When it’s the preschool holidays, it can sometimes be a challenge to keep my tiny terrors suitably entertained. Luckily, here in the SPJ household we do like to get our craft on, and choosing the right kind of one for Freddie and Sasha to enjoy can mean they are occupied for a decent amount of time. Even better, is when that craft can be done from the comfort of our living room AND they get to use what they’ve made/ play with it! (Even if this does mean knowing the best way of cleaning up this mess afterwards!)
The other day I decided to make Rocket Backpacks for both of them to wear, and it was the perfect craft for them to get involved with. I carried out the majority of the construction, yet they could decorate their backpacks with bright star stickers, as well as practicing their cutting when making the ‘flames’ out of tissue and crepe paper.
As you can see, they had lots of fun, and there was a fair bit of jumping off the sofas and pretending to be astronauts afterwards! For more ideas this Easter, you can have a look at some other fun and easy projects HERE on the Harvey’s Furniture Website. For this project though…
You will need:
- 2 Drinks bottles
- Silver paper
- Piece of cardboard 20cm x 20cm
- 2 pieces of elastic 8cm each
- Stapler
- Scissors
- Star stickers to decorate
- Red, orange and yellow tissue or crepe paper
- Double-sided sticky tape
Instructions:
- Staple the pieces of elastic to the cardboard to create loops for little arms to fit through.
- Using the double-sided tape roll the silver paper around both of your drinks bottles, and get your little ones to decorate with the star stickers.
- Stick 4 strips of double-sided tape on the other side of the cardboard, and stick both of your bottles onto them, bottle tops facing down.
- Get your children (or do this yourself if they’re too young) to cut long strips of the crepe/tissues paper to make ‘flames’ for the rockets.
- Wrap more double-sided tape around the bottle tops, and then stick the strips of tissue/crepe paper on. Repeat with until you have a variety of flames.
Voila- a super-cool rocket backpack!
…Now all you have to do is clean up the mess!
*My best tip is to remove stickiness off leather (yes, glue gets everywhere, despite my best intentions!), by filling a bowl with warm soapy water until bubbles form. Using a barely damp cloth, I dip the cloth into the bubbles on the surface and rub the leather gently until the sticky bits have gone. You can dry it out with a dash of bicarbonate of soda. When it dries just vacuum it off!*
You can see some more great furniture cleaning tips, such as looking after your fabric and upholstery, cleaning leather furniture, and removing scratches off glass, all on the Harveys website. There are some ace tips from some fabulous fellow Mums too!
To celebrate Easter, all things crafty, and reward you for cleaning up the aftermath 😉 , Harvey’s Furniture are hosting a FANTASTIC competition, giving their social fans and Spirited Puddle Jumper readers the opportunity to win a children’s den from ‘Not On The High Street’, by sharing their own Easter children’s project photos.
The competition is open from today until the 13th April 2015, and is centred around the hashtag: #HarveysHandmade – you can post your craft pictures on their Facebook Page, Tweet them, or share them on Instagram. @HARVEYSHQ
Good luck, and enjoy your crafting this Easter break!
A big thanks to Harvey’s Furniture for partnering with The Spirited Puddle Jumper.
These look super cool. My boys would love them. It might actually make them think they could really fly though. Lots of blankets and cushions on the floor to cushion the falls would probably be a good idea 😉
Becky! This is seriously amazing!!! SO going to make this – thanks for sharing xx