Make some Play Binoculars!
Ever done paper mache? It's very easy, if somewhat sloppy craft that you can do with your kids. Here's a pair of "binoculars" I made for my youngest a while back and he loves playing with them, even over his real binoculars! So today, I thought I'd sit down & tell you how it's done. All you need is 2 toilet paper rolls (or 1 paper towel/aluminum foil roll cut in half), scrap paper (we use junk mail & sales papers), and some paste. The paste can be made with simple white glue, flour & water mixed together, there's recipes all over the net, just find one that works for you. Remember, this will get messy! So protect your work area with something, those plastic tablecloths from the dollar stores work perfect because you can just rinse them off later! Next, I taped the 2 rolls together with painters tape. This works best to me since it's already paper, you don't have to worry if your paste & paper with stick to it. Then, start laying on your strips of paper. Letting it dry between layers works best, so it doesn't shift & get "lumpy" looking. But when ypour kids do helpout, sometimes you want to do it all at once. Just sit your project out in the direct sunlight, it helps "bake it" so it drys so much faster. Once it's dry you can paint it, the other fun part! I used non-toxic craft paints & a few coats of clear spray-on acrylic. Now it's all nice & sealed up, so you can play! But you don't have to make binoculars, you could leave the tube long & make a telescope instead. There are lots of toys you can make from paper mache, let you & your child's imagination take you there!
