I-Spy bags and bottles have been pretty popular for the past couple of years. I made several bags as Christmas gifts 2 years ago. They are great fun for kids to look at and try to find all of the items in them.
Since our letter this week is “J” I decided to make “Junk Jars” with the children. We will make these tomorrow, but I thought that I would share this idea today for my Frugal Fun post. Here is what you will need to do.
Materials:
empty plastic jar or bottle with a lid
“junk” (Various toys, buttons, beads, etc.)
uncooked rice
hot glue gun
Directions:
For the “Junk Jar” pictured above I used a clean empty peanut butter jar. I then added all sorts of items from buttons to beads to confetti to a mini pine cone. If it will fit in your jar or bottle then you can use it. Think about all of the miniature toys you might have lying around. They would be great for this project.
Next, add uncooked rice until the jar is almost full. Using a high temperature hot glue gun spread a thick bead of glue around either the rim of the jar or inside the lid. Quickly screw the lid on tight and allow it to dry for several minutes. Finally, give your child the jar and let them shake it.
Your child will probably have fun just looking at the jar while trying to find all of the items inside. However, you could make this into a game by asking your child to look for a specific item. You could also show your child how to use a stopwatch to see how long it takes him or her to find the item.
So, if you are looking for an inexpensive craft that will be fun for your child long after craft time is over then a “Junk Jar” may be just the project for you.
