Gold Ribbon Dancers

Today we are posting a craft idea for dance and play that has been inspired by a little boy fighting a big battle that no child should EVER have to go through. Finlay is his name and you can read more about him at the end of the post. The dancing ribbons we have made in his honour are very quick and easy – you can literally put one together in less than five minutes and the kids will love you for it! We made ours with gold ribbon and bells because gold is the colour for childhood cancer awareness. I also found that creating these dancing ribbons was a good way to teach my girls about the heavy subject of childhood cancer, in a way that is meaningful for them that they will be able to remember, and it is nice for them to know that they are helping these children in the small way that they are able to.

Here is a quick movie of me making the ribbons with some groovy dancing from the girls, or you can scroll down for the step by step pictures and instructions.

you will need:

• Gold ribbon – we used two different shades of gold for ours
• Craft bells – three per wand
• Dowel rod
• A hot glue gun

How to:

Cut three long lengths of ribbon, they will need to be twice as long as the length you want the strands to be because they get doubled over. Thread one bell onto the middle of each piece of ribbon and glue each one on to the dowel rod with a small dab from the hot glue gun.

Next tie a firm double knot at the back of the rod for each length of ribbon.

…and that’s it!

Now all you need to do is #justkeepdancing

About Finlay

Finlay is the gorgeous 18 month old boy of our blogging friend and colleague, Katey. Not that long ago he was just like any other happy, healthy one year old, but in February this year he was diagnosed with stage four heptablastoma. It has been horrifying to see all the things that such a small boy and his family have had to go through on his journey of fighting this awful disease. You can follow Finlay’s progress on his facebook page, Friends of Finlay.

Why the dancing theme?

The #justkeepdancing project was started by Ellen DeGeneres to increase childhood cancer awareness, so a group of bloggers have banded together to make some dancing movies of our own to share – for Finlay and for all children fighting cancer.

What can we do to help?:

If you’re like me childhood cancer is something you’d prefer not to think about, mainly because the thought of one of your own children getting this disease is completely unbearable and it feels like there’s nothing you can do to help, BUT there is something, however small, that we can do:

• We can donate to the Higgs family’s GoFundMe page. This helps to give them one less thing to worry about while their little boy is ill.

• We can donate to Childhood Cancer Research via The Kid’s Cancer Project, to give Finlay and other children who are diagnosed with cancer a better chance of winning the battle.

• You can post your own photograph or movie using the #justkeepdancing and #friendsoffinlay hashtag to increase awareness of childhood cancer and the need for further funding for life-saving research

• You can share. Share this blog post and share Finlay’s story, it is his family’s wish that more people know about what he is facing so that awareness can be increased, funding can be increased and a cure for cancer can be found.

• Last but not least, you can keep Finlay and his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Other bloggers in this series:

Just for Daisy
Picklebums
Moments A Day
Living Loving Laughing
Octavia and Vicky
Paging Fun Mums
Childhood101
Meetoo
My Little Bookcase

AND don’t forget to search the hashtags #friendsoffinlay and #justkeepdancing

More music and dance craft ideas

• make a toilet roll shaker
• these paper twirling ribbons have long been a favourite of my girls
• make some fun mini shakers with plastic milk bottle lids and duct tape
• make a cute mini banjo from a recycled jar lid and washi tape

You can also find lots of fun, crafty ideas for play on my craft and play board on Pinterest