Crafts

Making something from stuff around the house is fun. Even if all you have are printer paper, scissors, and crayons or markers, you can make something.

Decorations for a Sports Party

1. Hold a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 printer paper so it's wider than it's tall. Fold it in half to make it 4 1/4 X 11. Cut along the fold. Take one of the two pieces and fold it in thirds. The folded paper will be a rectangle that's 4 1/4 X about 3 3/4.

2. Cut off the corners so the rectangle becomes a circle. If you have trouble cutting circles, find a glass with a rim or bottom that's just a little bigger than the rectangle. Set glass on the rectangle and trace it. When you cut the circle, remember to leave a little bit of the edge where the paper is folded.

3. Unfold the paper and use a black marker to draw the lines that turn the circles into soccer balls, volleyballs, or baseballs. The balls could also be colored to look like beach balls. If the decoration doesn't stand up, refold the paper and trim the bottom to create a flat spot.

To make a long table decoration, make several strings of circles and use a bit of tape to hold them together. If your party plans include football, use brown construction paper or a brown paper grocery bag and cut the folded paper into a football shape.

Heart Shaped Note Paper

1. Hold a piece of copy paper so it's wider than it's tall. Fold it in half to make it 4 1/4 X 11. Cut along the fold. Take one of the two pieces and fold it in thirds. The folded paper will be a rectangle that's 4 1/4 X about 3 3/4.

2. Hold the paper so that the folds are at the sides. As you trim the rectangle into the shape of a heart, be sure to leave a little of the fold at the side of the heart.

3. Make several strings of hearts and tape them together. Press the folded spots flat, then unfold the hearts and refold them the opposite way. Do that several times. You'll weaken the folded spots and make the hearts easy to tear off.

Easy poetry

Poetry focuses on one thing or idea. Here's one way to write a poem.

Think of an object. Anything that's real. I'll use a sock as my example. Write the object as the title of your poem:

A sock

Think of three adjectives that describe the object. The sock I'm thinking of is white, knit, and soft. Put those adjectives under your title.

A Sock

White
Knit
Soft

Now add a surprise. Here's the completed poem.

A Sock

White
Knit
Soft
Smelly!

If your object is something that moves, you can use verbs to describe it. The surprise at the end can be more than one word. A mix of verbs, adjectives and adverbs works too, as long as you end with a surprise.

Snow Falling Swirling Drifting Cold on my tongue!

Cat Black Slinking Stalking Watch out Bird!

Clock White face Gold hands Ticking Wrong time!

I'd love to see your poems. You can e-mail them to me.

Riddles

Riddles are silly fun. Try these then see if you can come up with your own. Click on "answer" next to each riddle to see if you're right!

Which is the most musical bird?	Answer
How is a mouse like a rusty hinge?	Answer
What does a dog wear to keep warm in winter?	Answer
What did the last cow out of the barn say as the herd moved out to pasture?	Answer

To write riddes, think backwards. If you want to write riddles about cars, think of things cars do, the sounds they make, and the words connected with them. For example, cars "beep" when the driver hits the horn. What else beeps? Computers. They beep when you hit the wrong key. So, what question can you ask so to link a car and a computer? How about "What beeps but doesn't doesn't have a steering wheel? A computer." Have fun coming up with riddles!

Story starters

The secret to writing a story is knowing how it will end. Here are some endings. Can you figure out the story's beginning and middle?

Ending #1: She put the stones back in place, looked at the sky and said, "That's the last of that!"

Ending #2: He walked Fido around the block, tied the leash to Marvin's porch and when home.

Ending #3: With a loud BANG the vehicle jumped to life. It jolted and rocked and finally took off. They held on as tight as they could. They were going home, at last!

If you're pleased with your story, e-mail it to me. I'd love to see what you come up with. If you've done all three and want more, let me know.