Monday Made: A rainbow of ribbons

Hello!  How was your weekend?  The hubby was overseas for a conference, and I was down with a very bad flu, so we stayed in the whole time.  Thankfully though while I was coughing like crazy, little boy only had a slight cough which hardly bothered him (I like to think its due to me passing antibodies to him).  I've been spending most of the time reading to the little boy, since I barely have the energy to do anything, and housework is piling up, but I did manage to make this for him:

Its basically a whole rainbow of ribbons tied to a hoop, some which were scraps, while others were from my craft supply drawer.  I used to give the little boy ribbons tied to a stick, but sticks are pokey things and not that safe, so when I chanced across the same idea but using a hoop (in this book, which is chokful of great ideas for toys you could make yourself), I thought it was brilliant and worth giving a try!  I used the inner ring of a plastic embriodery hoop (available at Daiso for $2, use the inner ring as the outer has a screw which may come out), which is large enough for little hands to grasp, but not large enough to slip through their heads and cause strangulation (same goes for the ribbons, if you are worried, keep them short, I think the guide is 7 inches).

So you can wave them all around and make rainbows in the air:

... And you could go just crazy while doing it:

Then when you are tired, the hoop can hang nicely on your shoulder, while you go and do other important things (like chop apples for your bear bear, for example):

Other points you might find useful:
:: We are also having fun identifying the colours, and learning about light and dark colours.  And spotting unique ribbons, like those with polka dots and those with silver trims...

:: The ribbons can be cut with varying lengths to teach about the concepts of "longer and shorter", and you can use different widths and textures too!

:: Attach the ribbons to the hoop and tie  double knots to secure them.  Initially I just looped them through (like how you loop ribbons through the holes for bookmarks), but these loops would come out rather quickly since toddlers can be really enthusiastic about waving those ribbons!

:: This is great for bringing outdoors where you can let them run with it to their hearts content, plus they can also see the ribbons catch the wind!

Have a great week ahead! :) And come over to play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up!