Great Do-It-Yourself Ideas for Kids

Great Do-It-Yourself Ideas for Kids Can't go out and play in rains? Here are some fun things you can do when it's pouring outside The monsoon has set in and we're in for some wet, rainy days ahead. For kids, it's a trying time: what do you do when you are done with your homework, but it's too wet to go out and play outside? Of course, you can always watch TV or play video games. But there's a better way of spending the time, with some Do-it-yourself activities, which will not only keep you occupied, but will allow you to discover a whole new world of fun learning. Here are some of them: Make a photo frame Making a delightful, pretty-as-picture frame is very easy. All you need is alphabet pasta, glue and a little imagination. Take a piece of cardboard, and mark out a square area where you want the picture to be pasted. Leave a space of an inch along all the four borders and cut out the rest. Take some alphabet pasta (available at stores), divide them into several equal parts and colour each part differently � like blue, red etc. Take the coloured alphabet pasta and paste them on the one-inch border with glue. You can paste the picture once the glue has dried. Paint your own shirts You need plain shirts, fabric paint, cardboard, brushes and sponges. Start off with an old T-shirt or piece of cloth so that you get some practice. Put a piece of cardboard under the layer of fabric you want to paint to make sure it doesn�t stain the back of the shirt. You can start painting the shirt with paint. You can either use squeeze bottles, which is good for lines, a paintbrush or sponge. Once you get the hang of it, you can start working on good clothes. Hint: you can use the pictures in your colouring book to get some ideas. Download pictures from the Internet and colour them With the help of your parents, surf through the Internet and download printable pictures of various cartoon characters. There are web sites that have colouring pages with such characters, so look out for them. Make a collage of these pictures by sticking them all on a large piece of cardboard and pin it up in your room. Start a daily journal Writing a daily journal is fun: you can write about the friends you made, the movies you saw, the games that you played. You can also write small stories of your own, collect pictures and stick them in it. Here are some handy hints to make your journal interesting. A great time to start a journal is on the first day of a trip. You can then find lots of new things to write about. Here are some other things you could write about: What�s the first thing you can remember? Write about your favourite birthday What do you like about your best friend? What�s the best thing you have ever done? What food do you love or hate? Why do you like your favourite colour? What fun thing happened to you today? You can also ask your parents to start a common family journal, where everyone writes down what happened to them that day. You can also add mementos of the day -- like ticket stubs, a drawing, a colourful leaf, or even a post card from a special place. Make melted crayon jars Arushi Mehta, an art and craft teacher, shared her favourite craft with us. She calls them melted crayon jars, which are both pretty and useful and can be used to put things like flowers, pencils, and odds and ends. What you need is a jar, old bright coloured crayons, scissors, aluminum foil and ribbon. Take two or three different crayons and cut them into small pieces. Tear off a square piece of aluminum foil. Place the foil in direct sunlight. Sprinkle the crayons on the foil. The crayons will melt quickly, so be ready with your jar. Don�t wait until the crayons are completely melted or they will blend together to become a muddy mess. When they have melted, but still lumpy, roll the jar around in the melted crayons to coat it. When you are happy with the design on the jar, take it to a cool place. The crayon will harden and set almost immediately. Tie a bow around the neck of the jar.

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 * Indiancuisineandculture Y-Group