**Please keep an eye on small children while they play with these and consider cutting the ribbon shorter for toddlers as they could accidentally strangle themselves**

Alex and Evan have spent hours playing outside every day since spring weather came to Illinois. As much as we all love it, sometimes they grow bored. So I went to my favorite place to browse for ideas to keep them entertained and active: Pinterest of course! I came across the idea of ribbon wands a few months ago but never got around to making them. Honestly, I’m pretty sure one of my kids would knock the other out if they had a wand :) So I looked around Walmart for other ideas; something a little safer and easy to attach the ribbon to. Then it came to me – shower curtain rings! You know, the round kind that snap together…and are only a dollar at Walmart for a 12 pack! These rings are small enough to put on a toddlers wrist or simply hold while running around the yard with ribbon flying behind them.

So are you ready for these simple supplies and easy 5 minute (or less) instructions?

Supplies needed:

Scissors

Shower Curtain Rings ($0.98 at Walmart for 12 pack)

Ribbon ($0.47 spools at Walmart)

Total cost of my ribbon flyer project: $2 with leftover supplies to make more!

Instructions:

Cut 6 strands of ribbon to 45″

Tie all strands at once around the shower curtain ring

Sit back and watch your child have fun!

I picked out $0.47 spools of thin green and blue since they are Alex and Evan’s favorite colors. Rainbow shades or other color themes could be a lot of fun too! With the new Avengers movie coming out, red and yellow would be a hit for those who love Iron Man (like Alex) or Green for Hulk (Evan)! Get creative!

Since it’s a bad habit of mine, I started off eyeing the length and cutting without measuring my ribbon. It turned out each strand was 45″ long. I cut 6 strands per ring and tied tied them into a knot, resulting in 12 dangling strands, however you can add as many as you please. I have plenty of ribbon left and will make one more for each of the boys so they can pretend to be birds flying around the yard. They’re going to love it!

Ribbon flyers would make an awesome DIY birthday party favor! Purchase a variety of ribbon colors, enough rings for 1-2 per child, and let each child pick their colors. Kids may need help tying the ribbons on the string but it only takes a moment and then they’ll be off running around, having a blast!