#kid projects

Kids’ Subtle Crochet Hat Pattern Crochet Hat Pattern This crochet hat has been designed to make the hat secondary on a kid’s body. Most of us adults know how peer pressure and bullying happened in the winter in wearing hats. This design is called the Granny Striped Hat Pattern designed for two age categories. Ages 2 – 4 years old and 6 – 8 years old. The tender age of 6 – 8 when kids are in…

Crochet Mini Toddler Shark Crochet Mini Toddler Shark Snuggle Sack Many people have requested a smaller version of the latest Fin-Tastic Shark Snuggle Sack by Yarnspirations.com. Jennie Renshaw of Missouri, USA saw a need and fulfilled a need by doing an adaptation of the Yarnspirations.com Shark for her 3 year old grandson, Chase. Free Pattern: Crochet Shark. See notes below for the…

Rainbow Granny Stripes Hat for Kids

Crochet Rainbow Granny Stripes Hat Pattern Granny Stripes Hat A unisex option for a granny stripes hat for two age categories of kids. Pattern included is for ages 2 – 4 years old and 6 – 8 years old. Those 5-year-old sizes are in between the two sizes. The hat is really easy to follow along for the instructions. There is a total of 6 colours used in this hat but you can play with different…

Of course the ideas are great but can I achieve the execution? We'll see. Only a few of them need stuff we don't just have- bees wax for candles for example- but sometimes the Club will try to have theme weeks and I'm not sure all my ideas will work? Plus I'm with 5 and 6 year olds and sometimes I think I over estimate their ability and willingness to stick with an idea.

Although the snow globes were a goddess blessed win.

Borax     (Its in other things, but Borax is best)

Water

Food     coloring

Pipe     cleaners (chenille craft sticks)

Borax is sold with laundry detergents as a natural cleaner.

What You Do

The large size of the crystals comes from two things:

A     structure or armature on which     the crystals grow (Pipe Cleaner)

Controlling     the cooling rate of the crystal growing solution

1.      The first thing you need to do is bend the pipe cleaners the shape you want for your crystal "rock" or geode. For a rock form, you can simply twist several pipe cleaners end-to-end and crumple them up into a rock shape. Neatness really doesn't count because you're going to coat the entire mess with crystals. For a geode, you can spiral pipe cleaners into a hollowed shell shape. Either works fine. You don't need to completely fill in the open spaces with pipe cleaner fuzz, but you don't want giant gaps either.

2.     Next, find a container slightly larger than your shape. You want to be able to set the shape in the container, without having it touch the sides, with enough space that you can completely cover the form with liquid solution.

3.     Remove the shape from the container. Boil enough water to fill the container enough that it would cover your pipe cleaner form. Stir in borax until it stops dissolving. One easy way to make sure you have as much borax as possible in the water is to microwave the mixture back to boiling.

1.      Add food coloring. The crystals will be lighter than the solution, so don't worry if it seems deeply colored.

2.     Place the pipe cleaner shape in the solution. You may need to shake it around a bit to dislodge air bubbles to make sure it won't float.

3.     This is where the controlled cooling come into play. You want the solution to cool slowly in order to get the largest crystals. Cover the container with a towel or plate. You can wrap it in a hot towel or place it in a warm location,

4.     Allow a couple of hours for the crystals to start growing. At this point, use a spoon to dislodge the shape from the bottom of the container. You don't have to do this step, but it seems to make it easier to remove the crystals at the end if they are loosened early. Let the crystals grow several more hours or overnight.

5.     Remove the form from the container. The crystals may be perfect now or they may be fairly small and incompletely covering the shape (most common). If they are fine as they are, you can let them dry, otherwise you need more crystals.

1.      Prepare a new solution, dissolving as much borax as you can in water, adding food coloring (doesn't have to be the same color), and sinking the crystal-covered shape. Fresh crystals will grow on the existing ones, larger and better-shaped. Again, slow cooling is key for best results.

2.     You can do another round of crystal-growing or finish the project whenever you are satisfied with the crystal size. Let the crystal dry on a paper towel.