Everyone's a Winner when You Make Your Own Olympic Medals!

My kids have been getting excited about the summer OIympics, which officially started last night in London. In honor of the games, we decided to make our own Olympic medals out of recycled materials and stuff we had in our craft drawer. We raided the recycle bin and found a corrugated cardboard box for the medal, but cereal boxes or other heavy card stock work fine, too.

The medals turned out great, and the kids had fun making them. We made the Olympic torch in the photo from a cone of heavy white paper and orange tissue paper.

Of course everyone wanted to have a gold medal, so silver and bronze got left out this time, but if you have enough paint then you can make all three kinds. Here's what you'll need to make this craft:

• Cardboard or heavy card stock
• A pencil
• A hole punch
• Scissors or a hobby knife
• Gold, silver, or bronze paint
• Pipe cleaner
• Ribbon
• Permanent markers

Trace a circle on your piece of cardboard with the pencil. We used a round coaster that we thought was a good size for a medal. Cut out the medal with scissors or a hobby knife (a grownup should do this, probably). Punch a hold at the top of the circle—we'll use this to attach the ribbon later on.

Paint the medal the metallic color of your choice. We had some gold spray paint left over from another project that worked great. If using spray paint, make sure you do so in a well ventilated area, preferably outside. Paint both sides of the medal, using enough paint so that any printing on the cardboard doesn't show through. Let dry thoroughly.

Now decorate your medal with markers. When you're done, make a loop out of pipe cleaner, and then pass the ribbon—about 2–3 feet should be enough, depending on the size of the child—through and tie at the ends.

Congratulations! You now have your own Olympic medal!