Slithering snake

I am starting a series of simple homemade toys and here comes the first one:

Over the past few days I have been making some toys. These toys work on the basis of science. The slithering snake is a toy where you have to pull the string and make it go forward. It is a simple rubber band toy that looks cool and is fun to play with. This toy is one of my favourite in them so lets get to it...

1. I made a spindle out of play dough with a rubber band sticking through (tip:make two holes so you have a loop which turns with the spindle.)

2. Make the snakes head and tail and add any accessories you'd like. E.g glasses, eyes, tongue

3. To make the body go to my youtube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHbnKFDuH_k

4. Connect the head, body and tail.

5. Then take the spindle and attach it to the head.

6. Wrap a thread around the spindle and put it through the forehead.

7. Sit back and play away.

- Shreyas

Solar System

                                                                

When school give those "whacky" homeworks you can never expect what it will be; so this times long term homework was a model of the solar system. I went through all my stuff and found a bunch of newspaper, cereal boxes, a long wooden board from the back of a cupboard and a bunch of small and big balls at my disposal.So this is what I created...

I started by sticking paper onto the balls and made different sized planets. For Saturn, I used a disc cut out from the cereal box. I pasted a lot of paper over it make it thick. Then I painted them all different colors according to the colors of the planets. After that I got the board and painted it completely black. Then I started to paint the sun. I used a mix of red, yellow and orange. I stuck the planets on to the board in their proper order. When the planets were stuck on firm I painted on their orbit. I found little info on the planets on the internet, made small slips, took a printout and stuck them on too beside each planet.

I used pieces of Styrofoam to form the asteroid belt.

I have now kept that as a poster in my room and look at it every morning. 

Hamabead Nameplate

Hamabeads are so popular with kids. Children can spend hours together creating so many different shapes with those lovely coloured beads. You can make flowers, sea creatures, ships, hearts, and anything that you can imagine.

Today I have brought you an idea where you can make an useful item out of Hamabeads. How about making a nameplate for your room with these wonderful beads? It looks awesome when your name emerges from combining those small colourful beads and joining them with a touch of hot iron. Here is what I made out of hamabeads two years ago and it still hangs on my door proudly.

Handmade vehicles...

How does it feel when you lose a competition? Not just lose, but lose very badly and that too to when your opponent is a kid! I felt very happy:-) Yes. I am not lying...

Yesterday was the last day of half term holidays for school and the weather was very bad. So no chance of going out to play. Board games - very bored. TV - A big NO NO. So my son came up with a brilliant idea. He took out some materials like ice lolly sticks, rubber bands, wooden skewers, etc and challenged me to build a working vehicle.

At once, we both set to work. I cut out five wheels from cardboard and started assembling them (With some small tips from my son!) I almost completed my vehicle and the last stage was to fix the rubber bands. After 3 failed trials of trying to stick the rubber bands to the wooden spoke, he told me that rubber bands don't stick with hot glue:-( With great difficulty, I attached the rubber bands and here is my vehicle which moved about 2 cms on its own!

Working hard!

My Creation

On the other hand, Shreyas' vehicle turned out to be so successful that it could go over hurdles without stopping and could cover almost 20 times the distance than mine. He used the same rubber band principle but in a different way. Kudos to you Shreyas. Well Done and I am happy to lose to you always but only after giving you a tough competition.

Winning model

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Heart For Harlow...

I have to start this post with a big thanks to Integration Support Services for believing in us and providing a platform for us to display our talent.

Yesterday we attended the "Heart For Harlow Festival" on the grounds of water Gardens. We were part of Integration Support Services where my son displayed the toys he had made most of which were science related. Some people were amazed and others were immensely impressed. All in all it was a big success and a great boost for my son.

Pencil Case / Small Bag

How about using an old torn backpack and turn it into an awesomely useful pencil case or another smaller bag?

When my son's regular pencil case got torn, he really wanted a new one which I did offer to buy from the shop. But he wanted a big one, one which can hold lots of things. I did not understand why he needed a big one since all he needed to put in were a few pencils, pens and may be a ruler and eraser. But I was surprised to see the contents of his bag....It had everything I would not expect....Can you guess...it had a magnifying glass, a paper cutter, a few rubber bands, toothpicks, etc.,etc...He uses these to create his designs and experiment during free and break times. He does make some awesome stuff like shooters, uniquely designed paper planes which really work well. So my task was to make a big bag enough to hold all his stuff and small enough not to look like a backpack.

New small bag

Original backpack

Front pocket cut out

I had one old backpack whose main zip was broken and could not be repaired. So I cut it out and took the smaller front pocket. This would be my new bag. I took off all the hooks and one damaged zip on the front. The bag was stitched all around to make to look nice. I sewed Velcro for the front pocket whose zip was taken out. And that's it...A nice new looking small bag with lots of pockets ready to be used as a pencil case or as a small book bag. If needed, you can attach some handles to it. I did not need that as this was supposed to be used as a pencil case.

Handmade Toys

This Easter,I had fun making toys with this little kid. Simple homemade toys especially made by kids themselves bring so much joy and boosts their creativity. It also makes them think why certain things behave in the way they behave and hence teaches them the principle behind these toys in a fun way.

Magic Fan

Walking drum

Woodpecker

I bet you can't get these toys anywhere in the market. Have fun!

Easter Egg

Its Easter time and also time for some eggs...
I made this Easter egg with tissue paper.

Raw Materials:

1. Tissue papers
2. Glue
3. Small balloon
4. Water
5. An Easter chick or chocolate to put inside.

Method:

1. Tear the tissue paper by hand into small pieces. The pieces can be any size and shape. It simply does not matter. Make sure the pieces are not too big.
2. Roll each piece of paper between your palms to make small paper rolls. They roll up very easily and quickly. You can wet your hands with a few drops of water to make it more faster.
3. Stuff the balloon with the chick or chocolate as you wish.
4. Blow the balloon to the size you want your egg to be and tie its mouth.
5. With the help of glue, paste these tissue paper rolls on to the balloon. The paper does not stick easily. But with a little practise, you will be able to do it.
6. Let it dry well. Once the assembly is completely dry, it becomes hard. Now pop the balloon with a pin and take it out through one of the many holes.
7. Your Easter egg is ready to be gifted.

HAPPY EASTER!!!