I know, I know, the Olympic Games are almost over, but don't underestimate the appeal of a bit of crafting to small children; something that they can make, wave around, pretend it's a sword or wand, hit each other with. I pinched this idea from a sports day afternoon we went to a few weeks ago and thought it was such good fun that I really wanted to share it. The ones we created there were made with paper, but they did not stand up to over-enthusiastic play, so I made these from card.
You will need:
- Yellow tissue paper
- Orange tissue paper
- Gold card (A4 size)
- Red card (A4 size)
- Double-sided sticky tape
- Scissors
- Glue
- Ruler
- Cut both the red and gold sheets of card in half diagonally, corner to corner.
- Using the double-sided sticky tape, stick the two pieces of card together, along their long sides, making sure the gold side is on top (pic 1).
- Roll into a cone shape and secure with more sticky tape. The card is stiff and kids will need a bit of help with this part (pic 2).
- Using the scissors, snip rough zigzag/flame shapes into the top of the red card (pic 3). Younger ones may need some supervision with this, as you need sharp scissors for the card.
- Roughly cut or tear the tissue paper into small triangular shapes (pic 4).
- Dab some glue onto the straight end of the tissue paper triangles and fix to the inside of the torch.
- Wave around while cheering on your own team of choice.
We had lots of fun with these. The older ones were able to do most of it themselves, while the younger ones (despite huge enthusiasm for the glue, scissors and tissue paper) needed some help. The girls insisted on "Princess Torches", hence the pink one below (it's awful, I know). The boys could not have cared less and just wanted to hit each other with them.
I am so very proud of the British Olympic Team, of their achievements, their conduct, and their success. This time one year ago this country was rioting. It was a grim time. It just feels so good to celebrate good news and positive role models.
Last of all, a golden postbox! The Royal Mail promised to spray paint a post box gold in the home town of every gold-medal winning British athlete. The Brownlee brothers, from Leeds, won gold and bronze in the triathlon on Tuesday. I drove past it this week but it's a busy road and there was no-where to pull over, so I found this image on the internet. Do you know, Yorkshire has won more medals than any other county in the UK. With 6 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals, if Yorkshire was a country it would be 11th on the medal table*!
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| Image from http://www.goldpostboxes.com/gallery?postbox=70 |
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* I do hope I worked that out right. Please correct me if I am wrong!
the medal table is changing all the time, yes Yorkshire breeds a tough bunch, well done to all team GB and love your torches!
ReplyDeletexxx
It's been fun to watch - and we still have the Paralympics to come! x
Deletethese look like fun to make! I'm so impressed with team GB, they've done brilliantly. I watched the Brownlee brothers win the triathlon. Wish I'd seen it all, alas I only saw the 10k run. great tutorial :)
ReplyDeleteI only saw the odd bit - mostly I can only watch it when it's on in the evenings. The kids don't really let me sit down and watch telly in the daytime. Which is probably a good thing!
DeleteLove the torches, good idea :) Oh wow, the postbox is such a good way to commemorate the event, feeling proud to be British and proud to live in Yorkshire. x
ReplyDeleteI just love that postbox! I drove past it again today and two men in business suits were pointing at it and chatting and smiling - Olympics love! x
DeleteThe torches look great! I'll have to do them with the toddler for the next Olympics :-) x
ReplyDeleteThat's another 4 years away! Although at least he'll be big enough to work the scissors and glue all by himself - bless! x
DeleteThat made me laugh! Love awful princess torches and boys using them as weapons. So true! :) Nick x
ReplyDeleteHi Nick, thanks for stopping by. Boys do like to turn things into weapons, don't they?? My husband always says he was never allowed toy gun as a child so he made one out of sticklebricks (remember those?) x
DeleteNice bit of crafting. Looks like fun. Although I haven't watched much of the Olympics on the tv, I am really enjoying listening to the updates on the radio. Hearing positive things about Team GB and all their achievements as the first headline is so great. Love the golden post box, well done Yorkshire!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun, the girls liked it, at least! I too have had the radio on constantly in the kitchen tuned to Five Live. Well, as soon as Katy left I re-tuned it to Five Live - no more Radio 1, what a relief! ;-) x
DeleteHi Gillian!
ReplyDeletei just love reading your blog! It always lightens my mood and makes me happy, there's so much inspiration and love in it..
Please keep it going ;) at the moment i try to knit the pillow you once blogged (the one with the squares in patchwork design ;) i got 13 by now, so still a lot to knit left haha )
I also fell in love with the apple-books-bag for the teacher. It'll probably be my next project :)
So, I have to say thank you so much for all your lovely ideas and for sharing it!
xx vera from germany
Hi Vera,
DeleteThank you for such a kind and generous comment! I really appreciate you taking the time to stop by and leave such nice words. Good luck with the pillow, I hope knitting the little squares doesn't drive you crazy!
Gillian x
Go Yorkshire!
ReplyDeleteI remember those days ... crafting at the kitchen table and whatever I thought we were making discovering the kids had other ideas!
Got to agree with Vera, you do 'happy house' really well, even on the odd occasion when it isn't x
Yes - it's really all about the glue and scissors, rather than the end result!
DeleteThank you Annie. We aren't always happy - who is? Always hard to get that blogging balance right between focusing on the good times vs making the blog a place of a perfect life fiction. x