Jungle Safari

I always like having a craft activity for the kids to do at parties. I find that often having a structured activity can help a quiet child feel more at ease at a party (I'm thinking specifically of my own children here who often become overwhelmed at parties where there are lots of people). Alternatively, it can help a child who has lots of energy focus and calm down.

Esme's birthday party this year had a jungle theme so our craft activity was to make some binoculars to take on our jungle safari. Here's how we made them:

What you will need:

Toilet rolls
Masking tape
String
Cellophane
Textras, glitter, sequins, etc for decorating

How to make it:

Get the kids to decorate two toilet rolls.

Cut out two circles of cellophane approximately the same size as the holes of the toilet rolls. Use masking tape to stick on the ends of the toilet rolls.

Use masking tape to stick the toilet rolls together.

Cut a piece of strong big enough to hang around the kid's neck. Use masking tape to stick on each side of the toilet roll.

One of the party games was to go on a 'safari' and find animals hidden outside (I had some cheap plastic animals that I purchased off ebay). The kids were able to use the binoculars they had made to help 'find' the animals.

Jacob was so intent on using his binoculars to spot animals that the other kids had already found most of them before he got to them!

All of the kids had lots of fun making their binoculars and then getting to find the animals.