It’s especially great for things made out of plywood that could have splinters. Edge protector: by slitting one side of the noodle lengthwise, you can slide it onto almost any sharp edge. When decorated up with balloons, tulle, and flowers, it makes an awesome entryway. Entry arch: by using a dowel to connect two noodles, I can simply create a larger tunnel like we use in our obstacle courses. We use this for soccer bowling (where the kids kick a soccer ball to knock down pins) and for mini golf (to keep the balls from flying all over the place). Bumpers for lawn bowling and golf: this is always fun! Using 8 inch wire bent into a U-shape to keep the noodles in place, all I have to do is line up the pins, and hand the kids a ball. Padding between artwork: this is great for keeping some of our nicer signage from scraping against one another. Foam weapons: they make fabulously safe staffs, but when cut to size they can be used to create swords, nunchucks, and space sabers. Some people lie flat on the floor with a rolled-up towel under their neck.

Neck stretcher: every now and again my back acts up. Then you duct tape it in place, and slide onto 36” long dowel or broomstick. Hobby horse head: all you have to do is cut a 12” length of noodle, cut a 90% notch out of the middle, fold the noodle in half to connect the pieces. Marble chute: by cutting the noodle in half lengthwise, you can make a cool marble slide. (Although I don’t think any of us will ever erase the image of Steve, pony tail flying, racing up those stairs, waving the noodle like he was trying to flag down a train!) Within minutes, Stephen, our warehouse manager, was seen bounding up the steps, pool noodle in hand, and Sue (my mom) was satisfied. For some unknown reason my mom yelled up, “Freda! Are you on your knees again? Are you wearing knee pads?” A sheepish, “No.” was heard from above. She was downstairs working in the warehouse, and Freda was in the loft painting. In fact, the main inspiration for this blog came recently when my Mom was working with us. Knee pads: Freda does a ton of kneeling when she’s working in the warehouse or at a party. Once clothed, the noodles look like real arms and legs - they are awesome! Dummy arms, legs, and necks: a few Halloweens ago, we discovered that if we threaded heavy duty wire through the center of a noodle, that we could actually make poseable arms, legs, and necks for our fabulous ghoulies, ghosties, and tableau characters. They are the ultimate obstacle course tool. Obstacle courses: this is the number one use for our pool noodles! We bend them and slide them over dowels hammered into the ground to make tunnels, jumping walls, weaving barriers, you name it. Let me know if you want me to get more descriptive with any of the following.

Here’s just a smattering of what we use them for. (And only adults should use a knife when doing this or any other project!) Now, before we get started, I just need to say that although there are both solid pool noodles and hollow ones, I prefer the ones with a hole in the center! Also any time it mentions cutting a pool noodle, the best tool I have found for doing so is a bread knife. The other day, Freda suggested that I share some of the various way we use our pool noodles, since the winter months are now upon us and some of you may be tempted to either chuck your summertime floaties in the trash or store them away in some forgotten closet. Like many things in our warehouse, we don’t really use pool noodles the way they are supposed to be used. and they have a vast array of uses other than just keeping one afloat. They are lightweight, colorful, inexpensive.

Pool noodle flower arch