I had been looking forward to this week's Saturday at 1 family program since reading the craft idea on some craft blogs last year. I thought that this program would link nicely to our Treasures and Curiosities exhibit since we feature several home-made artifacts like the deer-leg table and some toys like old-fashioned dolls and a crokinole game. The children at the program talked about how toys used to have to be made by hand and their own home-made toys - like cloth dolls and other wooden block sets.

Here is how we made the project:

Before the program began volunteers pre-cut 2x2 boards into blocks and sanded the edges. Another volunteer sewed draw-string cloth bags for the children to use to store the completed blocks. Other volunteers pre-painted some of the blocks and cut out letters, magazine pictures, and other pieces of coloured paper:

The next step is decorating the blocks. We used markers, paint, paper, and glue, although you could use anything really.

If you want to "age" the blocks you can sand the edges a bit:

Once you like the look of your blocks add a coat of glue to seal them, and you're done!