Let’s all say it together now:  “Awwwwwwww!”  I mean, seriously, how adorable are these hamster hacky sacks?  Instructables user miss_who whipped them up using kids-size socks!  Of course, you caould also use adult-sized socks to make a larger version as well.  Since each hacky sack only takes one sock, this is a great project for odd socks that you may have laying around.  (And who doesn’t?!)  [how to make hamster hacky sacks]

Project estimate:

• Sock, on hand or $1
• Felt scraps, on hand
• Needle and thread, on hand
• Rice, on hand or $1

Total:  Free and up!

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It’s getting down to the end of summer – but it’s still not too late for some back yard summer fun!  And what’s more fun than a classic game, like Yahtzee?  Emily at Nap Time Creations made a super-sized version of the game out of a 4×4 post cut into squares.  (This would be a great use for post scraps left over after building a deck!)  And of course, you could also use these super-sized game pieces to play any of your other favorite dice games as well.  [how to make a yard Yahtzee game]

Project estimate:

• 4×4 post, on hand or about $7 and up
• Black Sharpie, on hand
• Dry erase board or chalkboard, on hand or $1 and up
• Bucket, on hand or $1

Total:  Free and up!

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My kids are my life. I love hanging out with them and coming up with fun things to do together.  With it being summertime we are pretty much living outside from the time we get up until we are off to bed.  I noticed the kids were starting to get a little bored lately, so I had to come up with something quick to bring the fun back into our summer.  I had a bunch of poster board in my craft room which I had purchased on a recent Dollar Store trip and I decided to make an oversized memory game out of them.  It’s been an awesome way to help with my children’s memory skills as well as help my preschooler recognize his letters.

Project estimate:

• 10 sheets poster board, on hand or 2/$1 and up
• Pencil, on hand
• Sharpies, on hand

Total: Free and up

Measuring lengthwise, find the halfway point of each sheet – mark a line all the way down the center.

Cut each piece on the line to create two pieces.  This will give you 20 cards in total.

Once you have cut all the pieces write or draw a matching item on two of the cards.  I did the alphabet to help my preschool remember and recognize his letters.  When finish you will have 10 sets.

To play, mix the cards all up and lay face down.  Leave space around the cards so your children can walk around them.

Have your children take turns flipping over two cards at a time until they have a match.  If you get a match you get another turn, but if you don’t then it is the next player’s turn.  The game continues until all the matches are made.  Have each player count up their matches and the one with the most wins.

** Funny little side note about my silly 4-year-old:  We were playing this afternoon and a big wind gust came through our yard.  Two cards got flipped over.  We told our 4-year-old God was playing and it was his turn.  He giggled.  A little while later it happened again.  He yelled up to the sky and said….God you already had your turn!  How cute is that!

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Whether you’re looking to keep your kids busy for the last weeks of summer or planning a fall carnival for a community event, the dollar store is a great place to visit for ideas.  In my case, I scour the shelves for items to use for carnival style games for birthday parties.  My four kids birthdays are in a row (July, August, September and October!) so I need party game ideas that are economical and entertaining.  Here are some activities I have done, and you could use them for your own carnival!

Project estimate:

• Balls, $1 per pack
• Cups, $1 for pack of six
• Water squirter, $1
• Fishing game, $1
• Carnival tickets, $1
• Plastic tablecloth, $1
• Wood board, on hand
• Tables, on hand

Total: $6 and up

To set up your carnival backdrop, purchase several brightly colored plastic table clothes from the party section at Dollar Tree.  Set up a clothesline and hang each cloth from the rope.  If it’s windy (like it was at my party) you will need to weigh down the ends of the cloth.

Knock ‘Em Down:

Open the pack of glasses and attach the base to the stem of the cup.  Arrange the cups to form a pyramid.  The point of the game is to knock all the cups off the table by throwing a ball.

Splash Down:

Open the pack of glasses and just use the base of the cups.  Glue them on to a wood board as pictured.  Set the balls on top of each stand.  The objective of the game is to use a water squirter to knock all the balls off the table.

Ball Toss:

Arrange several different sized glass bowls and cups on a table.  Participants try to throw the balls into the containers.

Gone Fishing:

Use an old aquarium and a magnetic fishing game from the dollar store.  Participants try to “hook” a fish.

Ring Toss:

Using a bottle and plastic bracelets, each participant attempts to throw a bracelet onto the neck of the bottle.

Carnival tickets are available in the party section at Dollar Tree.  Children can earn a ticket after playing each game and redeem them for prizes later.  I set up a prize booth at my party, but, honestly, the kids had so much fun with these games that they just kept playing for the joy of it!

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We’re not the only crafters out there who are excited about shark week – and not surprisingly, one of those  other crafters is Jeanette from Paper Plate Shark Jaws and Off the Cuff Cooking.  She is joining us today to share a shark matching game that is fun for the whole family, along with several sets of rules so that you can adjust the game to challenge kids of all ages.  Make sure you stop by her blogs for more inspiration!

Shark Matching Memory Game

by Jeanette Strole Parks

This game has different skill levels, and can be played on the floor or a large table or, for a fun outdoor game, on a flat area of grass or a driveway.

Project estimate:

• 18 square paper plates, $1 and up
• Clear packing tape, on hand or $1
• Free printables (download below):
  • Print-outs of Shark illustrations, make two per shark-illustration for a total of 12*
  • Print-outs of Word-Play pictures, make one, per illustration, for a total of 6*

Total: $1 and up

Cut out the print-outs along the outlined square on the page.

Line up the cut-out image in the center of a paper plate, and carefully tear off 6 1/2 ” strips of packing tape, and work your way from top to bottom to adhere it completely to the paper plate; try not to leave any gaps, since this will prolong the life of your memory game if the illustration can’t get any moisture or dirt on it.

When all 18 images have been cut and taped, this game can be played a few different ways, much like a traditional “memory” game:

Rules:
Version 1. For very young kids, just leave the plates all face-up [3 rows of 6, or 2 rows of 9], and have the child(ren) take turns looking at the different illustrations and matching the sharks to each other.  You can also show them how the Word-Play cards use the same words in the names of the sharks. (For instance, the lemon image with the lemon sharks, and so on.)  This one is easiest since they don’t have to actually remember where the plates are, but just study the words and images until they’ve all been matched up.

Version 2. For the next variation, flip them all over, but only use the shark images. This version uses 12 plates.  Each player takes a turn finding matching pairs of sharks, turning over 2 plates per turn, and if they’re not matching, they flip them back over again.  When a match is found, the player who found it takes the matching plates out of the game and stacks them by him or her.  At this point, the other player(s) take their turn(s). Play until all plates have been matched. Whoever has the most matches at the end wins.

Version 3.  Alternatively, just use single Shark plates along with their corresponding Word-Play plates for a total of 12 plates. Follow the same rules as above.

Version 4. Full game is the 2 Shark plates AND the Word-Play plates, and to complete each turn, each player turns over 3 plates.  All three have to match on one turn to win that turn.  Follow all other rules as above.

*Illustrations are copyright of Jeanette Parks / PaperPlateSharkJaws.com and may only be printed for home use to create this game or craft activity.

Click on the images below to enlarge them, then right-click to save them to your computer for printing.

More shark crafts:
Follow Mrs. Greene’s board Shark Week! on Pinterest.

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Who can resist hula hoops from the Dollar Store? I love them! Another thing I love is making up fun games for my kids at an inexpensive price. With four hula hoops I was able to make a fun shark ball game which entertained the entire neighborhood, including kids of all ages.  This would make a great activity at a shark-themed birthday party, or just a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Project estimate:

• 4 hula hoops of different sizes, $4
• Ball, on hand or $1
• Clear tape, on hand
• Barbecue skewers, on hand
• Construction paper, on hand

Total: $4.00 and up

This is very easy and has just a few steps to complete. First you need to located the area on the hula hoop where it joins. It is taped so all you’ll need to do is cut the tape and pull at the join to make it come apart. I took the outer ribbon off to make mine look more shark-like. I can honestly say I’ve never seen a shark with stripes.

After the ribbon is removed you’ll need to secure the silver covering with a small piece of tape at the end so it doesn’t come unraveled as well.

I let my kids decorate the shark however they wanted, and they came up with a pretty fun look. The created teeth with a bunch of paper triangles; the eyes were made by tracing bowls and cups onto paper to make circles; the fin was created with two pieces of construction paper and two barbecue skewers to hold it upright.  To create a tail, we used two sections of the remaining hula hoop.

Once they had finished decorating and decided where they wanted it placed, I took wooden barbecue skewers and pushed them into the ground. I then placed the end of the hula hoops over the skewers to hold them in place.  Repeat for each hoop.

The kids created two games using the shark. For the first game, they kicked a ball through the hoops. They would see who could hit the tail fin in the back.

The other game they invented was a fun obstacle course. They had a blast with this fun, $4.00 craft!

More shark crafts:
Follow Mrs. Greene’s board Shark Week! on Pinterest.

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A while back i spotted some mini dry erase boards in the school supply section at Dollar Tree and I knew that there had to be some clever uses for them.  All the way across the country, Breanna at Dollar Store Mom saw the same set of dry erase boards and was inspired to make a Newlywed Game activity out of them!  It’s a perfect setup for two couples since the boards come in packages of four, and with Breanna’s free printable you’ll have everything you need for a night of fun and laughter.  [how to host a “Newlywed Game” night]

Project estimate:

• Dry erase boards, $1
• Dry erase markers, on hand or $1
• Printable, free

Total:  $1 and up

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I have very active kids.  As soon as the sun starts to show itself they are out the door.  One of their favorite games to play with the kids in our neighborhood is red light, green light.  They play on their bikes.  When they are on the other side of the cul-de-sac  it’s hard sometimes to hear what the caller is saying.  So I made up a way to make the game a lot easier and pretty darn fun.  I created these signs using Dollar Store paddle ball paddles that they can hold up.  They were playing with them before the pant dried!

Project estimate:

• 3 Paddle ball games, $3
• Paint in red, yellow and green, on hand
• Sharpie, on hand

Total: $3

First you need to remove the elastic string from the paddle.  Then paint each paddle with a different color, red, yellow and green.  This will take several coats. Allow to dry completely between coats.  Once they are completely dry and paint has covered the surface you make then write on each one with a black sharpie.  Write “slow” on the yellow, “stop” on the red, and “go” on the green.  You may choose at this point to spray them with a sealant of your choice.  Only thing left to do it hand them over to your kids and send them out to have some fun!

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A while back one of my friends gave me a huge bag of extra scrabble tiles.  Ever since, I’ve been mulling over what to do with them.  One of my favorite ideas that I have come across so far is turning them into coasters, like Krysta from Domestic for Dummies did after she saw a set for sale for $26. If you happen to have tiles laying around anyway, you can whip up your own for a heck of a lot cheaper! Use drink-related words to up the clever quotient, or arrange the letters any other way you like. If you don’t have the right letters to make enough words for a full set of coasters, even random letters will work! [how to make Scrabble tile coasters]

Project estimate:

• Scrabble tiles, on hand or about $5
• Cork tile, $1 and up
• Glue, on hand
• Spray enamel, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $1 and up

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Every time I wander through the craft store, I always ponder uses for all of the pre-cut wooden shapes.  Here’s one that I never thought of:  Jamie from C.R.A.F.T. (Creating Really Awesome Free Things), inspired by her brother’s love of Rubik’s cubes, made him a wooden cube puzzle as a gift.  It’s such a fun idea, and it’s great for puzzle lovers of all ages!  Made by carefully arranging and gluing 27 little wooden cubes, it’s a challenge that will really get your brain moving.  Jamie’s wooden cubes came in packages of 72, so you can make a couple of puzzle cubes out of the supplies you’ll need to gather up.  [how to make a wooden cube puzzle]

Project estimate:

• Wooden cubes, about $3
• Glue, on hand
• Cotton swabs, on hand
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  about $3 and up

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