Craft a Magic Fairy Wand

What You Do:

1. Lay newspaper over your work surface to help keep the mess to a minimum.
2. Have your child paint the entire dowel with her favorite color paint (if you're using a tinker toy, move on to step 3). You might want to help her choose a color by offering suggestions, such as black for a magician, pink for a fairy, etc. Set it in a place where it won't get knocked over or stuck to anything, and leave it to dry.
3. Trace two identical star shapes onto the cardboard and cut them out.
4. Invite your child to spread glue over one side of each star, and then sprinkle glitter over the entire thing. You don't want to skimp on the magic by missing any spots, so be sure the star is completely covered! Let it dry.
5. Trace a line of glue around the edges of the inside of the stars, leaving a small section at the bottom unglued. Make sure this section is big enough for the dowel to fit into. Sandwich the stars together, glitter sides facing out. Set it aside so the glue can dry.
6. Cut three long strands of ribbon and knot them around the top of the dowel. Let your child mix and match colors for a funky, personalized look. Add a small dot of glue to keep the ribbons in place.
7. Put a dab of glue at the tip of the dowel, and slide the star onto it. Add another dot of glue at the bottom of the star to make sure it doesn't fly off, and let it dry.

Abracadabra! Now your child is ready to become a pretty fairy. For a complete fairy look, make fabric fairy wings to match her magic wand.