Tristy Lee- DIY | Home Decor | Art | Project Inspiration

    Are you looking for fun things to do with your kids while staying at home? At this point, we have to get pretty creative to entertain Lily. We have been doing some daily crafts with Lily to encourage her to be creatively engaged during the day. She was looking at some pictures we took from a carnival from last year and said,” let’s go there”. This gave me the idea that maybe we could have a carnival at home. Grandma Joan, Lily, and I decided to create a DIY carnival game to play indoors.  

DIY Carnival Inspiration

     When I was a little girl, my dad was really good at the game where you threw dimes in glass dishes. I’m not sure how much he spent winning this beautiful porcelain doll that I kept on my shelf in my room till I graduated from college. I was never very good at any of the carnival games, but I always begged to play them. This project was inspired by two of my favorites. The ring toss and Skee ball. We thought this would be the perfect way to have fun kids indoor activities for a couple days. For example, day one is the plan, prep, and get ready for carnival party then day two indoor carnival fun.

     Are your kids feeling restless from staying home?  Lily asks everyday “What are we doing today?  Staying at home is challenging us all to get more creative.

Supplies for the activity:

While we are all trying to stay home, it was important to me that we created this game with things we had on hand. Grandma Joan and I searched the house for something we could use.
We gathered the following:
• Toilet paper rolls
• Amazon Box
• Leftover spray paint
• Plastic cups
• Colored Craft Paper
• Wide mouth jar rings
• Gorilla Glue
• Duct Tape
• Stickers- Lily got a giant sticker book full of Frozen stickers for Christmas that she would have a blast using on the box.
• Mod Podge
• Chopsticks
• Plastic bottle caps

How to assemble the carnival-inspired game:

We did the assembly on day one and talked about the carnival party we were going to have the next day while we put it together.

1. First, we had to come with an idea for the base. This was indeed a family brainstorm. Grandpa Barry came up with the idea of using chopsticks to hold the box up on an angle to mount pegs for the rings. 
2. We opened the box and attached the chopsticks to the inside of the box with duct tape.  
3. Second, we took the box outside and used some leftover spray paint on the box
4. Next, we let Lily pick out three pieces of craft paper in different colors.
5. After, Grandma Joan cut the paper slightly larger than the toilet paper roll.
6. Then, Lily applied Mod Podge to the toilet paper rolls, and we helped her to wrap the piece around them. I recommend putting a layer of Mod Podge on the outside of the paper as well.
7. Because we cut the paper slightly larger than the roll, we made 10 cuts into the paper overlap to the edge of the cardboard toilet paper rolls. I added some glue to the inside of the toilet paper roll and folded the extra paper into the roll, giving it a finished edge.          

8. Now that the spray paint on the box was dry, Grandma Joan helped Lily to put the stickers on the box. We really just let her put them where she wanted. 
9. While Lily was putting the stickers on the box, I cut three plastic cups down to about two inches creating small containers. Lily added a few decorative stickers to the cups.
10.  Finally, we attached the cups to the front fold of the box. Then we spaced the three rings on the top of the box, glued them and let them dry overnight.         

 Let the Carnival begin:

     DIY carnival game day would not be complete without the carnival treats. Gather up your favorite carnival snacks and have an indoor carnival game day. We choose popcorn and chocolate covered sprinkle donuts we ordered to pick up from the local bakery. This was our last day with Grandma and Grandpa Atwood in Mesquite before we head home. Lily had a great time playing with the ring toss. 

     If you get a chance to get out for walks with your little ones, don’t forget to check out our Nature Walk projects including:

Texture Art 
Pinecone displays

Please share your indoor kid’s activities. We are always looking for fun things to do with Lily.  Follow us Instagram .