The things you can do with pipe cleaners ...

A great way to learn anything is to watch someone else do it. The more you observe the more you absorb. Eventually there will come a point when you wil have unconsciously learned the skill and hopefully you will have the confidence to give it a go all by yourself.

When my youngest son, now 12, was under five he had a habit of asking us to buy him new toys all the time. Obviously not wanting to give him the impression that everything he asked for was available on tap, we’d tell him that he had to wait until his birthday or Christmas. One day, instead of asking me to buy him the thing he wanted he asked me if I could make it for him instead. I've always been good at creating things out of "junk" so I accepted the commission. This was the beginning of a long list of things that I'd made him out of cardboard rolls, left over bits of wood, plastic bottles etc.

I made him everything from a space shuttle to the characters in Harry Potter. Blue Peter presenters were amateurs compared to me. When my son was about 7 he stopped asking me and started making the models himself. He has made characters out of Sellotape using it to construct 3-D shapes, stuck objects together with duct tape to create costumes and weapons (he's forever making swords); but now he's favourite medium is pipe cleaners. The things he makes out of pipe cleaners are characters in his electronic games or from television programmes. They are very impressive so I’d like to share some of them with you.

 I'm sure my son would welcome your feedback.