Carton Catchers - Trash To Treasure

September 6, 2008 at 3:37 pm · Comments (4)
Wordcount: 227

If you’ve got a couple of old milk jugs and some aluminum foil, you and your children can make a fun game that can keep them occupied for hours. And even if the game doesn’t keep them occupied for hours, it’s still a fun project that you can all do together.

What you’ll need for this project:

1. at least 2 empty, CLEAN one gallon milk jugs

2. scissors

3. aluminum foil

4. stickers or markers (optional)

What you need to do is help your child(ren) cut off the top half of the milk jug, at an angle kind of, leaving the handle uncut and attached to the bottom half of the jug. Decorate the jug if you like, with stickers, markers, crayons.. whatever you have or want to use. Roll up some aluminum foil about the size of a small ball. Once you have made at least 2 “catchers” then two of you stand several feet apart from one another and throw the aluminum foil ball back and forth, trying to catch it in the milk jug. I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but Eric and I actually did this and it’s rather fun. Also because the aluminum foil is not heavy, it makes a fun indoor game on rainy or boring days. If you know of any good trash to treasure ideas, feel free to share them.

Commenters: Julie, Viona

Cereal Box Puzzles - Trash To Treasure

April 8, 2008 at 11:34 pm · Comments (2)
Wordcount: 163

Here’s yet another fun Trash to Treasure project you could try with your kid(s). All you need is an empty cereal box.

1. Cut one of the large panels off of a cereal box. (front or back) - If your child is doing the cutting make sure he or she uses safety scissors.

2. Draw lines on the back side of the panel. You will use these guidelines to cut out your puzzle. Draw any kinds of lines, curvy or straight. Don’t make it too complicated because then it will be too hard to cut.

3. Cut along the lines you drew. Mix up the pieces and you now have your own cereal box puzzle to put together.

Try this:

Make two puzzles and have your kids race each other to see who can put their puzzles together fastest.

Make double-sided puzzles by gluing two cereal box panels together and then cutting the pieces.

Make puzzles out of other types of boxes, or old photographs.

Have fun!

Commenters: Julie, Marsha

Bottle Bowling - Trash To Treasure

March 29, 2008 at 12:49 pm · Comments (8)
Wordcount: 307

Being a single mother, I know sometimes it’s hard to find fun things for kids to do that doesn’t really cost anything. With that being said, I’ve decided to start a new category here called “Trash to Treasure”. (No, I did not come up with the idea, though I’d like to take credit for it, since it’s kinda neat.) The whole idea behind Trash To Treasure is coming up with fun games or projects that you and your children can do that don’t require any money. You just use items you already have or that you would normally throw out. My first trash to treasure project is called bottle bowling. We did it, and it was pretty cool.

Bottle Bowling

1. Wash and dry 10 plastic bottles. (20 oz coke bottles work best)
2. Fill them with shredded paper or at least halfway with water. This keeps them from falling over too easily. Put the caps on tightly.
3. Set up your bottles in a triangle on a large flat surface.
4. Stand about 10 feet away from the bottles and roll a ball, trying to knock over as many bottles as possible. Set the bottles back up.
5. If you want to keep score, take two rolls per turn, trying to knock over as many pins (bottles) as you can. Set the pins back up after each turn. You get ten turns in a regular game. Add up the pins from each turn to see how many points you have scored. If you are playing with another player, then alternate turns.

Fun/helpful ideas:
1. Decorate the bottles with markers and stickers. To make them look like bowling pins, place red stickers around the outside of the bottles near the top.
2. If you don’t have a rubber ball to use, try making your own ball out of wadded-up aluminum foil.

Have fun bowling!

Commenters: Amanda, Amanda, Ana, Holly, Julie, Piper, Tro