Anyone else have a Space lover in their house? I talked earlier this summer about the great book we found called 13 Planets: The Latest View of the Solar System by David Aguilar. My son is still loving this book and it inspired us to create a planet mobile together. I found this great kit at a Michaels store that had all the Styrofoam balls in it and also included the ring for Saturn. I used this kit as a great start for making our mobile.

Supplies:

• Creatology Solar System Kit from Michaels
• Long piece of wire
• Fishing Line
• Acrylic Paints
• Paintbrush
• Paper Plate
• Scissors

How To:

We created our mobile over a series of days. We had to let our planets dry before we could assemble the mobile.

1. Lay out all the Styrofoam balls from the kit. You will not need to use the sticks that are included, but save the longest one for poking holes. The side panel of the box tells you which size ball represents what planet. It also tells you what color each planet should be.
2. Use acrylic paints to paint your planets the appropriate colors. To create the swirled paint effect, say for the Sun, I squirted red, orange and yellow acrylic paint all in one spot on a paper plate. My son used the paintbrush to slightly swirl the three colors together and then he started painting the Styrofoam ball for the Sun. The swirl effect of the paint transferred to the brush and created a cool look when painted on the ball. This was actually his idea!
3. Continue to paint all the planets. We poked a toothpick in the bottom of each planet as it was done being painted and poked the other end of the toothpick into the extra Styrofoam flat ring that came in the box.
4. After the planets are completely dry, use one of the long sticks to poke a hole through each planet.
5. Cut a long piece of fishing line for each planet (decide beforehand how far you want your planets to hang). For each planet thread the fishing line through the hole and run the line up the outside of the planet and tie a knot at the top.
6. Bend your wire into a slight spiral shape. Tie the Sun in the center of the spiral and then each planet in its appropriate spot, vary the heights of the planets when you are tying.
7. When all the planets have been tied onto the spiral wire use four more pieces of fishing line to create a way to hang the mobile. Tie the pieces of fishing line to the spiral in evenly space increments so that the mobile will be balanced when hanging. Join all the pieces at the top and tie them off in a knot leaving a small loop for a hook.
8. Hang your mobile in a bedroom and admire your work.

The post How To | Solar System Mobile appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

The Summer Day Camp craft for week five is Recycled Robots. We made these robots while we were camping and they were a huge hit with all the kids. After the robots were finished, (we even had round #2 of robot making on a different afternoon) the kids had a robot show where everyone got up and showed their robot and told its name and other things it could do. Each presenter was given a unique medal for their robot. Some examples are: coolest robot, best in show, most unique, and funniest robot. Making robots is a lot of creative fun and full of laughs as you see what everyone comes up with!

Supplies:

• Recycled containers, caps, twist ties, etc. of all sizes
• Hot glue gun
• Pipe cleaners
• Large googly eyes
• Platinum or silver spray paint

How To:

1. Lay out all your cleaned recycled containers for everyone to see.
2. Grab interesting pieces to put together.
3. Use hot glue to attach pieces to each other. (Adult help is needed!)
4. Spray paint robot.
5. Add googly eyes using hot glue.
6. Let dry.

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I know I haven’t posted in a while. We have been busy having some summer fun. Last week we headed up North for family week. My Aunts, Uncles and Cousins all converge upon my Grandma’s house and hang out together for the week. We have relatives that come from Alaska, California and Kentucky. My kids love being able to play with their cousins! The weather wasn’t optimal this year, but we still had some fun in the water and on the sand dunes.

During family week my Grandma pulled out my Grandfather’s knife collection. He passed away last Spring and Grandma decided that it would be nice for anyone that wanted a knife from his collection to choose one for themselves. My kids loved looking at the selections of knives, supervised of course. Allan choose a trick wooden switchblade which he has been showing people all week. My kids get a big kick out of its spring action.

I thought this was a great boy craft to make. It was easy and fast. Now all my kids are flicking their popsicle stick knives at one another.

How To | Wooden Switchblade

Supplies:

• 2 Wooden Craft Sticks
• Rubber Band
• Clothespin
• Craft/Wood Glue
• Wax Paper

How To:

1. Overlap ends of craft sticks slightly and use rubber band to attach them together.
2. Put glue on the end of one of the craft sticks and clamp clothespin over glue.
3. Place wax paper in between the ends of the clothespin to avoid them being glued together. Let dry.

To Use:

1. Once the glue is dry you can play with it. Hold the knife out in front of you.
2. Twist the craft stick (that isn’t glued) around so it is lying on top of the other craft stick and clamp the end in the clothespin.
3. Squeeze the end of clothespin and the craft stick will fling out like a switchblade.

The post How To | Wooden Switchblade appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.