Yarn & Foil Art

This craft has been around for a while, but I thought I'd share our take on it with glue, yarn and crayons.

Supplies you will need:

Repurpose one side of a cereal box

Yarn

School Glue

Glue Stick

Scissors

Crayons & Markers

My plan was for my 3 year old to create the design, but she had a hard time squeezing the glue bottle and was more interested in smearing the glue around.  I let her have her fun, then after she went to bed I created a design.

Step one:

I started by squeezing glue onto the cardboard & it looked like a snake, so I went with it.  I put the yarn on the glue gently, wanting the top of the yarn to stay soft, so the foil would go on smoothly later.  I let this part of the project dry overnight.  In the morning my daughter was excited to see what she interpreted as a rollercoaster, so we were ready for the glue stick!

Step two:

Roll the glue stick over the exposed card board.  The 3 year old loved this part.

Step three:

Cut a piece of aluminum foil to size & press on to the cardboard.

Step four:

Rub the foil onto our yarn lines; we used an old toothbrush.  It was gentle and didn't tear the foil.

Step five:

Sharpies work well on foil, but permanent markers aren't the greatest medium for young children, so we mostly used crayons, but I did let my little artist use a sharpie and a paint pen a little.  I played around with heating the crayon areas, but I don't think it added anything.  The crayons went on smoothly, brighter colors worked better than pastels. 

Tada!  Our finished foil & yarn project.  It was fun, I think we may try it again as a seasonal craft (pumpkin, flag, Christmas tree, Easter egg)...lots of possibilities!

Toddler Bath Time Play

We love bath time in our house!  Different themes keep it fun for my 1 & 3 year old.  Most baths include a little bubble bath.  Our favorite bubble bath is California Baby.  It is not as sudsy as some, but has great aromatherapy and is organic.  

Here are some ideas we have enjoyed:

Food coloring: create a one color bath or pour different colored water in squeeze bottles and let them add it

All ducks

All frogs

All cups; different shapes and sizes

All balls

Blowing bubbles 

Homemade bath fizzies (aka alka seltzer tablets) :)

Glow in the dark bracelets (must admit my 3 year old didn't like them in the tub)

Toy cars

Snap lock beads (and they make great microphones too)

Plastic farm animal figurines

Winnie the Pooh set of figurines

Plastic little pony figurines (and they get washed as a bonus)

Bath mirror and silly shampooed hairstyles always gets a laugh

Polka dot bath with foam craft circles (warning-don't leave them on your bath wall overnight-the colors may bleed)

The theme I have pictured below are the foam craft circles you can buy at Dollar Tree.  I put about 12 drops of blue food coloring and we pretended the green foam craft circles were lily pads and balanced bath cups on them.  

Next up for us will be homemade bath crayons created by grating bar soap, adding food color and molding them into the shape of big crayons.  What is your kid's favorite bath time fun?