DIY: Find It game, How to make your own "Find It" Game

This is a very unique project, because it is based on a very unique game. I once saw it in a toy store - called "Find It" and it consisted of a clear container and many mini objects to find. It's roughly around $10 - $20 depending on where you buy it. Then a friend of a friend gave a gift to a child that was based on this same concept. Only it was liquid based and she had made it, and the objects were charms (minus the silver ring) of things. I tried to find the instructors or examples on-line but had no luck. I wanted to create a fun and unique craft for a teen event - so I needed to be able to make affordable - bulk DIY: Find It games for them.

 

So here is a picture of supplies I used from Discount School Supply and below is the link to Barnes and Noble where they have one for sale.

 

 

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/toys-games-find-it-original-edition/13740729?cm_mmc=googlepla-_-toysgames_10to25-_-q000000633-_-9780641845031&cm_mmca2=pla&ean=9780641845031&isbn=9780641845031&r=1 

SUPPLIES: So here is the list of the supplies I used to make 12 - 16 Find It games: empty tennis ball containers, 4 buckets of fuse beads - or any colorful filler that you want to use (see options below), poker chips, globe key chains, flip flop key chains, mini clothes pin, paper clips, rubber bands, mini bottles, toy mini dinosaurs, mini beach bucket beads, buttons, mini jingle bells, glass dice beads, glass dog bones, plastic coins, letter tiles (look like Scrabble pieces), and sports beads that are in the shapes of mini balls. 

They also sell colorful rice, and pony beads, which I considered for the fillers. But in the end, I thought this was the most affordable, closest to the actual product and the most durable and long lasting.

I chose the items as random as possible, with some that were easily accessible - like paper clips and rubber bands. I also chose items I thought were best to duplicate in additional projects - like the toy dinosaurs, buttons, poker chips, dice and letter tile - which I thought kids could use left over game pieces. But I have seen that these games come in themes - otherwise you could get overwhelmed with what to put in there!! And if you aren't going to do this in "bulk" - then you are limited to what you can find. Either way - this was fairly inexpensive for the bulk project and would have beat buying 14 games for each kid, plus they had the fun and experience of making it on their own!!

HOW TO: Anyway, once you have the supplies you are going to use, you will also need to prep the objects for hiding! For instance I had to remove any of the metal rings on the key chains and I added a note to my mini bottle. I also hand picked out the letters of the teens names for their letter tiles :) They you give each a kid a bad of their objects to hide, you can also give them an option to bring an item to add...(limit it to a 1inch X 1/2 inch object) and have them wipe out/clean their tennis tube. Once they have their scoop of filler they can begin to add objects as desired, till they are all in, plus filler - NOTE: leave an inch at the top, or there won't be any movement!! And lastly, glue the top on and add directions!

I printed a list of all the objects I brought for them and left two lines for them to pencil in something if they brought it. On the back of the list was instructions:

One person:
1) Find the objects and beat your best time!
2) Find the objects in alphabetical order
3) How many objects can you find in 2 mins (no looking at the list!)
4) Find every other object in order, then every third, and so on

Two person:
1) Who can find the most objects in 2 mins (no looking at the list!)
2) Time each other to see who can find all the items the fastest
3) Take turns finding every other object, then every third, and so on
4) ADD dice for more fun! Take turns and role the die, find the object that corresponds with that number.

Let me know if you come up with more ways to play!! Enjoy!

DIY: How to make Comic Book/Super Hero Center pieces and decorations!

This is how to make, or how I made my own Comic Book and Super Hero Theme center pieces for a Banquet - where the theme was Super heroes. I blog about what I can't normally find on the internet. So I hope this can help you. I had to first search and collect the clip art to be used and download the fonts. (I went to 1001freefonts.com) I also used some of our own logos that were created for our conference.

 

Anyway, the idea was to create something that looked like a city scape and then a comic strip to accommodate it. I used my printer, foam boards, black construction paper, scissors, spray mount, exacto knife, glitter, comic book stickers and tea lights.  

 

 

 Here you can see the "strips" have been printed out and mounted to the foam board. I then used the exsacto knife to cut them out and score the edges where I bent them.

As you can see here 5 boards made 25 strips, for 25 tables. We ended up needing 30 - so it depends on how big you want them and how many you need.

Here you can see the strips cut out and the one is standing up, now that I have scored it.

Here is the finished product. To make the city scape for the centerpieces I used large (construction type) black poster paper. I made two city scape on each one. If you look at this example, you can guess what the city line looked like in the second one. And I used a silver sharpie to color in some "windows", and cut out some with a square hole punch. Some metallic star garland was added at the event and tea light were set in the middle to light up the table. The light reflecting off the metallic stars and casting a shadow on the city scape was perfect!! Enjoy!

Crafts for Kids: Kids Camps Crafts and Ideas for projects!

 Crafts for Kids: Kids Camp Crafts or Kids Crafts Ideas for projects!

My "formula" for class set up is this: I pick four to five projects that fit within the theme of the days projects: i.e. Animals, garden, space, bugs, etc. This fills up 45 mins to 1 hour nicely. I place one sheet of instructions on the table, but don't insist on children following an "example". I like to see what they come up with, and also it allows them to go at their own pace. I simply ask; "who is ready for the next project?". I also try to mix in different mediums: i.e. painting, gluing, stickers, stamping, drawing, cutting, molding, taping, etc. Using materials like paper, ceramic, wood, cardboard, plastic, fabric, yarn and the other plethora of materials that come in craft kits. I order on-line mainly from Oriental Trading Co., Discount School Supply and S&S Worldwide (SSWW). And I buy materials at Target, Michael's and JoAnne's Fabric stores.  

 

This particular set of projects were based on "Feathered and Furry Friends" - we made a parrot, an owl and bunny and then used scrap fabric to make our own animal.

This used just cotton balls to fill in their bunny and paint to color them in.

 

Below was from a garden theme - this project was garden stones. We used air drying clay, mosaic tiles, buttons, "glass" plastic mosaic pieces and clear letters from Discount School Supply.

Here is a photo of the supplies we used and how I placed them in smaller bags for each table. I used a wire to cut the clay and divide it out. My favorite was the clear letter. They really added to the project and are very unique!

 

Below is from SSWW a DIY: Color me shoe. This was great for ALL ages, and this was for a teen night at the park event. I brought a box of sharpies and the shoes, and everyone got in on the fun. They also doodled notebooks too, for back to school. It was fun and a cute idea.

 

Toilet Paper roll crafts. I try to use as many recycled or reusable things I can find. I call these Toilet Paper roll rockets. Simply collect them, then hand them out and have the kids punch holes in the bottom of them for the streamers to tie in to.

I used sparkly foam to make circles. I found a temple on line, it showed the circle cut out, then make one straight cut to the middle (so only half way across). Then begin to make the circle into a cone, secure the cone with either tape, glue or staples. I found that the foam is so thick, it needed to be stapled. Then I used tape and glue to secure the cones to the paper rolls.

Next: we used pieces of foil to cover the rest of the rocket, metallic stars, and added the streamers. Optional: add a magnet for the fridge, or a string so you can hang it up! 

Below was a "Pond Theme" - we made ponds, dyed small plush lizards, made a bug collage and painted ceramic Frog banks.

 

Enjoy and let me know your ideas!!