What kid wouldn't love her own horse? We'd all love to give our kids what they want, but if you don't have the room (or the funds!) for a real horse, try this instead! With just a few recycled household items, you can create your very own stick horse toy. Use an empty dish soap bottle, a broom stick, and a little bit of felt to have the prop of a lifetime. You child will be able to transform into a cowboy, a knight, a princess, or whatever she wants! It's a great toy to have for all sorts of imaginative play.
What You Need:
- Empty, colored liquid detergent/soap bottles (without a handle)
- Different colors of felt, like black, white, brown and yellow
- Glue
- Long piece of ribbon
- Broom stick
- Hot glue gun
- Large wiggly eyes (optional)
What You Do:
- Wash out a liquid dish soap bottle, and tear off the label. (Clorox Green Works and Dawn Ultra dishwashing liquid soap containers work well for this project.)
- Cut a hole the size of the broom handle on one side of the lower-bottom part of the soap bottle.
- Help your child cut a few thick strips, about 5 inches long, from one color of felt to be the mane of the horse. Then cut several 2 or 3-inch strips of the same color to be the forelock of the mane.
- Use a piece of felt of a different color and cut out two ear shapes.
- For the eyes, either purchase large googly eyes from a craft store or cut out two round pieces of felt.
- Use the glue to attach the eyes to the bottle. Place the eyes near the middle-bottom of the bottle, on the opposite side of the hole.
- Glue the ears to either side of the bottom of the bottle.
- Between the ears, glue on the shorter pieces of felt as a the forelock; it should resemble bangs, flopping over the horses face but not covering the eyes.
- Down the back of the bottle, glue the 5-inch strips until the bottom of the bottle is covered. You can even glue some extra strips down the "neck" of the horse, along one side of the broom handle.
- Use the hot glue gun to attach the bottle to the broom handle. Let the glue dry, and voila! You've got a snazzy homemade horse prop for all kinds of imaginative play!
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