That meant I had to figure out how to make a cardboard helmet for a costume.

In case any of you are still working on Halloween costume pieces (no judging here, I just started working on his latest costume this week), I thought I’d share how I made the cardboard helmet.

Not only is it perfect for a costume, it could be a fun kids craft for tweens, as well.

This simple helmet craft would go perfectly with your very own cardboard castle playhouse.

How to Make a Cardboard Helmet

I  used cereal boxes to make the majority of his helmet.  They are thinner, which makes them easy to cut and more comfortable to wear.

To start with, you will need to cut a 2 inch thick strip of cardboard that fits around your child’s head.  I wound up having to connect two pieces of cardboard together with duct tape to make it long enough.

Use tape to secure your cardboard strip in a circle that fits snugly around your child’s head.

Then cut two more strips of cardboard, taping them inside the circle and crossing in the middle (as seen in the picture below).

Be sure these two strips sit high enough that your child’s head can still fit inside the helmet.

 Tip:  A roll of paper towels is perfect for holding your cardboard helmet while you work.

You will notice one other addition in my picture, the start of Chop-Chop’s helmet decoration — a triangular nose guard.

At this point you can add in the start of a nose guard.  You could also add in side pieces to the helmet, like ear guards. It all depends on how you want your finished product to look.

The next step is to fill in the top of your helmet.

Cut four triangular pieces to fill in the spaces left from the criss-crossing cardboard strips you have at the top.

To make them fit better, make a small cut along the triangle’s bottom to allow you to overlap the bottom a bit, making the triangles rounder at the bottom.   This helps them curve more with the helmet.

Use plenty of tape, cutting off any pieces of cardboard that stick out, until you are happy with the result.  It doesn’t have to be perfect smooth, as that will be covered in a bit.

You could paint your homemade helmet, but duct tape helps make it look more finished.  Plus, it will make it more durable and a little more water resistant.

Start by covering the top of the helmet with strips of tape.

Then use long strips to go around the circumference of your duct tape helmet.

You can leave your helmet as is, or you can make it a little fancier.

We put a large crest on top of the cardboard helmet.  For this I used a slightly thicker cardboard, hot gluing two pieces together to make it even thicker.

If you choose to add a crest, you will want to cut the bottom of the crest so it curves inward, allowing it to fit snugly against the main portion of the helmet.

You can paint the crest or use more duct tape to give it color.  My son decided to color his with crayons.

Use hot glue to secure the crest to the helmet.

You can add other decorative pieces in the same manner.

We decided to make a larger nose guard out of thicker cardboard to add to our helmet.

That’s all there is to it when it comes to how to make a cardboard helmet for a costume.

A homemade cardboard helmet will help transform any young boy (or girl) into their favorite character.  It’s the perfect addition to dress up clothes for pretend play.

You’ll also enjoy these posts:

• Coat of Arms Craft — Perfect for adding a shield to your dress up area!
• Shark Party Games
• Straw Weaving Bracelet — tween craft

Edited post.  This post was originally published October 27, 2014. 

The post How to Make a Cardboard Helmet for a Costume first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Whether you want to host your own backyard summer camp, or you’re looking for basic survival skills activities for kids, this building a shelter challenge will provide hours of endless fun.  

Whether it’s a blanket fort in the middle of the living room on a rainy day, or turning a cardboard box into a castle, kids love building forts.

When it comes to simple STEM activities for kids, this is one they will be asking to do over and over again.  

Building a Shelter Challenge

This survival skills activity can be done with a wide range of ages.

4-5 year olds can work with older team members by giving suggestions and gathering materials.  Once the shelter is complete they will enjoy using it for pretend play.

6-10 year olds will have fun experimenting with how to use the materials to build the strongest structure.  They might try placing it in a variety of locations, raising and lowering the tarp, and angling the tarp different ways.

Older kids will get more creative.  You may even want to see what types of shelters they might come up with if you don’t provide them with all the suggested materials.  What if they don’t have the rope?  Or, if you provide them with nothing,will they make a lean-to with fallen branches and leaves?

Suggested Materials:

• Tarp
• Rope or Elastic Ties (Bungee Cords)

Set up a solar still with the kids ahead of time and let it start working while the kids are building their shelters.  

Building a Shelter

This activity works best in a large area, preferably one with plenty of trees.   A campground or park works well, but be sure to be courteous to others.  This means taking down the structure before you leave and not destroying the local plant life by cutting tree limbs, etc.

We are fortunate to have a small wooded area next to our house that worked perfectly for this activity.  If you can’t find enough trees, you may need to get creative.  Think picnic tables or taking the swings off your back yard swing set and letting the kids use the frame to help build their structure.

If you are working with a large group, divide kids into groups of 3-4.  This ensures everyone is getting to help build the shelter, not just watching it happen.

Then give each group their materials and plenty of time to create their hideaway.

It’s hard, but try not to give advice or lend a hand to the groups when they start out.   They may start off tying the tarp too low, or running out of rope.

Let them make mistakes.  Let them start over.  It’s all about the process.

I loved seeing how different each of the shelters were.

Building a shelter was a favorite at our backyard day camp.  The kids returned to their forts throughout the day, checking on them, making changes, and playing.

If you are doing this kids activity in your own backyard, I highly suggest keeping the structure up a few days.  It’s fun to see whether the structure will stay up on a windy or rainy day.  And it will provide endless hours of pretend play for the kids.  

Make a few tin can lanterns to go with it and take the pretending to a whole new level.

If you liked this survival skills challenge of making a shelter, you will also like:

• Teach Trail Marking with This No-Prep Activity (includes free printable)
• How to Build a Solar Still to Purify Water
• Cook S’mores in a DIY Solar Oven
• How to Make a Tin Can Stove 

The post Survival Skills Challenge: Building a Shelter first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Kids of all ages love to pretend play.  That’s why play kitchens, plastic tool sets, and cardboard box castles are always big hits with little ones.

For older kids who are into pretending to be spies, here are a few simple kids spy activities to take that play beyond just hiding behind that living room chair.

Lots of kids enjoy playing spies.  Reading about George Washington’s spy ring while we studied the Revolutionary War kicked our interest into high gear.  We couldn’t wait to try out a few secret spy activities of our own.

Simple Secret Code Activity

George Washington’s spies wrote their messages in secret code to keep the British from knowing their plans.  (They would have used a homemade quill, which you can also try.)

Your kids can have fun sending messages in their own secret codes.  To create your own code, write the letters of the alphabet down a piece of paper.  Then pick a letter to start at.  Write the number 1 next to that letter and continue numbering the letters 1-26.   Make 2 copies of your new code, being careful that they are numbered the same.

The numbers will represent the letters of the alphabet.  Use the numbers to write your own secret message, separating each number with a comma to make it easier to decode.  Leave plenty of space between words.

Give your message to a friend.   They will need the second copy of the code in order to decipher the secret message.

Once your kids have the hang of writing messages in code they can try writing them in invisible ink.  (We were surprised to discover that invisible ink was actually used by Washington’s spies during the Revolutionary War.)

DIY Invisible Ink

Materials Needed:

• Cotton Swab/Paintbrush
• White Paper
• Candle and Lemon Juice or Milk
• Baking Soda and Grape Juice

There are lots of ways to make your own invisible ink at home.

My favorite way to make invisible ink is with lemon juice.  Simply pour a little lemon juice into a small bowl.  Dip a cotton swab into the liquid and write your message on plain white paper.   (As an alternative you can also use milk.)

Let the paper dry completely, approximately 1 hour.

To make the message reappear, carefully hold it over the flame of a lit candle.  Be sure to keep it several inches away from the flame to keep the paper from catching on fire or scorching.  We found that slowly moving the paper in small circles worked best.

You can also try putting the paper in a 350 degree oven for 2-3 minutes.   Keep an eye on the paper so it doesn’t catch fire!  This may be best if working with young children.

The easiest way for younger children is to make invisible ink with baking soda and water.  Simply mix baking soda and water to make a paste.  You don’t want it too thick or your message will be very noticeable as you write it.

Use a cotton swab to write your message on white paper.

Let the paper dry completely.

There are 2 ways to read this invisible ink.  The safest and easiest way for young kids involves grape juice.

Have your child use a paint brush to lightly brush grape juice over the page.  The letters (or in my son’s case — picture) will appear darker than the rest of the page.

The other way to make the message appear is the same way that works for the lemon juice ink.

Holding our secret messages above the candle’s flame and watching the invisible ink appear helped bring a big of history to life.  It was fun to imagine being part of George Washington’s secret spy ring.

These simple kids spy activities are perfect for pretend play or as part of a Revolutionary War unit.  

You’ll also like these posts:

• Using Pretend Play to Teach Money Skills
• Colonial America Craft: Make a Tin Can Lantern 
• Make a Corn Husk Doll

The post Kids Spy Activities: Invisible Ink & Secret Code first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

I remember when my daughter got her first play kitchen.  She spent hours serving me plastic food on tiny princess plates.  She thought she was just having fun, but I knew her pretend play was helping her develop language and social skills.

Kids learn best when they are engaged and having fun.  Pretend play is the perfect opportunity to help your child develop and strengthen money skills.  

(Related Post: Measuring Volume: Hands-On Math Activity)

This math activity is simple to set up and uses materials you already have on hand.  Plus, kids love to play store!

Teaching Money Skills with Pretend Play

To set up the activity, first gather the items you will place in your “store.”  We used items from our play kitchen and some of our pretend tools, too.

You can gather the items yourself, but allowing your child to select the items will give them more ownership of the activity.  They may choose small plastic animals, action figures, or even items from your pantry.  Part of the fun is seeing what they come up with.

Next, give each item a price.  I used Post-It Notes to do this.  You could also write prices on masking tape or use tape to attach small squares of paper with the prices written on them.

You can use pretend money for this activity, or raid the piggy bank and use real coins like we did. (I love this play money set because it’s so realistic.)

Modify this money skills activity to fit your child’s needs.   

For younger children you might want all the prices to be a multiple of 10.  This way your child can work on counting by 10’s and use dimes to make their purchases.  If your child is working on counting by 5’s, write prices they can pay with nickels.

For older children you can write larger prices and encourage them to use a variety of coins to purchase the items.  This is great if they are just learning to count out quarters.

(Related Post:  Teach Counting Skills with Pennies)

How you play will depend on your child’s age and how comfortable they are with counting money.

If you’re just starting out, have your child go shopping.  Once they pick the items they want to buy, let them count out the coins they owe you.   Not only will they be learning how to count their money, but they will also be learning to make decisions.  If they don’t have enough money to buy all the items they selected, they will need to decide which ones they really want.

Next, you might want to try letting them be the store owner.  Go shopping and give them your payment.  Have them check to see if you gave them the right amount.  Is it too little?  How much do you still owe?  Is it too much?  You can use the opportunity to show them how to count back change.

You might even have them write up a receipt for your purchases.  We worked on adding several amounts of money together, being careful to keep the decimal points lined up.  Once the kids told me what I owed, I had them write out the subtraction problem to figure out the change they owed me.

You can enrich this pretend play activity even further by adding art to it.  Ask your child to create a name for the store and design a store ad.

Playing store is such an important way for kids to work on real-life money skills.  With very little set up they can work on counting money, adding monetary amounts, and giving change, all skills they need to know.

You may also like these math activity posts:

• Nerf Gun Math Fact Practice  — They’ll love practicing math facts this way.  
• Free Printable Addition Facts Bingo — Everyone loves Bingo!
• Math Fact Races  — Great for kinesthetic learners.
• Homemade Base 10 Manipulatives  — Perfect for helping kids understand double digit addition and subtraction.

The post Using Pretend Play to Teach Money Skills first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Because those memories are so precious to me, I could not wait to give my children the magic of their own cardboard castle playhouse.   This is by far our favorite recycled craft ever, and has had several years of use so far.

When we started our medieval castle unit this school year, I just knew we had to make our very own castle.  Thankfully I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to cardboard boxes, and we still had the huge furniture box my husband’s armoire came in years ago.  Even before kids I KNEW that box had playhouse potential!

*Furniture and appliance boxes work great for making playhouses.  If you don’t have a large box handy try calling an appliance or hardware store to see if they have empty boxes from the appliance they have on display.*

DIY Cardboard Castle Playhouse

During our medieval castle unit we read about different castle structures that were built for defensive purposes.  When we built our castle playhouse we tried to incorporate as many of those features as we could.

The first item the kids decided to add to their cardboard castle was a drawbridge.  We used a marker to outline the area to cut.  Then I used my bread knife to carefully cut out the drawbridge.  (Using a bread knife in a sawing motion is much easier than trying to cut a large amount of cardboard with scissors.)

We used a nail to poke a small hole towards the top of the drawbridge door on one side.  A long piece of yarn was threaded through the hole with a large bead tied to each end.  This makes a convenient way for the kids to pull up the draw bridge once they are inside.

Next they asked for loophole windows in the castle.  The narrow loopholes made it hard for attackers to shoot into the castle, while allowing the archers inside to easily shoot out.  The kids helped measure and draw three windows on each of the castle’s sides.  Then I carefully cut out each piece.

One of the most distinctive features seen on many medieval castles is at the top.  The battlements of the castle allowed guards to take cover during an attack, while easily moving to the open spots to shoot.  We used a ruler to measure the space between the battlements of our castle and tried to make them as even as possible.

Once all the cutting was complete, we used a can of spray paint to give the castle a mottled appearance to make it look a bit more like stone.

This cardboard castle is great for pretend play.  Add some blankets, pillows, and books and the castle makes a cozy reading spot, too.

For more castle activities:

• Practice spelling words with kinetic sand castles.
• Design your own coat of arms to hang in the cardboard castle.

Do your kids love to build?  Get more building fun with our Up! ebook.  

The post Build Your Own Cardboard Castle Playhouse first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Warm weather means more time spent outdoors.  With all the spring flowers popping up, and the kids still being in fairy-mode from our first Tooth Fairy visit and making new fairy houses for the year, making Fairy Soup was the perfect pretend play activity this week.

I first saw the idea of Fairy Soup at Happy Hooligans.  She has so many fun ideas!

I gave the kids a couple small buckets to collect flowers, leaves, and whatever else they wanted to put in their fairy soup.

The kindergartner began picking lots of pink and white flowers.

The preschooler decided he was making “Beetle Soup” instead.  (He also chose to make a “Beetle House” instead of a fairy house.  Same fun, but giving it his own twist!)

To start his Beetle Soup he got a big shovel of dirt to add to the water.

Then he added handfuls of grass, gravel from the driveway, and a bit of the glitter I had brought out.  (Kids just can’t resist glitter!)

Once he had his muddy concoction made, he checked out his sister’s flowery one….and he decided he wanted to make a new soup!

They both spent almost an hour adding flowers, stems, leaves, glitter (and more glitter, and more glitter….) to their soup.  Then they poured it into small containers to sit by their fairy and beetle houses.   After all, they wanted to make sure the fairies could find plenty of food!

I never expected this activity would last so long, but they were having a blast!  We will definitely be doing it again this year!

If you liked this post, you may also like:

• Craft Stick Fairy Races
• Seashell Fairy House
• Pretend Play:  Playdough Cookies

The post Fairy Soup Pretend Play first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.