Piggy Bank
Kiddo can count fairly ok these days and she had picked up some money sense from our grocery shopping (what is CHEAP or what is DEAR) and postal runs (“cos Papa SOLD this toy, so we need to BUY stamps to send it off”). We are careful not to go overboard with the money talk but reckon it’s about the right time to pick up a habit of SAVING/PLANNING for something later down the road. Besides, she had by now, seen what ‘piggy banks’ are from books and tv programs, so she really relished the idea of making/owning one.
What you need are:
- 2 x PVC recycle food containers/bowls (you’ll need 2 bowls and 1 lid)
- PVA glue
- colour paper
- coloring material
- scissors/ craft knife
- pipe cleaner
- brass fastener
- philips screwdriver
Instructions:
- Get kiddo to design how piggy her piggybank will be (of cos it need not be just pigs).
- While kiddo is at it, cut up one of the bowl into the legs of the piggy. Drive a small hole on one end of the bowl.
- Make a hole in the centre of the lid with the screwdriver.
- Cut a slit at the bottom of the other bowl. Make sure the slit is wide and long enough for coins to be dropped in.
- Loop a piece of pipe cleaner through the hole on the ‘legs’/bowl. This will be the piggy’s tail.
- Fasten the lid to the ‘legs’/bowl. Make sure that it is not too tight and it still allows some swiveling.
- Snap on the other bowl to the lid and you’d get a blank piggy for kiddo to work on.
- Kiddo now dresses up her piggy by drawing, colouring, cutting and sticking on her design.
- Basically, the idea is to recycle food containers for this craft project. I’m sure it’d be cool to make a robot/piggy bank out of transparent containers!
- Most importantly, set some expectations…i.e. let her know how often will she get a coin from you/ use it as a limited form of reward for helping out chores etc and help her plan what she would like to get with her savings.
- Last but not least, hand kiddo a coin and watch her face light up as she drops in the first coin. That look, is priceless. 🙂