Hi moms,
I used to be a very crafty and creative person. Before I had my own kids, all other kids loved me. Moms wondered where I got my energy & ideas from. It all came naturally. My daughter used to think I was the most fun mom there was. Then I had twins and most of my brain was removed with their 2 placentas. My daughter is 6 and my girl/boy twins will turn 2 in 6 weeks. I used to do neat crafty things with my daughter all the time, and she recently said she really misses it. Spring Break is next week for her, and it looks like the weather will not be that great. As a surprise, I wanted to put together a Busy Box (or we used to say Rainy Day Box sometimes when we were little) of things we could pull out and be creative with. We've been talking about wasting less and making more of things we've already got - like trying to find other uses for household items & recyclables. So I have some toilet paper & paper towel rolls, OJ & milk caps, yogurt cups, soup cans, etc. I have paint, glue, glitter, beads, ribbon, paper, craft punches, and hundreds of other basic craft supplies. I even saved my 6 year old's favorite dress that was badly stained so I could cut it into strips of fabric for who knows what. I want to present it as a box of "do whatever you want" activities, but I'd also like to sit with the kids and have a few basic ideas to get them started. This is all mostly for my 6 year old, but my almost 2 twins love to color & paint and do things, too. The problem is that I have a bad case of Mom Brain. Now that I've gathered all this potentially great stuff, I can't think of one single thing to make. Does anyone have any easy ideas off hand? Or perhaps you know of a website that has crafty ideas for household junk? Thanks in advance!
Hi Moms,
THANK YOU for all your great advice, especially the specific websites and craft projects. We have been having lots of fun making things. My daughter said this was "the best present ever" and she is thinking up new things to make every day! Even my husband sat down with us at the table and turned a toilet paper roll and half a plastic egg into a super hero bug, which is a huge hit.
Check the arts and crafts section of the Family Fun website:
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/
I have 8yr old triplets and my sister has come to my home every Saturday since the day they came home from the hospital. Auntie Mim always does projects with the kids and they have a "project box" in our hall closet. Auntie Mim goes to the dollar store and picks up little craft items which the kids love. For an item around the house...we take an .89 cent can of shaving cream and pile it onto our dining room table...the kids smear it around and finger paint with it...when done we just wipe it off and no harm to our table. We also bake alot..(we have many childrens cook books and they look thru them decide what they want to make...they check for ingrediants, make a grocery list of what we need, and I have them shop for the items.) We have several senior citizens near us..so about once a month my kids will make/bake things for the neighbors and secretly deliver them to their porch. Everybody wins, my kids love giving and having a secret and the seniors love the little treats!
Making animals is always fun. Sounds like you could make a whole zoo with all that. Your twins could draw the cages and your daughter could fill them. Someone gave me a subscription to Family Fun magazine and it has some really great ideas in it. You could also print up some pictures and do kid-style scrapbooking.
I know what you mean about the twins taking your brain. I used to have friends who would say "I stopped doing xxx at about my third child" and I used to think, woohoo, I won't stop doing anything with my third child because I'm skipping three and going straight to four! Boy was I wrong.
Here are a couple of ideas:
I found a really cute/easy lamb project to make out of toilet paper rolls, cotton balls & felt: http://crafts.kaboose.com/cardboard-tube-lamb.html
With spring coming, what about a bird feeder? Stale bagel covered in peanut butter and dipped in bird seed or any type of nuts/seeds. Tie the string around it before you lather the peanut butter on! Great for old and young and then they can watch the soon-to-be mother robins come and enjoy it. You could also use your cans for a bird feeder.
Tissue paper 'faux' stained glass windows. Water & glue, torn tissue paper and wax paper. Frame it using colored duck tape ($2 in the checkout line at Wal-mart :) Your oldest could make a mosaic design (bird, flower, etc.) as well.
You'll have to make something really cool from the old dress. A hand sewn outfit or blanket for a favorite doll or stuff animal? Use another doll outfit as the pattern.
Buy a plain plastic head band and let her decorate it with ribbon, glitter, etc. for a one of a kind head band. They sell plain barrets as well.
Wind chimes - punch holes in the soup cans, hang old silverware (use pipecleaners or lightweight wire) or anything that will 'twang' when they hit together. The younger twins could papermache or put stickers on the can beforehand.
Cheap white loafers/old sneakers - paint them, glitter them, sticker them, punch holes for more ribbons...your 6 year-old could really style up her feet.
This makes me want to get my own 'busy box' together for next week!
Hit the Easter sales on Monday - I usually buy 3-4 extra egg dying kits that have different techniques (dye, glitter, paint, gel, etc.) the day after Easter and use them throughout the year as a fun indoor activity.
One more: buy some peel and stick magnets (pretty thin), cut out fish for the younger ones to color or paint; make a pole out of sticks, old dowels, whatever, and hot glue or tie another magnet on the end of a string coming off the pole. The little ones will have a blast fishing over the back of the couch - and maybe you'll have some extra time just with your daughter. You can also make custom fridge magnets this way.
A.,
Everything already said is great! I love Family Fun too. The only thing I'd add is that sometimes NOT planning a specific thing is okay too. I am a planner but my 7yr old and 5 yr old sometimes just like to glue and paint and be abstract. They are very proud that it came from their own little brains (and saves my brain from having to work!). You can have a simple outline (like the zoo idea) - especially with the 2yr olds who might need a little more direction - or just see what they come up with. It also works with such different ages because the boys don't have to try to do exactly what sister is able to do - a big thing in our house is being able to do what the older one can. :-)
Good Luck and enjoy your week!
You could make papier mache! It's SO fun and since you have a whole week, it would be great to work on a little each day! Take a small/medium size balloon and blow it up. Cover it with layers of newspaper and paper mache paste (mix equal parts glue and water or use flour and water mixture). Wait until the next day and then attach your toilet paper tubes to the bottom to make four legs (use masking tape to attach them). Cut a toilet paper tube smaller to make a nose and attach that also with masking tape. (Oh, I forgot to mention this is a pig!) Cut out some ears from a cereal type of box and tape those on. Now cover all of this with two or three layers of white paper towel. Wait until the next day when it is dry and paint it. You can attach a tail with a pipe cleaner. You could even make it a crown or a little dress with the left over fabric scraps. You could also cut a slit in the top and make it into a piggy bank. These turn out so cute. If you want to make it shiny and "seal" it when it's done, coat the dry paint with a layer of mod podge or glue. Your little ones could help make "food" for the pig by coloring some paper or even coloring/painting some paper brown for mud. I did a paper mache project with my daughter when she was five and it was one of our best memories together!
