Craft expert Mary Lyon shows how to organize and keep children busy during family road trips with a homemade traveling desk, a back-seat box for storage and bouncing buddies for window entertainment.
Traveling Desk
Materials:
small pillow
baking sheet
hook-and-loop tape
magnets
Steps:
- Attach a small pillow to the back of a baking sheet with hook-and-loop tape.
- Use magnets to hold papers in place and rest pens and other items against the lip of the pan.
Back-seat Box
Here's how to decorate a cereal box to hold children's snacks and games.
Materials:
cereal box
shelf-lining paper
staple
felt
Steps:
- Cover box in shelf-lining paper and cut a partial rectangular hole on its widest side, cutting three sides through and only scoring the fourth, so the opening bends back.
- Staple a piece of felt to the edge of the flap for easy pulling.
Bouncing Buddies
Materials:
colored foam core
glue
movable eyes
thin-gauge wire
wired suction cups
Steps:
- Cut scraps of colored foam core into animal or character faces, attaching features with glue (except the nose).
- Glue on movable eyes.
- Wrap a thin-gauge wire around a pencil or chopstick to make a spring, leaving about an inch straight on either end. Stick one end through the center of the face and disguise the end of it with the animal's nose. Attach the other end to a suction cup on back.
- Stick the bouncing buddies to the back-seat window.
Souvenirs on a String
Materials:
plastic sheet protectors
rope
snap hooks
Steps:
- String a series of plastic sheet protectors together with rope and snap hooks.
- Decorate each bag with the name of each specific destination.
- During the trip, have children store souvenir items such as ticket stubs, postcards and key chains in the bags.
- Attach the rope to the headrests of the front seats so that the organizers are within the children's reach.
* Note: After the trip, transfer the collection to a souvenir scrapbook or binder and have children file their keepsakes.
Resources The Frazzled Working Woman's Practical Guide to Motherhood
by Mary Lyon
Starburst Publishers, 1997
Order this title from Amazon.com.
Guests Mary Lyon
Author/Artist/Jewelry Designer/Craft Expert, Lori De Waal & Associates
Website:
www.frazz.com
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