DIY Families: 5 Home Projects You Can Do with the Kids

When you’ve got a lot of projects to take are of around the house, your first instinct might be to send the kids out of the house on play dates, or into the yard with their toys. But getting your children involved in working around the house presents many great learning opportunities and, when taught correctly and monitored appropriately, can actually help you get your work done faster!

Below are five easy home projects the whole family can get involved in, from our friends at HomeAdvisor.

1. Painting the walls. You can paint the high parts of the walls; your kids can help cover the lower areas. It’s a project most of them will love, and it also gives them a beginner handyperson’s education in undercoats and how to place tape to avoid painting the baseboards. You will need to supervise them throughout the process, but the sense of accomplishment they’ll feel when they actually get to see the completed room painted a whole new color is enormous. If they’re too little to really help, let them show their creativity by painting smiley faces, clouds, flowers, that you’ll paint over later.

2. Clean out the drains. Drains get stopped up over time, but there’s no need to use chemicals to un-clog them, unless you’ve gotten something major stuck down there. Baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar mixed together into a paste is a concoction that’s safe enough for children to use, and strong enough to get the job done. Let the kids pour this mixture down the drain, then follow it up yourself with a kettle full of boiling water you pour down yourself. Let it stand for 30 minutes to an hour, then let your kids run some fresh sold water through the drain to finish up.

3. Give the mailbox a makeover. Over time, your mailbox can take a beating. This is a great project to get your kids involved in. Wash the mailbox with sponges, water, and mild soap to remove all debris. Then decide: does the box simply need a fresh coat of paint? A new house number? Decorations like flowers or flags? Let everyone in the family have a say—and a hand in making your designs come to life.

4. Plant a container garden. Kids love to get down in the dirt, so why not redirect that enjoyment towards something with an actual purpose? They can create holes for young plants and seedlings, get them situated, and water them in. You can also let them choose some of their favorite fruits and vegetables to plant in the garden—they’ll be so excited to see the plants they’ve chosen shoot up and get bigger day by day.

5. Get them involved in overall house-cleaning. While this might seem like a big chore, you can help kids find a fun way to get involved in the process. Show them how to swish a feather duster around with flair, and they can dust off your end tables and other low-lying areas. You can also make tidying their rooms into a game: how fast can they stack the blocks, or how many dolls will fit in one cubby? Not only does this help you (a little), it helps your children learn good practices that will benefit them through their whole lives.

Crafty Kids: How to Make Beaded Key Fobs

The title of this craft begs the questions: what exactly is a fob, and why on earth would any kid want to make one (aside from the fact, of course, that they’re really pretty)?

Traditionally—meaning, in the late 19th century—a fob was a decorative chain that attached your pocket watch to your person. Since not many folks wear pocket watches anymore, the craft is reimagined here by our friends at Crafting Community as a decoration for a key. And as every kid knows, getting your own key to the house is an enormous rite of passage, one that symbolizes a surge in responsibility as well as a parent’s recognition of it.

Why make a key fob? To celebrate that oh-so-important key and make it look as important as it really is. Not to mention, help your kid find it in her cluttered backpack!

What you’ll need:

Plastic lacing
Scissors
Metal clips
Pony beads in assorted colors

1. Start with about 6 feet of plastic lacing, fold it in half, and put it on a metal clip.

2. Thread your first bead onto one end of the cord, then thread the other end of the cord through the opposite side of the bead.

3. Begin your design by adding the next row of beads. To do this, slip on 2 beads to the right half of the lacing and then thread the left side of lacing through both beads.

4. Continue to increase or decrease by 1 bead each row until your design takes shape. Once your design is finished, make a knot and hide the little ends under the last row of beads. Now it’s time to hook on that key!

Crafty Kids: How to Make a Woven Yarn God’s Eye

Woven Yarn God's Eye

The ojo de Dios (Spanish for “eye of God”) is a folk toy with origins among the Huichol Indians of the Sierra Madre. The four points of the crossed sticks are said to represent the elements of earth, air, water, and fire; the finished eye, replete with alternating stripes of yarn, is meant to offer health, fortune, and long life.

Extremely simple to put together, this bright, festive craft from our friends at Crafting Community forms the base for a great crib mobile—something for an older sibling to make for the new baby in the house. It’s also a super entry point for talking to kids about American history—and for parents to learn a little something, too.

What you’ll need:

  • Two sticks of equal length
  • Brightly colored yarn in 3 or 4 color
  • Scissors

1. Grab two sticks and tie them together in the middle with the end of your ball of yarn. Twist the sticks to form a ‘+’.

 

2. Wrapping in a clockwise direction, wind your yarn over and around 1, then 2, then 3, then 4. (See image at right for technique).

3. To switch up your colors, simply snip the yarn you’re working with and tie on a new color. Trim the excess and continue wrapping.

4. To finish your god’s eye, top knot your yarn around your final stick twice. Trim the excess yarn and you’re done!

To add tassels:

1. Loop yarn around your fingers 15x

2. Thread another piece of yarn through your loop and make a knot with long tails. Cut the end of your yarn loop to create fringe.

3. Tie your tassel on, knotting it to your gods eye on the back side.

4. Wrap one side of the tails around the arm of your gods eye several times, then knot it to the other tail to finish.

Crafty Kids: Floating Container Ship

By Chris Barnardo

A super quick and easy model to put together, this floating container ship is made from a couple of old dishwasher or washing machine liquid bottles, along with a few other bits and pieces. There’s plenty of fun to be had both making and playing with it—kids love naming their ship, writing its name on it in permanent marker, and then sailing it across the great Bath (or Swimming Pool) Ocean.

What you’ll need:

  • Glue gun
  • Marker
  • Craft knife
  • Large dishwasher soap bottle
  • Small dishwasher soap bottle
  • Piece of cardboard
  • A few small stones
  • Shower gel bottle
  • Milk carton cap
  • Liquid detergent bottle cap
  • Yogurt cup base

1.     To make a floating ship, you’ll need a plastic bottle for the hull, and another, smaller bottle for the cabin. Mark lines around the bottles following the diagram above, using a permanent marker. Use your craft knife to cut.

2.     Place the hull part upside down on a piece of thick cardboard and draw around it with a marker.

3.     Cut out the deck slightly inside the line so that the cardboard will just fit inside the hull.

4.     Cut some small supports out of cardboard, at the right height to allow the deck to be slightly recessed. Glue these to the underside of the deck. Glue around the edge of the deck and slide in. Glue the milk bottle top into the detergent bottle opening. To prevent your ship from being top heavy, glue a few small stones inside the hull before you glue the deck into position.

5.     With deck in place, glue around its seams to make sure it’s waterproof.

6.     Glue the cabin upside down to the deck, then glue the yogurt cup end to the deck.

7.     Cut the end off a shower gel pack and glue to the front of the cabin to make the bridge. Glue a detergent bottle top to the top of the bridge to make a funnel.

8.     Decorate with marker, then get ready to launch your ship!

Excerpted from Made with Dad by Chris Barnardo, (c) 2015 Skyhorse Publishing.

Crafty Kids: Straw Rockets

This sweet, summer-celebratory craft from our friends at Kiwi Crate is great fun when you’re wrangling a whole group of neighborhood kids who could use a little (but not a lot!) of structured activity. It’s super quick and easy to pull together, and gets (and keeps) the whole gang outside.

What you’ll need:

  • Several pieces of origami paper, or any other square-shaped paper
  • Straws (fat ones from bubble tea stores work best)
  • Tape (used here: long pieces of metallic tape to seal the side, as well as shorter tape squares to close the top)
  • Curling ribbon (optional)

1. With the “nice” side of the paper facing up, place a long strip of tape, sticky side down, along one edge of the paper.  Half the tape should hang over the edge of the paper.

2. Flip the paper over. Starting opposite the tape, roll the paper loosely around the straw.  Seal with tape to make a tube.

3. Fold one end of the tube over and tape it closed. Make sure the tube is completely sealed so no air can get out.

4. If you’d like, decorate your rocket by taping on pieces of ribbon.

5. Blow into the straw to launch your rocket. Blast off!

4 Easy DIY Projects for Parents & Kids

Contribution by Andrea Davis, Home Advisor

Finding projects to do around the house and yard with your kids is a great way to engage and teach your children. When choosing projects, it is important to consider two things: whether it requires adult supervision and if it engages or intrigues your kids. You want a project that awes and teaches them. Here are some fun projects that get work done around the house and keep your child entertained at the same time.

Paint a Room Together
Kids love to finger paint and work with paintbrushes on paper, so why not give them a canvas like a wall in a room? You can teach them the proper way to move a roller up and down, or you can let them go crazy—to a point—on a wall. Laying down plastic sheets on the floor and painter’s tape over the molding and baseboards will protect them from getting stained or needing a new coat of paint. This will also allot your child the opportunity to feel like they contributed to a project in the house, even if you might have to do a little repainting later.

Grow a Vegetable Garden
Growing an easy vegetable garden is a fun and simple thing to do no matter where you live. If you do not have room in your yard, you can buy a large pot and fill it with soil. There are plenty of vegetable types that will grow in pots. Carrots, bush beans, herbs and radishes are all easy vegetables to grow nearly anywhere. Have your kids plant the seeds and then instruct them on the watering schedule. Once the vegetables are ready to harvest, make sure to cook them up and let your kids take pride in the vegetables they grew.

Vegetable pots copy

Install Stepping Stones in the Backyard
Making stepping stones is a great project to do with kids, and it adds an artistic flare to backyard gardens, patios or walkways. The creativity with this project is unlimited as you can make your own molds with old pans, wood or just about anything that will aide in creating a stone two inches thick. Use ready-mix concrete or mortar and a 40-pound bag will make three to five stones, so plan accordingly.

While you do the prep work of mixing the concrete, have the kids find decorative objects such as beads, pebbles, old marbles or anything else hard and decorative. When the concrete is wet, the kids can add the decorative items. It will take about 48 hours for the concrete to set and then you can remove it from the mold and install it where you choose.

Stepping stones

Plant Solar Lights
Adding solar lights to your garden, walkways or lawn perimeter is simple, fun and creative. Solar lights come in a wide range of styles, anything from basic lights to whimsical creatures. The lights are also supremely easy to install, and your kids can enjoy staking them in whatever location you, or they, choose. Make sure and take them out to see the lights coming on at night. Some tips for installing solar lights to get the most out of them are as follows:

  • Avoid putting them in places where they could be obstructions.
  • Put them in places to highlight a feature, such as a garden or pathway.
  • Make sure to put them in places that maximize sunlight.
  • You can also use the opportunity to teach your kids about green outdoor lighting.

Solar lights

These four projects will require some initial prep work and instructions, but once underway, they should occupy children without much hands-on help from adults.

Andrea Davis is the editor for HomeAdvisor, which helps homeowners find home improvement professionals in their area at no charge to ensure the best service in the shortest amount of time. 

Let’s Hear It For the Red, White and Blue!

The 4th of July is nearly upon us – get the party started with fun treats and decorations that’ll pump up the patriotism at your house. All you need for a fantastic July 4th BBQ is good company, good food and these fun, festive decorations and sweet treats.

julia-Kid with flag - 4th of July

 

Red, White and Blueberry Yogurt Popsicles
No food coloring or added sugar in these patriotic treats. They are made with blueberries and raspberries or strawberries and Greek yogurt for the delicious white stripes. (via The View from Great Island)

the view from g island 2

July 4th Cake Toppers
Free printable cake toppers take the all-American Rice Crispy square or any cake, brownie or cupcake up an impressive notch. (via Kara’s Party Ideas)

1

DIY Rocket Garland
Rocket poppers are a fun craft for the kids and are great fun when filled with confetti or make an adorable decoration when hung together as a festive garland. (via Simplified Bee)

1

Firecracker Favors
Adorable candy-filled firecrackers make a great centerpiece and a simple take-home for your guests. (via Crafts Unleashed)

via Crafts Unleashed

Patriotic Silverware Holders
Spark up your tabletop with silverware holders made from craft supplies and a free printable. (via Lil Luna)

Screen Shot 2014-07-02 at 12.08.43 PM

What other crafts and treats are you serving up this 4th of July? Share them with us below.

5 Fun Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs with Kids

Decorating Easter eggs with kids isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Fragile eggs + stainable dye often equals disaster, or at least a somewhat anxious parent or sitter. This year, opt for one of these simple, yet very cool techniques for decorating eggs with kids. They are fun to do and create some pretty impressive looking eggs.

Easter Mar 2008 copy

 

1. Chalkboard Eggs
How cool are these black eggs?! A really fun, graphic take on the traditional, dyed Easter egg, these funky eggs are just as easy to create as the dip-dyed version. Paint hard-boiled eggs with chalkboard paint – 2-3 coats are recommended for good coverage – and have kids doodle with chalk or wet chalk markers, which create really vivid color that pops against the black background. The blogger behind this DIY suggests creating a trough out of aluminum foil for holding the eggs while they dry. See her complete tutorial with handy photos for help.

via Brett Bara
via Brett Bara

 

2. Neon Eggs
Wow, food coloring has come a long way since we were kids! Pick up a box of Neon Food Coloring to create these eye-popping Easter beauties. These were created by dripping rubber cement over hard-boiled eggs before letting them sit in neon dye for at least five minutes. The long soak might be tough for the kids to wait out, but the results are worth it.

via Kirsten Gab
via Kirsten Gab

 

3. Glitter Eggs
Pull a Martha and forego the dye for a good douse of sparkly glitter. The fancy version of these glittery eggs calls for blowing the eggs out so you’re just decorating the shell. The technique makes the egg last for more than one season, but to make it a kid-friendly craft, forget the fragile shell and instead boil the eggs…making peace with the fact that you’ll have to toss them after a few days.

via Martha Stewart
via Martha Stewart

 

4. No-Dye, No-Mess Eggs
Just as pretty as dyed eggs, but way less mess. In other words, very kid-friendly… which translates into quick and easy. Instead of having kids plunk eggs into baths of dye, have them stick hard-boiled eggs with adhesive dots and roll in colored glitter.

via Mindful Mum
via Mindful Mum

5. Water Color Easter Eggs
Pretty eggs that are fun for even really little ones to create. Use a baking sheet to collect the extra dye that falls when simply spooning dye over eggs. Let dry completely after applying a color so the next color you add won’t run and turn your masterpiece into a muddy mess of muted shades.

via Spoon Fork Bacon
via Spoon Fork Bacon

 

If these DIYs are a bit more work than you bargained for, opt for the even simpler techniques of decorating eggs with stickers, markers or temporary tattoos. You and your kids will have just as much fun!

5 Rainy Day Activities

You’ve seen a million lists like this one, but it never hurts to have some fresh ideas. When you’re stuck in the house and the natives are restless, give one of these a shot.

5 Rainy Day Activities

rainyday

1. Tupperware bowling. Line up your BPA-free lunch containers in the kitchen or hallway and give any type of ball a roll. See how many you can knock down. Kids love anything involving destruction and they can even help set up the “pins.” You can make a more challenging formation for older kids and keep track of spares and strikes, just like in a real game. No grimy shoes required.

2. A bath. Who doesn’t love a warm bubble bath on a cold day? With babies or toddlers, don’t be afraid to climb in with them – and let your little one choose a toy or two to submerge. Most plastic toys do just fine in water and some might need a bath anyway. Race tracks are particularly fun in water as are play kitchen utensils, pots and pans. With older kids, you may even get to read a magazine while sitting on the toilet seat.

Baby in bathtub

3. Baking. Anything is fun when kids get to “help.” Don’t make it a dish you need to present at a fancy dinner party. Search your pantry for something easy and kid-friendly. Banana bread, cookies with M&M’s, even lasagna for dinner (as long as little hands are nimble and super clean) are great options. Older children can help read measurements and set the oven timer. Little ones can pour and stir. Baking is a great hands-on activity and is sure to please when the timer dings.

4. This Is Your Life, starring your child(ren). Kids love to look at photos and videos from when they were babies. If you don’t have a baby book, start with any loose photos in a drawer, digital files, ultrasound pics, the invitation to your baby shower, and any videos Dad made — first steps, first words, first bike ride. Oldest children will benefit most (why do we run out of photographic energy with each respective child?!), but even the youngest ones will delight in seeing you pregnant (“I was in your tummy!”) and if you’re lucky, he or she can help you organize and perhaps even create a photo album or online photo book.

5. Magazine arts and crafts. Find some old magazines, catalogs, or newspaper advertisement inserts — maybe even an old book or two — and let them go to town with scissors and glue. Cutting and pasting pictures onto construction paper is fun for everyone. A holiday or birthday list is always enhanced by photos of coveted items, and creating a “book” can be fun, too, complete with cast of characters from the PB Kids catalog and reality television.

Whatever you choose do to on a rainy day, just rest assured the weather will turn soon enough, and know that your kids love the bonding time with Mom or Dad. Enjoy!

Browse babysitter and nanny profiles, and schedule interviews at the click of a button at www.UrbanSitter.com.

Get Onboard with an Arm Full of DIY Bracelets!

bracelet trend via a beautiful mess
via A Beautiful Mess

Have you noticed that bracelets are all the rage these days? You can get current and also score big points with your child by arming your babysitter with these awesome DIY bracelet craft ideas. We’ve rounded up 10 DIY Bracelets that kids – little and big, girl and boy – will go wild to create and wear!

1. Popsicle Stick Bracelets

Thank you Molly Moo for providing the inspiration and showing us how to make popsicle sticks pliable enough to wrap around a glass into the shape of a bracelet. Once the sticks are dry, you can decorate them with wasabi tape (for instant gratification) or embroidery thread with the ends of the thread capped with beads for a dangly look.

Molly Moo bracelets
via Molly Moo

2. Felt Flower Bracelets

Though gorgeous, this craft require a bit more manual dexterity and involves more steps than some of the others. The bracelets are delightful for little kids to wear, but plan on your sitter, an older sibling or yourself doing much of work. You can download a free pattern for the felt flowers and you’ll need to purchase a roll of Velcro, along with felt. Merriment Design recommends something called Velcro Plant Ties, which is basically a roll of a thin strip of Velcro, which will serve as the base of your bracelet.

Felt Flower Bracelets via Merriment Design
Felt Flower Bracelets via Merriment Design

3. Straw Bracelets

Here’s a simple, sweet project perfect for tackling when you have really little kids involved. The bracelet is cute enough that older kids won’t mind that it’s as easy as cutting drinking straws into pieces (an adult can do the cutting for little ones) and stringing them onto pipe cleaners, which are then twisted to form a bracelet. You can get bigger kids more interested by encouraging them to create patterns with the different color pieces.

Straw Bracelets via Mother Huddle

4. Friendship Bracelets

Wow, these bring back memories! Remember making these when you were a kid, loading up your arms with them and gifting and trading them with friends? If the how-to isn’t too fresh in your mind, check out this great tutorial from Apartment Therapy.  It’ll be like riding a bike. Before you know it, you’ll be whipping out a few to bestow on your little one and maybe just helping her to start a new trend in the hood.

Friendship Bracelets via Apartment Therapy
Friendship Bracelets via Apartment Therapy

5. LEGO Bracelets

What’s just as popular with kids as bracelets? Why, LEGOSs, of course.  There is a small supply list for these, though be forewarned that the project requires a drill. Thanks to The Centsible Life for listing the requirements – (lots of) flat LEGO bricks, a drill and 3/32″ drill bit, embroidery thread (three colors per brick) and scissors. You or a handy sitter will need to prepare the bricks for your kids to string by stacking bricks and drilling a small hole on each end of the stack. Complete instructions included here.

LEGO Bracelets via Tip Junkie
LEGO Bracelets via Tip Junkie

6. Pom Pom Bracelets

Martha Stewart showcases Pom Pom bracelets as a winter holiday accessory, which would be lovely, but we think they’d also make for cheerful, colorful, summery arm candy. Buy pom-poms with holes in them, and help kids thread them onto clear stretchy beading cord. Tie off  the ends with several double knots.

Pom Pom Bracelets via Martha Stewart
Pom Pom Bracelets via Martha Stewart

7. Candy Bracelets

Imagine telling your kids you are about to provide a fun craft to make, candy to eat and a new piece of jewelry to wear! You’ll need to hit the candy and cereal isles to stock up on supplies for these yummy, wearable treats. Lila Luna used Cheerios, Froot Loops, Peach Rings and Gummy Lifesavers, but any candy or cereal with a hole in the middle will work. Simply help kids string them on length of yarn. It’s helpful to use a blunt, plastic needle for threading.

Candy Bracelets via Lil Luna

8. Wooden Bead Bracelets

Here’s a sweet, modern take on old-school wooden beads on a cord. You need nothing more than a bag of ¾” wooden beads,  1mm stretch cord (three colors are ideal, but you can certainly make these with more or less), and scissors to cut the elastic-like stretch cord. Playful Learning gives a simple tutorial:

  • Count out 10-12 beads
  • Measure 3 strands of stretch cord at 18”
  • Holding ends together, thread cord through the first bead.
  • Pull the ends through, wrap them around the bead, and pull back through
  • Pull taut to secure, leaving about 2” of cord length at the end
  • Using the remainder of the cord, repeat looping and pulling through on the remaining beads until all ten are lined up snugly.
  • Double knot and tightly tug the cord taut at the end and trim to about 1/4”

Wooden Bead Bracelets via Playful Learning

9. Super Easy Button Bracelet

A button bracelet is excellent for building fine motor skills. You can cater to your child’s age by using buttons with bigger holes for little kids and smaller buttons for older kids. Buttons with smaller holes will require a needle for threading the ribbon. You can find blunt needles that are safer for kids to use. Simply gather a collection of buttons and some ribbon to string through the holes. Weave the ribbon through the buttons, coming up from underneath the button, crossing over the top, and dipping back down again on the other side of the button. Once you have threaded on enough buttons for the length of your bracelet, tie the two ends of ribbon together and voila, a new bracelet!

Button Bracelets via Kids Activities
Button Bracelets via Kids Activities

10. Secret Message Ribbon Bracelets

Not your ordinary friendship bracelet, these lovelies have a secret message written on the inside. And just as nice, they take only minutes to make. You’ll need ribbon, self-adhesive Velcro (bought as precut circles or strips you cut yourself), tacky glue (optional), a white office label and a pen or marker to write your message. Instructions via Spoonful: Cut the ribbon into a piece long enough to wrap around your child’s wrist with extra for folding under the ends. Fold down one end of the ribbon and adhere one half of a Velcro piece, then flip over the ribbon, fold down the end, and attach the other half of the Velcro. Add a drop of glue under each piece of Velcro if needed (depends on the ribbon and Velcro used). Cut the label to fit (if necessary), write a message on it, then stick it to the inside of the bracelet.

Secret Message Ribbon Bracelets via Spoonful
Secret Message Ribbon Bracelets via Spoonful

Remember, there are plenty of crafty babysitters ready and willing to lead the charge if DIY is not your thing!