Crafty Wednesdays

Find it game:
UPDATE: Make sure you dry your rice for a few days!!! My game molded!!! Oh well, it was fun to make and fun while it lasted!!

I woke up wondering what to do for a craft today.... nothing like the last minute! I scoured the Internet and blogs and came across an idea I have been thinking of since Sunshine was 5. On her first class field trip another mom had packed a "Find It" game for the long bus ride. The girls had a blast trying to find everything, and it was much harder than it looked. I have wanted to buy one ever since but I could never justify the cost. It looked easy enough to make, I just hadn't gotten around to it.... until today.

I wish I could give credit to the blog I found it on... I was copying the web address when my computer sounded like it was going to blow up and shut down on me. A reboot and a quick clean plus virus scan got me back up and running... but now I don't know who to credit it to, sorry!!! If you had this on your blog or know who to give credit to please let me know. I didn't follow the persons directions specifically but, I'd still like to give her the credit :)

I started off by coloring rice. I filled plastic bowls with water, a food coloring and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar. I let it set for about 1 hour.



I drained the rice, then the girls spread it onto newspaper. After an hour, I put the newspaper on cookie sheets and transferred it outdoors to dry in the sun for 4 hours. It probably could have used a few more hours... we just couldn't wait that long. I got a little condensation on my bottle but I'll set it out with the top off when the girls are done playing with it. If you know of a better drying method please let me know!!!

While the rice was drying (did I tell you it took forever???) we found stuff to hide in the bottle.
This was sooo much fun!! You can hide anything non-perishable that will fit in your bottle. Don't forget to write down what you put in your bottle. I entered it into an excel file and will print out copies.

Once the rice was dried we mixed up the colors. It was so much fun to play in we didn't really want to put it in the bottle. We are using the extras for a rice table. We haven't had one in years but even though they are 6 and 9 they still enjoy the simple activity....for today.

We filled the bottle a little at a time, taking turns with the rice and the items so it was thoroughly mixed. The girls were surprised that we totally hid some of the items, especially the fork!

My bottle came from a local dairy. I had it on my window sill waiting to bring to the farm for recycling. I was thinking about using three separate water bottles (one for each lovie) until this one spoke to me. It looked perfect for the job. The glass is thick so I think it will hold up under lots of playtime. One giant game will get more use and Reusing is one of the three R's too!!!

This was one of our favorite projects. The process was probably more fun than playing the game will be... but, that's OK by me :)

One version of play: Each child or team has a print out of what is in the bottle. Using an egg timer each team gets a chance to fine as many objects as they can. Which ever team finds the most objects wins.