Bank Those Presidents!

Do your kids have some of these dead presidents lying around from birthdays and Christmases? Well, let's find them a home.

Growing up I had piggy bank I loved that was a gift to my parents when I was a baby. I still use it. (And would love to get my boys some too, but have yet to find any like them.) I also had a simple tall glass jar that I filled with just pennies. My dad cut a slit in the lid for me and I had a perfect little bank. We're going to step that up just a notch.

A simple little bank made pretty by small hands (and seriously kept them busy for hours this morning!).

The first thing you're going to need to do is eat a bunch of spaghetti or lasagna or something that is going to use a lot of sauce (or another kind of jar). Clean it thoroughly and dry it. Then you can gather your other supplies.

The main things you'll need for the jar are some Mod Podge, paper scraps, scissors, and some kind of paintbrush. For the lid we also gathered some paint, a screwdriver and a hammer (A helpful bonus item would be some masking tape.)

To prep the lids you'll need to hammer a screwdriver into the lid a few times to make a line long enough to fit a quarter in. (Not that you can actually see what I am doing in the picture, but I needed both hands, so my picture on timer was no good.)

Once you have made the slit, try to hammer the metal flat to prevent injuries later. From here, your kids take over on the rest of the project.

We started with the lids so they could get drying. 

 To make the lids hold still on the plates, I put a wad of tape under them so the kids wouldn't have to hold them in place while they painted.

 Next up is the part that my kids loved the best. This is a good way to use up old magazines, scrapbook paper scraps and construction paper (although the construction paper and cardstock were a little too thick once we started sticking them on the jar).

Just let them cut and rip to their heart's content. My older boy loved this part so much that that is all he did the rest of the project time (I finished his jar with all his little scraps and got input. I figured no point in MAKING him finish the jar if he was having so much fun with his other activity that is great for building fine motor skills.)

Once there is a good supply of scraps, load your kiddo's paintbrush with some Mod Podge and let them decorate their jar. I had to help coat the papers to help them stick (and you may want to do an additional coat one it is all dry too.)

While the jars were drying the kids spied some foam letters in the craft supply bin, so they asked to put their names on the lids.

Put in that spare change (which is a fun game all by itself)...

And watch your little one be so proud of their work.

Plus, now when the nice old lady across the street gives them birthday dollars, there is a place for them to store them and watch as the supply gets bigger as they save. And something that I am excited to do that my parents did with me, is help them to understand earning money and spending it wisely. So, if they are desperate for something in the store, I can now tell them - well, do you have enough money in your bank?