Follow these free instructions, submitted by Cami, for making a cool basketball hoop craft that is a game you can play once it is done.

• Age Guideline: 8 Years and Up
• Time Required: 30 minutes (Does not include drying time)

The above age and time guidelines are estimates. This project can be modified to suit other ages and may take more or less time depending on your circumstances.

 

Materials Needed:

• Egg Carton Cup
• Craft Foam
• Masking Tape
• Straw
• Cardboard
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
• Scissors
• Pom-Pom (approx 2.5 cm in diameter)
• Chenille Stem (optional)

Instructions:
"This is a mini version of the real game. My kids enjoyed having a craft that was interactive rather than simply being decorative." ~ Cami."

These preparations can be done in advance for each kid or the kids can do it themselves:

• Cut out egg carton cups, one for each kid.
• Cut out cardboard rectangles (approx. 9 x 12cm), one for each kid.

Now follow these steps to construct the basketball hoop:

1. Poke a hole in the bottom of the egg cup and cut off the bottom (note: cut off a little further up so that the pompom will fit through). This is the basketball net.
2. Cut a backboard out of craft foam.
3. Tape the egg carton net to the front of the craft foam backboard and the straw to the back of the craft foam backboard. As an option, kids can wrap pipe cleaner around the straw before taping the straw on. I find that if the pipe cleaner is extended past the bottom end a bit, it helps in gluing the straw to the cardboard in the next step.

1. Once the backboard, net and pole are assembled, they should make a small hole in the cardboard (you may want to help younger kids with this step). DO NOT make the hole go all the way through! We just want a dent.
2. Put a generous dab of hot glue into the hole you just made, and put the unused end of the straw and end tips of the chenille stem into the glue. Again, This should be done for young kids.
3. To test if the straw will stay, take the cardboard and GENTLY shake it. If needed, keep fighting with the hot glue. Once you've checked that it's sturdy, use a pompom to shoot hoops through the egg carton net!

You can use a variety of miscellaneous craft supplies to decorate the hoop. For example, some kids glued feathers and gems on their backboard or decorated their cardboard bottom with markers. Some even took scrap foam to create boxes or stands to hold the ball (the orange ring that I made in the picture was copied off one of my kids).