Camping Lanterns (Ages 4 and up)
Light up your campout or take an evening hike or with these safe, fun lanterns.
What You’ll Need:
• Clean, empty plastic jars with lids (recycled peanut butter or mayonnaise jars work well)
• Art tissue paper in red, orange and yellow
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Pipe cleaners such as Lakeshore Puffy Pipe Stems
• Adhesive tape
• Drill or screwdriver (for adult use only)
• Battery-operated tea lights
Step 1: Have an adult drill or poke two small holes in the top of opposite sides of the plastic jar lid. These will be the holes through which you will insert pipe cleaners to create a “handle” for the lantern.
Step 2: Cut tissue paper into triangles of various sizes to create flames.
Step 3: Use a glue stick to line the bottom two-thirds of the outside of the jar with the flames.
Step 4: Select a pipe cleaner and thread each end through the holes in the lid of the jar, and then tape the ends of the pipe cleaner securely to the inside of the lid to make the handle.
Step 5: Secure the bottom of one battery-operated tea light to the inside bottom of the jar with a loop of tape.
Step 6: Screw the lid onto the jar to complete your camping lantern.
Silly Spyglass and Binoculars (Ages 3 and up)
Whether you’re “going on a bear hunt” or checking out backyard bugs and birds, these homemade viewing aids will add some fun to your adventure.
What You’ll Need:
• Cardboard paper towel tubes
• Collage materials
• Fabric and yarn scraps
• Scissors
• Glue
• Liquid tempera paint
• Paintbrush
• Yarn
• Hole punch
• Craft tape
Spyglass
Step 1: Glue fabric around the outside of an empty paper towel tube.
Step 2: Use collage materials to decorate the spyglass.
Binoculars
Step 1: Paint a paper towel tube and cut it in half after it dries.
Step 2: Wrap craft tape around the tubes to attach the two sides together.
Step 3: Decorate the binoculars with collage materials.
Step 4: Punch a hole in each outside edge and tie yarn through the holes to make a handy carrying strap.
