{Think Outside the Toy Box} Paper Cups: DIY Race Track

Hey look at me posting on time and everything! We are slowly getting our life and routine back together, just in time for it to get all crazy again as we are leaving in less than two weeks to go back home for Myles' 2nd birthday party! Life is hectic around here and when all is said and done, I will have a two year old, memories of an awesome vacation home, and a new city to explore when we get back. And by that time summer will be pretty much over! 

Well here we are at week nine of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series! 

If you are here for the first time or want to check out all the details again, take a look at the post introducing the Think Outside the Toy Box summer fun series. Also if you have missed any previous weeks, here are the projects we have done so far:
Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling (and bath)
Plastic Bottle Waterfall
Astronaut/Alien Costume
 Foamy Bathtub Paint

Edible Sensory Bin
Marble Drop/Race
 Shredded Crayon Canvas Art
Painted Puzzle Wall Art

Now on to this week's fun with:

PAPER CUPS

I have had the idea for this week's item in my head since the beginning of this series. I originally came up with two ideas and really wanted to try them both, but with moving and everything else going on, I only got around to making one. I'm sure either would have been a hit with Myles, but I think (for once) I actually made the right choice! He is super into his race/train tracks right now (as I am sure he will be for many years to come), so I came up with my own version and made him a

  Paper Cup Race Track

What You Will Need: 

1 box of 200 count paper bathroom cups

Glue Gun (with a lot of glue sticks)

 Flattened Cardboard Box/ Plywood Sheet, Particle Board

Different Colored Markers (optional)

Race Cars

Directions:  

1. Lay out the board you have chosen (or have laying around the house.) Put the paper cups out on the board in the placement you want them. I experimented with different  features and the way they would hold up best. I laid it all out on the board and moved parts around until I was happy with the whole set-up. 

2. Use the glue gun to secure all of the cups to the board/other cups. 

I tried a bunch of stuff out and came up with a few fun features like bridges, a tunnel, a jump, and some towers. I opened up the cups to make the jump ramp, bridges, and ramps to go up and down the bridges. I also opened the cups to make a tunnel. That didn't turn out exactly how I wanted though. It works well enough, but the cars get stuck in there sometimes. I should have made it shorter or higher. I also glued cups on other cups to make some towers and a big bridge. 

3. You can also draw/color areas to make it more like a real race track. It can be a dirt trail, have a lake, a pit-stop, etc. I didn't have the time, but you could get really creative with markers. 

4. Play! I am pretty please with how much Myles actually likes playing with this! And he hasn't destroyed it yet!

We had a blast with week eight of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series; thanks for checking it out! Also don't forget to check out what all of the other ladies put together for this week's item in the link-up below. 
  And if you have a post (new or old) that you created showcasing paper cups in a kid's project, craft, game, experiment, etc., submit it below as well. No post this week? No problem; join us next Monday when we will be using milk jugs! 

 And in case you want to get a head start, here is the complete list for the coming weeks:
July 28 - Plastic Milk Jugs

{Think Outside the Toy Box} Pool Noodles: Marble Drop/Race

Hello all, it's Monday and that means it is time for the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series! I have been single parenting (24/7 mom duty) for the past 10 days and I have 3 more to go. I was good for the first 5 days, but now I'm not sure what day or time it is, what direction is up, or what I ate for breakfast. However we did manage to have fun with this week's project and I am excited to tell you all about it!
 

If you are here for the first time or want to check out all the details again, take a look at the post introducing the Think Outside the Toy Box summer fun series. Also if you have missed any previous weeks, here are the projects we have done so far:
Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling (and bath)
Plastic Bottle Waterfall
Astronaut/Alien Costume
 Foamy Bathtub Paint

Edible Sensory Bin
 
Now on to this week's fun with:

  POOL NOODLES

I had an idea for pool noodles circling its way around my brain since the beginning of this series. My inspiration came from the second story walk way we have overlooking the entry way and dinning room in our house. I thought how fun would it be to drop marbles down the noodles from the top of the walk way to the floors down below. That was the beginning of my idea and then I saw the pool noodle marble race on Pinterest, so I thought we would try that out after the marble drop. 

  Marble Drop/Race

What You Will Need: 

Pool Noodles (I used four)
Duck tape
Knife 
Zip-ties (optional for the marble drop)
Marbles

Signs
Green and white paper

Scissors
Tape
Chopsticks or tooth picks
Marker

Directions:  

1. Start by taping the pool noodles together with duck tape. I used four noodles, but you may need less based on where you will be setting up the drop/race.

2. Before I got to making the marble race, I made a marble drop for Myles to try out. We have high ceilings, so I was able to hang the noodles from the second story walk way and let them drop to the first. I attached them to the top banisters with zip ties. I dropped the noodles into our unused dining room and secured them to the ground with a piece of duck tape. 

*This can be done down a flight of stairs as well.*

3. Drop the marble down the noodles and watch it come out down below. This is an awesome way to work on fine motor skills with the young ones. I'm pretty sure Myles could do this for hours and I kinda totally had fun too. You can also have a 'competition' with the marble drop; if you have a big, open space at the bottom, see whose marble goes the farthest after coming out of the bottom.  

 
4. Now to make the marble race 'track': use a knife or sharp scissors to cut the noddle(s) in half. A non-serrated knife would be best because I noticed with mine, the edges were really rough. Also take your time and make sure you are cutting straight down the middle the entire time. I'm sure it is easier with just one or two noodles, but since I had four, I ended up getting a little off track a couple times. It still worked, but at some spots the indentation for the marble to go in got really shallow.  

 5. Optional: Make the start and finish line banners. I just took some scrap paper I had and made two signs: one green for the start and one checked for the end. I attached them to chop sticks with tape. I've seen toothpicks and skewers used as well. 

6. Since my track was really long, I had to find a way to keep them side-by-side. I thought about it for a while and came up with a couple ideas to try. First was a hot glue gun... let's just say, that didn't end well. I was excited because at first it was working great but then as I was holding the sides together while the glue was drying, I noticed parts of the noodle were gone. Weird.. but I just kept going, then it finally dawned on me that the glue was getting so hot that it was melting the plastic noodle! I tend to not think things through... Then I thought I would try rubber bands. That didn't work because the rubber bands weren't high enough to let the marble through. Then I just resorted back to my original, but boring idea to just duck tape the under sides together every couple of feet. I wasn't sure how well this would work, but in the end it was the best option. I also duck taped the top to the banister and the bottom to the carpet. 

7. Putting it over the second story walk way looked cool, but was not practical. It was too steep and the marbles kept falling off before they got to the end. So we decided to move it to the stairs. This way worked perfectly! Seriously hours of racing fun: great for working those fine motor skills for the young ones, and a little friendly competition for the older ones!

  And that was our week six of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series is complete! Also don't forget to check out what all of the other ladies put together for this week's item in the link-up below. 
  And if you have a post (new or old) that you created showcasing pool noodles in a kid's project, craft, game, experiment, etc., submit it below as well. No post this week? No problem; join us next Monday when we will be using Wax Paper! 

 Also just in case you want to get a head start, here is the complete list for the coming weeks:
July 7 - Wax Paper
July 14 - Puzzle Pieces
July 21 - Paper Cups
July 28 - Plastic Milk Jugs

{Think Outside the Toy Box} Paper Bags: Astronaut/Alien Costume

Welcome to week three of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series! I so love being a part of the this series so far. Myles and I have been having tons of fun making and playing with each project so far. I look forward to the time we get to spend together each week trying to figure out what to do and how to put it all together. I have been pleasantly surprised by how much he has been actually participating and engaged with each project so far. I can't wait to see what the rest of the weeks bring us!

If you are here for the first time or want to check out all the details again, take a look at the post introducing the Think Outside the Toy Box summer fun series. Also if you have missed weeks one or two, these are the projects we have done so far:
Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling (and bath)
Plastic Bottle Waterfall

Now on to this week's fun with:

  PAPER GROCERY BAGS

For this week's project, I drew inspiration from a couple of things my son likes. One being space rangers in the form of Buzz Lightyear and the other being this bag from Mega Bloks.

He discovered the amazing potential of the bag when we were visiting his best friend Cameron. One day when we were playing at his house, Myles saw Cameron put the empty bag over his head and run around like a spaceman. Once Cameron let Myles try, he would not stop. He ran around forever with that dang bag on his head! After I saw how much fun he had with it, I was tempted to buy the block set just for the bag. However, by this time, I had already learned that for some reason toys seem to lose 90% of their appeal once they come into our house. So I wasn't about to waste $20 to have him not look at the thing more than once. Then one day I got the bright idea to just make my own bag with a clear plastic hole in it! It is a total win in our house because it is super easy for me to make and it combines Myles' desire to be Buzz Lightyear with his love for running around with a bag on his head! And that is how we came up with the....  

  Paper Bag Astronaut / Alien Costume

What You Will Need: 

A large paper grocery bag

1 zip-lock gallon freezer bag

Scissors

Duck tape

Pencil

Colored Pipe Cleaners (Optional)

Directions:  
*Because this activity involves cutting with scissors, it should be made by an adult. Kids can watch and help at your discretion, but for safety reasons, should wait until the costume is complete to play.*

1. Start by measuring and marking with a pencil where the hole for the face should be. I put the bag next to the son and roughly estimated (while chasing him around the kitchen) the dimensions of the face cut-out. If your kid (like mine) does not want to cooperate, just make it start about an inch in from the top and sides and then as long as their face is. I think the picture below is a good estimation reference. 

2. Place the zip-lock gallon freezer bag inside of the paper bag directly over the hole you just cut. Tape all four sides of the plastic bag down to the paper bag with duck tape.

3. Now you will want to cover the whole outside of the paper bag with duck tape. I tried only covering the front (as you see in the pictures), but the sides ripped within minutes of play. So I would suggest just covering the whole thing at this step. Then you will want to cut arm holes into the sides of the bag. The location and size of the holes depend of the size of your child, so have them try it on and get a quick estimate of where the arm holes should be. For reference, my son is 34 inches and I had to put the arm holes about 2-3 inches up from the bottom.

*It should be easier to tape the sides first and then cut the arm holes... I learned that the hard way. Plus from looking at my pictures now, I think it would look a lot cooler with the silver duck tape covering the whole thing.*

 
4. If you want to turn your astronaut into an alien just add two pipe cleaners to the top of the bag. I picked green ones to fit the alien theme, twirled them around my finger, and poked them through the top of the bag. 

*Again, I would suggest using the duck tap over the top and sides before play time. That way you avoid having to make another one within minutes (like me)!*

  

 5. Play! I think this would be fun for pretend play with friends; one could be the spaceman/astronaut and the other could be the alien. Or like my son, they can just run around screaming random babble and practice ninja moves.
 

And a little outtake just to show you the struggle is real over here:

Playtime in Myles' brain is synonymous with 'destroy everything mommy is trying to do'. Here he is caught in the act of premeditated annihilation of mommy's hard work. That devilish smile on his face is typical right before he goes to play his favorite (and my least) game: kick, kick, kick whatever is around me, even though I know I am not supposed to! 

  And with that week three of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series is complete! Also don't forget to check out what all of the other ladies put together for this week's item in the link-up below. 
 

And if you have a post (new or old) that you created showcasing paper grocery bags in a kid's project, craft, game, experiment, etc., submit it below as well. No post this week? No problem; join us next Monday when we will be using Kool-Aid! 

 Also just in case you want to get a head start, here is the complete list for the coming weeks:
June 16 - Kool-Aid
June 23 - Ice Cream Cones
June 30 - Pool Noodles
July 7 - Wax Paper
July 14 - Puzzle Pieces
July 21 - Paper Cups
July 28 - Plastic Milk Jugs

{Think Outside the Toy Box} Plastic Bottles: Waterfall

Welcome to the second week of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series!

If you are here for the first time, you can check out the introduction to the Think Outside the Toy Box post for all the details of this awesome new series. 

Now on to this week's fun with:

  PLASTIC BOTTLES

Last week in this series I introduced you all to glow-in-the-dark bowling. Now that would have worked great for this week as well. However, I already had my mind completely set on an idea when I saw plastic bottles on the items list for this series. I knew immediately what I was going to do with them and I was super excited. I have been looking forward to trying this project out ever since I pinned this image months back onto my DIY Myles board. To be honest, I probably never would have gotten around to doing it if it weren't for this series. So I am loving trying all these project and ideas out with Myles. Unlike last week, so far Myles is loving his plastic bottle waterfall. I'm guessing because it involves water and getting messy. Also he is really intrigued by how the whole thing works; he has been moving the bottles around and sticking his hands in them trying to figure it all out! This has already given us lots of fun playtime in the summer heat!

Plastic Bottle Water Fall

What You Will Need: 

5-6 plastic juice or pop bottles, rinsed out
Open spot on a wood fence or large piece of wood
1 Steak knife, scissors, or X Acto knife
6-10 screws 
6-10 washers (optional)
Drill or screw driver
Step-stool (optional)

Directions:  
*Because this activity involves cutting with knives and drilling screws, this should be set-up by an adult. Kids can watch and help at your discretion, but for safety reasons should wait until the waterfall is finished to play.*

1. Find an open spot in your wood fence to set up the waterfall. Or you can attach a 4x4 or larger piece of wood to any fence or wall you choose.

2. Take one plastic bottle and cut the whole bottom off of it. Hold the bottle, cap side down, up to the wood to measure where you want the top to be. I had my son stand on the step-stool and reach his hands up. We placed the top bottle where he could comfortably touch the top of it. Use one screw and washer to attach the bottle, cap side down.

*Tip: we noticed that after we put the whole thing together the water from the top bottle was mostly just splattering out all over. So Mark thought of the idea to put the cap back on the bottle and cut a small hole into the middle. He is so smart because it worked perfectly!*

3. At this point you can set-up the waterfall however you would like. Because I wanted Myles to be able to reach the top when standing on his step-stool, we weren't able to make ours very tall. After the top bottle, we were only able to fit 3 more bottles. This ended up working out great for us, but if you have older and taller kids, you may want to start higher and use more bottles. 

For the middle two bottles, we cut rectangle shapes out of the sides of the bottles and attached them to the fence staggered and slightly diagonal so that the water would pour into the next bottle. 

For the last bottle, Mark came up with the idea to make it so that the water would sprinkle out of the bottom of it.  Using the knife, we stabbed one side of the bottle about 8 times. Then we attached the bottle (holes side down and cap still on) to the fence. Also this bottle should be vertically straight.

4. Fill another plastic bottle with water. Set it inside the top bottle and let the waterfall fun begin!

 

 5. Repeat, repeat! Get wet, messy and add some rubber ducks to the mix!

So there you have it: week two of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series is complete! Also don't forget to check out what all of the other ladies put together for this week's item in the link-up below. 

And if you have a post (new or old) that you created showcasing plastic pop bottles in a kid's project, craft, game, experiment, etc., submit it below as well. No post this week? No problem; join us next Monday when we will be using paper grocery bags! 

 Also just in case you want to get a head start, here is the complete list for the coming weeks:
June 9 - Paper Grocery Bags
June 16 - Kool-Aid
June 23 - Ice Cream Cones
June 30 - Pool Noodles
July 7 - Wax Paper
July 14 - Puzzle Pieces
July 21 - Paper Cups
July 28 - Plastic Milk Jugs

{Think Outside the Toy Box} Glow Sticks: Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling

Welcome to the first week of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series!

If you are here for the first time or missed Friday's post, you can check out the Introduction the Think Outside of the Toy Box for all the details of this awesome new series. 

Now on to this week's fun with:

 GLOW STICKS

This week's item was a tough for me! I wasn't too worried about engaging Myles because he has a pretty big fascination with glow sticks, so I figured he would love whatever we did with them. However, I wanted to start this series off with something that would BLOW YOUR MINDS... and well... I feel that I fell a little short of my expectations. I seriously racked my brain for days and even went so far as to ask my boyfriend for ideas! In the end, the right side of my brain totally failed me on this one. But I will say that both Myles and I had a pretty good time, even if it wasn't the most creative!  

Glow-in-the-Dark Bowling

What You Will Need:
 
1 container of 10-15 glow bracelets (found at the dollar store or Target's One Spot)

10 (empty) plastic juice bottles, rinsed out and dried

1 small to medium sized ball

Directions:

For this game to be played to its full potential, wait until it is dark outside or set it up in a room that can be made mostly dark. Also the best ball to use is one that is heavy enough to knock the bottles over, but light enough to be rolled by your little one. The first ball we used was a little too light. It worked okay, but when we switched to a heavier ball (toddler sized basketball), it worked a lot better.

1. Break the 10 glow sticks, shake them, put one in each bottle, and then screw the top back on. To be honest, this was Myles' favorite part. He loved breaking the sticks and putting them in each different bottle. This entertained him more than the actual bowling! That's a toddler for ya!

2. Set up the 10 plastic bottles (with glow sticks in them) in bowling pin formation.

3. Turn off the lights (or set them up outside at night time). You probably need a little light, but make it as dark as possible without endangering you/your children!

4. Play! 
I wasn't able to get any very good action shots because I was having to set the bottles back up every 5 seconds. And then Myles thought it would be fun to just kick them all down instead of using the ball.

Variations: Use less bottles if you don't have ten. Use plastic 2 liters, or for a small version, use 1 liter pop bottles. Put 2 or more glow sticks in each bottle.

After our bowling, it was bed time, so we used the rest of the glow sticks to take a glow-in-the-dark bath. We just used the 5 we had left over from the pack, but I think it would have been better if we used more.

So there you have it: week one of the Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Fun Series is in the bag! Also don't forget to check out what all of the other ladies put together for this week's item in the link-up below. 

And if you have a post (new or old) that you created showcasing glow sticks in a kid's project, craft, game, experiment, etc., submit it below as well. No post this week? No problem; join us next Monday when we will be using plastic pop bottles! 
 
Also just in case you want to get a head start, here is the complete list for the coming weeks:
June 2 - Plastic Soda Bottles
June 9 - Paper Grocery Bags
June 16 - Kool-Aid
June 23 - Ice Cream Cones
June 30 - Pool Noodles
July 7 - Wax Paper
July 14 - Puzzle Pieces
July 21 - Paper Cups
July 28 - Plastic Milk Jugs