Skip to main content

A Few Ideas With Marker Caps (As Promised)



Yesterday, I hope I convinced you not to throw away your markers that "don't work." Today, I will share with you a few ideas for what to do with all of the caps. The possibilities are nearly endless, but here are a few of our recent creations:

1) A Leprechaun/Fairy Ladder/Rope Ladder:


2) #1 if not permanently secured can also double as a rope bridge:


3) #1/#2 can also be made into a train track for your homemade trains :). (No photo available)

4) You can use them as beads for a necklace:

5) You could make them into a wind chime. (No photo available).

6. You can use them as small manipulatives to count, sort, and make patterns with. (No photo available).

7) You could use them as playing pieces in your own homemade board game. (No photo available).

8) You could put them on a wire and glue them in place to make a twirling whirly-gig.



9) You could top them with a lid from a milk jug to make tiny tables or toadstools.



10) You could make them into pinky puppets- (they work on all kinds of little fingers, but mostly just on the pinkies of adults).




For some of these ideas, I used a Dremel with a drill bit to add some holes to the caps in order to thread them :)




I hope to update this post in the future with additional photos of our ideas......

What will you do with your marker caps?????

Comments

Ticia said…
LOVE these ideas.

I'm sure you mean aside from stepping on them? I'm thinking dollhouse table.
Deborah said…
I never thought about using the caps for other activities! I don't know why that is:)
Oohh, alright...I'm convinced! I'll save them...hee hee:) Thanks for sharing:)
Marlaina said…
Those finger puppets are awesome! For kids starting to read, you can write letters on them and have them spell the words on their fingers. I have marker tops in my Pre-K class and the kids always put them on their fingers in AB patterns.
Teacher Tom said…
I save every marker cap, but all I've ever thought to do with them is put them in our glue collage box. These are great! Thanks.
Barbara Zaborowski said…
I like putting mine to our wooden block area, where the kids add them to their buildings. They are also good for patterning games. By the way, you should also save the dried up markers. You can pull the bottoms off, rescue the insides and put the column of color in glue bottles. In a couple of days, sometimes a week, you'll have colored glue. There's still a lot of color in there.
@ Barbara- I'll add that idea for the markers to the bottom of my previous post: http://childcentralstation.blogspot.com/2010/08/markers-dont-work.html I do save EVERYTHING - or so it seems :). I've always added a little paint to my glue, but I never thought about adding the inside of a marker. Great Idea!

@Marlaina- Thanks for the idea with the letters, I'd never thought about that aspect.

@Everyone- Thanks, We can get pretty creative around here with what to do with "junk." I'd love to see your creations if/when you bring out the marker caps. It is amazing what the little ones come up with once they start to envision what an object could be.
Scott said…
These are great ideas. I also use marker lids for game pieces for homemade board games.
Anne said…
What great ideas!! Now can you help think of things to do with play doh tops?? All I can think of is sorting activities. Thanks!
Those pinky puppets are so stinkin' cute! I just love this idea - reusing materials is so important to me and these ideas are so creative!
Tim said…
I love all of these ides. Thanks for sharing! I pinned this to my board at http://pinterest.com/pin/15493913/
Creative ideas for kids. Love it, thanks for sharing
Anonymous said…
push them into our dough recipies or clay
Mrs. Nutter said…
I am an art teacher, too, and my students use them for dipping in paint and printing circles with them.
Anonymous said…
Love these ideas...

Popular posts from this blog

What Would You Do With It? Wednesday #4, Cardboard Tubes (Toilet Paper, Paper Towel, etc)

Welcome to this week's edition of What Would You Do With It? Wednesday. This week's item(s) are paper tubes. You most often find them at the end of a roll of toilet paper or paper toweling. I'm having trouble hunting up the photos I was going to post for this, so when I find them, I will add them. We have made: rain sticks kaleidoscopes marble runs and we have also cut the tubes and made them into flowers or snowflakes like these. If you would like to visit and link to some of our previous What Would You Do With It Wednesdays, please click here.

Yes, WE CLIMB UP THE SLIDE!

Yes, we do climb up the slide. We climb up the slide here at Child Central Station in the backyard... We climb up the slides when we are at the park..... and here are a few reasons why we think you could reconsider climbing up and allowing the children in your care to climb up the slide too! 1. Climbing up the Slide uses MUSCLE!  Young children need to be active and climbing up the slide requires a lot of muscle and coordination. It is not an easy feat- and requires strength, concentration, determination, and will power. 2. Climbing up the Slide is RISKY! Yes- climbing up the slide is potentially risky, but so is sliding down! Your job as a caregiver is to carefully observe and monitor the situation, to be close by- but not to interfere unless necessary. Part of a child's learning process must include managing risks- climbing up the slide is a perfect way to practice this skill. 3. Climbing up the Slide involves potential CONFLICT! It is al

Making Moon Mud!

We usually make our moon sand with cornstarch , sand, and baby oil. However a blog reader commented that when they make their moon sand- they use water instead of oil.  So, of course, my first thought was- why make moon sand when you could make MOON MUD?  And so you have it- our homemade moon mud! Basically, it ends up being a sandy- runny oobleck! It acts kind of like a solid- and kind of like a liquid..... Now, I'm sure I will get all kinds of questions on the exact recipe and proportions to make this stuff.....  The truth is, we rarely measure. We just mix it up until it looks and feels about right! Today, we made ours with too much water. (It was an experiment.) So, we removed some off the top.  After we were done playing in the mud- we let it sit. A little bit more of the water evaporated while we napped.... Then, this afternoon- It was perfect! Hard as a rock on the bottom, until you dig into grab it... Then....