Creative Family Fun

Your one-stop shop for kids activities and family fun

Terri Thompson

10 Ways to Create With Cardboard Tubes

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Quite possibly one of our favorite things to create with is the lowly cardboard tube.

But, really, it’s the perfect craft supply. It’s readily available, completely frugal, and very “green.

Is there anything better?

I’ve rounded up 10 fun projects to do with the empty cardboard tube

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1. Make a marble run. Check out this post from Teach Preschool to see how to use a few magnets and some cardboard tubes to make a really fun marble run.

2. Turn them into animals! Little Wonders Days shares these cute cardboard tube squirrels.

(via Little Wonders’ Days)

3. Make a stethoscope. All For the Boys shows you how to make these fun & easy DIY stethoscopes.

4. Make monsters! Check out our fun googly-eyed monsters.

5. Make pretend play props. We used cardboard tubes to make logs when we set up our small world pond.

6. Make jewelry. Kitchen Counter Chronicles made these adorable heart necklaces. (And I can attest to the cuteness! My girls received some in a Valentines swap!) Red Ted Art made fun wrist watches.

(via Kitchen Counter Chronicles)

7. Make caterpillars. The Iowa Farmer’s Wife shows you how to make this colorful caterpillar from an empty cardboard tube and pipe cleaners.

8. Explore a new culture. We crafted these fun kokeshi dolls while learning about Japan.

9. Make puppets. Check out these amazing marionettes from Red Ted Art!

10. Use them as stamps. We squished them into a heart shape and had fun stamping! You could try any shape such as a circle, star, diamond, or oval.

*Bonus Activity – Let baby play with a few empty cardboard tubes for a fun sensory experience. Baby would also have fun putting them in and out of a box or basket! (As with all things, make sure to supervise baby while he’s playing with the cardboard tubes.)

What have you made lately with an empty cardboard tube?

Favorite Craft Supplies From the Recycle Bin

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It’s no secret that we’re constantly digging around in our recycle bin for our craft projects.

So, I thought I would share with you some of my favorite recycle bin supplies.

These are the items that don’t even make it to the recycle bin anymore; they go straight to our craft supplies bin.

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1. Old Sheets – A couple of years ago, I purchased an old flat sheet for a dollar from our local thrift store. We use this all the time. I always spread it on the table before we get out the paint, glue, glitter, or other messy craft supply. It’s helpful for catching bits of play dough and also very useful in building forts! It’s easy to wash and it doesn’t matter if it gets stained.

2. Cardboard Tubes – Whether it’s an empty toilet paper tube, paper towel roll, or gift wrap roll, we’ve used them all! They’re the perfect (and most frugal) medium for 3-D crafting.

3. Plastic Lids – These are perfect for holding paint or glue. The large flat surface makes it easy for painting with unusual items, such as sponges, stamps, cardboard tubes, cotton balls, etc. I usually have one lid for each girl with her choice of paint color(s).

4. Egg Carton – There are so many uses for an egg carton. Use it to hold small supplies, such as beads, paper scraps, or beans. They’re a fun addition to 3-D artwork. In addition, they also make a fun, easy-to-hold stamp for print making.

5. Old Cards & Postcards – We use these to make collages, play post office, make paper chains, or even bookmarks.

6. Tissue Paper Scraps – This is another medium we use a lot in collages. We also use it a in our stained glass window crafts.

7. Magazines – Magazines are the perfect place to find pictures to manipulate. Make silly faces on pictures of people. Cut out various pictures to use in collages or other pictures. Use wadded up pages for painting instead of a paint brush. The possibilities are endless!

8. Cardboard Boxes – What can’t you do with a cardboard box? Make sculptures, store craft supplies, cut it up anytime you need a sturdy surface for a craft project, color it, paint it, make a dollhouse, or a barn. If you can imagine it, you can make it with a cardboard box!

Now you’ve seen our favorite craft supplies from the recycle bin. What are your favorites?

Around the World in 12 Dishes: United Kingdom

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Welcome to Around the World in 12 Dishes: United Kingdom edition!

My girls love to get in the kitchen with me and they especially love it when I get out the flour and sugar.

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That’s why I decided scones would be the perfect recipe to try and make. I went with this Buttermilk Scone recipe as I was hoping for a more authentic British scone.

The recipe turned out to be easy to follow and pretty soon we had a pan full of scones ready to go in the oven.

While they were baking, we decided to learn a little bit about the United Kingdom.

We located the United Kingdom on our globe then read a book all about England.

We found England (True Books: Countries by Michael Burgan at our library. The girls loved hearing all about England and were amazed at how many similarities there were between England and their little corner of the world.

I didn’t have to do much reading as they looked and talked about the pictures with each other. (No, this photo is not staged! They were that interested in the book.)

We also had time for a little poetry and I found my old Little Golden Book edition of a Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson (who was from Scotland). We read poems until the oven timer beeped. Then it was time for tea!

(If you want to share these poems with your kids, this is a beautiful version of A Child’s Garden of Verses that is currently available to purchase.

I brewed up a bit of tea to go with our scones. We enjoyed a nice blueberry tea and our yummy scones with a spoonful of blackberry jam on top. Yummy! We had a nice afternoon enjoying each other, trying new things and learning about another corner of the world. I can’t wait until our next challenge!

Please feel free to join in the fun and link up your United Kingdom inspired food, crafts, or learning fun below!

Around the World in 12 Dishes: Intro

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Welcome to “Around The World in 12 Dishes”. We will be taking you on a journey around the world, following in Phileas Fogg’s (from Around the World in 80 Days) footsteps, exploring 12 different countries with our children, and cooking 12 dishes with them. One for each country visited.

The world is such a wonderfully diverse and colorful place. Our children see maps, flags and books. They see postcards and sometimes they see films about the world.. but let’s really bring it to life through food!

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Adventures In Mommydom, Creative Family Fun, Glittering Muffins, Juggling with Kids, Kitchen Counter Chronicles, Make, Do & Friends, Mom 2 Posh Little Divas, Mummymummymum, Rainy Day Mum, Red Ted Art, The Educators’ Spin On It and The Outlaw Mom have come together to help you on your food journey and will each cook a dish with our children and post about it – to help inspire you to have a go! Then go out there, cook, blog, and join in the linky fun!

Around the World in 12 Dishes

We start our journey the same way Phileas Fogg did in London, UK.

March 4 – First country is UK

Check April 1st, 2012 for our next destination.

How to join the fun!

The only mandatory part is the dish, the rest is all up to you, we just thought it would be fun and more concrete to the kids as to why we are making a unusual dish.

Cook a dish from the UK: The goal is to explore this country through FOOD and activities if you wish. Make a typical dish (sweet or savoury) from the country with the kids, take photos and have fun!

Typical dishes: Bangers & Mash, Yorkshire Pudding, Shepherd’s Pie and Custard & Apple Crumble

Print your passport: Click here to download, comes with space for a photo of the child with the dish. Here is a little cover for it if you wish 🙂

Color a placemat: Once colored/painted or whatever other way you want to do this, you can laminate it or put it between clear contact paper to use it over and over. Great conversation piece for you and your kids. Click here to download it.

Make a craft:you can make a country related craft with the kids

Read a book: We read England (True Books: Countries) by Michael Burgan and A Child’s Garden of by Robert Louis Stevenson

On-line fun:www.paddingtonbear.com The much loved and well known Paddington bear has some fun printable and online activities.

Fun fact: Did you know the UK is one of the rare countries to host the summer Olympics twice, the second time will be this summer.

Share with us: Our challenge starts on March 4 and will remain open for a year, so attach a link to your blog to enter the linky party or go to the comment section and post a photo together with what you did together with your child(ren).

Pinterest: We will add your photos to an “Around the World in 12 Dishes” Pinterest Boards (one for the dishes, one for the crafts) you will be a great source of inspiration for everyone

Weekends: Keeping Warm

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It’s been a busy week full of cleaning, organizing, running errands and getting lost (in the most literal sense).

My weekend is still going to be busy, but I hope to grab a few moments for myself and relax with a warm drink and a good book. This weekend is all about keeping warm.

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I know some parts of the world are starting to experience spring and for others, summer is just winding down.

But, for us, winter is still very much here.

It’s times like this that I want to slow down and warm up my body and soul. Coffee is my hot drink of choice, but there are times I also love a nice warm cup of tea.

A good book is necessary! I’m delving into a couple of poetry books. Winter Poems selected by Barbara Rogasky is a gem of a book I found in the children’s section of our library. It has 25 wonderful poems about winter from such poets as Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Poe and many others.

The other is an old favorite of mine, Selected Poems & Letters of Emily Dickinson. I pick it up on occasion whenever I need a bit of poetry.

So, find some time this weekend to unwind. Grab a blanket, a warm drink and a book that warms your soul. This weekend is all about keeping warm.

What are you doing this weekend?