Googly eyes have been around forever, and they are used mainly for DIY crafting projects and commercial toys. The term itself has been linked to a type of doll in Germany where the eyes move about when the doll is also moved. Whatever the true origin of googly eyes, one thing is for certain: it is here to stay, and it is mega fun to work with when you are creating crafting projects with the kids.
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A most googly-eyed game for the family
Googly eyes are associated with fun and silliness, and it is no small matter that there is actually a Googly Eyes Showdown Game in the market that has enjoyed a lot of success as of late.
The Googly Eyes Showdown Game is hugely popular as a tabletop game because it’s easy, fast, and hilarious. You will be grouped into teams and each team will have a drawer, that drawer will be wearing the special googly shades that distort the vision of the wearer and prevents him from seeing clearly.
One team has to draw, while the other team has to guess what the artist has drawn. It’s going to be a little challenging because you will see squiggly lines with shades on.
This game just proves that when you take a great concept farther, you are going to get something even better down the line. This game can be purchased online and it really is something to try if you would like to give your kids a game that would pry them away from their gadgets.
Let’s do some crafts
Mummy boxes
Nothing says “I love you” more than letting your kids join you in building DIY crafts and we happen to have a very easy project here that is perfect for all age groups. It’s called mummy boxes and these are essentially boxes for different kinds of treats that are dressed up as mummies.
You know how kids thrive with novelty items and who says that we always have to buy the ones made with plastic. The great thing about these mummy boxes is you get to decide what goes into them and what they get at the bottom when they finish all the candy. This is a great way to engage your kids and get some nutrition in them in the middle of the day when their energies are flagging.
For this project, you will just need the following:
1. empty toilet paper cores
2. sports wrap (white)
4. googly eyes
So what you are essentially going to do is:
You are going to wrap each of the toilet paper cores with the white sports wrap until you have everything covered from top to bottom.
Use your crafting glue to secure the sports warp across the edges (top and bottom) and let these dry out. You can apply the googly eyes to anywhere on the rolls. As long as they look funny and just right, you are free to adjust the height of the eyes from the edge of the toilet paper core and you will also get to decide how far apart the eyes should be. Let everything dry.
Take note that the bottom of the cores need to be secured so the candies don’t fall out, so when you are wrapping the cores, be sure to add a few extra layers on the bottom to secure the contents of the box.
The topside of the core will, of course, remain open so you can load up the box with some goodies. For added realism, rub the edges of the tape with your hands to stretch them out a bit, and this will give the impression of some mummy bandages coming loose. Perfect!
Colorful peacocks
For this project, you will need some colorful plastic plates, paint, construction paper, crafting glue, and a pair of scissors.
The first step is to paint a design over the colorful plastic plate. So you don’t have to cover everything up, just use the color of the plate as inspiration and create a design that resembles the symmetric patterns of the peacock. What is really important here is you get that feathery look with dots near the top, which will make the colorful peacock creation more realistic.
While the plates are drying with the pain, it’s time to draw the design for the neck and head of the peacock. Basically you will just be drawing a bowling pin shape that is almost as tall as the plate itself.
After cutting out the main shape you can attach a lighter colored beak (a small cut triangle) to the face and attach the googly eyes. If you want, you can also add one or two feathers up top to give the bird an even more realistic look. Once the neck and head are ready, you can glue them to the dried plastic paper plate.
If you want to add legs, simply draw a pair of them on the construction paper and glue the legs behind the plastic plate. Voila – you now have a perfectly believable and colorful peacock made of a plastic plate and construction paper.
Tips when working with kids:
- Make sure that your kids know how to use scissors before letting them cut out the designs. Never give kids cutting tools like box cutters unless they are old enough as they can seriously hurt themselves in the process.
- Not all projects can be done by kids five and below so if you feel that your child is not old enough, find another project that is easier to manage.
- Kids can definitely help with painting and gluing – you can delegate tasks like these to them and you won’t have any problems later on.
- Teach your kids to be creative when making designs or cutting out templates. The purpose of crafts projects is to encourage kids to be more creative with their hands, and this isn’t something that they get very often with modern technology.
