Although I make most of V's food, we keep some jars of baby food around, just in case we need them. They are fantastic for dividing big meals into tiny little baby portions until your Cookie Monster starts eating through two or three jars a meal. Then they just sit on the shelf.
There are a great many things you can do with these tiny, nearly indestructable jars. You can make candles in them. You can use them for little vases, or create snow globes with a picture of your kid inside.
Or you can make musical instruments!
It is quite simple. Wash the jars out thoroughly. I used the size 2 jars because they are big enough to hold some pretty cool things, but my peanut was having a difficult time wielding the size 3 jars when they were filled with stuff. To get the label goop off, soak them or use some Goo Gone. (Every mom should have some Goo Gone and some Oxy Clean Laundry Spray around the house. They take care of everything.) Once you have sparkly clean jars, put some objects inside and test out the sound. When you get it right, superglue the lid into place. Let dry for a few hours, and have fun!
So what did we put into our jars?
5 pennies
black and white dried beans
dried hydrangeas (I used a smaller jar so that they would fill up the entire space)
water (about 1/2 full - you can add color or glitter for more fun!)
a stick, broken up
cotton balls
plastic bottle caps
the punches from hole-punched paper
large dried beans
wing nuts
watered down dish soap (it bubbles so nicely!)
Look for different sounds. You can also vary the sound by adding different amounts of the same material to jars. Right now, the most popular is the pennies (they do make a fun, very loud sound) and the hydrangeas.
The jars are fun to stack and roll around, but we also use them as musical instruments. The flowers and stick came from a nature walk we did barefoot around our yard today.
Get creative. And consider using only things that won't mold after a while, as that could be really, really gross.
