Individual Mini Pinatas

Make It:

Check out these great ideas for creating the perfect mini pinata for a favor or gift.

Ruffled blog has the cutest idea for how to make individual pinatas using paper mache. Their idea is for wedding favors but they could easily be adapted for kids.

Good for ages 6 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://ruffledblog.com/diy-mini-pinata-wedding-favors/

 

One charming party also has a mini pinata for kids tutorial using two white paper cones, tissue garland, ribbon and of course fun candy and prizes. She uses a hot glue gun but tape should work as well.

Get the instructions here:
http://onecharmingparty.com/2011/04/29/cinco-de-mayo-pinata/

Not martha makes individual pinatas using a balloon, laundry starch, and tissue paper.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.notmartha.org/tomake/tinypinata/

Refinery 29 shares very thorough instructions for 2 different pinatas and has a great idea for how to get the balloon to be a rounder shape - putting masking tape on the oblong end.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.refinery29.com/diy-pinatas/slideshow?page=1#slide-1

Studio diy share how to make a pinata using a square kleenex box as the base.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.studiodiy.com/2012/04/26/diy-mini-pinatas-for-cinco-de-mayo/

Buy It:

Artificial Pet Jellyfish

Bhoomplay has a video tutorial for how to make a jellyfish in a bottle and they look so real.  All it takes is a plastic water bottle, a transparent plastic grocery bag (the thinner the better, like the ones used in the produce department) and some food coloring. 

Good for ages 6 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://bhoomplay.wordpress.com/2011/09/09/diy_jellyfish_eng/

Paper Mache Bank

Smaller has the cutest idea for how to make a bank using paper mache.  They call the money balls and start with an inflated balloon.

Good for ages 3 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://smallmagazine.typepad.com/smaller/2010/02/heres--a-creative-way-to-encourage-saving-which-lets-face.html

Snowball Search Game

The amazing mess has the cutest idea for a game that brings the outdoors inside. Hide cotton balls (snowballs) throughout the house and then give each child an ice cube tray for collection, that way they'll know if they've found all of the snowballs.

Good for ages 3 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.amazingmess.com/2012/01/indoor-snowball-hunt.html

Colorful Thread Bowl

Elizabeth Andree shows how to make a beautiful bowl out of colored yarn and paste. Your kids will love getting messy with the paste and love the pretty bowl they made as well.  Unfortunately her site is no longer available. 

Good for ages 3 and up.

Eighteen 25 has similar yarn bowl instructions as well.

http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/2010/03/yarn-baskets.html

How to Make a Bouncing Ball

about.com's chemistry guide has instructions for how to make a polymer bouncing ball.  Once again, the main ingredient, as with most of the science projects is borax.  Beyond that it's just cornstarch and glue and some food coloring to make it pretty.

Good for ages 7 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/bounceball.htm

Candy Cane Science Experiment

Candy experiments shows yohow to see the colors that make up a candy cane.  All you need is a shallow dish of water and a candy cane and the stripes of the candy cane will slowly melt into the water.

Good for ages 4 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.candyexperiments.com/2011/12/candy-cane-stripes.html