mollymoo

Yee Haw! – How To Make a DIY Pool Noodle Hobby Horse

A fun 15 minute MESS-FREE recycled craft for kids

Has your little one’s swimming skills improved so much that they no longer need the support of a pool noodle? Tired of tripping over it round the house? You could always give it to a friend’s child of course, or chop it up to make pool noodle spiders!, but before you do consider upcycling it into a super fun DIY hobby horse for hours of endless imaginative play, inside and out.

Materials you need from around the house:
- broom handle
– pool noodle (with hollow centre)
– duck tape
– scraps of fabric, old tshirts (for the mane)
– fast acting glue or glue gun
– white drawing paper and black marker
– scissors
– twine for the reins

Step 1
Cut the pool noodle in half (you can get two horses out of one pool noodle). Slide the end of the pool noodle over the broom handle.

Step 2
Bend the pool noodle over as shown and hold into this shape with the duck tape.

Step 3
With a craft knife make a slit in the back of the pool noodle, about half an inch deep.

Step 4
Squeeze your glue into the slit and slide in the scraps of fabric, felt or old tshirt. Hold the pool noodle at either side of the slit until the glue sets and the ‘mane’ is secure. Then just cut the fabric into strips as shown.

Step 5
It’s doodle time! invite your child to doodle some eyes and nostrils with a thick black marker – of course in Molly’s world everything has long dramatic eyelashes!

Then just cut out the individual eyes and nostrils and glue them onto the pool noodle, as shown.

And finally, the finishing touch, every horsey needs reins so in the absence of thick twine I pulled three lengths of the butchers twine I had through the pool noodle nose area and platted them at either side.

And tada! The new trusty sidekick is ready and excited to giddy-up and gallop into the garden…

“Horsey, horsey don‘t you stop: let your feet go clippety clop”

The call of the wild!! Miss Molly was queen of the castle with her trusty pool noodle steed xx

And of course it’s essential play to be chased by mommy on a manky mop! haha

Happy making, happy playing, happy imagining ….

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This everyday recycling projects was created as part of the Sprinkles of Imagination campaign for the cool Nestle fab® Ice Cream team, which has been running over the summer months. Nestle want to help parents and children see the world with a sprinkle of imagination, the essence of the campaign, and the reason I chose to join in the fun as a brand ambassador.

Win a trip to Disneyland Florida!

Check out the great ideas entered in the competition so far here. The competition to win a fantastic family trip to Disney World Florida or a weekly spot cash prize closes on August 31st, but the fun doesn’t have to stop until then. Click here for more inspiration.