Today I'm living out my secret (or now, not so secret) fantasies to be a magician with this fun pop-up rabbit puppet. Simply push the stick and a rabbit pops out of a magician's hat!
To see how I made this handmade toy, visit Handmade Charlotte.
Happy Wednesday!
Showing posts with label toy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label toy. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Make and Play with Shape Dice!
Are you looking for some fun and educational activities to do with your preschooler? Right now Chuck's home with me and we try to squeeze in at least one educational activity in each day. So far we've tested out cardboard rigidity by building bridges, explored art materials like scientists, and learned about shapes with a shape touch and feel game.
While I enjoy thinking up new activities to do with Chuck, sometimes I do get burned out. It's hard finding new activities everyday day! So that's why I'm excited to announce a new collaboration that I'm doing with 4 other fabulous bloggers. Twice a month we will be presenting 5 different takes on preschool learning themes. Yup. Isn't that neat? I'm super stoked. So in addition to seeing one great idea here, you'll also see links to 4 other really creative and fun preschool learning activities.
Our first collaborative preschool theme is Shapes and here's my activity! (Definitely check out the 4 other ideas at the end of the post!)
Cool right? Instead of using a normal dice to play board games, here's a fun twist. Switch out the numbers and use shapes instead! Now your child can learn counting and shapes at the same time.
So let's make a dice and see how we can play with it!
While I enjoy thinking up new activities to do with Chuck, sometimes I do get burned out. It's hard finding new activities everyday day! So that's why I'm excited to announce a new collaboration that I'm doing with 4 other fabulous bloggers. Twice a month we will be presenting 5 different takes on preschool learning themes. Yup. Isn't that neat? I'm super stoked. So in addition to seeing one great idea here, you'll also see links to 4 other really creative and fun preschool learning activities.
Our first collaborative preschool theme is Shapes and here's my activity! (Definitely check out the 4 other ideas at the end of the post!)
DIY Shape Dice
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!
Cool right? Instead of using a normal dice to play board games, here's a fun twist. Switch out the numbers and use shapes instead! Now your child can learn counting and shapes at the same time.
So let's make a dice and see how we can play with it!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
DIY Cardboard Cash Register
Does your child love going to the grocery store?
Does his/her face light up at the prospect of pressing buttons?
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.)
Awhile back I was looking around at getting a cash register
This DIY cardboard cash register has pressable buttons, a sliding money drawer, a faux credit card scanner, and a changeable money display! Yup. Cool right? It's just right for little hands who love to push, press, pick, and pull. It's also a great way for kids to practice their math skills too!
Interest piqued? You can see the full tutorial on Handmade Charlotte!
Happy making. :)
Sunday, August 31, 2014
DIY Climbing Cardboard Circus Men Toys
I love making interactive toys for Chuck. There's something immensely gratifying about creating something that's beautiful, functional, and fun.... out of recyclable items! Recently I made these two cardboard climbing circus men toys for Chuck. You pull on the strings and the men race to the top.
Hee hee. Do you dig their leotards, chest hair, and handlebar mustache? Yup. These manly men exude quite a bit of style, don't you think?
Ok. Let's get making!
Cardboard Climbing Circus Strong Men Toys
This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!
Hee hee. Do you dig their leotards, chest hair, and handlebar mustache? Yup. These manly men exude quite a bit of style, don't you think?
Ok. Let's get making!
Monday, August 18, 2014
DIY Cardboard Rocket Launcher Toy
Apparently we've reached the stage where Chuck likes pretending to shoot things... and people. (Ack. Is this common? I'm assuming so... ) So I thought it would be fun to somehow make a toy that would actually shoot things, like a catapult or a slingshot. We always seem to have cardboard rolls lying around, so I built this cardboard roll rocket launcher toy. Then, we had a BLAST playing with it!
Get it? Rocket launcher? Blast? Like blast off? Hee hee hee... wah wah wah.
This rocket launcher toy uses rubber bands and cardboard rolls to shoot aluminum foil balls. It's so powerful that we can actually shoot a ball across our (small) patio... whoa, right? Since the balls are made from aluminum foil, they don't hurt. So you could create several launchers, shoot each other, and then not worry about anyone getting hurt. Excellent, right?
Keep on reading to build your own rocket launcher and see other cool DIY toys that you can make and play with your little one.
Get it? Rocket launcher? Blast? Like blast off? Hee hee hee... wah wah wah.
DIY Cardboard Roll Rocket Launcher Toy
(Note: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.)
This rocket launcher toy uses rubber bands and cardboard rolls to shoot aluminum foil balls. It's so powerful that we can actually shoot a ball across our (small) patio... whoa, right? Since the balls are made from aluminum foil, they don't hurt. So you could create several launchers, shoot each other, and then not worry about anyone getting hurt. Excellent, right?
Keep on reading to build your own rocket launcher and see other cool DIY toys that you can make and play with your little one.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
DIY Paper Slingshot
Hi everyone! Sorry for being MIA for about a week, but we finally did our cross country move. Now we're calling California home.... and trying to tackle mountains of unpacked boxes. Eeek! Right now I'm taking a quick break and figured I'd upload a fun DIY toy post. During our last week in Jersey, I kept wanting to craft something... but found it difficult given that everything had already been packed away. So while we were playing outside with friends, I spotted this Y-shaped stick and thought it was the perfect for making a slingshot!
When I told hubby about my idea, he showed me how he used to make slingshots as a kid. So I took his design and adapted it to the twig. Now, I know that some of you consider this a weapon... but we made sure to set some ground rules and only aim at objects and NOT at people.
DIY Paper Slingshots!
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much for your support.)
When I told hubby about my idea, he showed me how he used to make slingshots as a kid. So I took his design and adapted it to the twig. Now, I know that some of you consider this a weapon... but we made sure to set some ground rules and only aim at objects and NOT at people.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game
Our epic move still looms overhead. The movers are coming next week and then we fly off to California a week after that. I keep trying to explain what's happening to Chuck, but I'm not sure he gets it yet. So I came up with this easy craft and activity to help him out. It's a DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Activity where you move different types of transportation across county using magnets!
Chuck really enjoyed helping me to color in the map and different types of transportation using watercolors. He also REALLY enjoyed moving everything around using magnets. It was a bit of trial and error to put this toy together, but at the end we came up with a craft that's easy to make, fun to use, and *hopefully* helpful for Chuck.
Let's get making!
DIY Magnetic Transportation Map Game
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you so much for your support!)
Chuck really enjoyed helping me to color in the map and different types of transportation using watercolors. He also REALLY enjoyed moving everything around using magnets. It was a bit of trial and error to put this toy together, but at the end we came up with a craft that's easy to make, fun to use, and *hopefully* helpful for Chuck.
Let's get making!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Cardboard and Pom Pom Soccer Game
Are you watching the World Cup? Hubby's been keeping track of the games, but Chuck and I haven't been paying too much attention to the scores. However, because it's soccer season, I still felt inspired to make something soccer-related. So that's why I crafted this mini cardboard and pom pom soccer game for us to play.
Cardboard and Pom Pom Soccer Game
(This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!)
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
DIY Cardboard Cactus Construction Set
Full crafty admission: Yesterday I was taking Chuck to the park and saw a lovely clean box in the back of our building. Not sure how this happened, but suddenly I found myself mumbling, "It's mine, my precious, my own" repeatedly until Chuck reminded me that he wanted to go play. Then, of course, I snapped out of my gollum state. But you can bet your sweet Aunt Petunia that when we came back home, I grabbed that box and skedaddled back to our apartment. Why? Well, I wanted to make a Cardboard Cactus Construction Set, of course. Why? (You might ask again.) Well, because cardboard is cool and cacti are cool... which makes this cardboard construction set cool to the uber cool power.
DIY Cardboard Cactus Construction Set
Monday, May 12, 2014
Toilet Roll Helicopter Craft
Chuck loves his vehicles. Thus far we've built a toilet roll airplane, a cardboard roll space shuttle, a shampoo bottle boat, styrofoam gliders, and a tin can car. (Wow. That's a lot of transportation crafts!) Since we live near the river, helicopters fly over our building on a daily basis. So we recently added this toilet roll helicopter to our collection of recycled transportation crafts. (Can you tell that he's modeled after Harold the Helicopter
from Thomas?)
Toilet Roll Helicopter Craft
(*Note: This post includes affiliate links which means that I earn a small commission for every purchase made at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support.)
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Build a toy car that moves
I love painting things with Chuck, but sometimes I yearn to make things that actually move or do things. So when a mommy friend suggested that we build cardboard toy cars that actually move, wowzers, I had to say yes. She found the directions in an old kids' science book (that I don't remember the name of... sorry). And that's how we spent an awesome play date with five kids- eating pizza and then building and racing some cardboard racing cars.
1. The cars really move. Really. You just twist the tin can and then let go. Bam. The rubber bands store the potential energy and then once released, they turn the can... and your car moves by itself!
2. You don't need any expensive materials. In fact, you probably have most of the items already at home.
Have I whet your appetite enough? Ok. Let's build! Vroooom!
Kid Science: Let's Build a Car that Moves!
Today's craft is awesome for 2 reasons:1. The cars really move. Really. You just twist the tin can and then let go. Bam. The rubber bands store the potential energy and then once released, they turn the can... and your car moves by itself!
2. You don't need any expensive materials. In fact, you probably have most of the items already at home.
Have I whet your appetite enough? Ok. Let's build! Vroooom!
Thursday, April 24, 2014
3 Ingredient Slime (Borax free!)
Today's craft is going to be a super easy 3 ingredient slime recipe. I originally found this slime recipe on fellow Rockin Arts Mom Blog Me Mom 's site. (She's amazing and her site has tons of other great slime recipes and crafts...so definitely check it out!) I had to post this recipe here because it's AMAZING! Erm... just how amazing? Well, this past week I made 12 batches of slime. 12 batches! I know, crazy right? But that's just a testament to how cool this homemade slime recipe is, and how super duper easy it is to make.
Yup. This stuff kept kids aged 2 - 30 something (erm... ok... me) entertained. And here are the 4 reasons why it's super AWESOME.
1. It's Borax free. No scary chemicals lurking here.
2. It's "edible." (You could eat it... although I really wouldn't... unless you want to be "regular.")
3. You only need 3 ingredients to make it.
4. You can make it in the microwave.
Excited? Now let's get started!
Homemade 3 Ingredient (Borax free) Slime
Yup. This stuff kept kids aged 2 - 30 something (erm... ok... me) entertained. And here are the 4 reasons why it's super AWESOME.
1. It's Borax free. No scary chemicals lurking here.
2. It's "edible." (You could eat it... although I really wouldn't... unless you want to be "regular.")
3. You only need 3 ingredients to make it.
4. You can make it in the microwave.
Excited? Now let's get started!
Monday, April 21, 2014
Make Easter Egg Weebles
This Easter we had a lot of fun hanging out with family and friends. I kept meaning to take lots of photos.... but I was having too much fun doing activities with the kids. I'll try to upload my one or two photos this week. Today I just wanted to show you this really quick DIY Easter Egg Weeble Craft. Yup, you read that right. I made Chuck a couple of cute little Easter Egg Weebles from plastic Easter Eggs. They're weighted, so they don't fall down. (Scroll down for a video of Chuck trying to run them over with a Jeep... yup... that's my kid.)
If you still have your plastic eggs lying around, you might like making these little guys too. Keep reading to find out more!
Cacti and Farm Animal Easter Egg Weebles
If you still have your plastic eggs lying around, you might like making these little guys too. Keep reading to find out more!
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
DIY Easter Bunny Bean Bag Toss
Tomorrow the theme is bunnies at our library toddler group. We're going to make paper bag bunnies and play a bunny game too. Since I already had this lovely large piece of cardboard, I made a really simple Cardboard Easter Bunny Bean Bag Toss game.... complete with... wait for it... carrot bean bags.
Ack. Too adorable. Too adorable! (Btw, is it strange that I swoon over large pieces of cardboard?) Hrmm... anyway... hopefully the kids will have fun playing tomorrow. But even if they don't, I'm just going to lug this guy home and prop him up against my wall. His cheesy grin is just too cute.
Keep reading to see photos of how I made it...
DIY Easter Bunny Bean Bag Toss
Ack. Too adorable. Too adorable! (Btw, is it strange that I swoon over large pieces of cardboard?) Hrmm... anyway... hopefully the kids will have fun playing tomorrow. But even if they don't, I'm just going to lug this guy home and prop him up against my wall. His cheesy grin is just too cute.
Keep reading to see photos of how I made it...
Monday, March 24, 2014
DIY Magnetic Fishing Game
Currently, one of Chuck's favorite books is 10 Little Fish by Audrey and Bruce Wood. It's a cute book about subtraction. Kids count colorful fish on each page as they leave one by one. And (my favorite part), it has a fishy romance at the end (What can I say? I'm a closet romantic... tee heee hee.) To accompany his love for fish, we recently made this DIY Magnetic Fishing Game.
It's cute and colorful and really fun to make and easy to play. Want to make your own fishing game? Keep reading to see how we made ours!
DIY Magnetic Fishing Game
It's cute and colorful and really fun to make and easy to play. Want to make your own fishing game? Keep reading to see how we made ours!
Friday, March 21, 2014
Make a simple paper kite
Spring is here! Let's go outside! Let's go fly a kite! What? You don't own a kite? No worries, we can make one! Today I'll share with you this really simple DIY paper kite. It's easy to make, fun to play with, and my young son loved decorating his very own kite.
Spring, spring, la la la! (Can you tell that I have a bad case of spring fever? *Twirls around and leaps*)
Now the only warning I have about this craft is that you have to make more than one paper kite. Seriously. Each kid should get have his own. And, be prepared for kites to break or float away. (One of our floated away.)
Alright, let's make some paper kites!
Spring, spring, la la la! (Can you tell that I have a bad case of spring fever? *Twirls around and leaps*)
Make a Simple Paper Kite
Now the only warning I have about this craft is that you have to make more than one paper kite. Seriously. Each kid should get have his own. And, be prepared for kites to break or float away. (One of our floated away.)
Alright, let's make some paper kites!
Thursday, March 20, 2014
DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy
Lately Chuck and I have been infatuated with things that fly. That's why we made our cardboard space shuttle a couple of days ago. So today I took things one step further to create a handmade toy that actually did fly. Modeled after a plastic toy that hubby brought back from one of his trips, here's our version of a DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy.
It's pretty neat that the toy actually does fly. You simply spin it between both hands and the copter flies out and floats to the ground. Keep reading to see how we made it (and a video of it flying!)
DIY Flying Whirly Copter Toy
It's pretty neat that the toy actually does fly. You simply spin it between both hands and the copter flies out and floats to the ground. Keep reading to see how we made it (and a video of it flying!)
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Cardboard Space Shuttle Craft (template included)
A couple of weeks ago we visited our nearby Science Center and Chuck fell in love with a small space shuttle toy. Of course, the wheels in my head began whirring and I knew that we could easily transform a paper towel roll into our very own rocket ship. So after a couple days of planning, cutting, and painting, we are now the proud owners of two cardboard roll space shuttles:
Want a ride to the moon on your very own cardboard roll space shuttle? Then keep reading to see how we made them (template included)!
Cardboard Space Shuttle Craft
Want a ride to the moon on your very own cardboard roll space shuttle? Then keep reading to see how we made them (template included)!
Friday, February 28, 2014
Plastic Bottle Sumo Wrestler Bowling Pins
About a year ago I had the great opportunity to be a guest craft poster at Sugar and Dots (Now Hello M{ess}). My first craft on her blog was this set of cute and quirky sumo wrestler bowling pins. It's still one of my most popular (and favorite) craft posts, so today I thought I'd re-share my sumo wrestler pins over here.
Keep reading to see how these cute guys were made:
Plastic Bottle Sumo Wrestler Bowling Pins
Ack! Too cute.... |
Keep reading to see how these cute guys were made:
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Make a Cardboard Bridge for Trains and Cars
We bought an Ikea train set awhile back and Chuck loves it. The only problem is that our poor Thomas train is too big and doesn't fit under the train set's tunnel. So I poked through my trusty cardboard stash and made him a cardboard mountain bridge.
Cardboard Bridge for Trains and Cars
Aha! Problem solved.Now all the trains can fit underneath the mountain while his cars drive over the train track. Yay!
Wanna make a bridge too? Well then keep on reading!
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