Joining Stephanie in
Saturday's Artist, the kids and I made more hula-hoops this week!! This is so much fun and so easy, the "hardest" part is getting the materials. If you want to try this, here is how :)!!
You can pick-up everything from your hardware store: irrigation tubing (3/4" is fine), 3/4" couplings (a bag of ten is good), all colors of electrical tape, a pvc cutter, and popcorn kernals for noise if you would like.
First you need to measure and cut a length of tubing. The general rule of thumb is to measure the tubing to the belly button. The smaller the hoop, the easier to hula! You will need the pvc cutter, which I have found can be a little tough to use, so no little hands on this one...
Then you heat up a couple cups of water in a pot, it doesn't need to be boiling, just hot enough to soften the tubing. Put in one end for about 10 seconds, slide the coupling in. This is the time to put in your kernals if you want any!! Then repeat heating and connect the other side.
Now you have a connected hoop and the fun part begins!! We decorate using electrical tape as I found it easier and more flexible. We also have used designer duct tape, but we found that to be noisy, sticky, wrinkly--and much harder for the kids to use, though they are pretty. We bought our tape at the hardware store, but you can also order cool, flashy tape
here and
here.
Just so you know, you will have a LOT of tubing leftover. You can make at least 10-12 hoops depending on the size. We have given them as gifts, as well as donated them to preschools, etc. The kids can even sell them if they want to make a few dollars! We love to hoopla around here. I suppose we could go to the dollar store and just buy one, but where is the fun in that!!!
