10 Big Project Ideas for You and Your Kids
Volume 1
By Charlie Baskins
Smashwords Edition
Discover other
works by this author at
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/charliebaskins
Copyright
2012 Luke T. Harwath
Smashwords
Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
Magnetic Wall
Make a magnetic wall in your kid’s playroom. This is easier than it sounds, and can be utilized in a number of ways. From displaying artwork to making a giant magnetic puzzle map, this project can be both useful and fun—you may even choose to make more than one magnetic wall in your house!
What you’ll
need:
Magnetic Paint
Paint
in your color choice
Magnets
(optional)
Magnetic
sheets
Spray Adhesive
Printer and Paper
Step-by-Step:
Paint the wall with the magnetic paint according to the directions. This is very important as thinly applied paint will yield less magnetism. Magnetic paint may be easily found at a local home-improvement store. In lieu of magnetic paint, you may also be able to find a magnetic powder additive that can be added to any paint or primer.
You may choose to paint over the top of the magnetic paint as it is traditionally sold in black. Keep in mind that if you want a lighter colored wall, this will take additional coats of paint. You are now ready to post your artwork!
Additionally,
you may want to take this a bit further:
1. Print out designs, maps or puzzles of your choice onto standard printer paper.
2. You may be able to find magnetic sheeting with adhesive already on the back of it, if not, simply use spray adhesive, then apply your paper print-outs.
3. Cut out the print-outs, trim the edges, and apply to the wall.
4. You may even go larger and print a giant 6 ft. map of the country and cut-out like a puzzle to make it educational. You might also choose a creative alternative and paint a backdrop of a seascape with different magnet cut-outs of fish, dolphins, and mermaids.
5. Take it a step further and combine with a layer of chalkboard paint.
6. If you don’t want to make the whole wall into a magnet, maybe just paint a strip on the wall, or use a magnetic metal backboard to have a section on the wall that is magnetic at a specific level—this may even be useful in the kitchen or the entryway to your home.
*****
Puppet Theatre
Build a puppet theatre to stimulate your kid’s imagination and thirst for storytelling.
What You’ll
Need:
-Puppets
-Wall
Materials (anything from cardboard to 2x4’s and
drywall)
-Paint
-Drape
Step-by-Step
1. When picking out puppets, make sure to identify your child’s favorite animals and characters. You might try making your own puppets or purchasing them.
2. When building the stage, keep in mind how permanent you would like this to be. You could easily build a stage out of cardboard and paint it with tempera. If your carpentry skills are up to it, and you’d like something of a permanent exhibit, there are a number of plans online that can be adapted to your needs. In either case, make sure the stage is large enough to hide yourself and/or your child behind it.
3. It’s important to have some sort of drape hanging behind the stage to finish off the effect. Dark single colors work best. This drape helps to sustain the illusion and to help hide anyone who may be in back, especially if they need or want to sit up. If using a temporary set-up, a bed-sheet may be enough to pull off the trick.
Tips
-If you’d like something that is available frequently, but not out all the time, it should be very easy to find or design a fold-up option.
-If you’re not up to using a sewing machine, but want some custom puppets, try talking to a crafter on Etsy.
-Consider designing separate backdrops for separate ‘shows’. Hanging a painted backdrop of a castle may be fun for a story about a knight and damsel in distress.
-Write short scripts, or find them online to help get the ball rolling so that children can have an idea how it works in practice—remember, they may not have seen a puppet show before, and if they’re young enough, they may not understand how the illusion works. Additionally, if your not confident about your writing skills, don’t fret-- the novelty of a puppet show can be enough to sustain them at first, and is enough to show them how to have fun with it.
-Putting up a thin sheet over the performance and lighting it from behind is an easy way to turn your puppet theatre into a shadow-puppet theatre.
*****
Air-Rocket Launcher
Make a rocket launcher that launches paper rockets using quick blasts of air. It’s fun to make your own rockets and test which can go the highest or farthest.
What you’ll need:
-10 ft of 1/2 in.
PVC Pipe
-4 x PVC Elbows (90 degree, to fit the PVC Piping)
-6
x 3/4 in. Screws
-Drill
-Saw
-Duct Tape
-2 Liter Soda
Bottle (empty)
-Paper
-(optional) air compressor
Step-by-Step
1. Connect 2 sections of 2 ft. PVC pipe with an elbow. This will be the Launcher
2. Connect 2 sections of 1 ft. PVC pipe with an elbow. Do this 3 times.
3. Using the 3 sections you constructed in step 2, screw each of them to the sides of the larger elbow made in step 1, so as to make a tripod. The Larger elbow should now have one arm perpendicular to the ground, and the other should lie parallel on the ground.