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DIY Super Safe Fireworks!
- Patria Lincoln Posted On Jun 26, 2019 | STEM
Start saving those TP tubes! The 4th of July is upon us and we’ve got two super-safe, toilet paper tube fireworks crafts guaranteed to light up your night. These crafts are perfect for all ages, so set up a table with all of your supplies and let the kids loose at your 4th of July celebration – no need to worry about sparklers or lighters – the scariest thing at this table will be kids with paint!
Super Stellar Stampers
What You’ll Need:
- TP Tube
- Red and Blue Paint
- Scissors
- Tape
- Paper Plate (or Plastic Plate Covered with Tin Foil)
- White Printer Paper
- Paper Towels
What You’ll Do:
1. Cut your tube open from top to bottom lay it flat.
2. Snip around the entire bottom edge.
3. Roll the tube tightly and tape it securely.
4. Bend the slits so they’re perpendicular to the tube.
5. Paint the splay of slits with one color of paint and press to the paper to make a print. You may need to press them down with your fingers. Lift and press to another spot on the page. Continue until you need more paint.
6. Rinse your brush and paint the splay with another color. Press your tube over the last color to make a multi-color firework burst. You can also paint different colors onto each “snip” for a super colorful burst.
7. Continue until the paper sky is covered with fireworks.
TP Tube Firecrackers
What You’ll Need:
- TP Tube
- Card Stock Paper or Cardboard
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Red and Blue Paint
- Glue
- Glitter
- Pipe Cleaners
What You’ll Do:
1. Stand the TP tube on the paper and trace around the end. Cut the circular piece you traced out, cutting just slightly outside the line you traced so the circle is just a little larger than the end of the tube.
2. Paint the TP tube and the circular piece with patriotic colors, then sprinkle with glitter while the paint is still wet.
3. Once the paint has dried, use the pencil or scissors to poke a small hole through the center of the circular piece. Wrap a sparkly pipe cleaner around your finger to give it some curl, then slip the end through the hole of the circular piece. Alternatively, paint one end of a cotton swap yellow and slip that through the hole to make your “fuse”.
4. Run a ring of glue around the top of one end of the tube, place the end of the pipe cleaner or cotton swap into the tube, and press the circular piece to the glue to create a permanent top.
Save it for later!
Viva La Musica! DIY Cinco De Mayo Instruments!
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year with some live music! The kids will love crafting these simple instruments, opening up discussion about the holiday and its origins. It is a common misconception that Cinco de Mayo is celebrated as Mexico’s independence day. In Mexican culture, May 5 actually marks the Mexican army’s unlikely victory over the French forces of Napoleon III in 1862, at the Battle of Puebla. In fact, the residents of the state of Puebla are really the ones who celebrate the holiday the most – even more than the rest of Mexico. They party with traditional Mexican food, dancers, and mariachi music. These wonderful sounds of celebration inspired us to make some homemade instruments. According to the Brain and Creativity Institute at University of Southern California, music experiences in childhood can actually accelerate brain development, particularly in language and reading skills. Down the road, learning a musical instrumental at an early age can actually improve mathematical learning and increase SAT scores. Sounds good to us, so let’s get musical! Here’s what you’ll need to make you own little Cinco de Mayo band.
Festive Tambourine
What You'll Need:
- 2 paper or plastic plates
- Decorations (stickers, markers, or paint)
- Ribbon
- Hole Punch
- Craft Jingle Bells
- Scissors
- Using your paint or stickers, decorate the outside of your tambourine. Be colorful and creative!
- Next, match the plates up so the bottom part of the plate faces out. Punch 5-6 holes around the plate’s circumference, making sure your bottom and top plates match up.
- Cut the ribbon as long as you’d like. Longer ribbons always seem to add more drama! Then lace the ribbon through the jingle bells.
- Loop your ribbon around the holes punched in the plates, securing it with a double knot.
- Shake away! These small bells make a joyful sound!
Beating Drum
What You'll Need:
- Clean Tin Can (be aware of sharp edges!)
- Baloon
- White Duct Tape
- Decorative Tape
- Two #2 Pencils
- Scissors
- First, cut the balloon at the base of the “stem”. You’ll need lots of balloon material to cover the wide opening of the can.
- Stretch the balloon over the tin can. Tape the perimeter.
- Then finish the whole can with the white tape, and add decorative tape if you so choose.
Shaky Maracas
What You'll Need:
- Plastic Easter Eggs
- Plastic Spoons
- Dry Rice
- White Duct Tape
- Decorative Tape
- Scissors
- Fill the plastic eggs with about 2-3 pinches of rice. Filling them too full will not allow for the fullest sound: less is more.
- Close the eggs and stick some tape around them immediately. If these crack open, you’ll have a big mess.
- Next, situate two of the spoons to “cup” the eggs on either side. Wrap the tape around the spoon. Follow the spoons’ handles down with tape, as well as the top of the egg.
- Add some decorative tape or stickers of your liking.
- Shake it up!
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DIY Mother's Day Gifts!
Lots of Love Sun Catcher
Mom will go to pieces when she sees this sweet gift!
Fun with Fingerprints Heart Frame
Leave a permanent print on Mom’s heart with this sweet fingerprint photo frame!
Beautiful Palmprint Butterfly
Mom’s heart will soar when she sees this colorful art piece made from her little one’s palmprints!
Happy Mother's Day!
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