Recycled and found object inventions for Makers' Fair Market Day

Hello my Omschooligan friends! I promised you interactive ways to use your mad money math skills and here they are!  Here's a rubric to practice marketing and business math in real world situations. It's perfect for elementary school, middle school or high school. Here are cross-curricular business math lesson plans with recycling connections. Use these business math lesson plans to teach environmental science in Earth Month. Students design, manufacture and sell inventions made from recycled materials. 

Business Math & Marketing: Recycled Inventions Makers' Fair

Pro-Tip: This unit can be easily scaled to fit elementary, middle, or high school levels by adjusting the complexity of the math and economics components!

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Unit Overview

Students will design, manufacture, and market their own inventions using only recycled, repurposed or reclaimed materials. This cross-curricular unit ties together environmental science, math, history, and the arts, while building higher-order thinking skills through a hands-on "Makers' Fair Market Day."

• Target Audience: School, Homeschool, 4-H, Scouts, or Junior Achievement

• Seasonal Focus: Perfect for Earth Month, Year end or Back to School activities

• Core Skill Focus: Analysis, application, synthesis, and evaluation

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Subject Integrations

• Science & Environmental Science: 

  • Discuss eco-friendly, sustainable design and how to clean up the environment by repurposing old into new.

  • Plan and organize inventions using items found in the recycle bin or reused household items. 

    Teacher Resource: Materials List 

    
    

    
    

    • Cardboard: Cereal boxes, shipping boxes, toilet paper and paper towel tubes, and egg cartons.

    • Plastics: Clean water bottles, packing peanuts, milk jugs, yogurt cups, and bottle caps.

    • Metals: Clean tin cans (with safe, filed edges), nuts, bolts, hooks, washers, screws, old tools and aluminum foil scraps.

    • Broken small appliances and kitchen gadgets. Pots and pans, utensils, flatware

    • Paper & Packaging: Old magazines, junk mail, newspapers, wallpaper sample books, and bubble wrap.

    • Craft Embellishments: Used gift wrap and bows, leftover ribbons, buttons from old clothes, feathers and artificial flowers from old arrangements, wine corks.

    • Fabric and notions scraps: fabric and felt scraps from repurposed old clothing, carpet samples.

    • Assorted "missing pieces" from games, play sets, puzzles, broken toys

    
    

  • Explore ways to repurpose items into intriguing new uses. 
    

    
    
    
    

• Technology & Engineering: 
• Differentiate between primary inventions (e.g., a hand can opener) and secondary inventions (e.g., an improvement like an electric can opener).
• Consider situations which you haven't found a suitable too. 
• Now invent it. 
• Or create a completely fantastical invention just for fun.

• Graphic Design & Art: 

  • Discuss "found art" in which only recycled materials are used. 

    Found Art Integration What is Found Art? Found art (or objet trouvé) describes art created from the use of undisguised but often modified objects or products that are not normally considered materials from which art is made. To explore examples for your classroom, consider these online resources: Learn about the history of the readymade at the Tate guide. View curated examples of everyday items turned into thought-provoking sculptures at Art UK. Probably the most iconic is Marcell Duchamp's "Fountain"

  • Sketch the initial design.

  • Assemble a list of materials needed. Teachers, see below for a list of items to provide. 

  • Decorate the invention using recycled embellishments.

  • Design marketing materials (posters, flyers, or billboards).

• Literature & Social Studies: 

  • Create a poster, timeline, or presentation showing global variations of the invention throughout history.

  • Read a biography of a historical inventor related to the student's chosen product.

• Writing & Drama: 
• Write a 1-minute commercial promoting the invention's benefit.
• Perform the commercial with props and cardboard backdrops.

• Music: 

• Compose a short, catchy advertising jingle highlighting the sustainable materials used.

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Math Applications: Makers' Fair Market Day

• Production Costs: Students will establish a fair market retail price which will cover her labor, time, cost of accessing reclaimed materials (amount dad spent on gas to take her to junkyard) and any purchased materials plus give her a profit. 

• Budgeting & Accounting: Students track sales, inventory, discounts, and extra costs on a teacher-made balance sheet.

• Transactions: Students my use play money, token economy system or real currency to practice real-world transactions and make change.

 Student Market Day Balance Sheet

Pro-Tip: Remember to price your item to cover the cost of your materials and your time, while still offering a fair deal to your customers!

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1. Production Cost Worksheet

Materials / Labor	Description	Cost / Value
Reclaimed Materials	Cardboard, plastic, or scraps from the recycle bin	$0.25 per item
Hardware / Glue / Paint	Consumables (glue, tape, fasteners from home)	$0.25 per item
Production Time	1 hour spent making each individual invention (10 per hour, at $5.00 per hour	$.50
Total Production Cost	Your total cost to make the invention	**$1.00**

### 2. Profit and Loss Statement

Sales & Expense Items	Amount
Retail Price Set	$3.00
Less Production Cost	-$1.00
Net Profit Per Unit	$2

### 3. Market Day Ledger

Customer Name / Item Sold	Quantity	Price Each	Total Revenue
Parents	3	$3	$9
Classmates	2	$3	$6
Total Earnings (minus expenses)	15	-5	**$10**

Stay tuned for ways to host your Makers' Fair Market Day. 

Free Printable Play Money for Real World Consumer Math Lesson Plans

Hello my Omschooligan friends! Teacher Omi (that's me! it means "Grandma" in Dutch) here with some flashback fun for kids. When I was young, I loved to pretend I had a grownup job in an office, hospital or grocery store. My Opi (grandpa) was a printer for a newspaper and he brought me all kinds of stationery supplies to play with. My favorite was play money. I thought you might like some play money for your recycled cardboard grocery store we just made a few days ago. Teachers and homeschool parents, use play money in your preschool math learning centers. 

Money math lesson plans

Money math is a favorite hands-on preschool lesson plan. 

• Students can learn consumer math skills by pretending to run a grocery store. 
• Interacting with play money, teaches children to count, add, subtract, multiply, divide
• Counting money develops skip counting skills and times tables, counting by fives, tens and twenty-five. 
• Making change teaches counting backwards.
• Consumer math is great way to demonstrate positive and negative numbers. Positive numbers are money you have. Negative numbers can be thought of as money you owe.
• Money math teaches fractions, decimals and percent.
• Consumer math helps students learn about using credit, interest, fees, sales an discounts as examples.

Ways to use printable play money

Here are links to free printable play money. Print play money and use in preschool learning centers like practical life, math center and house area. Use free printable play money in math classes like

• marketing
• life skills 
• economics
• business math
• special needs

Free printable play money

• Free Stuff 4 Kids has free printable play money. Print out one, five and ten dollar bills.
• Money Instructor has free printable money math worksheets that you can personalize with the kind and number of bills and coins you need. Print play money coins: pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and half dollars. Print bills in one, five, ten, twenty and fifty dollar denominations.
• Free Stuff 4 Kids has free printable play checks for students. Practice banking, check writing, checkbook balancing and accounting. 
• This blog lets you print exact duplicates of American money. Print currency: one, five, ten and twenty dollar bills.
• Activity Village has several pages of free printable Euros in many denominations. You can print American money and play money to. 
• Sparkle Box has money math games and play money printables, too.

Money math in the real world

The best way to learn new skills, Montessori teaches is to practice them in real world applications. That builds HOTS or higher order thinking skills. Bloom's Taxonomy says that regular lesson plans in which students memorize and demonstrate comprehension of facts, is limited. Students just learn to regurgitate data rather than impacting or being impacted by it. 

Bloom's Taxonomy Model of Omschool Market 

Here is an outline of how money math lesson plans help build higher-order thinking skills, based on the provided Bloom’s Taxonomy for ‘Money Math’ chart:

• Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

  • Creation (Apex of the pyramid)

    • Plan and design a classroom market

    • Develop a simple business model

    • Create an entire micro-economy

  • Evaluation

    • Assess complex financial choices

    • Determine the financial impact of debt

    • Evaluate investment options

  • Analysis

    • Analyze a personal budget

    • Distinguish "needs" vs. "wants"

    • Compare prices to find the best value

• Lower Order Thinking Skills (LOTS)

  • Application

    • Use play money for transactions

    • Make change

    • Calculate simple totals

  • Remembrance & Understanding (Base of the pyramid)

    • Recognize denominations

    • Identify coins and bills

    • Understand basic counting

Stay tuned for my next post where we'll take your mad money math skills to the next level! 

Multicultural lesson plans: respectful ways to explore global traditions around the world

Hello my friends of the Omschool. Today, Teacher Omi is going to show you how we are all lifelong learners. And today's life lesson is about cultural sensitivity. We're going to discuss ways to explore the wonderful world we live in, respectfully, without minimizing or generalizing. 

Rethinking multiculturalism

33 years ago, I created a preschool "multicultural unit" for Vacation Bible School. We "visited" saints around the world. So I made cardboard playhouse to simulate some of the dwellings of the people the saints missioned to. In retrospect, I can see where even this can smack of  "White savior complex" in which a dominant group attempts to "convert" what it sees as non-believers to its ideology. 

The saints we visited were more helpers in specific struggles, such as St. Peter Claver working against the slave trade. And St. Mother Theresa reaching out to assist then "untouchable" caste in India.  I also was gearing it to specific time periods in which the "play house" dwellings were more reflective. But there were still some problems, that I now see. 

Stereotyping, caricaturing and cultural appropriation

When creating a multicultural or world-focused learning unit in an early childhood setting, thoughtful implementation is key to ensuring that activities remain educational and respectful. While the activities I created were designed to spark curiosity and appreciation for different traditions, there are a few elements that are frequently discussed by educators regarding cultural representation, also called "cultural appropriation." 

Here are a few considerations and suggestions to ensure the lesson remains culturally respectful and avoids common pitfalls:

• Avoid Stereotyping and Generalizations: Grouping diverse cultures or entire continents into a single representation can lead to oversimplification (for example, using one style of "grass hut" to represent an entire diverse African continent, or using general symbols for all Native American tribes).

  • Alternative: Focus on the specific homes of individual tribes, nations, or regions, and discuss the geography or climate that makes those homes unique.

  • Instead of attempting to recreate homes, especially in a modern setting with modern materials, gather books showing real people creating and interacting within their real life societies. 

• Consult Authentic Voices: When teaching about Indigenous or specific cultural groups, it helps to use books or resources created by authors and artists from those communities. This ensures that the children are learning authentic perspectives rather than interpretations.

  • Alternative: Feature traditional stories, photographs of real homes (like a Mongolian yurt or an Arctic igloo), and celebrate specific cultural achievements with the children.

  • Here's a video showing an Inuit family building an igloo. Here is a video showing the building of a traditional grass hut in Uganda. The technology is simple but ingenious. And talk about using found materials. This is the ultimate "repurposing" hack. 

• Focus on Function, Not Costume: While children love dress-up, using sacred cultural regalia (such as headdresses) as a "costume" can be deeply insensitive. In my original piece, I cringe to recall how I suggested that kids "play dress up." 

  • Alternative: Focus on everyday objects, beautiful textiles, or items used for preparation and daily life, such as cooking tools, weaving, or musical instruments.

  • Explore authentic examples of dress styles in countries you want to visit. Here are 15 traditional African dress styles. Here is a kimono tutorial. Here's a "fashion show" from around the world. 

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💡 Pro-Tip

Keep It Respectful: Use your reading corner to share multicultural stories that highlight real individuals and historical figures, encouraging children to appreciate diverse traditions with empathy and accuracy!

Crafting respectful lesson plans on multicultural diversity

 When building a multicultural unit for early learners, the goal is to move beyond surface-level representations and foster a genuine, respectful connection to different ways of life. Here are several ideas for culturally sensitive, engaging activities that focus on authentic cultural exchange and appreciation:

1. Authentic Storytelling and Literature

Instead of using generic themes, introduce children to specific stories written by authors from the cultures being highlighted.

• Activity: Set up a dedicated space in the reading corner featuring translated picture books and folklore from around the world.

• Discussion Prompts: Ask children what the characters' homes look like, what foods they eat, or how the weather/geography is different from our own.

2. Exploring World Geography Through Homes

Rather than generalizing types of housing across whole continents, focus on the ingenuity of specific dwellings and local climates.

• Activity: Compare the geography of different regions using photos and books. For instance, you can examine how a traditional Mongolian yurt is adapted to the open steppe or how an Arctic igloo works with snow and ice.

• Craft Integration: Build small, specific models using natural materials like clay, twigs, or clean recycled items, discussing the science and geography behind the design.

3. Cultural Cooking and Daily Life

Food and daily routines are a wonderful way to connect children to real cultural practices without resorting to costumes.

• Activity: Prepare a simple, authentic snack or drink from a specific culture. Examples include making fresh salsa from a Mexican recipe, or preparing a traditional tea ceremony using real, child-sized teaware.

• Learning Focus: Discuss the ingredients, the origin of the food, and the tools used to prepare it in that culture.

  Hummus for Little Hands

  Introduce children to the joy of making healthy "world food" snacks with this simple, safe, and nutritious dip. It's the perfect no-cook sensory recipe for kids to practice measuring and mixing!

  Prep time: 10 mins | Yield: 4 servings | Category: Snack

  Ingredients

  • 1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1 clove garlic (optional, or 1/4 tsp garlic powder)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp tahini (sesame seed paste)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (plus a little extra for drizzling)
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 to 3 tbsp warm water

  Instructions

  1. Pour and Rinse: Help the children place the rinsed chickpeas into a medium-sized mixing bowl or blender.
  2. Add the Ingredients: Add the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, and salt directly into the bowl.
  3. Mash it Up: Using a sturdy potato masher or a child-safe fork, let the children mash the chickpeas and mix the ingredients together until fairly smooth.
  4. Drizzle and Serve: Add warm water, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is creamy. Serve with crunchy vegetable sticks!
  💡 Pro-Tip: Encourage children to create their own unique "food art" on top of the hummus with paprika or chopped fresh herbs before dipping!

4. World Music and Movement

Children naturally connect with rhythm and song.

• Activity: Listen to music from various regions or cultures. Focus on the instruments used (such as the African djembe, the Japanese koto, or Latin American maracas).

• Hands-On Craft: Make simple shakers or drums using recycled materials like dried beans, paper tubes, or cardboard, and discuss how different materials create different sounds. 

  

  
  
  

5. Traditional crafts

Here is a simple, child-friendly batik tutorial designed for a fun learning environment!

💡 Pro-Tip

Design Authentically:

 Avoid trying to "recreate" native patterns. Design your own that reflects you!

Simple Cardboard "Batik" Tutorial

Real batik uses hot wax and fabric dyes, but you can create a beautiful, textured "faux batik" effect using basic classroom materials like washable glue and watercolors.

Materials Needed

• Stiff drawing paper or watercolor paper

• White school glue or water-based glue

• Watercolor paints and brushes

• Cotton swabs or small sponges

• A small pencil for light tracing

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Step-by-Step Instructions

• Step 1: Sketch the Design Encourage children to draw their own unique, symmetrical, or abstract patterns directly onto the paper using a pencil. Remind them to keep the lines simple and bold.

• Step 2: Apply the Glue Line Carefully trace the pencil lines with the glue to create a "resist" barrier. Let it dry completely overnight.

• Step 3: Paint the Sections Once the glue is completely dry and clear, use watercolors to fill in the sections between the glue lines. The glue barrier prevents the paints from bleeding into one another.

• Step 4: Add Texture Use a cotton swab or a damp sponge to dab away excess moisture from the colors, creating a subtle, varied texture that mimics traditional wax-resist fabric.

Easy Faux Batik Fabric Tutorial

Real batik uses hot wax and professional fabric dyes. This kid-friendly version uses flour paste or washable school glue and fabric paints (or acrylics mixed with fabric medium) to create a beautiful, textured result.

Materials Needed

• A square of light-colored cotton fabric (such as muslin or an old cotton pillowcase)

• A piece of cardboard or newspaper (to place under the fabric to protect your table)

• Flour and water paste (or washable white school glue)

• Foam brushes or small paintbrushes

• Fabric paints or acrylic paints mixed with a textile medium

• An iron (for adult use only to heat-set the finished paint)

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Step-by-Step Instructions

• Step 1: Prepare the Design Place your cotton fabric flat on top of the cardboard. Use a pencil to sketch a simple, bold design directly onto the fabric.

• Step 2: Apply the Resist Trace your pencil lines using the flour paste or washable glue. Squeeze a thick, even line to ensure it acts as a barrier. Let the design dry completely overnight.

• Step 3: Paint the Fabric Once the barrier is fully dry, paint the sections of the fabric with your fabric paints. The paste or glue lines will resist the paint, keeping colors separate.

• Step 4: Wash and Set Once the paint is fully dry, soak the fabric in warm water to wash away the flour paste or glue. Squeeze out the excess water and let it dry, then have an adult iron the back of the fabric for 3–5 minutes to heat-set the paint.

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💡 Pro-Tip

Keep It Grounded: Ensure that all materials come directly from authentic cultural sources (such as traditional textiles, real cooking utensils, or authentic artwork) to give children an accurate, respectful view of the world!

DIY recycled cardboard playhouse with cardboard appliances kids can make themselves

Hello my Omschooligan friends! Teacher Omi is so excited about spring and I hope you are too! Today n this beautiful May Day, let's make some recycled cardboard crafts for kids! We made a recycled cardboard castle, play store and puppet theater a few days ago. Today we're making recycled cardboard playhouses. Use these in homeschool, preschool and just for outdoor fun! These free printable lesson plans include fort or house making rubric plus a guide to making appliances for your recycled cardboard playhouse. 

Montessori connections to recycled cardboard playhouse craft project for kids

Preschool children are wonderfully imaginative. If you give them an old box and tell them to pretend it's a car, they will enjoy hours of fun in their Maserati. Kids don't need a  expensive pre-made playhouse to have fun. You can make a recycled cardboard playhouse easily. In fact, teachers and parents, you can create entire Montessori preschool practical life learning centers for home or school, with just a refrigerator box, available in dumpsters behind appliance stores. 

Safe cardboard cutting and construction guide for kids

Here is a guide on how to help children safely cut and craft with cardboard:

1. Age-Appropriate Tools

Selecting the right tool depends on the child's age and fine motor skills.

• Safety Scissors (Ages 3–6): Standard blunt-tip or plastic children's scissors work well for thin cardboard, cereal boxes, or index cards.

• Corrugated Cardboard Scissors (Ages 6+): Specialized heavy-duty craft scissors (such as Westcott Right Shears) can cut through single-wall corrugated cardboard without the danger of an open blade.

• Adult-Only Tools: Box cutters, craft knives, and heavy shears should only be used by adults to prep the cardboard or score difficult cuts.

2. Safe Cutting Techniques and Setup

Teaching proper handling ensures the process remains fun and injury-free.

• The "Away" Rule: Teach children to keep their free hand firmly on the cardboard at a safe distance from the blade, always cutting away from their body and fingers.

• Stable Surface: Place the cardboard on a flat, non-slip surface, such as a self-healing cutting mat or a sturdy craft table, rather than holding the piece in the air while cutting.

• Punching Starter Holes: For window cutouts or internal shapes, have an adult use a craft knife to make a small hole first. This allows the child to insert their safety scissors safely without forcing the blade through the material.

3. Alternative Joining and Shaping Methods

Sometimes, avoiding sharp tools entirely is the safest way to let children craft independently.

• Cardboard Scoring: To fold or bend cardboard, an adult can lightly score the line with a box cutter, allowing the child to fold it easily along the line with their hands.

• Cardboard Fasteners: Use safety-conscious alternatives to connect pieces, such as tape, low-temperature glue guns (supervised), or brass fasteners and paper brads.

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💡 Pro-Tip

Safety First: Keep a non-slip mat under the cardboard to prevent sliding, and encourage children to take frequent hand-resting breaks when cutting through thicker materials!

Recycled cardboard craft project value added

First a word on recycled cardboard appliances boxes-they are wonderful tools for Montessori preschool play. They are eco-friendly, versatile, sturdy enough for children to play in and recyclable when you're finished with it. My father made me an entire cardboard playhouse full of furniture, with recycled cardboard boxes. Here's how to make a cardboard playhouse for Montessori preschool practical life learning centers. 

How to make a cardboard playhouse

This is not meant to be a permanent structure; but the tape will prevent the cardboard box wall from collapsing. There is no need for a roof or ceiling. Children understand the concept and will be able to imagine a ceiling. 

1. Cut the refrigerator box along one of the long edges. 
2. Open the box and flaps of both ends. 
3. Place refrigerator box upright around one corner of the room, flaps toward the floor. 
4. Alternate flaps, one in, then the next facing outward (to form a base). 
5. Arrange the cardboard playhouse so that it encloses the corner. 
6. Invert refrigerator box so printing faces inward. 
7. Duct tape edges of cardboard to the walls and tape flaps to floor.
8. Cut a window or two in the sides of the box. 
9. Cut window panes and curtains and color them in. 
10. Or staple scrap fabric to make curtains. 
11. Draw a flower box on the outside or make a little rack to place real plants. 
12. Cut a door that opens and closes or cut a doorway and hang a piece of cloth like a curtain. 
13. Place old green and brown towels along the bottom of the cardboard playhouse to look like earth and grass and to mask the edges. 
14. Draw a doorbell or attach a bicycle bell.
15. Inside your Montessori preschool practical life learning centers, place a doll cradle with assorted dolls, child-sized table and chairs,
16. Keep reading for tips on how to make recycled cardboard kitchen appliances.
17. Add play food and pretend dishes
18. Repurpose a coat rack as a costume rack for the house area costumes. 
19. Set up artificial trees and flowers to lend verisimilitude. 
20. Inside the house, put a basket of books that pertains to the subject you're studying. 
21. Add comfy throw pillows. This makes your Montessori preschool practical life learning centers into a quiet reading or library learning centers.

Recycled cardboard sink for playhouse

When I was young, my parents made an entire play house for me from recycled cardboard boxes. 

• To make a play sink, tape a cardboard box closed on all sides
• Cut slits in the box. 
• Insert a small plastic dishpan or pink tub like hospitals send patients home with.
• Push tub down into the hole you cut. Cardboard frame will hold the tub in place and create a 'sink'. 
• Make faucet, spout and handle for your play sink from two recycled dispenser bottles. Foaming hand soap dispensers look the most realistic. 
• Cut small holes in the back of the box sink. 
• Drop dispenser pieces into the holes so that just the top pump part shows through. 
• Tape dispenser tube inside box so it doesn't wobble. 
• Children can pretend to run water by pressing pump dispenser (be sure to say "shhhh" to imitate water sound!)
• Or make pretend handles. Make discs of cardboard, clay or cork. 
• Cover with duct tape. Punch hole in center. 
• Insert old pencils or straws. 
• Cut a hole in the back of the cardboard near faucet. 
• Insert straws/pencils and tape to back inside of box. 
• Label "hot" and "cold." 
• Rotate discs like knobs. 
• Place recycled dish soap bottle on sink. 

Note: the image doesn't show exactly how the "hot" and "cold" should look. Place them behind the pumps. 
Recycled cardboard refrigerator

• Use a tall rectangle box placed upright for refrigerator about the size of a vacuum box. 
• Duct tape pieces of cardboard to make a shelves. 
• Place an old plastic dishpan or plastic box in the bottom for a vegetable drawer. 
• Cover all cardboard surfaces with contact paper and seal edges with duct tape so cardboard appliances last longer. 
• Place small clothing rack near the play kitchen to hang aprons and chefs hats. Dress up is important in child's play.

Here's the quick printable outline:

The Refrigerator Box Playhouse

• Benefits of Refrigerator Boxes: Sturdy, versatile, green, and recyclable.

• Step-by-Step Construction Guide:

  • Cut the refrigerator box along a long edge.

  • Open the box and flaps at both ends.

  • Place upright around a room corner with flaps toward the floor (alternating the base flaps inward and outward).

  • Invert so the printing faces inward, and duct tape the edges to the walls and floor for stability.

• Customization and Detailing:

  • Cut windows and attach curtains (using colored paper or scrap fabric).

  • Draw a flower box or add a small rack for real plants.

  • Create a swinging door or a doorway with a cloth curtain.

  • Use green and brown towels at the base to represent grass and earth.

II. Montessori-Style Integration

• Learning Centers: Practical life learning centers for home or school.

• Furnishing the Playhouse:

  • Doll cradle with dolls.

  • Child-sized table and chairs.

  • Play kitchen furniture, food, dishes, and costumes.

  • Artificial trees and flowers for realism.

• Reading Nook Conversion: Add a basket of theme-related books and throw pillows to convert the playhouse into a quiet library.

III. Cardboard Appliance Tutorials

• Time Commitment: Under an hour per appliance.

• Basic Materials Needed: Cardboard boxes, box cutter/scissors, paint pens, assorted plastic lids from vitamin bottles or milk,  dishpans or tubs, duct tape, and soap dispenser pumps.

• Play Sink Construction:

  • Tape a box closed and cut a hole for the sink basin.

  • Insert a small plastic dishpan and secure it with the cardboard frame.

  • Create the faucet and handles using foaming hand soap dispensers and inserted straws/pencils.

• Play Refrigerator Construction:

  • Use a tall, upright rectangular box.

  • Add interior cardboard shelves secured with duct tape.

  • Include a plastic box/dishpan at the bottom for a vegetable drawer.

  • Cover surfaces with contact paper and seal the edges with tape.

• Additional Accessories: Place a small clothing rack nearby for aprons and chef's hats to encourage roleplay.

Here are my tutorials for 

Quick, easy no-sew bedroom play fort

Recycled cardboard play store and puppet theater

Quick, cheap easy no-sew bedroom play fort craft project for bunk beds or school room library corner

Hello my friends of the Omschool! Omschool is a mix-up of Omi (that's me!) which means grandma in Dutch, and homechool! I was a beta homeschool parent in the early 1990s. And now I'm proud to have Gen 2 homeschool grandkids. I was also a teacher for many years. So blog represents a collection of educational ideas put together over the years. On the second to last day of April Earth Month, I'm hauling some old articles I wrote on DIY activities to recycle, repurpose and reuse. I've been thinking a lot about forts and how important they are to kids. We made a cardboard forts a few days ago and today we're making forts in our bedrooms. And if you know me, you'll know these are going to be super cheap and so easy that kids can make them with a little supervision.  

No Sew DIY Play Fort Pattern

You've seen those cute play forts that come attached to a bunk or loft bed. Bunk or loft beds are available for sale with a tent kind of thing that attaches to the top bunk to form a play fort. A pirate ship or princess castle are usual themes. These attached bed forts are usually very expensive and not real well made. You can easily create a super cool no sew DIY play fort /bedroom canopy for your kids' bunk or loft bed. You'll just need with four free or inexpensive supplies. 

• two fabric shower curtains (available at Amazon, Walmart, Family Dollar, Walmart and Dollar General for $10 or less)

• two sets of curtain rings (available from same merchants for a few bucks per package)

• sharp fabric scissors

• duct tape in coordinating color with shower curtain (optional to make windows)

  ✨ Omi's Pro Tip:

  If you're using duct tape to reinforce the windows, try a patterned tape (like polka dots or animal prints). It acts like a built-in "window frame" decoration and saves you a step in the decorating process!

Funny Omi memory

I'll get on with how to make it but first a little walk down memory lane, that may resonate. So we all have that friend who is an outrageously talented, crafty gal. We'll call her "Rose" (you know who you are, milady!) She's a sewing diva, a domestic goddess. She whips up a DIY play fort with her handy, dandy sewing machine. You don't even know where your machine is, let alone the fact that last time you used it you impaled the needle through your thumb and had to go to ER. 

The envy of the neighborhood

Well, this friend made a play fort and it's the envy of the friend circle. It's got cute little windows, a door and probably a jacuzzi and full bar hidden somewhere in its realm. Her kids proudly display their cool new play areas. As your kids cast wistful sidelong glances at them and dirty looks at you. You stand by feeling like a pretty sorry mom who not only has no time, but also zero inclination to make a play fort for her kids' beds.

Be THAT mom and save your thumb

But don't worry, you're not a candidate for "lamest mom of the year". You don't have to be a seamstress. You don't even need to own a sewing machine to make this one. Just take those four supplies mentioned and you're in business. Why you can even get a double duty craft project for the kids out of it. And that's music to any homeschool parent's heart. BOGO household task done with kids occupied plus you get to be the cool mommy! 

💡 Omi's Pro Tip:

When choosing your shower curtains, look for weighted hems. The little magnets or weights at the bottom help the "fort walls" stay straight and prevent them from flapping around when the kids are crawling in and out!

Super easy, quick, cheap, DIY 

As for the design, you can probably follow where I'm going with this shower curtain play fort. Hang the shower curtain from the top bunk or loft, using the curtain hooks. Metal bunk bed frames will have bars that the shower curtain hooks should accommodate. If not, get some of the expandable clip kind. We just bought them four for a dollar at Amazon for my husband's new homebrew room. 

So easy the kids can make it

Hang the other shower curtain at the back of the bunk bed or loft. Push the bed up against the wall and voila your child has a private little snug that took minutes to make.  Using shower curtain with hooks makes it easy for children to open and close the fort as they need to. Often the ready made bunk bed forts have zippers and snaps that break with continual use. Another value added feature. Plus, if you get the kind of shower curtains that are designed like window curtains, all the child has to do is step through. 

Fancy it up if you wish

• To create windows in your fort, cut four square openings like a window frame. Reinforce the window edges with duct tape to prevent fraying. 
• Have kids cut felt flowers and use glue dots to decorate the bottom. 
• Make a tulle net canopy by putting a hook in the ceiling and hanging it. Or use the Command strip idea to avoid marking the ceiling. 
• Label it with paint pens. 
• Or use a plain shower curtain and let kids decorate with their paint pens. This will keep them busy for hours! 

Make it stick

If you want to attach the curtain fort to the sides of the bed, simply stick small pieces of duct tape front and back, along the sides at even intervals. Cut slits through the tape layers to make no-sew buttonholes. Make about six or eight no-sew buttonholes. Using shoelaces, yarn braids, ribbon or any other material you wish, tie the curtain to the bunk bed or loft bed sides. Or even easier, use glue dots to add magnets along the edge. Personally, I just didn't and no one ever missed it. 

🛠️ Omi's Pro Tip:

For a "temporary" fort that doesn't leave marks, use extra-strength Command strips or adhesive Velcro dots to attach the curtain edges to the bed frame. Hang your canopy from one, as well. It’s a great hack for renters or for making the fort easy to take down on laundry day.

With this easy, inexpensive no-sew shower curtain bed fort or canopy, you just may be back in the running for cool mom of the year!

Free printable Cinco de Mayo coloring pages, lesson plans and activities

 

Cinco de Mayo, or Fifth of May, celebrates the victory of the smaller Mexican army over the mighty French juggernaut, in the Battle of Puebla, 1862. Cinco de Mayo is not the Mexican Independence Day, but many Latino Americans celebrate it. Here are free printable Cinco de Mayo coloring pages and Mexican crafts

Whimsey Coloring offers free printable Cinco de Mayo coloring activities and coloring pages. 

Enchanted Learning has free printable Cinco de Mayo lesson plans, games, crafts, puzzles and lesson plans to explore Mexican geography, culture and history.

Kiddy House provides free Cinco de Mayo coloring printables linked on from the Cinco de Mayo homepage. Color Mexican children in traditional costumes, maps and flag of Mexico, plus fiesta coloring pages.

Surf Net Kids has free printable Cinco de Mayo coloring pages, including some whimsical chili peppers in sombreros as well as a Mexican couple in ceremonial and traditional dress.

DL-TK is your one-stop source for free printable Cinco de Mayo crafts, coloring pages, games, Mexican history and social studies lessons, booklets and more. Create a complete classroom or homeschool unit to explore Cinco de Mayo and Mexican history and traditions. Here's the page on Mexico coloring pages, lesson plans and activities. Color some for Cinco de Mayo greeting cards and party decorations.

Monday Mandala lists a gajillion free Cinco de Mayo printables including Mexican games, crafts, puzzles, greeting cards and more.

Cinco de Mayo means the fifth of May. But it isn't Mexican Independence Day nor the equivalent of the U.S. Fourth of July. Cinco de Mayo is the day Mexicans remember El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla). Cinco de Mayo is mostly an Americanized Latino holiday. But also a great day to explore Mexican culture. Here are free printable Cinco de Mayo lesson plans, worksheets and games.

Mr Donn has free printable Cinco de Mayo activities, games, coloring pages, Powerpoint presentations, social studies worksheets, history lesson plans and culture study activities. Lesson Plans offers links to Cinco de Mayo printables.

A-Z Teacher Stuff has free printable Cinco de Mayo unit and lesson planner kit with materials, worksheets, games, crafts, recipes, movies and activities.

Enchanted Learning has free printable Cinco de Mayo worksheets, mini-booklets, history and social studies lesson plans. Print a map of Mexico, Mexican flag, info on the Battle of Puebla, Mexican leaders, posters, history, images and recipes. Print a nice poster featuring Cesar Chavez and other Mexican labor activists, political figures, scientists, artists, musicians and more.

The Teachers Corner has free printable Cinco de Mayo crafts, counting lessons, words in Spanish, cultural heritage activities and more. Lesson Planet has free printable lesson plans on Cinco de Mayo to sample.

For preschool and younger kids, visit DL-TK for free Cinco de Mayo coloring pages, crafts, games, puzzles and recipes. Kids Soup offers free Cinco de Mayo printables to sample.

Apples 4 the Teacher offers free printable Cinco de Mayo lessons, maps, history projects, puzzles, games, music, crafts, recipes and more. There are ideas for several ages groups. ELCivics has printable Cinco de Mayo lessons for older students