Crafts: Paper Bag Animals

These handmade toys and games are meant for little hands to enjoy -- but children can lend a hand with the construction, too.
Kids don't need to pull any strings to find puppets eager to put on a show. In fact, they can make the chatty creatures themselves with paper.


 How To:

All a young puppeteer needs for these simple playthings is a few paper bags, some scraps of colored paper, and a lazy afternoon.

Martha Stewart Kids

Kids don't need to pull any strings to find puppets eager to put on a show. In fact, they can make the chatty creatures themselves. All a young puppeteer needs is a few paper bags, some scraps of colored paper, and a lazy afternoon.
Achieving the end result -- the troupe of adorable animals here -- is simple; the real challenge lies in perfecting just the right lion, dog, and pig voices.
Lion Puppet How-To1. Cut the mane from construction paper.
2. Slip bag's bottom into mane's opening to create face. Cut ears and arms from another bag; inner ears, eyes, nose, teeth, and claws from construction paper.
3. Attach arms to front half of side pleats, ears and teeth under face
Tip: Glue tiny details, such as claws, onto larger pieces before you assemble your new puppet.
  
Dog Puppet How-To1. Fold under lower corners of bag's flattened bottom and glue.
2. Cut blaze and belly from white construction paper, ears and tail from brown, eyes and nose from black, and tongue from pink.
3. Glue everything in place, securing tongue under face and tail to the back of bag.


Pig Puppet How-To1. Glue pink construction paper to bottom of a pink bag to hide creases.
2. Cut ears and snout from decorative paper in a rosy shade; glue in place. Add tiny construction-paper eyes and nostrils.
3. Cut arms from pink construction paper; glue to front half of the bag's side pleats.

Daily Expirments: Silly Slime

* 1/4 cup of water
* 1/4 cup of white craft glue (like Elmer's glue)
* 1/4 cup of liquid starch (used for clothes)
* Food coloring (optional)
* Mixing bowl
* Mixing spoon

1. Pour all of the the glue into the mixing bowl.
2. Pour all of the water to the mixing bowl with the glue.
3. Stir the glue and water together.
4. Add your food color now - about 6 drops should do it.
5. Now add the liquid starch and stir it in.
6. It should be nice and blobby by now. As you play with your slimy concoction, it will become more stretchy and easier to hold.
7. Explore your slimy creation and store it in a zip bag when you are not using it. 

Enjoy!

 

What to bring?: Felt Board

To make a cute, fun, easy felt board, all you need is:

• felt (duh) (and the color doesn't matter)
• long wide wood plank or white board
• printed pictures or cut felt in the shape of something you would like to put on your board
• more felt (typically your going to need a lot of felt)
• glue
• scissors

1. Glue felt to the long wide wood plank or white board enough to cover it.
2. take your pictures and cut little pieces of felt out (don't do step 2 and 3 if you cut felt in the shape of something you would like to put on your board)
3. glue 1 of the little pieces of felt to the back of each one (some will require bigger pieces)
4. let them dry and there you go!

 The little pieces of felt on the back of the pictures stick to the felt on the board. Enjoy and have fun!

Starting

If your just starting to babysit here are a few things to get you started.  Exercise with them!

1.  kids or babies like FUN babysitters. Do not neglect the kids by just turning on the T.V. because that's NOT at all what their mom wants them to do. Get active by playing outside if allowed to or play a board game with them. It's an enjoyable way to babysit! 
2.   ALWAYS try to bring something for them. Board games, enjoyable toys, etc. 
3.  have FUN! why are you babysitting if you can't do it your own way? Turn on your fav music and have a dance party! 
4. Exercise with the poor kids!!!!!

 

Crafts: "Movie Box"

Here's a cool craft that is fun and easy. Its a "Movie Box".
What you'll need:

• shoe box
• Long sheet of paper (depends on how long "movie" is)
• scissors/kitchen knife (either one will do)
• crayons/ coloring supplies

1.  Take coloring supplies and draw lines making boxes on your paper as big as the side of your box through your long sheet of paper making the "slides".
2. Use scissors or knife to slit a whole in the front top of your box.
3. Use scissors or knife to make a flap in the top of the box.
4. Color on each of your "slides" a different scene.
5. slide the "slides" through the slit in the box and open the flap for light.

Make different "slides" every time to make different little movies!

Drawing

Drawing, (or scribbling in some cases) is also something kids like to do. They like to draw things like their favorite cartoon characters, their families, etc. Here are some reference pictures for coloring.

How can I have fun?

How can YOU have fun? I mean all your doing is watching kids which can get BORING!!!!! Don't you want to have a little fun? Here's how you can. Well, of coarse you can turn on your fav music and teach them to dance and sing along to it, or have a dance party, but what else can you do? You can always relive the kid moments and play barbies, but my favorite is taking my video camera and making a "movie". You can do it with little action figures and polly pockets, or choose the kids as the stars! It's
different every time and so much fun to see what they'll do!