Popsicle Adventures Continued

So about those fabulous popsicle puzzles I was talking about… I have a revisal. DO NOT USE MAGAZINES. Will ripped half of the paper off in five minutes. So stick with the greeting cards, postcards or photograph idea.

Continuing the popsicle crafting trend…

While we were visiting Will’s (hopefully, if we are declared poor enough and get financial aid) future montessori school I noticed all of the hands-on math exercises for the toddlers included the written numerals. We hadn’t even delved into this aspect of mathematics yet! We’ve only mastered the blinded repetition of “Oooonne, two, tree, frive (a combination of four and five), five siz, semin A-NYE-TEN!” and lately followed by a muttering of “memon, telf” (eleven and twelve).

So when Will was eating a bowl of cereal at 8:30 pm (I am such a sucker) I sat there handling popsicle sticks. We counted each up to “telf” then started going backwards. Then it dawned on me: Why not write the numerals on these? And while we’re at it, threw on something for him to count on each stick! Montessori schools are all about gradation learning-I remember seeing an awesome number game with dangling beads that the kids had to pair with the corresponding numeral.  So it all came together and was finished before my tot finished his cheerios. I picked a heart shape for mine.

I had a fabric marker handy, it didn’t bleed but also did not come off of Will’s hand after several scrubbings. You have been warned.

Popsicle Stick Puzzle in 3 Easy Steps!

I want to make more toys for Will. After touring his potential new home at Roots and Wings Montessori this week I was inspired by the hand-made interactive learning toys they created. The things you can do with a bath mat! Normally I pine for those beautiful, expensive toys you find at children’s boutiques. The Melissa and Dougs are one thing, but have you seen the Treehaus Play Kitchen?! Even at Tuesday Mornings it’s still $80!

Drool.

Alas, I am on a hand to mouth budget and must get creative. Poor people can be so crafty! And smart! AND funny!  So I found this easy and cheap craft to make for Will. It’s the Popsicle Puzzle! The great thing about this craft is that even 2 yrs old, he can participate in making it. POPSICLE PUZZLE Materials: Craft Popsicle sticks (you can find anywhere. I found mine at the drug store) Glue (liquid or stick) Siccors and Exacto Knife Magazine, Greeting Cards, or Photographs for Image

Step 1. Let your child select the image. (We used a magazine clipping, though thicker stock images are less likely to rip or become warped from the glue) Step 2. Line up your popsicle sticks to the width needed to fit your image then let your child glue the image. (You might want to use a paint brush if using liquid glue to smooth any bumps or air pockets). Let dry.

Step 3. After it is completely dry, slice the image between each popsicle stick. You may want to break up the sticks just a little to break any hardened glue between them. Also, exacto knifes are wicked sharp. It is best to cut with the image face down as the knife could cut right through the stick and ruin the puzzle.

Brilliant! Five Second of FUN-FILLED FUN-NESS!

TA-DA! Easy and cheap cheap cheap. I bought my pack of sticks for less than two bucks and could probably make 20 more of these. It’s fun, easy and your child can help, if not old enough to do it themselves.

About those mosquito-eating bats…

So I’ve been complaining about these mosquitos and rightly so! They are EVERYWHERE this year. I itch in places I’ve never itched and my kid looks like he suffers from premature acne. Not only has it rained almost daily for three weeks, yum yum, but I have not seen ONE bat this season to come eat these suckers (nor any frogs, who eat their eggs). Whats up? Where are the bats? Bats might freak some people out, but they can eat up to 1000 mosquitos in an hour! I’m probably swatting that many off of myself and Will in an hour. That’s an hour of swat-free living pontentiality (not a word?)!  They make up a quarter of the earth’s mammal population but they are on the endangered list. In large part because of this new fungus disease we’ve been hearing about called white-nose syndrome, but we are also eating up their habitat faster than myself with a plate of sushi (why does sushi have to be so small and delicious? The whole experience is over in five minutes).

If you live in an area with bats (which almost all of you do) and you have a mosquito-palooza hosted on your property, then maybe you and the kids can work together to build your own bat house! We already live in a bat house ourselves, but I think the bats are put off by the volume of our tv so we have to build their own separate apartment. So here’s the thing; I have no patience for craftiness that takes longer than 30 minutes. It takes me a year to crotchet a dish towel because I’m not very fast and I get agitated then walk away from it for six months. So a bat house is out for me, but my father in law is a carpenter and loooves doing things extremely slow, so I might pass the torch to him. But YOU might care about the bats (aka mosquitos) and are patient enough to try out building a bat house for your family. At Batworld.org they have some great tips to help you build a bat nest , plus a kids page so you can make this an educational experience (throw in some math skills for measurements). And if you would rather just learn about bats while comfortably buying a cheap, pre-cut bat house that takes minutes to build you can do that too. Cause bats are cool and they eat annoying bugs. But if one ever got close enough to me I’m sure to scream like a child and run into the house.