Camp Blackberry Spinning Tops

Keeping kids engaged with hands-on activities helps create a fun-filled Summer! Whether it’s at Blackberry Farm or at home, crafts are a perfect way forchildren to be creative and stay entertained. One of the favorite crafts at Camp Blackberry this month is spinning tops. This craft allows kids to be involvedin the building process and results in a fun new toy!

What you’ll need:

Wooden dowel rods
Wooden toy wheels
Sandpaper
Pencil sharpener
Hammer or rubber mallet
Acrylic paint or markers

Note: Dowel rods need to match the size of the hole in the center of the wheel.

To make:

Cut the dowel rod down to about 4 inches in length. They can be easily cut with a simple, small hand saw. After cutting, sandpaper the ends to smooth downany rough edges. Use the pencil sharpener on one end of the dowel rod, sharpening it until the tip looks similar to a new crayon. You want to have a smallcircle that is still flat rather than sharpening it to a point. If it sharpens unevenly, just run the sandpaper over it to level the end. We recommenda pencil sharpener that has a large hole and a small hole so you can create different size tops with larger rods.

Place the sharpened end of your dowel rod down into the wheel hole with the decorative side of the wheel facing up. Be sure to secure wheel before hammering.Once the wheel is secure, use a hammer or mallet and tap the dowel down into the hole until the sharpened end is one inch below the wheel.

Test your spin and see if you want to adjust the height of the dowel. Camp Tip: Put one hand on each side of the dowel rod and slide them quicklyin opposite directions. This gives you a great spin!

The final step is to choose your favorite colors and decorate your top. If you use acrylic paint, try adding a small amount of water to thin the paint.It creates a finish that is similar to wood stain.

Camp Tip: Create tops with friends and see who can get the longest spin before the top falls over!