Make Your Own Ring Toss Craft and Activity for Kids
Do your kids have Olympic fever? Or maybe they’re just looking for a fun game to play around the house (hello, rainy day activity!), or one to play at a birthday party… either way, I’ve got you covered.
This ring toss game is an easy craft using recycled materials you can find around the house.
What you need to make a ring toss game for kids:
- Tall yogurt container
- Paper towel cardboard roll (A more firm cardboard roll like those found with aluminum foil or clear plastic wrap works well–you can also roll a section of newspaper into a tight roll.)
- Two or more lids from round yogurt containers (These will be your rings. So the more rings you want, the more lids you will need.)
- A sharp utility knife and an adult’s assistance
- Construction paper (optional)
- Markers, paint, or stickers (optional–However you want to decorate your ring toss game–or skip this step all together if you want to get playing!)
How to make your own ring toss game and craft for kids:
Have an adult trim the top two inches off the yogurt container. (The “top” being the opening end of the container–it will become the “bottom” of the ring toss stand.) This will be the ring toss base and will need to be stable. Trimming the bottom off the container will help with that. Make sure you make it even so it sits well.
Also have an adult cut an ‘x’ shape into the bottom of the yogurt container.
Decorate the cardboard roll (or rolled up newspaper) to make it gorgeous. Some ideas include, painting it, colouring it with markers, sticking it with stickers, or covering it with construction paper, wrapping paper, or whatever else you have that looks interesting.
Slide the paper towel roll into the slits made in the bottom of the yogurt container. It should stay nicely on its own.
Have an adult carefully cut out the inside sections of the yogurt lids so they become a (closed) ring instead of a solid disk. (Cut out the middle of the lids.) These lids will be your rings.
It looks like you’re done!
Time to find some space and play ring toss!
Place the stand a few feet away and try to toss your rings onto the cardboard roll sticking up. Can you get it? If it is too easy, keeping backing up until it gets harder. Too hard? Move closer.
Can you toss the ring with your left hand? Right hand? Both hands? From behind your back? Without looking? From between your legs? Make it a challenge. Gotten good? Invite your friends over to play! They can be one country and you can be another–competing in the Olympics! Wahoo! Have fun, and enjoy!
What games do your kids like to play at home? What country are they cheering for in the Olympics?
P.S. This craft was built at our public library with help from our lovely librarian, Mary. Thanks, Mary!
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Looking for an easy way to share:
Easy craft and party game: ring toss! A fun how to for kids. http://t.co/SMTlgsWM #crafts #kids #play
— Jean Oram (@KidsPlay) August 2, 2012
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Who doesn’t love balloon animals? No. Really. Do you know anyone? I don’t. Because…
Balloon animals rock.
First, there are a few things you need in order to make successful balloon animals.
- Balloon animal balloons. Those long, skinny things that are impossible to blow up using your own lungs. Especially if you buy the cheap balloons like I do.
- Something to blow up the balloon. No, not ‘burst’ them… put air into them. Should clarify. Especially since I recommend the following for blowing up balloon animal balloons: air compressors, bicycle pumps, and those awesome air pumps that come with those big exercise balls. (Yes, I bought my ball for the pump.) Oh, and there are fancy pumps made ‘specially for these balloons. But that takes the challenge out of it. What’s a balloon animal without bursting your ear drums with the pressure before looking around the house to see what else can do the job?
- Special fingers for tying knots into the ends of these balloons. Although if you buy your balloons somewhere other than the dollar store this may not be an issue. But in our family, I have the special skill fingers. That’s right. Come to me. I will fill your balloon tying needs.
- An imagination. Or a book of instructions. Or a willingness to experiment and not be bothered by the fact that you have run out of balloon by the time you get to the fourth leg of that dog you were creating.
While I’d love to give you instructions on how to make that lovely three-legged dog… that would take the fun out of you figuring out how to make one yourself. Besides, maybe you want a giraffe. Or a bird. Or a snake. I’m good at making balloon animal snakes. 
(Just blow up the balloon and you are done! If you want to get super fancy, take a marker and draw a cute little face on one end.)
How about you? Any crazy balloon animal stories to share? (And do your kids do like mine and line up for half an hour to have someone make them a balloon animal at fairs? Mine do. There’s just something special about a balloon animal made just for you.)
Enjoy. And play on my friends.
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One of the local private schools was having a sports day / track day / Olympics for their students in the playground the other day. So while chasing my son and his friends around the playground, I snagged a picture for you of something I thought was really cool.
Ta da! They are homemade hurdles for kids of all sizes using PVC pipe.
What you will need to make a homemade hurdle for your kids
For this project you will only need to visit the plumbing section of the local hardware store. Yipee!
For the version shown above, you’ll need 2 elbow joint pieces, 2 t-shaped joint pieces and lots of pipe that will fit into those joints. You will want to use plumbers glue to hold your joints together and you will need a hacksaw to trim your pieces to length. As well, a marker to mark where you need to cut will come in handy along with a tape measure if you hope to make your hurdles even. 
I’m not going to get into the details and specifics here, but you can either experiment on your own to figure out what will work well for your kids or if you are a more details first type, you can check out this eHow article.
P.S. When making your hurdles, try to leave the back leg shorter than the front leg like in “real” track hurdles so if your kids don’t make it over, the hurdle topples instead of tripping them onto their face. Ouch.
Why Hurdles Are Great
Kids love to run and challenge themselves. They especially love to jump. Homemade hurdles made from PVC can be adjusted higher or lower if you simply wedge the upright pipe pieces into their joints instead of gluing them. By wedging them, as your kids grow you can replace the upright bars with longer ones making your hurdles higher. (You’ll notice in the photo that the hurdles on the right are “big kid” hurdles where the ones on the left have shorter upright pipes and are “little kid” hurdles.
Got My Homemade PVC Hurdles, Now What?
Hold a sports day right in your own backyard.
Hmm… I’m also thinking an Olympic themed birthday party!!
Or maybe… set it up and leave it so the kids can make their own obstacle courses, run it, and change it up all summer!
If you are looking for more outdoor games to go with your hurdles event, be sure to check out my Pinterest boards. The Outdoor Play board has lots of fun, easy, homemade games for the kiddos such as homemade outdoor bowling, homemade balance beam, and a do-it-yourself throwing challenge game.
Enjoy!
How about you? Have you held an active birthday party or created a fun afternoon of sports challenges for your kids?
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