Linkups
Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Series: Paper Bag Maracas
We are a big fan of dance parties in our home. So when I saw paper bags were the next challenge for our Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Series, I started thinking of ways to jazz it up. I wanted an activity that would carry us through the day in several parts, offer some creativity and learning, and then finish off with a crazefest dance party. So what did we make? Paper Bag Maracas!
The best part about this project was that it was literally the cheapest afternoon of fun we’ve ever had. A quick visit to Target to pick up some paper lunch bags along with a few bags of dried beans…I think I spent all of $6 and that included a little Nutella snack pack that I may have purchased and secretly eaten. I didn’t think we could beat out the Plastic Soda Bottle Pirate Ships with a lower cost, but we did!
I did this project in a few steps. Our first activity was to color and decorate the bags. I grabbed a stack from our sticker stash, a few crayons and they set to work. They are old enough now to peel their own stickers, so they were all smiles as they decorated their bags on their own.
Later on in the day, we took the bags out again and I gave them several bowls of different dried beans (I tossed some of our play dry pasta in there as an option too). They got to fill their bags with as much or as little as they wanted, counting and sorting to their little heart’s content. They loved picking out the beans one by one at first, but quickly graduated to fistfuls, loving the sound of the beans dropping into the bags.
Once they were done, I wrapped the edges a few times and secured with a few staples across the top and…cue the dance party! Realizing that the bags really made loud sounds when they shook them was so exciting for the boys and took their crazy laughter and dancing up a notch. I almost couldn’t keep up with the camera! Even our dog Ivy got excited and started doing happy laps around the house.
It was a great day of fun and my next project is to figure out other ways to incorporate dry beans (and lots of leftover paper bags) into other projects. For the paper bags, I’ll be sure to check out my gal pals’ blogs to see how they used them!
It’s Monday!! You know what that means…it’s time for another Think Outside the Toy Box Summer Series challenge! This week…Kool-Aid. Last week, I thought I hit the bottom of the barrel as far as low cost, spending less than $6 on an afternoon of family fun with Paper Bag Maracas, but I blew it out of the water this week! Kool-Aid was on sale at Target for $2. I already had the rest of my supplies, so $2 and we were ready to go! Time to get messy and creative with Kool-Aid Sprinkle Art.
Welcome to Social Media Saturdays, the one and only linkup sponsored by the International Bloggers Association, where bloggers grow together. Have you joined yet? If not, go there now!
We’re all about making new friends and finding each other in the places we hang out online. This is the place to mingle, make new friends and form real relationships– not the place to drop links and leave!
If that sounds good to you, then by all means, share the links to your social media accounts here!
Here are the rules:
1. You don’t have to, but if you want to be classy please follow your hosts in each category that you join. We are:
Brittany at brittanybullen.com, Giada at craftytastygeeky.com, Katy at chaosandkiddos.com,
Keitha at bajantexan.blogspot.com, Tina at gringoslocos6.com, Marg at margsworld.com
Paula at paulabuenosaires.com, and Shana at Technotini.com!
2. Tweet about the party and spread the word so that we can all connect with new friends! The more people who join us, the better experience we all have!
Click the button below or write your own tweet with the hashtag #ilovesocialsaturday so your new friends know where you came from and so that we can chat all day!
3. Follow the person before you in each category that you join and at least 2 more so that we make sure everybody gets some love!
4. If you’d like to put our badge on your site, grab the HTML here. Let us know if you did because we sure do love people who love us!
Let’s get started!!! Happy Saturday!!
There, you can find great new friends in your niche to subscribe to and visit regularly. Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to build a network of support!
We’re so excited to introduce the newest addition to our weekly linkup– the first-ever official IBA Blog Hop! This hop is just for members of the IBA (badge required) to visit each other’s latest posts in any category and share the love. If you submit a link here, make sure to visit and comment on and/or share three more.
Each week, we’ll be featuring the three posts that got the most clicks in the previous week, so make sure to come back to see if you’ve been featured! Happy Blog-Hopping!
Here are the featured posts from last week’s Social Media Saturday
Chair Makeover: Miss Rose
Robin at Redo It Yourself Inspiration
Are You Curious About Wacky Cake?/a>
Joanne at What’s On The List?
Blogology Part 2: Blogging Platforms
Megan at The Adventures of Nnoble and Pond
If you get featured, grab the badge!
And now linkup your social accounts!