Helpful tips in Real Simple Family

Uber-hacker Sara passed this along:

Real Simple Family (magazine) had a number of hacks that I thought my fellow parent hackers would like:

1) Box4blox.com -- Lego storage that "sifts" legos by size (smaller legos fall through to subsequently lower layers).

2) For birthday parties, save yourself some time by scooping ice cream into muffin tins (with paper liners). Put back into the freezer until it's serving time, then you can pop individual servings onto plates of cake.

3) Another birthday hack (can you tell J. is almost 1?): Cut sheet cake with unwaxed tooth floss. Pull taunt, slice through, then pull out the side.

4) beanbag animals = moldable ice packs. Store some of the little beanbag animals in the freezer, use for cooling & comforting hurts.

5) Use a -- get this -- garlic press to create playdough hair. Your kitchen will never be the same.

Tags: Parenting

Comments

[Steph.]

That Leggo sorter is REALLY neat! What a great concept! I've gotta remember that ice cream trick too.

[picklemommy]

We have the lego sorter (my husband is a huge lego head, as are my 2 boys) and indeed it does work just as advertized- useful, but really better for older builders who are looking for specific pieces.

[Sara in Austin]

I *knew* parenthackers would like the lego sorter. Is it possible to call yourself a hacker and a parent and not have legos in the house? I have to admit, we held off for the first year... but J. got her own big tub of quatros for her first birthday. She's enjoying taking apart the things I build (I had a deprived lego-free childhood so I'm making up for it now), even if she hasn't figured out how to put them together yet. (She's working on it, though!)

[Alice H]

So...what happens if the Legos aren't taken apart prior to throwing them into the sorter? Do they still end up mixed up?

[Patrick Fitzgerald]

Re: garlic press

Hmmm... I wonder if a food press (basically a larger version of the garlic press with variable sized inserts) would work as well. I'll have to try it out this weekend. I think I'll make a snake pit!