Activities - 8/20 - The Idea Room

Hopscotch Play Mat by A Girl and a Glue Gun

so it was spring break! whoopie. I thought I would send the kids outside and get some freaking peace some cleaning done. it snowed. and it was cold and windy. Idaho really stinks sometimes. so I thought I had better think fast and come up with some outside games that could be done inside. hopscotch.

classic. I went to joanns (shoutout!) and bought me some white canvas stuff. (it was 6.99 a yard…but I had my 50% off coupon) I actually went to home depot first to find a drop cloth but the smallest I could find was a 5 ft by 5 ft (for about the same price) so if anyone is a mad 4 square player you could buy that and do it up right.

I was on the fence about whether to hot glue stuff to it or paint….. but I finally went with hot glue…I mean I’ve got to live up to the name right? but for the record…paint would be easy to do (as long as your canvas is thick enough) or you could even sew fabric…but those methods require a bit more work. I bought two yards and cut it in half….but that makes two mats….so you could just buy one yard and sew the ends together to make one long mat (does that make any sense at all? basically..you want one long piece of fabric…by any means necessary)

the easy peasy way is to get those felt sheets….(I think about 25cents a piece)

I have quite a collection of felt….so I cut whatever colors I needed to size

(sidenote: when working with felt…sharp scissors are your friend)

I had a “helper” lay them out (and try them out)

if you notice..she is on a different color for each picture…

Then I had another “helper” take off the stickers on the felt sheets

and then try it out

and then ANOTHER helper laid it out exactly how she wanted the colors to be…

see how desperate we are for some entertainment!!!!

back to the task at hand

I folded the mat in half and rounded the edges of the top part of the mat

then I “hemmed” the edges using my hot glue gun

I took my felt pieces and traced the numbers

and cut it out (you could use a stencil if needs be)

Then I just hot glued the pieces right onto the canvas (make sure all the edges are glued down nice and tight seeing how there is going to be a lot of jumping on it)

(see the vacuum cord? that is what I SHOULD have been doing!)

this is where you could STOP..

BUT..I had all these leftover scraps…and I hate letting things go to waste…so I started cutting circles..

and then I added them around my mat as a border

I dug some rocks out of the frozen tundra and had my little helpers paint them

and go to town

the best part (other than getting your kids to leave you alone so you can blog)

it folds up nice and small..

now of course..I had a whole other blank side…

so I added a few more games on the back.

and a little bag to hold all the pieces:

the tic tac toe was just some strips of felt:

the tic tac toe pieces are just x and o’s on some squares

and the target is just some “pieces of pie” cut out and then I cut out some numbers

for the “bombs” (that is what my son calls them) I just cut out some asterisk shapes

fill with some beans

then I just hot glued the sides up

and wrapped a rubber band around it

and hot glued some felt around the rubber band

then I just snipped the pieces to make it poofy.

they just stand at the top of the mat and chuck them and if they land on a number…they can add them up and the one with the biggest number wins (did you see what I did there….I added some math…and the kids will have so much fun playing that they will NEVER KNOW…{insert evil laugh} it’s like when you grate carrots and put them in brownies! little things that make us feel like we are winning the parents vs kids game.

Then I made a hot glue felt bag to hold all the stuff in it ( I should have made it bigger to hold the mat too….you live and learn)

decorated the front

hot glued the sides together

and folded down the top edge

and added a string

all wrapped up…stored in a closet. ready for another cold blustery day!

thanks for having me AMY! Don’t you love the idea room? it’s one of my most favoritest blogs!

and you come check me out at my blog anytime (this is your formal invitation)

April 8, 2011 · Filed under: Activities, Crafts, Games, Gifts, Guest Posts, Kids Tagged with

Chalk Board Purse

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I shared this Chalk Board Purse a few weeks ago over at Mod Podge Rocks and just realized I had forgotten to post it here so that it was on my site as well.

The fun thing about this is that you can carry this book to church, doctors appointments and restaurants. Great for keeping the little ones entertained quietly while waiting. There is also a secret little storage area inside that can hold their chalk and a small rag to erase their drawings.

You will need an old board book that you don’t care to part with. I found mine at the thrift store for .25 cents. Make sure the book is think enough with a few extra pages to fit a piece of chalk. {If you want to add a pocket, if it is not thick enough you will not be able to shut the book}.

Flip to the back of the book and save the last three pages. DO NOT CUT THESE PAGES OUT. Then take an exacto knife or a sharp razor blade and cut out the middle section of several pages of your book. Check to see that it is deep enough for some chalk to fit inside.

Be sure to save a couple of pages at the front of the book to be your chalk board pages. DO NOT CUT THE MIDDLE OUT OF THESE EITHER!

After your book pages are cut out with and you have left some uncut at the front and end of the book, turn to the second to last page of the book {or the middle page of the last three.

Then take a purse handle {I bought mine at JoAnn’s} and a 2 lengths of ribbon. The length will vary depending on the height of your book. I used 20 inches for each ribbon. Feed the ribbon through the bottom slots of the handle and lay one end of the ribbon down behind the middle page so that it is between the last and the middle page.

Then run the end of the ribbon up around the bottom of the page to the front of the middle page. Bring the other end of the ribbon from the top of the page down so that it meets the other ribbon. Pull the ribbons tight so that the handle is snug against the top of the book. Staple the ribbon to the middle page in several spots. This will hold the handle firmly in place.

Take a smaller length of ribbon {I used brown and white polka dot ribbon) about 7 inches in length. Staple the end of it on the same page but coming out of the middle of the side. This will be the ribbon used to keep the book closed. Leave it hanging out.

Turn the top of the three pages so that it covers the stapled ribbons. Glue together the three pages. You will also want to cut a peice of scrapbook paper and glue it to the top of the three pages. This will be the bottom of your storage pocket. Then hold together with clamps or by setting a heavy object on them while it dries completely.

Next, glue together all your cut out pages around the edges. Cut scrapbook paper to go around all the sides of the storage pocket and use Mod Podge on the front and back to add the paper to the top of the first cut page. Place a heavy object on it so that it stays and dries flat. Leave for several hours.

Now you will need some chalkboard paint. I found a DIY Chalkboard Paint recipe that you can make yourself. Click the link to see the Chalk Board Paint Recipe or use some store bought chalkboard paint.

Rough up each page with some sand paper so that the paint will stick better (chalk can take some of the paint off if you push too hard otherwise). Paint every page that you saved except for the front cover. Let dry thoroughly. I needed two coats and cover the book pages completely. Before you can draw on the chalkboard you will need to run the side of a peice of chalk over the entire surface of your chalkboard pages and then erase. This preps the paint so that it can be drawn on with the chalk.

After the paint has dried, you can take and cover the front and back of your chalk board purse. I used Mod Podge on both the front and back to hold it and seal it all together.

Finally, take your ribbon you left hanging out of the end of the book and lay it to the top front of the book. Measure how long it need to be to shut nicely. I added a strip of brown ribbon to the front of the book. Then I glued a cut peice of magnet {I used a take out refrigerator magnet} onto the end of the hanging ribbon and one to the front of the book so it could attach and keep the purse shut. Add some a peice of chip board or cardboard and decorate to hide the magnet.

And there you have it. Sorry about all the pictures! But I felt it will be easier to make your own by referencing them for more explanation.

February 22, 2011 · Filed under: Activities, Crafts, Games, Gifts, Girls, Kids, Tutorials Tagged with

Valentine Bingo Cards

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Do you need a game to play at your child’s classroom Valentine’s Day party? How about playing some Valentine Bingo?

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Bingo is always a fun one that doesn’t take a lot of time or effort to plan or carry out, and the kids seem to enjoy it. So I made up some Bingo cards and simply printed them out and laminated them. This way we will be able to use them over and over again.

The cards are numbered from 1 to 24. To play, you will need some game pieces. We usually use small candies. The ones pictured are heart Gobstoppers. But we have used M&M’s or wrapped mini tootsie rolls. But you could also use small pieces of paper or pennies. I realize many of you know how to play Bingo…but just in case here are some simple instructions. Simply give each child a card and a handful of game pieces. Then the heart in the middle of the card is a free space. To play you just call out a number from 1 to 24. Or you can have them do math problems to come up with the correct number answer. Write down each number as you call it so you know which ones have been called {or write out the numbers at first and then cross them off as you go}. As the kids have a number on their card, they cover it with the candy. The first with five in a row call out Bingo and win.

Then the kids can either eat their game pieces, or you can just throw them away. Do you want to make some of your own? I have made it so that you can download these Bingo cards for yourself. Download here the blank card & add your own numbers. Just make sure to shuffle them around so no two cards are the same for each child. Or you can print out the blank cards, laminate them and then write on your own numbers, or words {with dry erase pens and markers}…so that you can change them up to suit your needs. I have also provided 3 pre-numbered cards here.

Numbered Bingo Card 1

Numbered Bingo Card 2

Numbered Bingo Card 3

These should print out to be 5 x 7’s. I hope you enjoy them!

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