Tape and Treasure

Tonight I put together an entire wooden hutch. Whew - what a job! I finally spotted 'the one' and just decided to do it.

The boys had a grand time with the boxes and must have used 20 or 30 yards of packing tape creating their "fort." I buy packing tape at Sam’s Club in bulk - 10 rolls at a time. My husband once remarked that it would take me "5 years to use that much tape..." The supply was bought this past summer (June I think) and we've got 2 rolls left.

The whole point: the boys have a wonderful time creating and decorating something unique and fun, all for about $1 worth of tape for each project.

I believe in stocking up on things that allow them to discover, create and have fun:
*National Geographic’s magazines - a wonderful annual gift from my mother-in-law (incredible learning and wonderful pictures to cut out and tape or glue to just about anything!)
*Sidewalk chalk - draws wonderful on cardboard boxes, fences and so much more! (The best part is that it washes off of everything, too!)
*Glue sticks - great for making those books with the pictures from National Geographic’s magazines and much more - plus, less messy than Elmer's.
*Buttons, beads, string, yarn, colored paper, plastic containers... but only as much as will fit into our "craft bins" - simple white storage containers I purchased at Wal-Mart for $1 each.

For some great, fun and easy crafts: here are a few of our favorite locations:

http://www.brainpopjr.com/

http://www.scholastic.com/parentandchild/

http://www.9news.com/spangler/

http://www.starfall.com/

http://wondertime.go.com/life-at-home/

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/