All the parents of small children and also not so small are in a dillema about how to keep the children entertained and happy while in quarantine. There are books and screen time but they can't do that 24 hours a day. With schools closed how does one occupy high energy children at home? I have come up with a number of tutorials where the supplies don't cost any money and children can learn a new skill and have hours of fun at the same time.
For the first few projects you will need a number of old t shirts which we all have at home so now is the time to sort out that pile of t shirts in all the closets. This is an opportunity to teach all the children how to sort and fold t shirts as well and learn yourself if you don't know how to do that yet :)
Choose one closet at a time otherwise it is overwhelming even for an adult. Take all the t shirts out of the closet and bring the pile to the living room table. Go through all the t shirts together, making a number of different piles. The ones that are going back into the closet, the mending pile, the upcycling pile and the really ratty pile which can be used for cleaning rags (we all have some of those).
Make it fun,sort them into color piles first, you might be surprised at how many black t shirts you have. Even try the shirts on and have everyone give their opinion on which pile to put the t shirt, maybe even have a fashion show.
They can be sorted according to tank tops, short sleeves and longsleeves.
One simple and neat way to fold a t shirt which uses up minimal space in the closet and you quickly see the colors of the t shirts.
Lay the t shirt face down on the table.
Fold it in half like this
Fold the sleeves down onto the body of the shirt and fold the bottom up
Fold the top down
And then slip it inside the upper bottom fold.
Straighten and flatten the edges
If they do this often enough it will only take a few seconds each time.
Practice makes perfect :)
Once you have your upcycling pile ready you can designate different tasks to each of the children. If your children don't know how to use a pair of scissors this is an opportunity to teach them. The t shirts have to be cut up into piles of sleeves, bodies, collars and cuffs.
The t shirts can be made into many different items and over the next few days I will show you how to do that.
Pillow
Shopping bag
Necklace
Flowers
Bracelet