making a robot (that is wearable)

I had a food delivery sent to me by courier and it came in a huge box. I joked to my son that I could turn it into a giant turtle for him, he said no it could be a robot. Hence this post, we made a robot. I am adding how and what we did below. I don't have photos of every step we did, but it was very easy to do.

EQUIPMENT

1 large cardboard box, 1 smaller cardboard box, pieces of cardboard, duct tape in grey/silver, scissors, tin foil (or silver paper, or paint if you dont mind waiting), a tumble dryer pipe for arms, odds and ends as decoration/buttons, imagination

Tape the big box together securely but leave one end open. Work out where the head will go and cut out a circle. Cover the edge with duct tape so no sharp edges.

the kitten helps cut out the head!

Next you need to cut out some of the base (so child can get into the robot once it's all sealed). Don't go all the way to all sides as it will loose it's strength. As with the head go
round the base with duct tape so no sharp edges. Go over all parts of the box "that should open" with duct tape so it is fully sealed and more secure.

Once you have a head and base hole you can work out where the arm holes need to go, cut them out (make big enough to allow for clothing and more tape) and add duct tape over the edges. Tape the open side of the box together so you have a solid sealed box. You should have a box "outfit" your child can get into like the image right.

We then measured the distance between the top of the smaller box and sons head so we could work out where the eyes needed to go, instead of cutting circles we cut a rectangle right across the front (so he could see even if he turned his head slightly), as with base hole don't cut all the way across leave some on each side for strength. Cut a smaller rectangle for the mouth. Go over the edges of both with duct tape.

Next we fixed the smaller box to the top (over the head hole), we fixed it on with the top flaps open, so it had the whole open part as space. We cut lengths of the tumble dryer pipe to use as arms (this was an old one heading for the bin).

Our next move was to make the robot silver. We spray painted the tumble dryer pipes silver (as well as some of the patio and ourselves!) and left them to dry. We only did the outside. My son found some silver shiny wrapping paper with white stars all over it that he liked and wanted to use for the body. He wanted the head plain silver so we used tin foil. We covered the head first and secured it with more duct tape. Then we covered the body with the wrapping paper, i had to do it in bits due to the holes (and the bar code on box my son wanted to keep), I held the joins in place with normal selotape whilst i cut and sorted then secured with duct tape.

Once it was all covered i put duct tape around both ends of the tumble dryer pipe to cover the metal that had been snapped to break the tube, i then fixed them to the arm holes with more duct tape. Hopefully you have something that looks like our robot to the right.

We still need to add buttons and bits to our robot but this is the main construction complete.

HOWEVER, my robot making and craft skills didn't end here as my son decided that he wanted the robot to have a pet kitten, cue more boxes, tape and stuff. The pieces were collected (see below) and made into shapes, spray painted and duct taped together. this didnt take as long as the main robot did.

My son is very happy with his robot and robot cat and has decided to use them in his school homework and has written a story about them.

I hope that you have as much fun as we did.

*NOTE* i am not linked to the duct tape brand, nor am i being asked to promote them. the tape i use is from £1 shop or other cheap shops as it's just for crafts. We use loads in the things we make so i cant justify using expensive brands for it. I have also bought different colours from shops (like aldi) when they have had on offer.

More things to do at home on isolation with the kids

So things have been posted on FaceBook (FB) and ive saved them so i can share with others. Please do the same (in order to keep each and every mum sane during this time)

Many schools have sent out/home homework packs for children to do, but please remember they are just as scared (if not more so) than us adults are. My thoughts are yes do some of the work everyday BUT it's more important to be there for them, so play some board games, read a book together, get a notebook/diary and log down what you do (it's proof they weren't watching tv or on a pc for the next however many weeks.)

This was shared as a joke on FB and it did make me smile, I hope it does you as well. However, my sons Godmother said that after they have counted the rice they need to write one word on each grain of rice and then make stories. That made me laugh even more than the post did.




Before i start adding activities i will share a few websites that WILL be a godsend to all parents/guardians.

• Pinterest has hundreds (more like thousands) of things you can do, it is free to join and you can save all the things you like in one place, make different sections etc, you can find crafts, meals, school worksheets all sorts on there.
• Twinkl has loads of free worksheets and activities use code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS to get more free ones.
• Scouts UK has shared activities you can do at home (you could even make your own certificates and badges to award).
• This blog  has a list of loads of free worksheets and websites, ive not looked at them all but they may help someone.
• Quirky Momma on FB has shared many things including virtual museums  and places you can "visit" online.
• colouring pages can be found everywhere online if you dont have books at home, and this page on FB has shared loads for free - you just need to print them.
• glasgow science center is doing online science bits
• cre8tive resources has loads of free worksheets 

if you google "free school worksheets" there are pages upon pages that come up.

Now for the activities ive saved.

• Make your own monopoly board - use  local places etc, this would be best done on cardboard and use proper monoply money if you have the main set. There are blank templates online for monopoly boards.

• Make a RAINBOW and put in your window - the idea is for people to create rainbows for others to find when they are on a self-isolating walk, there are many groups popping up on FB linked to it, this one is linked to Whitehaven, Cumbria. I have also seen groups doing similar with hearts.
• my personal pinterest boards have hundreds of items saved type in "yummymummyamy" and you should find it.

• In summer 2014 i made an activity journal/book for my sons, yes it's mainly summer themed BUT i'm happy to share it and hopefully you can make use of it with your children. I didn't make the worksheets they were found all over the internet. 

There are also loads of websites offering free courses for adults to do, alison.com, skills network, futurelearn, and the open university have some

i hope this info helps someone.

Shut in with the children - things to do

SO, in light of the current situation around the UK linked to Coronavirus Covid-19, you have found your self on isolation with the children and you don't know what to do. I  have added some ideas below, not all are mine but some have been copied from posts on Facebook and other sites (I will credit where this is due.) They also don't include them being on technology (bonus). Many can be done with things you have around the house so wont cost anything.

The following items are things i have on a chart from school holiday activities for my children to do.

I hope that the above is readable.

The following lego ideas were taken off a page on Facebook (no idea of the original creator). They do seem a bit hard for some children, but you could alter them to the age of your children.

Also with lego you could make a model and then explain to your children how to make it without them actually seeing your model. EG you need a red piece with 8 raised dots, fix that to the bottom of a green 8piece so you have an "L" shape. this can be a fun activity as you get a wide range of models made.

• Pinterest is a godsend for ideas of things to do and you can find many for different ages.

• Teachers pay teachers website has worksheets if you want to do school type work (there are many free sheets as well as paid ones)

• twinkle has a good selection of worksheets and activities, as does activity village, some are free some are not.

There are many other ideas on my blog, please take a look for some ideas.

Take this time stuck at home to enjoy your children, make it a fun time to take their mind off the worries linked to the virus.

June 6th 2015 - Tidy vs mess

june 6th 2015 - Tidy vs mess

Today's pin made me laugh and fits me and my house - it is a house not a show home, if your coming to view my house make an appointment, if your coming to see me or my family you can just turn up and tae us as you find us (if you don't like it do something about it!!! lol).  I will hold my hands up and admit i'm not the tidiest of people.  However, I have gone on a mission today as I was fed up of 1 of 2 of the printers being on the floor.

So I set about moving furniture, so that I could move the printer table over so the 2nd printer could go on it as well.  Had to move everything as the 2nd printer is on a cable not wifi and therefore needs to be near the laptop.

But whilst I was on a moving mission I have had my "spring clean" (bit late but hey ho.)  I have emptied drawers, bagged stuff for charity shop and chucked other stuff in the bin!  Still have quite alot to do but I will get there.

March 26th 2015 - Re-painting the hallway & stairs

March 26th 2015 - Re-painting the hallway & stairs

Thanks to my lovely kids and their dirty hands up and down the stair walls I need to re-paint them, as where I tried to clean the walls with wet wipes it has removed the paint as well!  GGggggrrrrr!!!!

So we have bought kitchen and bathroom paint that can be washed/is waterproof, so that I *should* be able to remove dirty marks off it.  We have gone for almost the same colour - Water, similar to the pale in the middle.  Once its dry I will take a pic of the painted wall still got all the top to do but as my knee isn't too good today i'm not over doing it.  I will try and get it painted over the Easter holidays.

 

Pic shows the old and new colours, although makes the carpet look grey it is actually a deep green with the pale duck egg type colour spots.  They go really well together.  As I posted above, I need to do the top of the walls and the rest of the stair walls.