Salad Spinner--Spin Art

Remember Spin Art? You know--squeeze some paint on a spinning piece of paper on a turn table. When the spin table stops, you have a cool modern art piece. Well, I have a low cost-low tech(no batteries needed) version of this fun painting project. Do you have a salad spinner that you don't use? Some kids paint? Some paper? Some scissors? A bowl? A marker/pencil? Well, you are ready to go!

Materials:
Salad Spinner--they are inexpensive if you need to buy one. Once used for crafts, you may not want to use it for salads again.
Paint--washable is the best
Paper--cut into circles the size of the salad spinner. This is good for those who need to practice to tracing and cutting. I also found if you flatten a small paper bowl, it is good for a template.
Paper towels for drying and cleaning.
Spoons and/or droppers to applying paint

Directions:
1. Cut several paper circles to fit spinner. Most kids want to do this more than one time.
2. Place paper in spinner. Do not spin yet.
3. Have child drizzle different colors of paint onto paper.
4. Close spinner. Now, have child spin-spin-spin.
5. Open up and see results.
6. Place art on paper towel to dry.

Making New Crayons Out Of Old Crayons!

What to do with old broken crayons? Make new ones! Great project for a rainy and/or hot day project for any age group. They won't be able to wait to use their new crayons.

Materials:

* Old crayons
* Dixie/bathroom paper cups
* Microwave
* Optional--candy molds, flexible ice cube trays( I have some that come is lots of shapes), muffin tins, paper cups for muffin tins. Also use of freezer.

Directions:

1. Have child select colors he/she wants to use. One dark color with one or more lighter colors.
2. Peel off paper off crayons.
3. Break crayons into small pieces. Little ones will love this!
4. Place broken crayons into Dixie/Bathroom paper cup.
5. Place cup into microwave. Timing of microwaves vary. I set mine for four minutes. If crayons are not melted, I microwave cup for an additional 30 second to one minute. ** Crayon wax is very hot. Please have an adult do this procedure. *** If you have a mold, pour hot wax into mold.
6. Let cup/mold sit for an hour. Or you can place cup/mold in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.
7. Peel cup away from crayon or pop out of mold. Now crayon is ready to use!

Good Indoor Activity--Roller Skating @ The Skate N Fun Zone

Want to take a trip back to your childhood? Need an indoor activity on a hot day for all ages? Go roller skating at the Skate-N-Fun Zone in Manassas, VA. Not only do they have roller skating, there is Laser Tag for Tweens and above and a Fun Indoor Playground for younger children. Did I mention they have all types of games like Skeeball, Air Hockey, and Shoot-The-Hoops as well? At first it looks expensive, but Skate-N-Fun offer many different price packages per day that you will find one to suit your budget. Mommy & Me Skate time on Thursday Mornings and the Fun Pak on Sunday afternoons are a really good deal.

* Laser Zone is $3.00 per person extra unless otherwise stated.
* Play Zone is $4.00 per person extra unless otherwise stated. * It is included on Mommy/Daddy and Me Thursdays.

** There is a Customer Appreciation Day on Sunday, July 11, 2010 from 4:30pm-7:00pm. Admission is free. Skate rental is $4.25.