Requirements:

2  x old / blank or available CDs or DVDs

2  x  earring wires (or earring clips)

2 x chain or string

Paint / Decorations / Stickers

What To Do

You may need dad’s or a handyman’s help with this one.  The idea is to turn a CD into earrings. It’s actually very simple to do, the hardest part is cutting a hole through the CD or DVD. The best way to do this is using a drill, so be sure to be very careful about this and have an experienced person cut the actual hole.

Then you need earring wires  and depending on how long you want to make the earring, you’ll need a chain or string to attach it to the CD. But before you actually attach anything to the CD or DVD, you’ll want to decorate the CD. Paint, permanent markets, stickers or any solid material can be used onto the CD (but don’t expect to ever use that CD again for ‘traditional’ purposes). Once you’ve done the decorations, attach the chain or string to the earring wire, and there you have it: CD Earrings!

Get some modeling clay from your local art dealers, or buy it online here. The exact instructions for the clay you buy will come with it, so what follows is a general approach.

Roll the clay out so that it’s nice and flat and smooth. Now carve and cut out a nice relatively large flat circle out from the clay (this will be the circumference of the bowl). Do this again for the second bowl – roll it out, carve a circle and cut again, and try to make sure that you keep it the same size. You can trace it from the first circle if you wish. Nice you have your two bases.

Next step is to build up the bases. To do this make nice long thick sausages out of the clay. These will get built up to become the sides of the bowls. Take the first sausage and place it around the outer edge of one of the circles. Make sure it’s stuck really tight and that there aren’t any air spaces. Now do this again with a second sausage, sticking it on top of the first one. After a few sausages, you’ve built up the bowl. Do the same for the second bowl.

Now you are going to want to stick the two bowls together. This is where the bright spark idea of having one object instead of two for pets to drink and eat out of. Using a nice thick piece of clay (you can determine the shape yourself – be creative and make sure it will look nice), stick the two bowls together.

Again make sure that everything is stuck properly and that there aren’t any holes (or the water could leak out!).

So now your kid’s invented his or her own doggy drink and food bowl. The clay will come with instructions on how to place it into the oven and solidify it. Be sure to help your kid out here or do it for them, as you don’t want anyone to get hurt.

Ok so here’s what you need to do this. A lot of large sheets of white paper. Crayons, pens, paint, anything that will enhance their drawings. It may get messy but it will be fun. You should participate alongside them, just to subtly show your approval for this process, and that you’re willing to have fun with them (which you certainly will).

Ok so start off by getting the kids into an inventive mindset. Have a few toys out, and explain how each toy was invented by someone. This person invented the kid’s toy right out of his or her own head, and was able to get it all the way from just an idea, through to actually having it manufactured and sold in the toy shop. You’ll be surprised how many kids don’t think beyond the toy shop and see the toy shop as the begin and end for that toy. If the kids are really young, then you may not want to take all the mystery out of the process, and may wish to make the story more imaginative and less realistic.

That little talk mentioned above should start to spur on the right mood with the kids to get them inventing new toys. Spread out all your drawing utensils, and give the kids the opportunity to start their inventive journeys. At the end of it, each kid can give their new toy a name, and let the other kids know what it can do.