“Go ahead and take my picture mommy but I’d run if I were you!”
By Bectoria Crandall
As I may have mentioned (see “Hello Dark, Dead of Winter. Meet Winter Wonderland” and “Host a Winterfest!”) I tend to get a little bummed out during the winter months. To counteract the effects of Seasonal Affective Disorder my husband and I often whisk the family away for a weekend hotel stay. We find that these mini vacays are the perfect way to give us back our mid-winter spunk. Since we have kids, staying at any hotel for any length of time means lots of swimming!
Swimming means swim toys. And yes. When toys and fun are concerned, I am always going to be the one to give permission to look like you’re on some sort of National Lampoons vacation. I’m talking floaties, swim Barbie’s, boats, diving sticks and the like. I do, however, recommend against squirt guns. That is, unless you want other guests and hotel management all up in there trying to ruin your fun!
During one of our now infamous hotel stays a friend of mine and I made a mental note of a toy made by an obvious genius! While I am not the original inventor I will tell you how to hack the idea for your own little guppies.
The genius invention was a water bomb made out of sponges. Given their shape and that their very function is to be in the water, I prefer to call them Pool Anemones. Here’s how to make them…
What you will need…
One sponge (sans the scrubby pad)
One zip tie
Scissors
Method…
Use scissors to cut the sponge lengthwise into even strips (approx ½ inch wide)
Once all pieces are cut, gather them with the zip tie to secure them in place. (I used a twist tie for the demo pic because I’m too lazy to hunt through our Christmas stuff for zip ties).
Well, that’s it! Now all that is left is to give them to the little ones. Before doing so, I recommend getting them soaking wet and then claiming dibs on the first throw. I further recommend throwing the first water bomb at the kid who complained the most in the car ride to the hotel. Have fun!!
