Biplane Craft

You'd think, after all the airplane models that have already been made around here, that we wouldn't need more. But these little popsicle-stick-and-clothespin planes are surprisingly fun and easy to make, and they have the added benefit of being a different kind of plane! Of course older planes, like some of the Wright Brothers' early fliers and others, were often biplanes. But we also watched some videos of stunt biplanes flying today. They are so cool! So all the children were happy to do this craft.

The instructions are here. We used hot glue, of course, since we never want to wait for white glue to dry!

I had this tiny clothespin, so of course Daisy had to make a TEENY-TINY plane to match her big one.

Homemade Toys for Bunnies

One of the best things that came out of learning more about bunnies was that we felt so much more confident making things for our bunny (his name is Nutmeg, but as I told my friend, the word "bunny" so perfectly expresses the concept of "a bunny," I have a hard time NOT using it to refer to him!) to play with! There are lots of places online that tell about Bunny Behavior (here and here, for example) and also lots of good ideas for DIY bunny toys:

Some tutorials with pictures

More, some with videos

We really liked this post, too.

The kids had great fun making these little treat balls for our Nutmeg.

He quite liked this toy we made for him, too.

And he wasn't the only one . . . :)

My absolute favorite thing, though, is the great enthusiasm and dedication with which Seb, especially, has thrown himself into making life fun for Nutmeg. His life's Aim and Ambition is to make little Bunny Houses which Nutmeg will enjoy, and he's good at it! Here is one house Seb made;

Here we are looking into the door of the house. That's a little toy dangling from the roof that Nutmeg can bat at (you can put a bit of carrot or other treat inside). Behind the toy you can see the ramp up to the upper level, which is visible above and to the right of the doorway.

Top view---showing the various ramps and levels. And little Nutmeg has actually used them all!

Here's another little house Sebby built. It's hilarious to see Nutmeg go in down below, then go up the ramp and squeeeze himself out of the top hole. So cute!

Sebby is SO happy every time Nutmeg uses one of his toys or houses. Look at his excited, delighted face!

And we'll end with a few Gratuitous Bunny Pictures

Civil War Era toys---Weaving and "Yama Man" yarn doll

Here is a fun toy to make when learning about children in "the old days"---pioneers, Civil War, etc. The boys did this in their 4-H Club with my mom. We have always called this kind of toy the Yama Man---I think that's a name my Nana made up for these little yarn men. We even have a song to go with it:

The Yama yama, the Yama Man,

He will catch you if he can.

So run for your Mama,

'Cause here comes the Yama,

The Yama Man.

As you can see he is easy to make. Just take a long piece of yarn and loop it back and forth until it's a long bundle (cut the ends so there are no loops). Tie the bundle at the top.

Then do the same thing to make a slightly shorter bundle. Tie it at top and bottom, then insert the short bundle through the long one to make the arms. Tie the long bundle above and below the arms (neck and waist).

Next, separate the bottom of the long/vertical bundle into two legs, and tie each at the ankle.

You can stitch a little face on him if you want.

Or you can make a Yama Mama instead---just don't tie off the legs; it will be a skirt instead.

We also did weaving on top of cardboard squares and made little mats.