Recycled or Upcycled

Stick People Community

Danya Banya February 11, 2014 24

About a year ago I made this stick family after watching this G+ hangout on 10 Stick Crafting Ideas. As you can see there were seven original family members. Some of the googly eyes fell off, but in general they’ve held up quite well after a year of play.

(And yes, the fifth one along just might be dressed in some upcycled undies. No judging!)

But a few weeks ago I decided it would be fun to give our stick family some neighbours. We could have a whole community! So I set up some sticks from our backyard, various fabric scraps, googly eyes in a few sizes, a couple of balls of wool, scissors, glue (which I’d poured into a paper cup for easier access) and an old paint brush. And then I asked JJ if she wanted to help.

Do ya reckon she’s keen? Lol.

They are fairly simple to make. JJ and I have slightly differing techniques, but they both yield similar results. Here’s how JJ makes them.

JJ cut a small amount of scrap fabric (very carefully, using grown up scissors). Then she painted glue onto the back of the googly eyes and stuck them on. She painted glue onto the top of the stick and carefully wound some wool around for hair. She painted the back of the fabric and wrapped it around the middle of the stick for clothes. And finally she painted some glue onto the stick and added a small piece of wool for a smile.

JJ made loads of them. She pretended that she was a real toy maker in a factory, or perhaps an elf in Santa’s workshop (and suggested this is what she might be when she grows up). She personifying each doll as she went, making them slightly different to the one before. I was really surprised at how this project captured her attention. She stayed crafting for well over an hour.

There might have been a little bit of dressing up roleplaying with the fabrics as well. 🙂

And not to be left out, Bee got into the crafting action once she’d woken from her nap. We skipped the googly eyes as they are too fiddly for her at the moment. But she was able to stick a few pieces of fabric onto her stick with very little help.

It was Bee’s idea to hold up her stick afterwards and pose for a photo. Isn’t that adorable! She’s seen JJ pose with her creations before, so evidently Bee was proud of what she’d made and thought it was photo-worthy!

Here is the whole community, waiting for the glue to dry.

As you can see, the original stick family have all been to the salon and are now sporting new hair cuts! Oh, and the optometrist has fixed their eyes where appropriate too.

And now they have lots of friendly neighbours to go on play dates with (and perhaps even have a much coveted sleep-over).

Now you may ask: why? Why bother to make stick people? You can buy pretty dolls from the shops cheaply enough…

I’m glad you asked. 🙂

Well, firstly, making things with fiddly pieces like googly eyes and cutting things with scissors both work on fine motor skills. They develop hand eye coordination, and work the small muscles in the fingers and hand that will be needed for writing later on.
JJ was also able to express her creativity in making her stick people. Each one is unique. There are variations in hair colour and design, colour and shape fabric for clothes, facial expressions (including using natural features of the sticks for noses in some cases).
She gets to play with them twice – once in the process of making them, and then again as part of her regular doll play.
Since they are made from mostly natural or upcycled material (all the fabrics were upcycled), they are good for the environment.
Gathering sticks encourages JJ to go outside and experience nature. (Read more reasons to gather natural craft materials here.)
As our stick people were made from things we already had on hand, they are effectively free.
We can add more neighbours to the community whenever we want to!
I think they are way cooler than cookie-cutter store-bought dolls. Don’t you?

Have you made stick people yet? And do you upcycle your underwear?

xx Danya

For more stick play, you might also like Painting With (and On) Sticks.

Or for more nature craft ideas, here’s over 120 Ways to Play, Craft & Learn with Flora.

Categories Art & Crafts For Kids, Imaginative Play, Nature, Outdoors, Preschoolers, Toddlers Tags Process over Product, Recycled or Upcycled

Recycle & Create: Polystyrene Shape & Colour Boats

Danya Banya February 7, 2014 8

Welcome to the second month of Project: Recycle & Create, where a group of awesome bloggers will each show you how to make something fun out of a common item in your recycling bin (or in this month’s case, the rubbish bin) and invite you to share your creations too.

Last month was all about the humble cardboard box. I loved reading all your inspiring ideas. I don’t think I’ll ever look at a cardboard box the same way again!

This month is all about polystyrene (you might also call it by the brand name Styrofoam), and other similar packaging products. Things like packing peanuts, foam packaging, disposable coffee cups and portable eskys. We try to avoid it where possible, as it is slow to biodegrade. But in situations where it inadvertently comes into your house, here’s one of our ideas on how to upcycle it into a fun little set of Colour & Shape Boats for water play.

I used a polystyrene block (packaging from a Christmas present) + coloured packing tape (left over from when we moved house) + toothpicks (which were already in our kitchen cupboard) – making these effectively free toys. Yay!

These were easy to make. I just cut out a variety of shapes from the polystyrene block, covered them with coloured packing tape and added a toothpick & packing tape flag for decoration.

The best bit is, of course, that they float. Makes for some fun toddler water play!

Water play is wonderful for kids of all ages. They enjoy the sensory experience of the water on their skin. It also encompasses lots of educational concepts such as wet or dry, hot or cold, shallow or deep and full or empty.

As Bee played, we chatted (well, I chatted, but I still count it as a conversation).

“How does the water feel Bee? Does it feel cool? Your hands are all wet. Can you make a splash! Oh look, did you see how the boats bobbed up and down when you splashed. Splash again! You’ve picked up the yellow boat that has the circle shape. See, this side is round, like a circle. Mummy is holding the blue one. Do you know what shape this one is? It’s a rectangle. These two sides are the longer sides, and these two sides are the shorter ones. Would you like to hold the rectangle boat? Shall we swap?”

The toothpicks acted as little handles. Bee discovered she could pull them out, and then carefully put them back in again. Great fine motor practice!

After a while, Bee decided to make the experience all the more sensory. Somehow my kids ALWAYS end up in the tub. 🙂

When JJ saw the boats, she immediately asked if she could have a straw to blow them around the tub. This was a concept I had been intending on introducing, and I was delighted that she thought of it first herself!

Gives another meaning to the term ‘boat racing’. 🙂

The kids took these boats into the bath with them that night, making for lots of bath time squeals. After a while JJ discovered how to peel back the packing tape and crumble up the polystyrene within into little balls – and that’s when these little boats quickly made their way into the bin. But they were lots of fun while they lasted!

(Side note: These boats are intended for ‘fully supervised’ play. Always supervise young kids in or near even shallow water. The tape for these boats can be removed, or possibly bitten through, and the polystyrene within is a choking hazard. My kids don’t tend to put things in their mouths, but please use your own judgement before giving this toy to your kids, and please make sure you supervise them the whole time.

Want to Join the Fun?

Firstly, let me introduce you to team behind Project: Create & Recycle. There’s Emma from P is for Preschooler, who came up with the awesome idea in the first place, and each of these terrific bloggers have jumped on board the upcycle train: Powerful Mothering, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, Still Playing School, Lemon Lime Adventures, Creative World of Varya, Mama Miss, There’s Just One Mommy, Little Bins for Little Hands, Peakle Pie, Sugar Aunts, Teach Me Mommy, Danya Banya, ALLterNATIVElearning, Widsom Knowledge Joy, Playtivities, Preschoolers Day by Day.

The next step is for you to search through your rubbish for something polystyrene, styrofoam or similar packaging material. And then – go create! Make something. Or even better, let your kids make something. You’ve got the rest of February, so there’s no rush.

You can take a photograph of your creation, and post it to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #createrecycle and we should be able to find it. You can also post it to my Facebook wall.

If you are looking for more inspiration, there’s a bunch of ideas linked up below. (More ideas will be linked up during the month, so be sure to check back later.)

Yay for upcycling! Group eco hug. 🙂

xx Danya

PS: Next month’s theme is cardboard rolls!

Categories Outdoors, Play Ideas, Preschoolers, Sensory Play, Toddlers Tags Recycled or Upcycled

DIY Baby Activity Box

Danya Banya January 7, 2014 2

If you’ve been reading Danya Banya for a while now, you’ll be aware of my obsession love of crafting with recycled materials. So when my friend Emma (of P is for Preschooler fame) suggested a monthly challenge for 2014 called Project: Recycle and Create, I was all like, “Yeah!”

The idea is that each month a bunch of awesome bloggers (and little ol’ me) will create something using a different designated recycled material. And then we’ll link them up together to give you inspiration to create something too!

Want to know what January’s material is?

….. (drum roll)

Cardboard boxes!

Which totally made me remember this cute little DIY Activity Box that I made for Bee in October (when she was 13 months, but hadn’t had a chance to share with you until now. I used a box out of our recycling (I can’t remember what was in it – a picture frame perhaps?), some scrap wool and ribbons, and some bottle tops from our collection. (Cause everyone has a bottle top collection, right? Right? Right?)

For the first side, I roughly poked pairs of holes in five spots and threaded through the scrap ribbons and wool. I knotted off the ends so that they couldn’t be pulled back through the holes again. (I had to do a few knots in the thinner material ribbons). I then tied the ends into bows.

The idea was that Bee could have fun undoing the bows (and I could go insane doing them back up again). Alas, I’ll be honest, she wasn’t that interested in the bows. But that doesn’t mean your lovely child won’t be… (Ahems..)

BUT she was totally interested in the other side, which was apparently way cooler.

Cut a couple of holes in the box. Add some bottle tops. And done. Easy peasy! DIY posting toy. Cause all babies love posting, and posting, and posting, and posting again.

(Because Bee is still known to put things in her mouth, I chose bottle tops that were on the bigger side. But personally I would suggest you watch your child while they are playing with them anyway, just in case.)

While this might not look the bees knees, this game actually develops cognitive and fine motor skills. Bee needs to pick up a bottle top with her squidgy little fingers, rotate it in her hand, guess which hole it will fit, and then try it out. If it goes in, she can remember that she put it in there even though she can’t see it. This is called object permanence and is so much fun for babies; that’s why they love peekaboo. When she hears my voice saying “You’ve chosen a blue bottle top. Where are you going to put it? Does it fit? Oh it went in. Where’s it gone?” she is developing her vocabulary. And when she points to show me where it went, she is developing her non-verbal communication skills.

Lots of fun!

If you’ve got a child around this age, you’ll know that no matter how many fancy schmancy toys they have, they get bored with them quickly. They always want to play with something else. So spend five minutes making a free toy like this one and earn yourself half an hour (or more) of whinge free time.

Have you made anything out of cardboard boxes lately? If so, please post a photo on the Danya Banya Facebook page or on Instagram using #createrecycle. I’d love to see what you get up to!

And if you are looking for inspiration, click on over to each of the Project: Recycle & Create cohosts who have each done something different with the humble cardboard box: Powerful Mothering, Afterschool for Smarty Pants, Still Playing School, Lemon Lime Adventures, Creative World of Varya, Mama Miss, There’s Just One Mommy, Little Bins for Little Hands, Peakle Pie, Sugar Aunts, Teach Me Mommy.

We’ll be pinning our posts plus some favourites to the Project: Recycle & Create Pinterest board, so be sure to follow that as well. (While you’re over there, you might also like to follow the Danya Banya one too…)

Follow Danya Banya | Go Science Girls’s board Danya Banya on Pinterest.

And there are loads of more cardboard boxy ideas linked up below!

Have a look around and get inspired to create. I’m looking forward to seeing all your attempts wonderful creations!

xx Danya

(If you are a blogger, we’d love you to link up your cardboard box creations that have been made by, for or with children. By linking up, you agree to have your images featured / shared with credit.)

Categories Babies, For the DIY Mum, Play Ideas, Popular Tags Recycled or Upcycled

Holly the Emo Christmas Fairy

Danya Banya December 14, 2013 0

How to make a set of Holly the Christmas Fairy Rainbow Magic dolls for Christmas-themed imaginative play.

OK, so here’s the thing. My 3.5 year old daughter JJ is obsessed with the Rainbow Magic books by Daisy Meadows. Have you heard of them? Apparently they’re the most read books in the UK (!) and they all follow the same formula. The two protagonists, Rachel Walker and Kirsty Tate, are young girls who are secretly friends with the fairies, and go on adventures to help the fairies to recover magical items that the mean old Jack Frost has stolen. Each book revolves around Rachel and Kirsty helping a different fairy recover a different stolen item.

We would have read about a hundred of them by now. Some of them several times. Seriously. I’m not quite sure that Daisy was aiming at the preschooler target market, but nevertheless she’s succeeded. JJ is hooked. And so this new set of TP roll dolls is dedicated to JJ, who wishes fervently that she could be friends with the fairies too.

How to make a set of Rainbow Magic toilet paper roll dolls

To make our doll outfits, I cut out a circle where the face would be, and then hand painted the rest of the toilet paper rolls with acrylic paint. Acrylic paint really is the best paint to use for this – the colours are bright, it is easy to apply and quick to dry. It also provides some protection to the cardboard which makes it more durable for play.

For the fairy doll, I just cut the toilet paper roll so that it is half size.

To make the facial expressions, see our earlier post with a full tutorial on how to make “emo dolls”.

I chose the Holly the Christmas Fairy story for this particular set of dolls, partly because that is the book we are reading right now, and partly because I’d already made the Santa doll who (spoiler alert) also features in the Holly story…

We’ve now got more Emo Doll ‘outfits’ than we have inner rolls with the facial expressions. This is making JJ swap the inner rolls around, which is actually prompting more expression changes during her play. Accidental win!

We have lots of more fun Christmas activities for kids here. In particular, you might like:

How to make an Emo Santa TP roll doll
How to make a Frosty the Snowman TP roll doll.
How to make a toilet paper roll Christmas tree advent calendar.
How to make Play Snow.

You might also like to follow our Merry Christmas and Toilet Paper Rolls boards on Pinterest.

And, of course, you can always subscribe to our newsletter. We would love to have you join us!

xx Danya

Categories Christmas, Imaginative Play, Literacy, Preschoolers, Toilet Paper Rolls Tags Recycled or Upcycled

Emo Santa doll, with changeable facial expression

Danya Banya December 11, 2013 3

Make an Emo Santa toy, with changeable facial expression, to encourage kids to consider emotions (and develop emotional intelligence and empathy) through imaginative play.

Another outfit for our Emo Dolls! With Christmas approaching, we made an Emo Santa doll!

I made this outfit from (you guessed it) a toilet paper roll! But you could also use any similar diameter cardboard tube (such as a paper towel tube for instance).

How to make a toilet paper roll Santa

The first step is to cut a circle for the ‘face’. I made the hat from red felt, a pom pom and a hot glue gun – which is also how I attached it to the top of the roll. Then I painted the edge of the hat, the hair and the beard using white acrylic paint, and the Santa suit using red, black and yellow acrylic paint.

You can then pair this outfit with any of the Emo Doll inner rolls that have the expressions on them. (For those that havn’t seen my earlier post, here is a quick photo of them in their birthday suits to give you the idea… Click over to see how to make them.)

My daughter JJ (3.5 years old) was so keen to play with her new Santa doll, that she didn’t give me much time to take many photos! Here she is ‘borrowing’ him for ‘just a little bit Mummy’. Always a good sign…

Luckily I managed to ‘borrow’ him back for a few snaps while she was at preschool. 🙂

The beauty of this type of doll is that you can change the expression on Santa’s face. This is a good way to encourage children to explore emotions and empathy in a play setting. What would Santa’s face look like when he thought Christmas was cancelled? What would it look like when he realised Rudolph could guide the sleigh after all?

Oh, and cause I love bad jokes, I just couldn’t resist this one. Enjoy!

You can find all our Christmas activities for kids here, including:

a Frosty the Snowman Emo Doll outfit
Holly the Christmas Fairy (Rainbow Magic book) inspired Emo Doll outfits
How to make a toilet paper roll Christmas tree advent calendar
How to make your own Play Snow
Homemade gingerbread play dough

You might also like to follow along with our Merry Christmas and Toilet Paper Rolls Pinterest boards.

And, of course, you can always subscribe to our newsletter, to receive all our latest activities via email. We’d love to have you join us!

xx Danya

Categories Christmas, For the DIY Mum, Imaginative Play, Preschoolers, Toilet Paper Rolls Tags Emotions, Recycled or Upcycled

Star Christmas Tree Topper

Danya Banya December 10, 2013 0

DIY light weight star topper for your Christmas tree – that kids can help make!

It’s Christmas time, which means it’s time to decorate our tree!

But we ran into a dilemma last week. You see, we were lucky enough to receive a free second-hand fibre-optic Christmas tree from Freecycle. But unfortunately our new tree isn’t sturdy enough to hold our heavy old tree topper.

So the kids and I decided to make ourselves a new, light-weight one. (You know how much we love homemade & kid-friendly Christmas activities at our place!)

JJ used to have a wooden star wand (which she’d decorated with markers). It was played with so much that the handle had broken off – but a broken star wand is perfect for this job! (If you don’t happen to have a broken wand, you could also cut a star shape from a bit of sturdy cardboard instead).

After tracing the star shape onto the back of the contact paper, JJ cut it out with a bit of help from Mr Banya using ‘Mummy’s Sharp Scissors’. (She loves to use adult tools, and at 3.5 years old is quite capable with supervision). It was tricky, especially as the contact paper kept rolling inwards. But she concentrated, tried hard and did a very good job.

I only needed a give it a couple of snips afterwards to tidy up the edges, and then I stuck the contact paper to the wooden star. I painted a toilet paper roll tube green and hot glued it to the back.

Ta da! Now we have a new light weight shiny star to top our Christmas tree.

What sits on top of your tree?

For more Christmas ideas, check out our Christmas Activities for Kids archive page. Here’s a few you might like:

Cutest DIY mistletoes ornament, from kids’ footprints!
How to make a toilet paper roll advent calendar
How to make a toilet paper roll Santa doll or Frosty the Snowman doll, both with changeable facial expressions
DIY kid-made pine cone Christmas tree ornaments – these make great homemade gifts!

You might also like our Merry Christmas or Toilet Paper Rolls boards on Pinterest.

And, of course, you can always subscribe to our newsletter to receive lots of fun ideas like these in your Inbox. We’d love to have you join us!

xx Danya

Categories Christmas, Toilet Paper Rolls Tags Recycled or Upcycled

Frosty the Snowman Emo Doll

Danya Banya December 8, 2013 0

How to make a Frosty the Snowman toilet paper roll doll, with changeable facial expressions to encourage emotional imaginative play. Fun winter-themed or Christmas activity for kids!

Remember the ‘naked’ Emo Dolls I made last week? Well, now they have a brand new set of ‘clothes’. (I don’t know if a snowman suit technically counts as clothes, but you know what I mean…)

And so, I’m pleased to introduce you to…. Frosty the Emo Doll!

I had so much fun making him! Want to see how?

How to make a Frosty the Snowman toilet paper roll doll

You need:

a toilet paper roll (or other cardboard tube of similar diameter)
white acrylic paint
black and red felt
hot glue gun
scissors
inner facial expressions tube (see our tutorial here)

I cut a circle out of the toilet paper roll where the face would be, and then painted the rest of the roll white. I then made the little hat and scarf with scrap felt and a hot glue gun.

The hat doesn’t have to look perfect – snowmen hats are supposed to look a bit dishevelled – which is lucky as my 14 month old daughter Bee had lots of fun trying to pull the hat off, adding to the dishevelled look!

Bee is starting to interact with dolls. She says ‘Mah’ and gives them a kiss. She can also ‘walk’ them along the ground.

We had some Play Snow left over from last week, so Frosty enjoyed a little snow play in our backyard.

To give Frosty a face, I used one of the inner rolls with the facial expressions that I’d made earlier. The idea is that kids can change Frosty’s facial expression, and in this way, they can learn about emotions and empathy while they are playing.

Here is my eldest daughter JJ (3.5 years old) choosing which facial expression Frosty would ‘wear’ that day.

She chose an angry face, and started to role play a scene similar to one that had occurred at a supermarket play area the day before.

JJ said “He’s a mean snowman Mummy. He’s still learning how to be nice.”

“Oh, is he not playing nicely? What are you going to say?” I asked.

“I don’t like that. Let’s play a fun game instead.”

Inwardly I was grinning. Teaching JJ that most kids are not innately ‘mean’, that they sometimes need help to learn how to play nicely, that she can stand up for herself by saying “I don’t like that” and that she can encourage a change in play is something we’ve been working on. The above conversation mimicked almost exactly a situation that JJ faced the day prior, where there was a young boy who was playing slightly rough. JJ stood up for herself, and managed to change the play dynamic, and the two went on to play happily together for ages.

Later JJ changed Frosty’s facial expression to this dollar sign one. (I don’t think she knows what the dollar signs means, she just saw this as a fun face.)

And then JJ sprinkled the play snow, to make a little flurry! She made it snow on Bee too, who though it was a marvellous idea. Umm, Mummy’s doesn’t agree. Careful not to get it in anyone’s eyes!

In all, lots of snowy role play fun for a sunny Aussie summer’s day…

And to finish up, I couldn’t resist slipping in this little Dad Mum joke. It’s one of my favourites at the moment. 🙂

We have lots of fun Christmas ideas over on our Christmas Activities for Kids page, including:

How to make an ’emo’ Santa toilet paper roll doll
How to make a set of Holly the Christmas Fairy ’emo’ toilet paper roll dolls, to go with the Rainbow Magic book
How to make a toilet paper roll Christmas bauble stamper
How to make a toilet paper roll Christmas tree advent calendar
How to make Play Snow

You might also like our Merry Christmas, Let It Snow, and Toilet Paper Rolls Pinterest boards.

And, of course, you can always subscribe to our newsletter, to receive all our latest posts in your Inbox. We’d love to have you join us!

xx Danya

Categories Christmas, For the DIY Mum, Imaginative Play, Preschoolers, Toilet Paper Rolls Tags Emotions, Recycled or Upcycled

Emo Dolls {DIY dolls that encourage empathy through play}

Danya Banya December 2, 2013 9

Emo Dolls! These fun DIY dolls made from recycled cardboard roles have changeable facial expressions to help kids consider emotions and develop empathy skills while they play.

I’ve been wanting to make these dolls for a few years now. I’ve seen a few versions of them on Playschool over the past few years. When I was researching for this post, I also discovered some cute ones made by The Craft Train and A Little Learning for Two.

For my version, you need cardboard tubes in two different diameters, so that they fit inside each other. I used toilet paper rolls for the outer tubes and a cling wrap roll for the inner tubes. (Some school have an aversion to toilet paper rolls – you could also use paper towel rolls or other cardboard tubes and just cut to the right length).

Using small sharp scissors, I cut small circles out of each of the TP rolls, making sure that the circles were the same size and distance from the edge of the roll.

Then using a serrated knife, I cut the cling wrap roll into three large pieces, each just a few millimetres shorter than the length of the toilet roll tube. And I couldn’t waste the offcut – that became the baby or fairy.

I practiced drawing facial expressions onto a piece of paper, before attempting to draw them on the cardboard tubes. When I was confident, I inserted the smaller diameter roll into the larger one and drew the expressions within the ‘face’ area, twisting the inner roll to provide a new blank face as I went. I tried to include a mix of emotions – happy, sad, surprised, angry, ecstatic, confused, suspicious. I found I could fit three to four different expressions on each end of the inner rolls.

Here are my attempts. Older kids might be able to draw these different expressions for themselves.

I’ve since made a few ‘outfits’ for these dolls, by decorating the outer toilet paper rolls. But before I did so, I thought it would be interesting to let my 3.5 year old daughter JJ play with them while they were still ‘blank’.

Here she is ‘meeting’ them for the first time.

And success! She started role playing with them right away. She loved being able to take the inner tube out and see all the different expression options, before choosing the appropriate expression to suit the emotion that she wanted her character to feel.

JJ’s exploring the differences between girls and boys at the moment, so in her initial play she choose a happy face when she wanted an emo doll to be a girl, and an angry or sad face when she wanted an emo doll to be a boy. Despite having lots of friends that are boys (and indeed her best friend is a boy), I’ve noticed that her role play is much more gender biased than her real life play. This is something that I’ll keep an eye on, but it was still interesting that these dolls provided her with the opportunity to explore these concepts in her own way.

Right now, I’m happy to let JJ direct the play. But these dolls could also be used to actively role play scenarios to address areas of concern.

And if you are interested in some ‘outfits’, so far we have made an Emo Santa, Frosty the Emo Doll, Holly the Emo Christmas Fairy (and friends), and a Little Bo Peep. Click over to see how we made them, and the play they inspired.