Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

It’s the Lantern Festival!

And we see lots of lanterns (and mooncakes!) everywhere.

From traditional paper lanterns to ‘modern’ battery-operated ones with cute animal and cartoon character shapes.

[Anya was only 1.5yo in the photo!]

Two years ago, the kids and I made Nemo lanterns.

Last year, we made hongbao lanterns were for Chinese New Year.

So I thought, for this year, why not we make our own lanterns again … for the Lantern Festival!

AND, to have things differently, we’ll use MILK CARTONS this time round! (with an overall theme of ‘outer space’, hehe)


[We used our used 1-litre milk cartons. And no, this post is NOT sponsored by Dutch Lady]

I asked the kids what ‘shape’ they’d like to have on their lanterns.

Vai requested to have ‘Lightning McQueen’ (of course!)

Anya wanted to have smiley faces on hers (and she drew them herself)

Btw, this craft activity is meant for the adults to make FOR the kids, because it involved a lot of cutting.

Kids will love these lanterns though because they get to make requests AND see the ‘glowing result’ afterwards!

All lovingly home-made … using recycled materials too!

Anyway.

Here’s how you can make these yourself too.

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What we used:

– Two used 1-litre milk cartons

– Scissors and (very sharp) cutter

– Scotch tape

– If you’re inserting a candle inside, you’d need: 2 candles, 2 small bottles

What we did:

– Cut out the top part of the milk carton, open the carton’s side and bottom (see top photo), rinse it thoroughly and pat it dry.

– Cut a strip off the top (about 1 cm). This will be the lantern’s handle

– Draw on the ‘outer side’ of the milk carton according to the kid’s request

– Using a very sharp cutter, cut out the shapes

[Vai’s Lightning McQueen. I simply tilted the car sideways and ‘trace’ the car’s shape! Heh.]

Tips:
– Draw lots of bit and pieces ‘everywhere’ as it’ll turn out nicer when the lantern ‘glows’ later
– Straight lines will be faster to cut!
– While you’re cutting the shapes out (it’ll take a while!), let the kids play and get themselves busy)

Once you’re done, it’ll look something like this:

[The outside of the carton]

[I love the silver-ish colour of the carton’s inside. This is why we chose to go with the ‘outer space’ theme!]

– Using scotch tape, tape the milk carton back (its side and bottom)

– Cut 1-cm slits on the 2 sides of the lantern (to insert your 1cm lantern handle)

[Tape the side and the bottom part of the milk carton, and insert the ‘handle’ into the 2 slits]

– Now here comes the tricky part, ie. If you want to place a candle inside (Skip the candle if the lanterns are for young kids to play with)

I made a quick ‘candle stand’ (photo below) after our lanterns were done.

Just to see our lanterns GLOW on our dining table!

I used: a bottle cap, a birthday candle and a thick carton so the candle stayed steady.

Anyway.

That’s it!!

And, we LOVED our humble home-made outer space lanterns!

Happy lantern-making!!

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[Extra note]

When we actually bring out the lanterns this weekend, I plan to use either a ‘tea candle’ OR a ‘bigger candle’ (so the lantern can last longer), burn the bottom a bit then quickly stick it onto the base inside a bottle. This way, when the lantern wobbles, the candle will not ‘fall’ because the sides of the bottle will also keep it in place.

Bottle’s size should fit well inside the milk carton, so it doesn’t move around easily.

I plan to tape a wooden chopstick to the lantern’s handle too, so the kids can walk around holding just the stick.

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[Lantern Festival events in Singapore]

For more info on what you can do in Singapore during this year’s Lantern Festival, check out this site!