Creating Toys from Trash

A few Christmas's ago- I was sewing like a mad woman, burning through spools of thread at rates not known to mankind....

I asked my sons if they might like some, knowing that they could build something from them. It just seemed so wasteful to fill my trash with the little plastic gems. They were all over that! The next item we started adding was the caps from plastic milk jugs, they began looking at things with new eyes - often I will be asked if they can have an item from some package for their spools.

They've built castles, walls to crash cars into and grand towers. Last year we used a few to make jump ropes as party favors for a birthday party. These were made with a legnth of cotton clotheline, fed through the center of the spools, tie a knot above and below each spool to hold in place for the handles.

Here's a list of some of the items we've added to the collection:

Thread spools

Serger thread spools

Scotch tape spindles

Spools from ribbons

Cash Register spools

Milk jug caps

Large plastic lids

Swirly top from redi whip

Liquid laundry soap caps and the spout

wooden pegs

plastic springs

foam packaging from brads for scrapbooking

any odd shaped plastic pieces from packaging items

my personal favorite it the little cap that comes on top of deodorant!

milk caps, fit perfect on the ends of spools to make wheels, serger spools make spirals for castles, larger lids serve as a base for building on, regular thread spools can be stacked into a wall for cars to crash through - these are just a couple of ideas I've seen the children do, the list is really quite endless.

Cookie Post

Click here for our cookie making from last night!

Toys

Yesterday I was browsing a copy of Mary Ostyn's (mother of 10, blog called "Owlhaven") book called "A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family"; she writes a chapter on toys and which types have been best for their family, I had thought of writing up a post about this a while back, I thought this might be the right time to do that, with Christmas around the corner...

We steer away from the big box toys stores, and shop at the smaller locally owned neighborhood toy stores, they usually carry toys that are more educational in nature. Here's my list of favorite toys that pass the test of time:

Setting up house-

Plain ol' baby dolls, historical American Girl dolls, one doll high chair, cradle and doll bed, clothes, blankets, stroller or buggy, car carrier, dolly front pack. Play food - including baby doll bottles, a few dishes - including tea party items, ironing board and iron. The girls use cardboard boxes from our Costco trips for tables, pet beds, stove tops and ovens, and desks. I stick with classic type items, and items that simulate life. If you can, set up a little corner as the house, even little girls like having a place to nest!

TIP: They don't need one each of all the "stuff", limited storage and play space taught me this lesson - The result is that they've learned to play together sharing and taking turns, which has promoted kindness, patience and a sense of frugality.

Play sets-Specifically for girls: Calico Critters, Littlest Pet Shop, paper dolls. (our alternatives to that blonde doll who's name starts with a "B")

For all: a nice collection of fancy plastic zoo animals (the animals look like they do in real life), farming sets - including horses and a stable.

Buildling toys-

Legos, Duplos, K'nex, Lincoln logs, classic wooden blocks

Got Wheels?

Hot Wheels, trains- battery powered, GeoTrax by Fisher Price has worked well for us. Now in storage is our wooden trains that have a magnet on front and back.

Remote controlled cars - Rokenbok Sytems.

Action figures-

Playmobil (hands down the favorite here!), little green army guys, miniature die cast military air planes and helicopters.

Storage tip: I use the heavy duty Rubbermaid tubs for storage, if the tub is full and they think they want (they would say "need") more of that toy then tub gets cleaned out.

Gross Motor and outdoor play:

Jump ropes, soccer balls, baseball equipment, football, little orange cones for setting up sidelines and goals, bubbles, bikes and scooters, a wagon, sidewalk chalk, a swing (maybe a full play set if your not near parks).

Educational:

One set of wooden pattern blocks, Snap Circut set, jigsaw puzzles (we don't buy over 500 pieces, they take too long and the pieces are usually small), board games.

Art Supplies:

Crayons, markers and colored pencils, coloring books, learn to draw....books, a light table for tracing. Tempra paints, watercolors, paint brushes. The rest of our art supplies are a part of my crafting/scrapbook supplies, things like punches, stamps and ink, die cuts, good paper, stickers, fancy edged scissors etc.

Make your own toys:

"Spools"

As a seamstress, I was always giving the children my empty spools, they have quite a collection now! The favorites are the cone style from the serger thread, also included are things like the little wheel left from a roll of Sctoch tape, and from a spool of curling ribbon. They've been so creative incorporating these into their building projects, a serger cone might become part of a castle, they've also built "walls" and crashed through them with the hot wheels. I'll try and get some pics and do a post on "spools".

When in doubt remember that simple is best- steer clear of "popular" and trendy toys - they just don't stand the test of time. Buy better brands, by spending more on the toy, you'll end up with less your stash.

Brown Belts, Dancing and the Lack of natural Light

The boys {insert, great photos here} the boys got up really early, to go for their brown belts in Tae Kwon Do. Um, there are no photos of this - I was home with the girlies, Hubby didn't grab a camera. They look great though! I hope to get some photos of them next week during the daylight.

I love, love, love this time of year, keeping cozy the early nightfall, celebrations of all sorts...

My hang up - little natural light for shooting all the great times.
Last evening the girls dance school preformed for one local towns tree lighting/Santa welcome - it was super cold, they danced super well, their teachers choreographed some really cute dances and chose some very fun festive music. I took a ton of pics, unfortunately only a handful were salvagable; I finally gave in and {gasp} used the flash! Afterwards we went to my parents for pizza, Hubby's parents were there and my Sis and neice came also, it was a fun time- we even got a little dusting of snow later - I think it really got us all in the mood for Christmas!

This morning our little Miss Emma, awoke all stuffy - I'm staying home from church with her this AM. I'm so thankful that she didn't wake stuffy yesterday, God is so good!

Today is the Second Sunday of Advent; last week the first candle was lit, representing the hope of Jesus' coming; this week the second candle will be added and lit - representing peace.

...And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house. And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it ... Luke 10: 5,6

The Halls are Decked!

We are decked and ready, I'll be posting more pics as the month goes by, here are a few shots of little girls helping to deck our home.

Who needs a ladder! This is our main tree, mostly complete.I love the stripey sock feet in the background on this one.

I've always loved nutcrackers, Emma was so sweetly talking about each one as we were setting them up.

If you noticed this one is missing his nose! It's just become a part of his character. Through ballet both little girls have come to enjoy nutcrackers too. The old ballet school did a pretty big production of the Nutcracker, Natalie danced in it in two different years. One year she was "Clara" as the school has smaller groups that go out and perform a mini version of the ballet.

Soccer

I'm going to be posting a bunch today, then I've got to concentrate on sewing.

Nicole, her hunky fellow and a bunch of folks from our church have been playing in a parks dept. soccer league this Fall. Last night was the final game, since we hadn't made to a game yet, we thought we better make this one. Most of the game nights have been really rainy, last night it was clear and really cold, about 34F. We all layered up on the clothing and stayed pretty warm, it wasn't to bad for us. Nicole was pretty cold out there on the field though. It was fun, they won the game too.

The lights were almost bright enough to capture the action without a flash, so I ended up deleting quite a few images, the ones I've posted are straight from the camera - no time for editing right now, but I wanted to share. She's in blue in the left corner, Dan is barely in the shot too - it was one of the few that had all of them in one shot.

My confession: I'm a lousy soccer Momma, really!

Schooling in December

It's been a busy week - I can't believe Friday is here already! The most difficult job this week was keeping my children focussed on their school work. We are only doing school another week, then taking a break. It's not worth the stress of keeping them focussed just to get in an extra week before the Christmas break. I'd rather keep the focus this month on celebrating the birth of our King, teaching that December is a sacred and special time - that the decorations, presents and extra treats are all reminders -

Here's my secret, even though the text books are closed, the learning continues.... these are our little un-schooling moments. Making up a batch of cookies, becomes a lesson in fractions and homemaking. The boys are planning a wood working project for the girls present, we'll call that "wood shop"; shopping is a lesson in budgetting, the girls are busy with knitting and sewing projects, that's home ec; making cards is art... you get the idea.

Years ago as a new homeschooling Momma I felt guilty about taking time off the books, I thought that if we took Dec. off, I was teaching my children to be slackards. I discovered that whem my children are distracted by the goings on in preparing for Christmas, the text book work, became rote, and retension was drastically reduced. Thankfully, Christ showed me His peace in that area. The results of an extra week off, actually had the opposite effect, in January, they and I were ready to dive in, having been refreshed.

Advent is a time of preparing our hearts to receive the joyous gift of Christ, come Christmas Eve/Day. It's difficult to relay that peace and joy when were most concerned about finishing up a certain lesson - Take some extra time off, it's OK!

....For unto us a child is born!..... Isaiah 9:6