Cardboard Tube Explorer Binoculars

What you need

• Painter's tape, a few strips
• Crayons or markers, a handful of markers
• Toilet paper tubes, 2
• String, 1 short piece
• Newspaper, a few sheets

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Gather two empty toilet paper tubes, tape, markers and a piece of string. Cut the string so the finished neck strap hangs short, no lower than mid-chest. A short strap lowers the risk of it catching or wrapping around the neck. Take the binoculars off before naps or bedtime.

1. Gather your two tubes, tape, markers and string.
2. Hold the two tubes side by side so they touch.
3. Wrap tape around both tubes, near the top and near the bottom.
4. Decorate your binoculars with markers. Try stripes, dots, stars or your favorite colors.
   Ask: What kind of explorer are you: jungle, ocean, or outer space?
5. Tape one end of the string to each tube to make a short neck strap.
6. Put on your binoculars and go exploring around the house or yard.
   Ask: Does the world look different when you peek through the tubes?
7. Call out the name of each thing you spot, like a bird, a red cup or a fuzzy slipper.
8. When the adventure is over, take off your binoculars and put them somewhere safe.
9. Now show your friends, or make more! What will you spot next time?
   Ask: Who could you make a pair of binoculars for?

Play it again

• Color hunt: pick a color and spot as many things in that color as you can.
• Tiny treasures: look only for the smallest things you can find.
• Explorer checklist: a grown-up calls out things to find, and you spot each one through your binoculars.