Rainmaker

Make a noisy rainmaker! Because you need more noise in your life.

You will need:

• 1 and 1/2 to 2 inch wide mailing tube, with stoppers
• Nails that match the width of your mailing tube (we used 32)
• Duct tape or contact paper
• Dried seeds, beans or rice (about 1 cup)
• Yarn and feathers (optional)




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How to:

1. Hammer nails in random spots all over mailing tube.
2. Place stopper at one end of tube.
3. Fill tube with dried beans.
4. Place another stopper at other end of tube.
5. Wrap entire tube with duct tape or contact paper. (This covers up the nail heads.)
6. Decorate one end with yarn and feathers.

Thoughts:

More tool madness! Nothing says craptastic quite like handing a three year a hammer while you try to hold a nail in place. This was a very simple project and a lot of fun. I tried to incorporate some learning in this one and had different types of dried beans and seeds set out in different bowls so we could hear the different sounds each one made. Our verdict: although I thought rice made the prettiest sound, it fell through the tube entirely too fast for Elliott's taste. He decided a mixture of all the beans, popcorn and rice sounded the most pleasing.

I braided three pieces of yarn and tied a feather to each string and tied it around the top of the stick. It's an optional step, but added that Applebee's flair to the rainmaker.

Elliott's Evaluation:

You can tilt it and tilt it and tilt it and it will rain. You can see the beans in it when you pour them in. I love my mommy.

Bean Frame

A craptastic way to show off your favorite photos!

You will need:

• Plain, wooden picture frames (We found ours in the dollar bin at Michael's Crafts.)
• Assortment of beans (Walmart sells a bag of mixed beans for around $2.)
• Glue

How to:

1. Apply glue to one section of frame at a time. (It's a slow process. Focus on a little bit at a time.)
2. Add beans.
3. Let dry.

Thoughts:

We got this idea from a great kid's book called Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Nancy Wallace. Elliott lost interest in gluing the beans on after 20 minutes or so, so we spread this craft out into a three day project. Gluing the beans on did get a little tedious. Near the end he got so bored he ended up just pouring the beans on to the glue and we shook off whatever didn't stick. (It looked just as good.) Despite the boredom, he did enjoy making this frame and it actually looks really cute.

When Elliott got a little sidetracked, I used the opportunity to let him sort the different types of beans. He especially enjoyed finding ones that he eats. (Which would be two: peas and chickpeas.) As an added bonus, he actually tried a new bean after making this frame-the Lima bean. He wasn't a fan, but trying something new is a win in my eyes.