A fun craft with the Cub Scouts

Finding things to do with my second grade Cub Scout Den is hard because they still love to do crafts but they are no longer interested in the simple crafts. They are at the age where they want to experiment with building and seeing how things work. I was racking my brain last week on what would be great for them to make and wouldn't break the bank. I searched the web for Kaleidoscopes and found so many different was to make them. I took bits and pieces from several videos and put them to use on what I thought would be a great Kaleidoscope.  

Materials needed for one kaleidoscope:

1 inch PVC pipe. 6 inches long
1 piece of silver cardboard paper. 3 inches by 6 inches
1 piece of black construction paper. This will make 11-2 inch circles out of this one sheet.
Colored pieces of beads, confetti, pearls, etc. Amount depends on how many kaleidoscopes you make.
Small smoky cups. 2 cups needed for each kaleidoscope.
Hole punch
Scissors
Ruler
Crease tool
Pencil
Tape  

1, I started with a 1 inch PVC pipe, cut into six inch length.

2, Cut the 2 inch circle out of the black construction paper and punch a hole in the center large enough to see though.

3, Take the 3 inch by 6 inch silver paper and crease it lengthwise with the creasing tool. Crease it twice spacing of 1 inch. Once you have it creased fold it with the silver side on the inside and put it in the PVC pipe.

4, Tape the black circle to one end of the PVC piece.

5, Take one cup and trace the PVC pipe on the bottom and cut the circle out of the cup.

6, Take the other cup and full it half way with your colored pieces.

7, Using a hot glue gun, glue the PVC pipe to the cup with the hole.

8, Hot glue the cup with the colored pieces to the cup with the hole.

 Your kaleidoscope is ready for a special viewing.

This fulfilled all the boy's creativity and building needs. They loved all the different colors they were able to make with their Kaleidoscopes. The total cost to make eleven kaleidoscopes was fifteen dollars.

Spring Break

A week has gone by and it has been a very relaxing Spring Break. It is not often we just get to stay home and enjoy doing nothing, any real plans for anything special. We decided to do what we wanted at the very last minute. We only made plans to do something three out of nine days. Monday we went to the Zoo with some friends. Yes!!! We did go to the Zoo with the class trip. This time we were able to get in and see Dino Alive. Then on Wednesday we went to a new museum called Pirate & Treasure Museum with some friends. The collection is one mans treasures that he has been collecting over the past thirty years. The museum is very kid friendly with all kinds of hands on experiences. A few of the experiences are: Hunt for treasures. Computer touch screens for finding items in the story that reviles the large treasure.  The kids were able to shoot off cannons. The best part was the Pirate that walked around the medium. The kids were so excited to go through the museum and see everything. They ran through it in about a half hour. At the end we decided to go back and see it more slowly. When we were walking back through, the Pirate gave us a personal tour and explained so much of the museum. He had all of us glued to his every word.

All the dinosaurs move and make sounds. Some squirt water.

The boys are in a trap.  DINNER!!! 

In the gift shop and in a play area they have dinosaurs where they kids can worked the mechanics and see how they move.

Replica dinosaur bones are also on display.

Map of the Museum.

 Our last activity for Spring break is today and we are going to see the movie Hop.            

The fun surprise of nature.

Spring is the time for growing.  Since the Cisco Kid has off from school today we started watering our potted plants.  As we were watering the potted plants in front of the house next to our front door, I noticed that the dirt was mounded high under the big leaf of the plant.  This plant has survived the winter and at first I thought it was the lizards digging through the dirt.  I had the Cisco Kid get a stick and pick up the large leaves so I could see what was under them.  To our surprise it was a bird’s nest with four little white and pink eggs. The Cisco Kid was so happy that we might have little baby birds soon. 

Class Field Trip

This is the third field trip this year with the school.  This time we all went to the Zoo.  Every chaperone had their own group of children.  My group of boys loved the interactive moments with the animals.  Feeding the giraffe and the birds are the best.   

Shabby Chic Inspiration Antique Booth

It has been quite some time now since I have posted about my Antique Booth.  The booth is unrecognizable since the last time I posted about it.  So many things have come and gone.

I am doing some revamping in my house and one of my treasures had to go in the booth.  As you can see in the picture there is a big wood and black display piece.  I found the bottom antique wooden chest and decided to put a back on it with some shelves, turning it into this great display wall unit.

 From treasured past.