tiny robot magnets

A wonderful friend of mine is hosting a robot birthday party for her son next month. We have been having fun going to craft stores and planning things to fit this fun theme, and I wanted to share the cute little robot magnets that I made as party decorations & favors. The steps are time-consuming because you have to allow for dry-time, but once you get started it is easy to make a dozen or more. I worked on this project over the course of a week and it never felt overwhelming.

Materials Needed for Basic Robots:
Hot glue gun & glue sticks
Wooden squares and rectangles
Paint & brushes
Spray primer

Materials Needed for Embellishments:
Magnets
Googly eyes
Glue dots & E600 glue
Stickers
Beading wire & basic tools
Small beads

I bought a small bag of wooden shapes at the craft store. After sorting them into piles of large and small squares and rectangles (which is fun to have your  kids help with as it promotes early math skills), I used a hot glue gun to attach a large square (head) to a large rectangle (body), then used small rectangles for legs and arms. If you wanted shorter arms or legs the small squares would work equally well. I haven't used my hot glue gun in a while, and the glue got a little messy! If I were to do it again, I would stop after gluing on the appendages and wipe off the excess glue on the front of the robot before it hardens.

After the robots were glued together I put them in box and spray painted them with primer on both front and back. After the primer dried I used four metallic paint colors to make the robots look shiny; one coat on back and two on front gave them a nice finish.

The fun part was making embellishments for the robots! I used medium googly eyes attached with glue dots for the robots eyes. I found that the larger the googly eyes, the cuter the robot! The metallic round stickers that I used were perfect for layering, and gave the robots the look of having some kind of front panel without a lot of detailed marker use. The antenna for each robot was made with wire and small beads. I used my basic beading tools to snip the wire at my desired length (either double- or single-antenna). The double-antennae are one longer piece of wire with beads at each end, which is then glued to the robot in the middle of the wire. The single-antenna are one piece of wire with a bead  at one end and glued to the robot at the other end. My grasping tool was essential in holding the wire as I twisted it around the bead to make it tight; I have carpal tunnel and arthritis in my hands, so detailed fine motor work can be a challenge for me.

After making enough antenna, I flipped all of the robots over and glued the antennae to the back of the head. I placed a small strip of paper over the glue to help hold the antennae in place while the glue dried. I also used my E600 glue to attach circle magnets to the back of each robot. I like E600 glue because it is strong enough to support magnets and will come off of hands fairly easily.

Each of my robots is about 4 inches tall. Although they aren't as 'polished' as ones that you might be able to purchase (if this is something you could find easily?) I like these cute little robots. They were fun to make and should make the birthday boy and his friends happy! You could extend this idea by using markers to create more elaborate panels, make different facial features, or have kids decorate their own robot. It is amazing what you can create with basic shapes and a little bit of imagination!

the science of color

We love playing with color! The kids adore mixing color tablets in their baths, seeing what happens when you melt crayons together, and mixing different colors of paints. We have done a few small color experiments in the past month and wanted to share them.

Experiment #1: Color Flowers

Materials Needed:
Small white flowers (carnations work best)
Glass containers
Food coloring
Water

We chose three different colors for this experiment. After filling each vase with water the kids squeezed in some food coloring. We then cut the flowers short, stuck them in the water, and waited. I couldn't find white carnations this time around, so I used a bouquet of small white roses instead. The blue color started showing up in the leaves and petals within the first day, the yellow took a bit longer to saturate, and the purple was hardly visible even after several days. We added more water as the level in the vases dropped, but not more food coloring. This was a great way to show kiddos how flowers 'drink' water.

Experiment #2: Paper Towel Color Mixing

Materials Needed:
Small bowls
Water
Food coloring
Paper towel

This super-easy experiment provides quick results and the kids like watching the color soak into the paper towel from different directions. We took one large paper towel and twisted it up like a rope. We then filled each small bowl with water and my daughter chose the colors to add in. We placed one end of the towel into each cup and voila! It was fun to ask Ali what she thought would happen to the water and the towel. She guessed that the water would be soaked up, but didn't think that the colors would mix in the middle. Initially she was correct, but after 30 minutes the colors did meet in the middle and make green.

Yellow + Blue = Green

As the kids become more familiar with these little science projects, I want them to start a journal. Having them draw or write what they see, what they expect to happen, and what actually happened will give them valuable practice with the scientific method. As Adam Savage of Myth Busters stated, "The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down!". Wise words.

art party: decorations

Our art birthday party was a success! It rarely rains on summer morning in Denver, but our party day was cold and drizzly so we had to move our art activities indoors. Luckily, we have a half-finished basement and the kids could go crazy with sand and paint without causing too much damage. I tend to rely on our large backyard for events since our living room and kitchen are pretty small, but we managed to find enough indoor seating for all of our guests. Even though it was a bit cozy, everyone had a good time celebrating with our five year old.
 
Balloon, globe, & pom-pom cluster:

Can you see our very large, wet dog enjoying the rain?

The beauty of this decoration is that it is simple to put together and makes a big impression. You can blow up the balloons the night before, since a little deflation won't look bad. I chose the hanging lights over our kitchen table for this cluster since it is a nice focal point. The globes came ready made, but the pom-poms were made by hand.

Pom-Pom Materials Needed:
Tissue paper
Floral wire
Heavy duty scissors
Ribbon

Stack approximately 6-10 layers of tissue paper on top of each other. Make accordion folds down the entire length of the tissue paper and wrap a short length of floral wire around the center of the stack; I prefer to use floral wire to ribbon because of the extra stiffness. You can cut the edges of the tissue paper to give your pom-pom a different look: a rounded edge makes it look wavy, while a triangle edge makes it look a bit sharper, and just leaving the edges straight looks more like a traditional pom. Slowly peel each layer of tissue paper up or down towards the center, until you have a three-dimensional shape. Attach a length of ribbon to the wire to hang the pom-pom, and gently shake or fluff the paper to make it look full.

The more sheets of tissue paper that are used, the more difficult it is to cut the edges and fluff the layers without them tearing. For the largest poms, use full-length tissue paper; cut the paper into smaller sections for medium or small poms. For more visually interesting poms, alternate the colors of tissue paper or use different colors on each half of the pom. I used 'happy birthday' tissue paper for some of the poms, and any seasonal paper could be used for the individual occasion. After tying the poms around the hanging kitchen lights, I added some curled lengths of ribbon. This was a fun, inexpensive party decoration to make. My little one is very excited to hang these decorations in her room when we finally take them off of the kitchen lights.

art party: glitter bottles

Unshaken on the left, shaken on the right.

Nothing is more fun than a glitter bottle! We've made many different kinds over the years, but this type was one of the easiest and least expensive to create.

Materials Needed:
Clear plastic bottles with screw-on lids
Glitter glue (1 regular size tube per bottle)
Fine glitter
Water
Food coloring
Super glue

Once you have your materials ready, you can make these bottles very quickly. Start by squeezing an entire tube of glitter glue into each bottle; this is a good task for kids to practice eye-hand coordination and build fine motor strength. Fill the bottles halfway with water and add one or two drops of food coloring, followed by the fine glitter. Then fill up the rest of the bottle with water, leaving about a quarter inch of air at the top. We screwed on the lids and gave each bottle a good shake to make sure that we liked the coloration, and added more glitter or food coloring if necessary. Once they looked good, we used super glue on the inside of the lids and screwed them on tightly. Now our glitter bottles are ready to be party favors for this weekends art birthday party.

art party: paint chip banners

My oldest one is turning 5 years old at the end of the month and we are having an art party. Preparations have been going on for a while now, and I plan on posting the projects as we complete them and/or after the party. A few of the decorations have already gone up around the house, since it can be a long process and last-minute decorating isn't my thing. Here are the small paint chip banners we made.

Materials Needed:
Paint sample cards
Large paper punch
String
Clear tape

The most important step is to gather lots of paint sample cards from home improvement stores. We have been grabbing a handful every time we go to Lowes or Wal-Mart, and the kids love picking out a variety of fun colors. We used a large circle paper punch and were able to get two circles out of most of the paint cards. After we had a giant stack of circles, I measured out different lengths of string and taped circles to each one. I connected three strings of circles together before taping them up on all of the interior doors. I hung the banners high enough on the doors that the kids can't reach them, and reinforced them with enough tape that they won't be coming down without lots of work. I am glad to have a small part of the party planning completed, even if it is the easiest step!

ice cream in a bag

It has been a hot summer in Denver, and with the heat comes lots of extra time indoors to avoid the sun. My dad found a clever recipe for making your own ice cream and wanted to try it with the kids. The best part (besides getting ice cream) is that it requires lots of movement from the kids and wears them out!

Supplies needed:
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup half and half
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (or other flavoring)
¼ cup rock salt
Ice
1 gallon-sized Ziploc bag
1 pint-sized Ziploc bag

Fill the gallon Ziploc bag halfway with ice and add in the rock salt. The salt decreases the temperature of the ice, making it cold enough to make ice cream quickly. Mix the sugar, half-and-half, and flavoring in the smaller bag and close it tightly. Bury the smaller bag inside of the ice in the larger bag, making sure it is completely surrounded; add more ice and rock salt if needed. Seal the large bag and wrap it in a towel, then let the kids go crazy jumping and shaking! The ice cream needs to be shaken for at least five minutes. This makes a good serving for two people, and should be eaten right away. My dad and sister enjoyed doing this project with the kids, and the kids really enjoyed the results.

colorful frames

Like most little ones, my kids love to make art. And, like most kiddos, they make too much of it for me to fit on the fridge. I've started scanning each piece of art that they make, and plan on making a large coffee table book with their masterpieces when enough has been collected. For their favorite pieces, though, I needed to create a special place for display.

Materials Needed:
Large paint-friendly frames (I got mine at Michaels)
Paint
Embellishments
Nails


I covered the frames with several coats of paint followed by a clear sealant coat. Using small embellishments, we added some sparkle to a few of the frames. I have seen frames with chicken wire or cork board attached on the back, but we put ours directly on the wall without backing. I am fine with using clear scotch tape to attach pictures to the frames and wall, but some people may prefer using the cork board to attach artwork. I used 4-6 small finish nails to attach the frames to the wall and the frames were quickly filled up by the kiddos. They are very proud of their 'art space' and point out their work to family and visitors alike.