[Parent Hacks] 2 new posts in Parent Hacks

Hello, ignoble.experiment@arconati.us, and thank you for making room in your inbox for Parent Hacks. Got a hack you'd like to share? Send it to hacks@parenthacks.com along with your name and Web address (if you'd like us to link back to you). If you've got a Twitter user name, tell us that, too, so we can say hi. Too much email? Follow Parent Hacks on Twitter, or "like" Parent Hacks on Facebook! Organize crayons and markers by color family Melissa's art supply organization tip seems magical to me. I'm not sure why this hack works, but it sure is pretty. Trying to keep the art supplies from devolving into chaos seems like a constant struggle around here.  We recently reorganized our kids' art supplies, and I discovered that once I sorted all the markers and crayons by color family, the kids instinctively maintain the system without any prompting from me.  (It's been a month, now, and though the markers have been used daily, not a single one is out of place!)  I used various boxes with dividers (Ikea has some nice plastic ones with removable dividers) and sorted the markers into blue/green, pink/purple, red/yellow/orange and black/brown/gray.   I also notice a lot less arguing over the markers now that they can easily see that their neighbor doesn't have the only blue/pink/favorite-color-of-the-moment marker.  My 3-year-old loves to sort things by color, so he spends more time making sure the crayons are in order than actually coloring! Good use for an old silverware drawer organizer, which you could pick up second-hand for almost nothing. Any more crayon/marker organizing brainstorms? Related: Never lose a marker cap again And: Takeout containers as small bits organizers   Visit Parent Hacks to read the responses to this post or leave your own! An educational bath toy that costs pennies to make: homemade siphon Heidi came up with a fun (and cheap!) toy for her water-loving son: My son is three and he loves water and the garden hose. So, I came up with a "hose-like" siphon he can use in the bathtub! Here's what I did:   I bought a four-foot length of plastic tubing at the hardware store. When it's time to play, I fill a large pitcher with water. Once my son's in the bath, I sit tubside and hold the pitcher. (The height of the edge of the tub is enough to let gravity work for the siphon. A higher counter will make the water flow even faster.) My son starts the siphon by sucking on the tubing, and we have a working garden hose! As the pitcher starts to empty, I refill it with a cup and the tub water.   He loves to use his siphon to fill other cups and bowls in the tub, and meanwhile he's learning about gravity and water pressure. When he's done, I hang the tube over the shower head to drip dry. There's nothing better than a dead-simple toy/tool that invites hands-on (or mouth-on!) experimentation. My only suggestion would be to buy the tubing from the plumbing department and check that it's safe for drinking water. Related: Free bath toys await in your toybox, kitchen, and garage   Visit Parent Hacks to read the responses to this post or leave your own! More Recent Articles Watching parades with kids: a survival guide Quickly cool hot oatmeal with crushed ice Homemade fruit "creamsicles" Make absorbent ice packs out of disposable diapers "Glue" burritos closed with guacamole

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