Category Archives: Simple Projects

Fly You High

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flying booksWe brought this flying book craft to a community event. It’s simple to prep, easy to make, and the smile you get when a finished book “flies” off the table is priceless!

You’ll need:

Start by cutting the construction paper into quarters, resulting in four, 4″ x 6″ rectangles. 1 rectangle = 1 book cover. Next, cut the standard white paper into quarters, resulting in four, 4.5″ x 5.5″ rectangles. The white paper rectangles will be the pages of your book. Fold two white paper rectangles into the construction paper cover and staple it to create a book.

Punch a hole in the top of the book, about 1″ away from the spine. Then run a piece of patterned tape (or color masking tape) down each side of the book to create a “spine.” Or, you can skip this step and simply use markers to decorate the spine and cover of the book.

book spine step 2One boy wanted to make a “monster” book, so I created a spiky spine on his book using color masking tape. To make a spiky spine, stick one piece of tape right on edge of the spine. Repeat on the other side. Press the tape together.

monster spine step 1Then cut out the monster spines!

monster spine step 2Use the markers to customize your wings, then attach a wing to each side of the book with glue dots. Finish by running a piece of elastic beading cord through the punched hole, loop the ends together, and knot. Dangle, flip, jiggle, and swoop your book at the end of the cord for full-on flying action!

book spine step 2

Avast!

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pom-pom cannonIf you do programs with kids, inevitably, you’re going to do something with pirates. Now, you can come well-armed with this amazing pom-pom cannon!

I created this project for a large-scale Treasure Island event, so it’s designed to be quick to make, cheap to produce, and fun to play with. It was a huge hit. The brave crew at the Historical Society of Princeton helped kids make 500+ cannons at the event. Arrr!

You’ll need:

  • 1 paper towel tube
  • 1 piece black construction paper
  • Metallic markers for decoration
  • A cannon wheel template printed on an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of card stock
  • 2 jumbo paperclips
  • Hot glue or glue dots
  • Tape for construction
  • 1 jumbo 2″ pom-pom (any color)

Wrap the paper towel roll in black paper and tape to secure. Then use the metallic markers to decorate the cannon and the wheels. We used metallic Sharpie markers.  Silver showed up the best on the black paper.

Slide the two jumbo paperclips on one end of the tube. These are the “weights” on the base of your cannon so it won’t slump forward when sitting on a table. I found it’s best to put the clips side by side, like so:

paper clip placementNow it’s time to attach the wheels. I used hot glue for the version you see here, but we used glue dots and/or tape at the event (while I love hot glue, I’m not big on running a hot glue gun for 5 hours amongst thousands of kids).

You’ll notice that the wheels are attached almost in the center of the cannon. You’ll have to play with the placement of the wheels a little to get the cannon to tilt just right.

pom-pom cannonReady to fire? Hold the cannon aloft in one hand, push the pom-pom into the “mouth” (i.e. the non-paperclip end) of the cannon, and then blow a big puff of air into the opposite end. The “cannonball” will launch!

Now, how about some swords matey? Printable tattoos? A floating island hideout? A parrot pal to perch on your wrist? Or this lovely (and incredibly easy) ship in a bottle?