Shadow Puppets

So simple and classic and yet so fun! Shadow puppets can be made with your hands, toys, or paper cut outs. I found some fun shadow puppet inspiration to share with you today. A perfect fort activity I think!

How about this shadow puppet theater from Makedo - they have the how to and a free printable for you on their site!

Minieco also has some great printables!

You can find some educational printables here

I love how A Wednesday Afternoon folded a paper in half to punch eyes and cut out a mouth before having her kids design their own puppets

Some spooky templates from Chez Beeper Bebe

There are even some shadow puppets for purchase

Alpha Bravo Charlie

Have your kids discovered the NATO phonetic alphabet yet? 

[DOWNLOAD HERE for free personal use]

Love them Madly recently introduced her boys to it AND made them some awesome new tshirts!

The phonetic alphabet is a great way to nurture spelling with your little army guys. Go check out the great tutorial and more pictures from Love them Madly! 

See you tomorrow! Over and out.

How To: Paper Ninja Stars

 NINJA STARS!

When I was in grade school it seemed like all the boys could make these and I was jealous. Now I can make them all I want (Oh and my kids like them too).

Here's how to make paper ninja stars. Don't worry once you make one or two it will seem so easy and you'll be making them all the time!

You'll need a square sheet of paper. You can make a reguar 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper square by folding it diagonally and cutting off or tearing the extra at the bottom.

You'll take your square, fold it in half and cut it into two sections.

Fold both of those sections in half lengthwise.

Next you'll fold each of the corners down on a diagonal. Make sure that the two sections have opposite diagonals (he didn't do that here he had to re-fold we tend to forget that part if we haven't made them in a while)

Next you're going to take the points and fold them down to form another triangle - easier to see that explain. See how each half folds opposite ways?

Now flip the piece on your left over and place the piece on your right over the top like this:

Now you're going to take the top point on the left and fold it down on the diagonal

Tuck the corner into the little fold (if you're not seein the fold make sure you made your original folds and triangles opposite each other)

Do the same to the bottom

Now turn it over

and tuck the other sides in

Did you do it?!

To throw you just sort of flick it like a frisbee (but not at people)

Once you get the hang of making them you'll find ninja stars everywhere! You can use 2 different colors to creat different patterns too

Have fun!

DIY Kazoos

This is on my list to try with the boys. But I think we'll wait until it cools down a bit here so I can deem them an outside toy ;) DIY Homemade kazoos from That's What We Said

Go check out their site for the super simple steps

Pinned Lately

I love looking through Pinterest for ideas of things to make or do with the boys. Here are some recent pins from my "To Do" board!

Printable Jigsaw Puzzle

Ice Fishing Game

Kids Card Holder

DIY Car Garage

City Playmat

Ninjas

A DIY lightbox for tracing

LEGO playhouse

And a LEGO camera with your iPhone

DIY Fun Bags!

I'm over at Modern Parents Messy Kids today with a DIY boredom buster that costs pretty much nothing! It's definitely something you want to keep in your "back pocket" with kids around!

See all the awesome things you can do with a bag of stuff HERE

Collapsible Cardboard Playhouse

My friend Jenn from Ambrosia Creative has done it again. In her post over on She Knows she gives a tutorial to create the perfect collapsible cardboard playhouse. Pretty it up and give one as a gift or make one any time for your kids. LOVE this!

View the great step by step HERE

Simple Summer Fun - Car Cooking

So simple, but fun for kids - cooking in your car! Since the inside of your car literally gets as hot as an oven, why not use it as one!

Cardboard Collective made banana chips in a car (I may do this one this week!)

Family Chic made S'mores in their car

Baking Bites made chocolate chip cookies in her car

 

Is it hot enough where you are to cook in your car?