18 July 2011

clothespin/popsicle stick airplane magnets

 Parents: This is a decorative magnet. This is not a toy. It has tiny parts that are easily broken.

I saw this adorable little wooden airplane on Pinterest last week and knew the kids would love it. The directions on Parents.com looked easy enough. I gathered some clothespins, popsicle/craft sticks and permanent markers and we all sat down.

Note: I do not normally let my children craft with permanent markers, for obvious reasons. I didn't really feel like waiting for paint to dry on this craft, so I took a risk and went for the markers. I lined the table thoroughly with old magazine pages from the recycling bin and supervised carefully. They did great.

I didn't have any craft foam on hand, so I used a utility knife to carefully cut the tail pieces. I used sandpaper to smooth the edges. We colored all the pieces separately and I hot glued them together when we were done.

 I like how I can still use the clothespin to hold papers.

Let me state again: Please do not use this as a toy. It will break within five minutes. At the least, you will have a bummed kid. At worst, your kid could choke on the pieces. 
Fun decoration only!

Here it is holding up my lofty “summer schedule” goal. 
We might accomplish half of the tasks on this schedule each day. 
Mom fail.
But the airplane magnet?
Total win!