DIY Container Creation

This is a quick DIY tutorial on creating a dog out of a cascade container. You can use this for tons of learning games and add a bit of fun to practicing basic skills. This sweet dog can also be used as a container for your Valentine cards! You can read about my inspiration for creating Container Creations here.

You will need:

• Plastic Container- I used a Cascade container 
• Foam or Felt
• Fluffy Dusters (I used blue & white dusters from the Dollar Store)
• Large Google Eyes
• Hot Glue Gun & Hot Glue
• Optional- Bells and Tag for a Collar

Cut your foam or felt to the size of your container and hot glue it around the outside.

 I used dusters to create fluffy ears. These were dusters from the Dollar Store. Remove the dusters from the handles and you are ready to roll!

Hot glue some felt to the inside of each ear. The ears will be hot glued to the top of the container and under the dog's face.

Time to create a face! I used scouring pads from the Dollar Store to create the nose and tongue. You can easily use felt or foam, but I liked the different texture of the scouring pads.

 The dog's nose is a sort of heart-like shape and the tongue is half an oval. Cut out both in a red or pink color. Cut out a larger copies of both the nose and tongue in another color. I used black foam for the nose and pink for the tongue. 

 After attaching the ears to the top of the container, I cut out a white base for the dog's face. I wanted the dog to have a cute, spotted face, so I cut out a large circle to surround one of the eyes, Hot glue the face and eyes to the container.

 Hot glue the tongue directly onto the container. You will cover the top of the tongue with the dog's jowls. I used brown foam to create the dog's jowls. Hot glue the jowls on top of the tongue and attach the nose on top of it. 

 I added a fun metallic ribbon around the container. This created a collar for Bingo! I attached two bells and a metal tag to the "collar". I added an address label to the tag and wrote my dog's name onto the tag. I love this, because I can change the tag with the activity.

 Here is my completed doggy! He is a fun addition to any learning activity. My kids think it is great fun to leave secret messages for each other with Bingo! Whatever works for you :)

 The beauty of these container creatures is that they are able to "eat" so many things. I use them for eating small manipulatives, as well as, cards, letters, numbers and more.

 Use this puppy for so many things. I've used him for counting, rhyming, sequencing, matching upper and lower case letters, matching pictures & beginning/ending sounds, digraphs, and anything else that I dream up. 

I hope that you found some ideas that will work for your kids, too!