DIY Jump rope: Made from Marker Caps!

Spring is finally kicking in where I live — that is in the Pacific Northwest — and sunnier, warmer days translate to a complete transformation in people's energies around here. So for the past week, my son and I have found ourselves outside every chance we could get: riding bikes, visiting parks, and taking nature walks. It has been fun, but I have sadly neglected my blog. Now I am back and I am refreshed. I look forward to the week ahead —  for I have a lot of activities in store to share as we lead up to my favorite day of celebration, Earth Day!

Yesterday, I had a friend come over, and she brought her 2 children along for a play date with Bode. Her daughter is nine, and I had a perfect craft up my sleeve for her. I had been planning to do this craft/activity for awhile now — that is making a jump rope out of old dried-out markers. Not only was it perfect for a girl her age but it also goes along with the theme of Earth Day. It feels satisfying to recycle materials that would otherwise go into our waste stream. And having this craft cost next to nothing isn't too shabby either!

At the school that I work at and at my house, I have been collecting marker caps for months. I saw the idea of making a jump rope using them somewhere along the way (I wish I remembered where!) and wanted to try my hand at it. Now was the perfect time.

Materials we used:

• Crayola marker caps from dried-out markers
• 2 crayola marker bottoms, (Just the capsules, the inside "ink" part removed)
• twine
• pipe cleaner
• scissors
• Drill with a drill bit 11/64 in size
• glue gun (not shown in picture above)

First I drilled through each marker cap. This is an adult job! Hold the marker caps tightly and securely on the side. Please be careful! At first my grip wasn't tight enough on the marker cap causing it to spin around fervently. After a while though, I figured it out, no harm done!

Have child hold twine as if they were holding a jump rope to determine the length plus a little extra.  Cut the twine and tie one end in a knot. Create a "sewing needle" with the pipe cleaner by bending it in half over the other end of the twine. Twist the pipe cleaner to secure it.

Thread the first cap so that the knot is positioned inside the cap. This will be one of the handles of the jump rope. Attach the bottom of the marker (the "capsule" part) onto the cap, so that it looks like a regular marker. The knot is hidden, and twine is coming out the top.

Add marker tops, one by one, until desirable length is reached. Thread the last cap the opposite way as when you began. Tie a knot big enough so that it won't fall through the hole. Attach the bottom of the marker for the other handle. There will be an inch or so of slack, which is fine. At this point I heated up the glue gun, and glued the caps and bottoms of the handles together to prevent them from coming undone.

My friend's daughter tested it out and WOO-HOO! It was a success! And she was a good jump roper (if that is a word!) too!

My son trying it out. His feet kept getting in the way!

Soon after my friend's son (who is 6), and my son (who is 4) both gave it a whirl, and let's just say, it made me realize that learning to jump rope is something that comes with age and practice. A few more years and they will master it too, I am sure!

Have fun!

*****Update: I realized where I heard of this idea originally...I did a search and found it on Crafty Crow's website. The post was contributed by Mommy on a Shoestring. You can find the her post here. (I always want to give credit where credit is due!:)

Along with linking up at my regular places (see Link-ups and Blog Hop page), I also linked up to The Earth Day Celebrations Blog Hop at Mommy Labs. Check it out here.

Also I have linked up to: