This is a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are always my own.
My goal this summer is to have my kids on digital devices as little as possible.
Thankfully, both my son and daughter love making things.
I’m always looking for original project ideas and was really happy to come across the new Maker Lab Smithsonian collection by DK.
We received three Maker Lab books: Maker Lab Outdoors, Maker Lab 28 Super Cool Projects, and Star Wars Maker Labs. When we first received the books the kids and I sat to look through them. We soon started making a long list of all the projects we couldn’t wait to make!
Projects we can’t wait to make:
From the Maker Lab Outdoors book:
- > Wormery
- > Butterfly Feeder
- > Marbled Pebbles
From the Maker Lab 28 Super Cool Projects book:
- > Invisible Ink
- > Soap-Powered Boat
- > Balloon Rocket Car
From the Star Wars Maker Lab book:
- > Invisible Force
- > Jabba Slime
- > Hoth Snow Globe
DIY Butterfly Feeder
We love seeing butterflies in our backyard. The first project we decided to make from our new books is the Butterfly Feeder.
For the Butterfly Feeder you’ll need:
- String
- Double-sided tape
- Orange juice
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Paper cup
- Flat kitchen sponge
- Plastic bag/plastic tablecloth
Steps to creating your Butterfly Feeder
- 1 > Make holes on the opposite side of your cup
- 2 > Cut string and push the ends in the holes of your cup. Tie the string so that it makes a handle.
- 3 > Poke a 1 cm in diameter hole in the bottom of the cup
- 4 > Cut out a 2cm square from the kitchen sponge. Push the sponge through the hole in your cup. Secure the sponge with double-sided tape.
- 5 > Draw and cut colourful flowers with the plastic bag or table cloth. Make sure your flowers are larger than the cup’s base. Cut a hole in the middle of the flower.
- 6 > Press the flower onto the base of the cup and let it stick to the double-sided tape.
- 7 > Pour a little orange juice into the cup. Allow the juice to soak into the sponge.
- 8 > Hang the butterfly feeder from a tree and wait for butterflies to visit.
I really like how our Butterfly feeders work. We’ve been watching them and waiting for butterflies to find them and enjoy them.
Giveaway!
The team at DK Canada want you to try some of the great projects in the Smithsonian Maker Lab Outdoors book with your kids. They are giving away a copy of the book to one of my lucky readers.
To enter, tell me which of the projects mentioned in this post you’d most like to make with your kids. Then fill out the Rafflecopter form below.
Giveaway open to Canadian residents. Mandatory question must be answered to be eligible to win. Giveaway runs from July 11 – July 21, 2018. See my Terms & Conditions for full giveaway info. Void where prohibited.
This book would definitely be a big hit with my grandkids.
My daughter would live these… especially the butterfly feeder.
We’d love to make the Soap-Powered Boat.
The Hoth Snow Globe.
The Hoth Snow Globe sounds fun
The Maker Lab 28 Super Cool Projects has lots of cool things in it!
Would love to make anything, the butterfly feeder or pebbles or slime.
We would love the Star Wars Book!
The soap powered boat! I need to see that in person
My niece would love to make the Butterfly Feeder
I’d like to make Jabba Slime with my son and daughter.
The butterfly feeder, we love to attract them to our garden.
The soap-powered boat sounds cool.
The Jabba slime sounds fun to make. My daughter has been asking to make slime for awhile
My Grandkids would all love the Star Wars Maker Lab book
my daughter would love to make the Butterfly Feeder
would love to make marbled pebbles.
I would probably make all of them. My kids love this kind of thing. I think their favorite would be the Jabba Slime.
I would do the butterfly feeder
She would love to make a wormery as she is into gardening and worms.
the invisible ink
I would love to make the Butterfly Feeder with my grandson, we love to watch the butterflies. It looks like it would be fun and easy to make too.