Entertaining Children 2

Yes, we are still in make-believe land with these pictures :P

Lace-Up CardsMaterials:
Yarn (assorted colors)
hole punch (single works best)
heavy card stock or other rigid paper
glue stick
thin cardboard (like cereal box or insert cardboard)
rolling pin or something else to burnish the images

I thought Dulcie would enjoy this since she's always up in my fabric and sewing work space. I went online and found some basic shape coloring pages (I used a star, butterfly, apple, and flower from here). I copied them and put them into Word to make a printing template. I set the page orientation to landscape, and sized the images to what I felt would be a good size for Dulcie's hands. I didn't use colored images because I wanted to give her a chance to color these images herself on the plane. If you want them to last longer, you could use a colored illustration and laminate them before you attack it with the hole punch. Anyway, I then printed the images onto the cardstock (and allowed the ink to dry). I then cut a rough shape around the images leaving a good margin before gluing them down to the thin cardboard and rolled over them a couple of times to get good contact between the cardstock and the cardboard. After everything was all set, I then cut out the images along the picture lines. I then attacked my images with the hole punch at either key points in the image (in the case of the star) or at even intervals (about 1-2 inches depending on image size or what feels comfortable).

If you are taking this on an airplane like I am, I recommend carding some yarn on some cardstock scraps. You can either put tape around one end or lace it through a needle. I am using a large-eye plastic needle that I use to sew up ends when I knit.

Other Suggestions for Entertainment:

make your own coloring book - I did a modification of this to match the pad I made to insert into the crayon/coloring pencil book thing I made during NaSewMo.

Anyhow, I hope these inspire/help other parents traveling with little ones :D I'll be off on my trip tomorrow until the 24th of October. Bye everyone!