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Category Archives: Arts and Crafts

Turn Yarn Into Felt With Soap and Hot Water

This might look boring to some kids at first but really it’s fun!“ enthuses young 9-year old crafter, AJ, who is making wool felted balls from a Harrisville Designs craft kit.

AJ is making a felt ball. First she wraps several layers of colorful wool around a tennis ball.

Pretty, isn’t it?

Then, she starts the felting process – adding soap and warm water to her hands and the felted ball, mushing it back and forth like she’s packing a snowball.

As the wool absorbs the warm water and soap, it transforms into felt in about five minutes!


Beautiful!! The felted balls remind us of globes!

What do you think? Want to know of a few other felt projects you can do with kids?

How about trying this plastic bag felting project? Or these felted bird eggs? Or this tutorial for felted soap!

Happy felting!

 

10 Fairy Tale Activities for Kids

Kids love fairy tales, stories for children involving fantastic forces and beings (as fairies, wizards, and goblins.)

You can have so much learning fun with fairy tales! Here’s a list of fairy tale picture books from Read Write Think!

Read a fairy tale — or a dozen. While you read, talk about the story. Then, extend the story with one of these ideas.

1. Puppet or Characters Show

Act out the story with puppets or collectables.

2. Draw the Story

Draw a scene from the fairy tale. Or draw the beginning, middle, and end.

Castle Art Idea from Deep Space Sparkle

3. Sticky Mosaic

Make your own fairy tale castle.

4. Write Your Own Fairy Tale 

Think of characters, a magical element, a problem to solve, and get creative!

5. What Makes a Fairy Tale?

Print out this chart from The Inspired Apple. Do you agree?

6. Make Magic Wands

7. Cook a Fairy Tale Feast

8. Fairy Tales from Around the World

Look at all the versions of Cinderella and all the ideas for learning about it.

9. Fracture Fairy Tales

Mix-up the fairy tales and invent your own new story.

10. Real or Pretend

Invent a game – “real or pretend” – to practice what’s true and what’s fiction when you read stories.

*Grimm fairy tales are often thought of as the grandfathers of the fairy tale but they can be too scary for kids – and don’t always have a happy ending. Consider reading them with older children only.

 

And they all lived happily ever after . . . 

 

Need a Gift Idea? Give Seedling Art Kits

 

Seedling Art Kits give kids the gift of imagination, creativity, and creation in a kit.

The Create a Wooden People Family kit gives you a wooden doll family of two parents and four children, colored pencils, felt pieces, fabric, craft glue and thread in which to create your own family.

Add paint if you like and you’ll soon have a family of six wooden dolls. We liked this idea of a Box of Princesses from Lil’ Blue Boo to make our dolls into a family of princesses.

Another really great kit for both boys and girls four and up is the Make Your Own Kaleidoscope Kit. The kit includes cardboard tubes, plastic mirror pieces, assorted beads, rhinestones, adhesive paper, foil confetti pieces, craft glue and instructions.

Besides the fun of creating and designing, kids will learn about patterns and symmetry. You can explain to older kids about how the light reflects off the mirror inside. Read more about how a kaleidoscope works.

I love the Design Your Own Superhero Kit, don’t you? What design would your child want on his or her cape? This kit includes a plain cape, craft glue & brush, EVA sheets and stars, felt sheets and shapes, scissors, colored pencils, glitter glue, design page and tips. Perfect for all your creation needs!

Seedlings also offers a Create Your Own Puzzle kit. It includes wooden blocks, acrylic paints, colored pencils, paint brushes, template, instructions to design and paint six different images (one on each face of the block), making a total of six puzzles.

Younger kids could paint alphabet blocks and that would be just as fun and easier than inventing six puzzles. Come to think of it, that sounds fun for me, too!

Don’t you think that creating your own soft doll with this Create Your Own Designer Doll kit would be more fun that getting a pre-made doll this year? This kit contains everything needed to customize a soft doll: 11-inch cotton doll, embroidery thread, assorted fabrics, acrylic yarn, felt, sewing needles and directions.

What kits do you think your kids would love?

The 10 Best Toys of 2011

What are the best toys for kids for 2011 and all time?

The best toys for kids . . . 

. . . allows kids to imagine.

. . . facilitate learning in some area (social, cognitive, motor skills, etc.)

. . . don’t require batteries.

. . . don’t “do it all” for the child.

The 5 best toys of all time according to GeekDad are . . .

1. Stick

2. Box

3. String

4. Cardboard Tube

5. Dirt

Very true! Imagination and open-ended play abound with sticks, boxes, string, cardboard, and dirt.

 

So, inspired by Geek Dad, I’ve made my own top ten list of toys kids this 2011 holiday season, toys you’ll find at Imagine Toys . . .

1. Stacking Block Set (18 months plus)

2. Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game (3 yrs plus)

3. Laser Pegs (7 yrs plus)

4. Furnished All Season Dollhouse (3 yrs plus)

5. Playful Art Set (3 yrs plus)

6. Make Your Own Kaleidoscope Kit (4 yrs plus)

7. Citiblocs (3 yrs plus)

8. Trucky (3 yrs plus)

9. Perplexus Rookie (6 yrs plus)

10. Wheelypig (18 months plus)

 

What toys make your top ten list?

What toys will you be buying this holiday season?

 

Support Small Business Saturday and Imagine Toys

November 27 is Small Business Saturday — which is all about supporting local businesses nationwide — including online small businesses like Imagine Toys!

Support small businesses like Imagine Toys, and not only do you help the economy, you’ll find the best play, imagination, and learning toys for kids at competitive prices!

In fact, it’s our mission to provide you with quality toys that encourage your children to use their imaginations. We are parents, too so we know that it’s unique toys which encourage imagination, learning, play, and creativity and not the plastic do-it-all toys at mass-market retailers! You won’t see licensed products at ImagineToys.com or Imagine the Challenge catalog collections.

Support Our Economy

“According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there were nearly 28 million small businesses in the United States last year. Over the past two decades, they created 65 percent of net new jobs. Their importance to local communities extends even further. For every $100 spent in locally-owned, independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll and other expenditures, according to the small business advocacy group The 3/50 Project.” – American Express News 

Imagine Toys’ president, Holly Ringle confirms, “The great thing is that you as consumers can vote with your pocketbook. You can seek out and support small business. In 2007, 70% of GDP was generated by small business. And 64% of new job creation in the past 15 years was from small business. Look around your table this Thanksgiving . . . seven out of ten of your fellow diners is employed or supported by small business.”

Homogenization of the World

“Have you noticed?” asks Ringle. “The homogenization of the country and the globe has begun. I’m a frequent flyer, and nearly every city in the country looks the very same: Walmart? Check. Toys ‘R Us?  Check. TGIFriday’s? Check. When I arrived in Venice, and got off the vaporetto at my stop this past September, guess what the first shop on the main drag was?  McDonalds.”

Yikes!

So what do we do?

Ringle says, “Fight the urge to shop on Amazon. Amazon, Walmart, and Toys ‘R Us.

“If you value unique products, and premier customer service, make it a point to frequent specialty retailers, including Imagine Toys, not just at holiday, but every day.”

Imagine Toys Is . . .

“Imagine is a team effort, with no one person being any more important than another,” shares Ringle. “We all have a role to play. We have 2½ merchants on the Imagine Team, and in addition to running our toy store and catalog enterprise, we manage licensed merchandise programs for some of the world’s best known brands:  Kellogg”s, Pop-Tarts, Campbell Soup, USA Hockey, Two Men and a Truck, Pure Michigan and The Michigan Humane Society. In all, our little firm is 15 souls, all rowing in the same direction, and trying to make headway against the big boys.”

As far as Ringle, well, she just celebrated her 10 year anniversary, has a daughter and three dogs. She comes from the corporate world with an MBA and years of marketing leadership experience. Now, Ringle prefers and loves her new, non-corporate world at Imagine Toys!

And Who Doesn’t Love Toys and Sales?

Imagine Toys know you love sales, just like we do! Find out all the latest sales on the Imagine Toys Facebook page, the Deal of the Day page, or online on the sale page. ** Black Friday shoppers get 20% ALL DAY!

Remember, join us at Imagine Toys and Pledge to Shop SmallSM on Nov 26th – and every day.

What Gifts Do Tweens Want?

I don’t know about you, but I think that tweens are the hardest age for which to buy gifts. It’s sort of an in-between age– they’re growing out of dolls and superheroes, but aren’t teenagers quite yet. So, what presents do tweens want? Here are popular gift ideas for both girls and boys.

Gift Ideas for Tween Girls

Head to Toe Spa

Perfume Science

Heavenly Hair Kit

Rock Fashion Studio

Star Theater

Gift Ideas for Tween Boys

Air Pick Rebel Rock

Custom Rides Design Studio

Techno Gears Marble Mania Extreme

Star Scope Telescope

Vertigo Sky Shark

 

You can’t go wrong with kits for both genders such as craft kits or model kits. When it doubt, have the tween look through websites and catalogues and make a wish list. Make it a fun writing activity!

5 Recycled Candy Wrapper Crafts for a Green Halloween

This Halloween, go green by upcycling your old candy wrappers! Upcycling is when you repurpose the recycled material into something else – like jewelry. Here are five crafty ways to upcycle your Halloween candy wrappers: jewelry, a candy bucket, a bookmark, flowers, and a light-switch plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. M&M Candy Wrapper Jewelry

For $19.95, you'll get directions, a hole puncher, 9 cords, 9 beads, 4 elastic loops,  30 sticky gems, and 200+ precut wrappers. Watch the video about how to fold the wrappers together. It really helps.

Our blogger friend, Miss Mimi, made jewelry using the Alex Kit with her daughter highly recommends it.Also, if you start making jewelry after Halloween, you'll have some beautiful, hand-made holiday gifts to give as presents!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Halloween Candy Wrapper Bucket

3. Candy Wrapper Bookmark

4. Candy Wrapper Flowers

5. Light-Switch Plates

 

So, go GREEN for HALLOWEEN!!! You'll be showing your kids how to reuse and recycle plus have tons of craft fun!

And, don't forget to upload your cuties in their Halloween costumes to our Facebook Page by October 31 for our Costume Contest!

11 Fall Fun Ideas For Kids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What wonderful ways can kids enjoy nature during the fall season? 

1. Go on a nature hike. Bring a collection bag to collect rocks, leaves, seeds, or fancy sticks.

2. Hunt for signs of fall. Take digital photos for a fall book. Or, draw what you see in your fall nature journal.

3. Leaf play, art, and writing. 

4. Make pinecone bird feeders. Watch and observe what birds like the peanut butter. Write or draw in your nature observation journal.

5. Decorate gourds and pumpkins with sharpies, paint, glue, pom-poms, glitter, ribbons, felt, or other craft supplies. Or, hollow out and use as a vase for dried flowers.

6. Make chocolate chip pumpkin muffins – my kids' favorite pumpkin treat.

7. Rake leaves into pile and JUMP!

8. Visit an apple farm or a pumpkin patch.

9. Collect sticks and build a fairy house or tunnel.

10. Learn about letterboxing – an outdoor treasure hunt throughout the United States and world.

12. Stargaze and learn about the night sky in fall.

What other fall activities does your family enjoy?