DIY Life

Spend any time in an early childhood classroom, and you'll see kids flocking to the "sensory table," usually a large tub filled with sand, water, or any number of materials to give kids a tactile experience. Not only does this kind of play give young children the sensory experience they need, it keeps them engaged for a really long time.

Toy stores sell sand tables and sand/water tables, but they're usually in the neighborhood of $75 and up. Boing Boing (via Parenthacks) had a much less expensive and more versatile solution recently -- under-the-bed storage boxes.

Fill these long, flat tubs with sand and a few toys, and your child will play for hours. When they're finished, sweep up the overflow and roll the whole thing back under the bed. Genius! You can either rotate what's in your sensory tub, or have two or three waiting under there. Other great sensory experiences include dry beans, rice, water (supervise well and dump out after each use), and in the winter, snow.

Of course, nothing beats outdoor play for a sensory experience. But when it's too hot/cold/rainy to go outside, these under-the-bed sensory boxes are sure to be a hit!

I'm an adoptive mom, so I spend a lot (read: far, far, too much) time checking out other adoption blogs. One of my favorites is Do They Have Salsa in China? To keep her two little girls interested in eating healthfully, the blog's creative author has delved into bento boxes.

We've posted about the art of packing bento boxes before. Common in Japanese cuisine, bento is a single-portion meal that is often beautifully arranged -- food that is not only pleasing to the palate, but also to the eye. You can make bento boxes a toddler favorite with a few simple twists that I'll share after the break.

Back in March, I wrote about Hinamatsuri, a Japanese traditional festival celebrating the happiness and growth of young girls. Hinamatsuri is interesting, but it's not a national holiday in Japan: that distinction goes to Children's Day (Kodomo no hi), which was known as Boys' Day until the late 1940s, when it was expanded to include girls. And Children's Day is today!

The most visible symbol of Children's Day to most people is probably the koinobori, or fish kite (sometimes called a koi kite or carp kite). These are colorful windsocks shaped like a long koi. They are usually tied to a bamboo pole, where the wind catches them and makes them look like they're "swimming."

There are a few legends attached to why the koinobori are displayed, but most relate to the koi being energetic and courageous in the way it goes against the current, leaping out of the water when it swims. The koi becomes a metaphor for parents' hopes for their children, particularly their sons.

Today is a perfect day for family members to make simple paper or fabric fish kites of their own. After the break, we'll explore some of the history and motifs of this holiday, and check out a variety of related crafts: not just koinobori! We'll also talk about some non-traditional, totally American ways to celebrate the kids in your life.

I have to admit that Spongebob Squarepants is one of my guilty pleasures: the antics of the little "absorbent, yellow, and porous" ocean dweller are always good medicine for a bad day.

So I was delighted to see this amigurumi version of Sheldon J. Plankton, the evil nemesis of our hero Spongebob's employer, Mr. Krabs. He was created by Craftster user LadyLuigi, and is one of the site's new featured projects.

To make this amigurumi, you need a passable knowledge of crochet: the instructions given for Plankton (on the fifth page of replies) may not be enough for a beginner. But if you have crocheted a few things before, you shouldn't experience any real problems.

Required supplies include:

• an H hook (approximate size)
• a couple of pipe cleaners
• black embroidery floss
• stuffing
• scrap yarn in the following colors: olive green (you'll need the most of this), pale yellow or cream, red, and white

Plankton may ordinarily be 1% evil and 99% hot gas, but in this case, he's primarily made of yarn -- and 100% adorable. I bet he won't even try to steal your Krabby Patties.

Who could dispute that one of the best gifts you can give or receive is the gift with a practical use and that saves money for the recipient? Everybody likes to save money, and the parent of a new baby is certainly no exception. That is why I have always liked the hand made diaper wreath project. It's a gift that you can make by yourself. It's nearly 100% usable, and it will save that new parent a few precious dollars at a financially stressful time.

As a lifelong avid gamer, I had never really considered the "problem" of staying abreast of my children's video game -playing habits. I simply figured that I would likely be involved in any gaming that they did, so I'd be able to monitor it from the inside, so to speak.

What I didn't account for was the fact that being a husband and father takes some serious wind out of my figurative video game sails. Aside from the odd game of NHL hockey with my son, my personal gaming has all but disappeared. This is probably going to sound overly dramatic to those of you that have never experienced the loss of an important hobby, but it feels like a part of my brain is atrophying and a significant part of what made me, well, me is disappearing. I'm no longer on top of the latest in the gaming world, and I'm in serious danger of losing touch with what I once considered to be a culture I was very much involved with. Plus, my four-year-old is regularly kicking my butt at video game hockey, a game at which I used to be able to dominate against all challengers.

In honor of yet another round of recalled products originating in that country, I give to you a selection of toys and things that you can make and do yourself. None of these neat ideas requires lead based paint, poison toothpaste or tainted pet food. Follow the links and follow the instructions and I guarantee some great family fun.

Start at the Science Toy Maker for easy science learning crafts. If you need your science craft projects to be a little on the elementary side, you'll find a nice selection of early learning projects there. There are also science projects for the older kids including such things as a candle powered steam boat and an air powered rocket. The site is easy to navigate and it promises a lot of fun.

The art of creating musical instruments by hand is probably as old as man's use of tools. In fact, instrument making may actually predate tool making because I'd be willing to bet that ancient man found it more enjoyable making music than digging holes. I have always found xylophones to be some of the funnest of all instruments because of the carefree nature of their sounds. It seems to me that the xylophone lends itself to the idea of building one of your own so I went in search of xylophone ideas and have brought you some of the ones that I find most noteworthy.

You can start by checking out a web page titled: Basic Xylophone Building, by Jim Dobel of Elemental Design. In his web page, Jim gives you a good quick tutorial about what makes a xylophone tick. He gives a very basic description of the elements of a wood xylophone and how they are constructed and work. Jim also has some other interesting musical instrument links on his page that you might want to check out.

Even though it's easy to look up local phone numbers online, sometimes it's just as quick to check a dead-tree version of the phone book. It seems like I get a new version of my neighborhood Yellow Pages every month, so I guess a lot of people are still using them. Updated phone books are great to have on hand, but what do you do with the old ones?


In the last year, I've acquired enough to start a small landfill of my own, so here's what I do with the leftovers:

Well, just about everyone across the country is limp and wilted from the excessive heat we've been having, and Halloween marks the beginning of the stressful year end holiday crush. It's no wonder so many people begin to feel truly flattened and wrung out this time of year. This situation is the precursor to the flu season, with colds and sinus infections beginning to raise their ugly heads as well. If you're like me though, you have one of those iron-plated immune systems which seem to rarely let any of the nasty stuff get through. However, if you're like most people, some time within the next 90 days a little unseen bug is going to make a serious mess out of you.

There are, however, several defense strategies you can employ which will help raise your body's defenses prior to any of the attacks from these annual health marauders. Please follow with me as I outline a seasonal battle strategy of health for you. These are low cost and no cost ways that you can easily take better care of yourself and make your body a little less likely to suffer the ravages of colds and the flu.

Stop the presses! This just in! Breaking news! Lego has released their largest ever building set and Star Wars fans are drooling themselves to death. The Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon kit boasts over five thousand pieces and is large enough, at nearly three feet long, to hold action figures in it's flip top cockpit. The kit comes complete with five action figures including Han Solo, Chewbacca, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa. Also included is an official certificate of authenticity.

The kits from the original production run (undeclared quantity) will each be released with their own certificate of authenticity sealed in the protective box. The Lego site indicates that certificate numbers will be randomly released in the interest of fairness. The model features many moving parts, comes with a display card detailing ship specifications and stands without a base on it's own landing gear.

Oh yeah, the kit will set you back $500. No one ever said being a Star Wars fan would come cheap.

Here are some other great Lego ideas we've blogged about!

Each week, we'll show you how you can take a trendy decorating idea, garner inspiration from it and recreate a reasonable facsimile in your own home, easily and cheaply.

Whether a funky trend or a new-found staple, chalkboard vases are all the rage. I love 'em from a go-with-everything standpoint to the fact that my kid can decorate them over and over again.

Somehow, though, I cannot see paying 48.00 for one.

Since free always sounds much better to me, I scrounged around to see what I could use to make my own chalkboard vase at home.

Yes, we have chalkboard paint lying around, from refurbishing the kids' easel we got -- for free -- at Town Junk Day here.

Ah, and there, in the back of the hutch . . . it's the vase that came with the centerpiece I won at a wedding I went to, probably a hundred years ago now, but I knew it would come in handy someday. The square shape will be perfect for this project!

Three coats of paint later, my vase is done. The perfect vase for the cut flowers from our garden coop each week, and Owen can decorate it at the kitchen island while I cook dinner.

A free decorating idea that keeps a two-year old busy? Priceless!

Most people who aren't Jewish usually don't know what Rosh Hashanah is all about: we tend to think that Hanukkah is the big Jewish holiday, and forget about the others. But Rosh Hashanah -- New Year's Day for people, animals, and legal contracts -- is extremely important in the Jewish faith, as it begins the ten-day period before Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. This year, Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on September 12th.

The traditional symbols associated with Rosh Hashanah are a shofar (a ram's horn, blown to "awaken" people, both in literal and figurative senses) and apples and honey (which represent hopes for a sweet new year). Round challah bread with raisins is also popular.

The great UK blog Crafty Crafty has put together a nice post with a list of links to Rosh Hashanah-themed crafts for kids. There's a little paper shofar made out of a birthday horn, instructions showing how to make apple prints for cards, and links to several different sets of coloring pages, among other things. It's all a fun way for kids to celebrate, or maybe for kids who aren't Jewish to learn a little about the culture of some of their friends.

Shana tova!

Everyone knows how to ride a bike, right? But amazingly, not very many people know how to teach someone how to ride a bike. If you're considering taking the training wheels off of a youngster's bike and teaching them how to ride a two-wheeler, your first step should be to make sure they want to learn it. Children run on very different clocks, and some will want to learn at very early ages, and others will be content to wait a year or two.

Today my 4 year-old came home from a group play date where almost all of the other kids were riding their bikes without training wheels, and announced that he wanted to learn to do so too, this instant! So we made plans to head over to the local park with a nice flat paved area to practice. After the jump I'll share some of the ideas I used to make the experience fun for both him and me.

The Newport News, VA Daily Press is reporting a voluntary recall of 6,000 "Robbie Ducky" children's watering cans sold only at Jo-Ann stores (Jo-Ann Fabrics & Crafts or Jo-Ann Etc). The reason is the typical one lately: lead paint on the can's "beak."

The watering cans are yellow with an orange beak and are about 10 inches high by 6 inches wide. "Robbie Ducky Garden Collection Duck Watering Can" is printed on a sticker on the bottom of the watering can. They were sold from February 2007 through August 2007 for about $10.

Jo-Ann will refund the cost of the can when it is returned to their stores, but either way, parents should take it away from their kids ASAP.