Summer Boost
Activity:
Custom Clock
Does it seem like there is just never enough time in the day? You and your child can make some time of your own by customizing your very own clock! This activity is easy enough that it won't take much more than simple supervision from a parent while your child lets her imagination run wild. Moreover, a customized clock is a great present for a busy parent — and this one has a "green" twist because it's made from a trash-to-treasure thrift store find.
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What You Need:
- Working wall clock (found at a thrift store or an old one from around the house)
- Decorations for the face and numbers
- Glue
- Scissors
What You Do:
- Start by taking apart the clock by removing the plastic cover and separating the clock from its frame. (Clocks are put together differently, so you may need a screw driver or other tools to take yours apart.) Kids love to do this part — how often do they get to take things apart and not get into trouble for it? Make sure you and your child pay attention as you’re doing this because you’re going to have to put the clock together again.
- Carefully remove the clocks hands.
- Make a new face for your clock. You can use a child’s drawing, a favorite photo, patterned paper — almost anything will work. You just have to cut it to the correct size to cover the clock’s face. Your child can also add decorations or numbers, as well. She can personalize it for the person that she is giving it to, or if she is making it for her room she can decorate it to match the way her room is decorated. (Some ideas: A fisherman’s clock with a picture of Dad holding his big catch framed by fish hooks for some of the numbers and trimmed with lures; a child’s drawing inside a brightly colored frame with things like “Time to come home” and “Time for my bath” instead of numbers — the possibilities are endless.)
- Glue the new face onto the clock and reassemble it.
- Before you attach the frame, you can spray paint it a bright color. Once it’s reattached, your child can decorate it along the outside with buttons, wooden letters and other items.
- Present with pride!
