Fun with Funoodles!

“It’s fun to have fun, but you have to know how…If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good!” ~Dr. Seuss

Lots of ideas for non-pool uses of pool noodles have been floating (hee hee) around Pinterest for weeks now. Since we live in Florida, pool toys are in abundant supply, so I thought I’d brainstorm some fresh ideas for our homeschool.

One cute idea I saw involved cutting up pool noodles and filling a small wading pool with them to make a ball pit for babies. I loved that idea for my toddler, but thought I’d add some extra fun for my kindergartener by writing letters on the cut up pieces so she could ‘fish’ for the letters with THE CLAW.

I made all of the vowels yellow and the rest of the letters a mix of colors. My little ones use neon green clothesline to string together words and sentences. I also left a few ‘blanks’ to be used as spacers between words. We can use these to make Birthday banners, Mother’s and Father’s Day banners, Congratulations signs, etc. too!

I used a large, serrated bread knife which worked beautifully, and by making sure that all of the cuts are straight, the little chunks of funoodles make great building blocks, too. Since not all of my cuts were straight…okay, since none of my cuts were straight (Craft-aster strikes again!), my children’s towers look more like Dr. Seuss’ Who-ville buildings. But since they like to build, knock down, build, knock down etc, the Who-blocks work just fine for us. 🙂

I also cut large pieces to use as giant tinker-toys so my children could build large buildings, boats, planes, trains, and automobiles that they could actually get inside to play . So I cut long pieces, four of each color, being careful to keep each of the same-color pieces the same lengths so they would make perfect squares to use as sides or a base for whatever structure my children came up with. Then I went to the hardware store and bought 2″ pvc pipe fittings in various shapes to be used as connectors. It worked pretty well, but the pvc is heavy compared to the funoodles, so that’s a physics challenge for my children as they try to figure out how much of a support system is needed to hold up the connectors. I’m looking for light-weight funoodle connectors, though, so they can build even bigger structures.

Just a note, if you’re thinking of trying any of these, head to the dollar store asap because once the summer stock gets replaced by the fall/winter stock it’ll be nearly impossible to find funoodles anywhere. Even here in Florida where it often stays in the 90’s through November, the stores pull all the bathing suits, flip-flops, and other warm weather essentials in late August or early September, which I’ll never understand, lol.

And I just had to share these adorable and super easy funoodle horses from Mrs King’s Music Room. Head over there for the instructions, and your little ones will be galloping away in no time!

Then head over to A Purpose Driven Home for some more super cool funoodle ideas!

In the world of a child wonders are as simple as sticks and sheets, leaves and books, boxes and giggles, and the promise in a rainy day. The Seven Wonders of the World of Childhood

Children who love to read…READ! Engaging children’s hearts in the wonder of reading instead of just training their minds in its mechanics. Raising Bookworms

Think homeschooled children are unsocialized, over-controlled, locked-away-from-the-world misfits? Think again! My Renaissance Girl

On a Winnie the Pooh style ‘long explore’ my little Pooh Bear discovered the world in ways only a toddler can do in…The Many Adventures of My Little Pooh Bear

If You Give A Toddler A Book…

A Return to Childhood

25 Reasons NOT to Keep Your Children Busy this Summer

Raising Super Readers~The MARVELous Power of Comic Books!

Playground Confessions~Look Who’s Talking!

A Place for Me

Alphabet Fun~Imagination From A to Z!

Making Money Matters Make Cents

Award-winnning author, L.R.Knost, is the founder and director of the children's rights advocacy and family consulting group, Little Hearts/Gentle Parenting Resources, and Editor-in-Chief of Holistic Parenting Magazine. Books by L.R.Knost include Whispers Through Time: Communication Through the Ages and Stages of Childhood ; Two Thousand Kisses a Day: Gentle Parenting Through the Ages and Stages ; The Gentle Parent: Positive, Practical, Effective Discipline ; and Jesus, the Gentle Parent: Gentle Christian Parenting the first four books in the Little Hearts Handbook gentle parenting series, and children’s picture books Petey’s Listening Ears and the soon-to-be-released Grumpykins series.