July 2024 Grab & Go Kits

Cardboard Folding Binoculars

DIY Cup and Ball Toy

Make an old-fashioned cup and ball toy! Use the supplies in the kit, along with items you have at home, to make this toy. Then challenge yourself and your friends to see if you can get the ball in the cup! Can you do it 5 times in a row? Ten times? Twenty?!?! Stop by the Youth Services desk to share your record!

Supplies in kit:

• Cup
• Popsicle stick
• Embroidery thread
• Wooden bead
• Supplies needed:
• Tape
• Markers or crayons

Instructions:

1. Decorate the outside of the cup using markers or crayons.
2. Thread one end of the yarn through the bead. Tie a strong knot around the bead.
3. Thread the opposite end of the yarn up through the hole in the bottom of the cup. (If it’s difficult to do either step #2 or step #3, wrap a small piece of tape around the end of the yarn to make it easier.)
4. Tape the yarn to the inside bottom of the cup. Use a few pieces of tape to make sure it’s secure.
5. You can choose to play with the cup as it is OR you can tape the cup onto the popsicle stick. Move your arm so that the ball swings up and (hopefully!) into the cup. Watch this video. The popsicle stick might make it more challenging for you to catch the ball in the cup, but it also might make it easier. Test out both ways and see which is more fun for you!

Butterfly Suncatcher

Kit includes:

• 1 butterfly suncatcher
• 6 random colors of suncatcher paint
• 1 mini paint brush
• 3 beads
• 1 piece of clear string

You may also want:

• Additional paint brushes
• Toothpicks
• Command hook or tape (to adhere suncatcher to the window)
• Paper towels

Warning: paints may stain skin and clothing, it is easy to clean off skin and surfaces when wet, but difficult once dried

1. Paint the sections of your butterfly with thick layers the colors of your choice. Paints may need stirring before use. Tip: toothpicks can be useful in getting the paint into narrow spots 
2. Put the string through the hole on the top so that the midpoint is where the loop is and the ends are touching
3. String beads on the string, passing both ends through the beads at the same time.
4. Tie a knot right above the beads to keep them from sliding
5. Tie another knot near the top where you would like to hang your butterfly from
6. Hang in a sunny window by handing it on the locking latch, hanging from a command strip, or taping to the window.

For inspiration checkout these books:

Butterfly & Moth by Paul Ernest Sutton Whalley (595.789 WHA)
My Book of Butterflies by Geraldo Valério (595.789 VAL)

What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon?: and Other Questions About Moths & Butterflies by Rachel Ignotofsky (595.789 IGN)