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DIY Milk Jug Scooter and Bike Lanterns!

January 11, 2013 by Anna Ranson

Make some DIY milk jug lanterns for attaching to the front of scooters and bikes, for fun adventures in the dark! So much fun on dark winter afternoons and a prompt to get outside and exercise even when it seems so miserable (hello UK weather, I’m talking to you!)
Our girls adore their scooters and are always whizzing on them when we go out for a walk! With these dark afternoons starting so early and making the day seem so short, I thought it would be fun to add an exciting new element to the front of the scooters for some night time riding! 

Materials Needed:
empty milk jugs, washed and dried
colouring pens
scissors
battery operated LED lights OR glow sticks
First of all I cut a small section out of each handle so that it could hook over the handlebar of the scooter. I tried these on their balance bike handles and they fit over those too, so I am sure you could adapt the cutting in any way you need to fit whichever style handlebars you may have.

Then I simply offered the girls lots of ordinary felt tip marker pens to draw and decorate their lanterns with. It would be better to use permanent pens like Sharpie markers, so that the colours can’t rub off, but I didn’t have any (shock horror!) These pens stayed on the plastic fine and didn’t rub off if left to dry before being touched.

Then I cut a small hole at the back (see arrow in picture) and pushed in a small push button LED light into each jug. I had intended to use glowsticks in these lanterns and I’ve no doubt it would work very well, but on activating them one split and the liquid shot into my eye! Ouch. Suffice to say, I decided to bin the lot and stay on the safer side with the LED lights. These battery operated lights were so bright and powerful and made the colourful jugs glow beautifully. The girls were thrilled!

Next step was to get out and road test them in the dark! They whoosed up and down the pavements around our neighbourhood and lots of passers by turned to take a closer look. Cakie said “we are just like the cars with our headlamps on now!” 

Using the lights has actually worked out as a better solution as we can keep the lanterns for longer and use the scooters every day for a pre-dinner adventure each night!

What they are learning as they play:
creativity designing and crewing in 3D, using a range of materials, model making
science designing and making a project from start to end, testing, experimenting, lights and shadows, simple technology, on and off switches
language learning new vocabulary e.g. “modify” and “design”

Cakie: 4.4
Pop: 2.9
Bean: 10 mos

Have you ever made a lantern or nightlight? What materials did you use?

You can also use milk jugs to make:

Baby Dropping and Posting Game
Tube, tape and beans Discovery Box
Easy Catching Game

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Filed Under: Art and Craft, Bike, Dark, Design and Technology, Exercise, Lantern, Light, Milk Jug, Outdoor, Recycled Crafts, Science, Scooter, Shadows, Upcycling, Winter Tagged With: Outdoor Activities

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Comments

  1. Emma @mummymummymum says

    January 11, 2013 at 2:16 pm

    They are fantastic Anna, you are so creative! x

  2. Kelly at Little Wonders' Days says

    January 11, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    Oh my goodness, these are great!

  3. Melissa @ The Chocolate Muffin Tree says

    January 11, 2013 at 11:15 pm

    So Cool Anna! Love this.

  4. Niccola Drake says

    January 12, 2013 at 12:43 am

    Fantastic idea. My son will love this.
    Niccola
    http://niccolaontuesday.blogspot.com.au

  5. Vic Lau says

    January 12, 2013 at 6:53 am

    What a super cool idea!

  6. Amie (Triple T Mum) says

    January 12, 2013 at 8:44 am

    This is a gorgeous idea and I can think of a few other night time adventures we could use them on 🙂

  7. Naomi @ Upcycled Creatively says

    January 12, 2013 at 11:09 pm

    Wow wow wow! This is such a cool idea and works so well! Thanks so much for sharing with us x

  8. Domestic Goddesque says

    January 13, 2013 at 10:12 am

    It works? I’ve seen the milk-jug concept of light diffusion on Pinterest but didn’t realise that it would actually work. And to use it on a scooter is pure unbridled genius. I hope Micro-Scooters signs your idea up quickly!!

    • Anna Ranson says

      January 16, 2013 at 11:41 am

      haha, oh so likely eh?! 🙂 thanks Kelly! x

  9. Ali Wright says

    January 13, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    When I saw the title of your post in my inbox I was intrigued……. and it is so cool. My girls would love these.

  10. PragmaticMom says

    January 13, 2013 at 11:02 pm

    What a great idea! It looks fun to make and it’s so functional! You really are amazing!!!

  11. RedTedArt says

    January 15, 2013 at 10:52 am

    How fun! Off to stumble.

    Maggy

    • Anna Ranson says

      January 16, 2013 at 11:41 am

      thanks for the Stumble Maggy!

  12. the Monko says

    January 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm

    This is utterly brilliant. I will be making one of these for/with Goblin

  13. Anonymous says

    January 24, 2013 at 9:31 am

    Where did you get your light bulbs and how much were they? Love the idea!

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About The Imagination Tree Hello and welcome! I'm Anna, Mama of 4, early years teacher and play enthusiast from the UK! Click here to read more about me.

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