The Olympics & Your Kids

Children hold a very special place in the heart of the Kingdom of Heaven.  It's important that we remember to cherish our children as Christ did.  Part of cherishing them is seeing them not just as these little helpless and needy people, but as creations of God with their own gifts and talents...and callings by God.  A great way to do this is to welcome them in to as much as we as responsible parents.  So, I'm suggesting you incorporate family time into Olympic time.  A great way to start is to begin by watching Cool Runnings with them.  See yesterday's post.  Bridge the divide between children and adults with fun and creativity.


Here are two super creative craft ideas that come from Kaboose - http://holidays.kaboose.com/olympics.html

 

Ceremonial Olympic Torch

By: Amanda Formaro

Difficulty: Very Easy

Age: 4 and up

Celebrate the Winter Olympic Games 2010 by making this super simple ceremonial Olympic torch craft.  Create your own games in the backyard with the help of neighborhood friends and some grown ups!
For more winning crafts, games, and throwing an Olympic party, visit our section devoted to the Olympics. Take our quiz to find out what your winter Olympics IQ is!

What you'll need:

• 1 sheet of white construction paper
• Clear tape
• Red, yellow, and orange tissue paper, 12" x 12" square of each color
• White craft glue

How to make it:

1. Roll the construction paper into a cone shape, tape closed.
2. Layer the tissue paper squares, red on the bottom, then orange, and yellow on top.
3. Gather from the center of the squares and hold in your hand like a bouquet of flowers.
4. Put some white craft glue into the sides of the opening of the cone.
5. Place the tissue paper into the cone and let the glue dry completely.

Tips:

• If you want a really tall torch like the real Olympic torch, use a piece of white poster board instead of the construction paper.
• Instead of tissue paper you can use construction paper in the same colors. Simply cut them into flame shapes and glue inside the cone opening.
• Have a piece of tape ready before rolling the cone, this way you won't be struggling with the tape while trying to hold the cone's shape. 

***NOTE*** Ham goes to a music class on Tuesday's and our project for this week was to make a homemade noise maker.  So...I combined the Olympic torch idea with a musical shaker.  I took wax paper, Basmati rice and a toilet paper role to make the shaker.  Then I used the poster board to make a bigger torch and placed the shaker on the inside of the torch.  I then put the fire/tissue paper on top.  The bottom is open and you can hear the sound of the shaker better at the bottom and the fiery sound of the paper on the top.  It turned into two themed music makers in one...and Ham loves it.

 

Chenille Snowboarder

By: Amanda Formaro

Difficulty: Easy

Age: 6 and up

Snowboarding is all the rage and so fun to watch during the Olympics! Kids will love testing their creativity while bending this chenille snowboarder into shape.
Celebrate the upcoming Olympics with these gold-medal crafts. Learn more about the athletes, try out sports printables or take an Olympic quiz!

What you'll need:

• 1 jumbo craft stick
• White and light blue paint
• Paint brush
• Toothpick
• Chenille stems, 1 each in blue, yellow and brown
• White craft glue
• Scissors
• Gold paint pen or black marker
• Pattern

How to make it:

1. Paint jumbo craft stick white. Let dry. (See photo.)
2. Use toothpick dipped in light blue paint to decorate craft stick. Set aside to dry. (See photo.)
3. To make the chenille man, use the pattern as a guide. First cut the yellow chenille stem in half. Cross them like a lower case letter "t" and twist together at the crossing point. Bend one arm up like it's waving, point the other one downward.
4. Cut about 2 inches off of the blue chenille stem and set aside. Bend the remaining blue chenille stem in half to find the center. Starting at the center, bend each side up, then back down to form an upper case letter "M" to make the legs.
5. Twist the bottom of the yellow body around the center of the leg section. Take 2" piece of blue chenille and wrap it around the intersection you just created.
6. Bend the brown chenille into a circle and twist it around the "neck" of the yellow chenille. Trim off the excess brown and wrap any remaining around the neck.
7. Write the word "SNOW" across the snowboard with marker or paint pen.
8. Lay the chenille man on the table and add some white glue to the feet then place the snowboard on top of the feet. (See photo.)

Tips:

1. Use your favorite snowboarder's colors!
2. Chenille stems are sold by individual color and in large variety packs.
3. Use construction paper to create a fun snow scene to which you can add your chenille snowboarder.

Grab the Button and Link Back to CGM for 5 Olympic Points towards your metal.  Click HERE for more details.

Assault by a Deadly Glue Gun

I'm a scrapbooker. I absolutely love it when I can find the time to sit down and dig into it. Aside from scrapbooking, I'm craft stunted. Though I sometimes wish I were, I'm not the mom who can make a craft out of anything and make it so well people want to buy it at the church bizarre. No, I'm the lady who scares children because her stick figures are so, well, unsticky.

The Advent Festival for our church is tonight and I was put in charge. A daunting task, but I love a challenge. So, like any crazy fool would do, I offered my services. Little did I know when I said "sure" that the event would involve a glue gun.

Any time there is a glue gun involved, paramedics must be standing by. In fact, the whole idea of a glue gun gives me heart palpitations. Me and the glue gun, well, we have a sorted past. It wasn't pretty and it didn't end well. I loved that glue gun. We did everything together. We put mugs back in one piece, attached wallpaper (don't ask), married pennies to the bottom of Hershey kisses (not a good idea once I realized the blazing hot glue would melt the chocolate), we ran through fields singing and swirling among daises. It was love and we knew it.

Then, one day, glue gun turned on me. I didn't know what was coming and I wasn't prepared for the betrayal. All these years of love and the glue gun lost it...really. It malfunctioned, as most relationships tend to do from time to time, and I, I was the victim. I thought it was meant to be, me and the glue gun. I was excited to plug it in, sit down beside it with over 500 Popsicle sticks and prepare to make star ornaments for the church children.

With gun in hand, we glued like a mad person at Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving. Madness I say. We were making one ornament after another. Things were beautiful. But then, then the glue just kept coming out. I couldn't stop it. It was like molten lava. And I, like the beautiful moron I was, put my hand out to catch the glue. Look, I did say I was a moron. I don't know what I was thinking, but the results were tragic. Well, extremely painful none the less.

Ever had glue gun induced burns and blisters? Like I said, I was assaulted by my glue gun and it was so painful that I think this gun should come not just with warning labels, which I guess it does but one would have to read them or just have common sense. But, it should also come with like a "gluers safety course" before one can go to the local Hobby Lobby and purchase a license to use it. I would also not be opposed to background checks prior to the purchase of a glue gun. In the wrong hands, this little bugger could wipe out and obliterate moron mommas everywhere. We must protect ourselves from this vile tool of craft violence.

Wish me luck with the Advent Festival tonight. I'm hoping it all goes off well. We are making Advent Calendars, decorating the Popsicle ornaments I slaved over and much more. I can't wait to put my head against the pillow tonight and have this all behind me...successfully of course, sans the injuries. ;-) Happy Sunday!