Ribbon Sticks

During circle time at Kinder Gym the kids and parents get to dance to music and wave ribbon sticks. When I saw how much fun was had, I decided to make some for home. Here is how I made 3 ribbon sticks:

Supplies needed


-screw eyes $1.19 (size listed on pkg is 214.5 x 5/8 no units given. There were 6 in pkg)
-fishing swivels $1.19 (I don't have the size as the pkg got tossed) get big ones. Mine weren't big enough so I needed an extra jump ring for additional ribbon
-oak dowel $2.19 (1/2" x 36")
-lots of ribbon
-scissors
-small paintbrush or knitting needle

1. Cut your dowel into 3 equal 12" pieces. You may want to sand any rough edges.
2. Twist 1 screw eye (centered) into the end of one of your 12" pieces of dowel. I slipped a paintbrush handle through the screw eye to make twisting easier.



3. Attach the fishing swivel to the screw eye

4. Collect long pieces of fabulous ribbon. I used what I had around the house. Cut 2 or 3 pieces of ribbon a couple yards long or so. Whatever length you prefer. Slip the ribbon through the swivel eye and pull through half way, then tie a knot. As mentioned above, because my swivel eye was so small I added a jump ring to the swivel eye and added more ribbon that way.

5. My ribbon had a tendency to fray after it was cut, so I burned the ends of the ribbon quickly with a lighter.

6. Repeat steps 2-5 to make two more ribbon sticks.

Hope this makes sense!

Oh ya, you'll probably want to supervise the little ones while they're playing with the ribbon toy. They are sticks after all with a few small parts. Most important have fun...woo hoo! I was thinking you could customize your ribbon sticks by decorating the dowel handle for some extra flare.