proud drawing.

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I love that she’ll tell me what she’s drawing (“triangles”, “ten little buses”), even if the resemblance between her words and her scribbles isn’t apparent.

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I then adhered her artwork to the can using contact paper.

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Use hot glue to attach the lid of the can. If you have a spare lid from a second can, you could add it to the bottom for a two-sided drum.

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We actually preferred leaving the bottom metal, because this meant she could alternate the volume of her drumming; soft on the plastic lid, loud and pingy on the metal. There was even a third alternative, at mid-volume, if she drummed on the middle of the can!

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For an at-home mallet, I used hot glue to insert the lead end of a pencil into a wooden craft spool. Again, just the right size for toddler hands.

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And it turned out that leftover spools were excellent for stacking!

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Veronika was clearly so proud of her little drum.

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We put on music and got jamming.

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Not a coffee drinker? Simply use an empty oatmeal container instead. Don’t have spools and pencils? Just use an empty toilet paper tube!

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Bubble Wrap Roads and Runways

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Having recently made a tape road, today’s giant road for Veronika was made out of bubble wrap instead! First, I taped a long rectangle of bubble wrap to the kitchen floor, securing it with painter’s tape.

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I encouraged Veronika to stomp on it with her feet to pop the bubbles, but she doesn’t weigh quite enough. Thinking quickly, we pulled out her heavy doll carriage.

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Now she got to enjoy hearing that pop pop pop! She zoomed the carriage back and forth a few times.

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Since we had moved on to vehicles, I pulled out additional cars and trucks for her to roll over the bubble road.

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Then, to add to her “city”, I cut a cardboard box into several pieces so we could make it into more of a parking garage, including a ramp along one side.

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She loved vrooming her cars off the road and into this garage. The empty roll from the painter’s tape made a great tunnel!

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If you want to get really creative, add additional boxes and have the bubble wrap road go right up and over them!

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When the car play was done, we went back to using the bubble wrap as a runway for our bodies. I showed Veronika how to crawl on it, and her little knees were rewarded with bubble pops.

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Next she sat down and tried popping individual bubbles with her fingertips. This is great for muscle strengthening!

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Big brother Travis wanted a turn running along our runway, too!

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I taped down a second rectangle, thinking the kids might want to race side by side. If your kids are close in age, you could even turn this into a competition to see who pops all their bubbles first, or whose runway is the loudest.

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However you play, bubble wrap is a great way to get out some energy inside!

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