crafts for kids Archives - Page 5 of 5

Adding Fiskars to Craft Time

June 16, 2011 by Melissa

Craft time is probably one of Shae’s most favorite times of day. We don’t get to do a project everyday but a couple times a week is good progress for us. We’ve been stocking on supplies but were lacking tools. Fiskars sent us some great additions to help with embellishing and adding those fun final touches.

Edgers- decorative shaped scissors that add flair to any project
Squeeze Punches-easy to use punch to create instant shapes
Paper Trimmers- get straight cuts in a snap from almost any type of paper
Border Punches-instant grass without specks of paper flying around

With the above tools and our existing stash of supplies Shae has been able to create some really fun new projects all part of our #300CraftsforKids Campaign along with GummyLump. Here are a couple crafts that we’ve accomplished over the last couple weeks.

cutting legs for the jellyfish

see the grass, made from fiskars border punch

hawaiian lei flowers made with punch

Shae’s able to use the scissors and punches with just a little assistance. Her lines may not be straight, her painting my not provide full coverage and her cuts may be off center but she’s enthusiastic about creating things to show off to others. She loves the flower punches and carries stacks of them in her purse to hand out to anyone that she thinks deserves one.
Thanks Fiskars for taking our crafts to a whole new level.

Painted Rocks Craft for Kids

June 7, 2011 by Melissa

I was doing some gardening the other day and Shae was helping by pulling weeds and putting the rocks back under the deck that slide down into the grass. She kept showing me the colors and shapes of the rocks and I knew this could aid in a fun craft. I had her pick out 6 smooth rocks and we washed them and let them dry in the sun for a few minutes.

Materials needed

smooth rocks, any size, cleaned and dried
acrylic paints
brushes
googly eyes, glitter, buttons, etc (optional)

Set up a place to start, protect your work surface. Set out a bowl of water to clean brushes and a plate or palette with assorted paint colors. We used the 2oz bottles found at most craft stores.
This is where you can either let the kids paint free-form or give guidance to create something specific.

this rock gets a structured paintjob

painting on the head

adding the dots to the ladybug

adding the finishing touch

ladybug rock

this is rob, see the mustache

painted rocks on a plate

No matter what is created just have fun. My craft boost is mostly inspired by GummyLump’s #300CraftsforKids Campaign. Check out all the ideas that have been posted all year.

Egg Carton Floral Wreath #Spring #Craft

May 9, 2011 by Melissa

Using recycled materials is one of the best ways to complete a craft. No one wants to trek out to buy new supplies just for one craft so this is something that most people can do just by raiding your supply closet.

This floral wreath is done using an egg carton, paint, beads (or buttons) and a wire hanger. I know you can find at least 1 wire hanger in your house. Supplies

Wire Hanger
18-ct egg carton (we used 12, not enough)
Paints (we used water colors but poster and tempera will work too)
Pipe cleaners
Beads of any kind or color(or buttons)
Leaves cut from construction paper or cardstock

Instructions
Manipulate the hanger into a roundish shape, leaving the hook intact, set aside. Cut apart the egg carton and cut down each side and corner so the cup opens up like a flower. Poke a small hole in the bottom of each cup, a pen or pencil point is plenty big enough.

Paint each cup; Shae did this on her own using a new color for each cup/flower. Set aside to dry. Using water colors allowed the flowers to dry very quickly, lots of paint, little bit of water was the trick.

Use ½ length of pipe cleaner for each flower. Thread 1-2 beads on each pipe cleaner right to the middle. Fold the pipe cleaner and thread both ends through the hole in the flower. Give it a twist to secure it then wrap it tight onto the rounded hanger.

Randomly glue your cut leaves onto the back of the flowers and voila a beautiful floral wreath worthy of hanging. If your flowers are spinning on the hanger, try tightening the pipe cleaner or even adding some tacky or hot glue to the back to secure the pipe cleaner in place onto the hanger

**important note-poke your holes BEFORE painting. the paint will soften the cardboard egg cup and you might end up with HUGE holes too big for the pipe cleaner.

Flower crafts seem to be one of our favorites things to create. Got Crafts? Post a picture of them on the GummpyLump Facebook page for a chance to win a craft kit. A new winner each week so upload those pics often.

Thumbprint Crafts for Kids

April 29, 2011 by Melissa

Here’s another fun craft that can be done with kids using their very own fingerprints. All you need is paper, pencils, ink pads and a child’s hand.

Thumbprint Fishbowl
On a sheet of heavy paper or construction paper (white or light colored) lightly draw out the shape of a fishbowl. This gives the kids a guideline of where to fill in the space. Choose the color of your fish and with the child’s inked thumb press down on the paper. For fins have the child use their pinky and tilt it off the fishy’s butt, twice.
Now it’s time for the water. Using blue ink and careful not to go over the fish have your child fill in the fishbowl completely. Have the child stamp their finger on the paper more than once to give varying shades of blue. For an extra touch, using a different color have the child add a layer of “rocks or pebbles” on the bottom of the fishbowl. We used purple and red. Let dry for several minutes and ALL DONE!

thumbprint goldfish

Using GummyLump’s Eric Carle inspired crafts we also did Ladybug Thumbprints. Using a sheet of paper, crayons or colored pencils and a red ink pad we got a full swarm of ladybugs.

I drew leaf shapes of varying sizes and helped Shae color them in. She stamped her thumb with red ink and went crazy with imprints on the page. She then, with a black colored pencil, added antennas, spots and legs. It was simple and she had total control of how many ladybugs she made and how they looked.

Whether you get your inspiration from me, GummyLump’s 300 Crafts for Kids campaign or somewhere else get crafting with your kids and create something special.

Craft Time with Tissue Paper

April 15, 2011 by Melissa

Shae and I have been crafting machines over the last couple weeks. Thanks to some motivation and inspiration from GummyLump and their #300CraftsforKids campaign we’ve been able to crank out some really creative stuff.
Shae is so excited about everything she’s been doing that she even made a video explaining her crafts.

Today’s tutorials will be using most of the same supplies so that they can be made in the same day. Both of these will make really cute gifts for Mother’s Day or Easter.

Tissue Paper Stained Glass

Supplies

Colored Tissue Paper scraps
Wax paper
Construction paper
Scissors
White glue
Tape/ribbon

Instructions

Cut your wax paper and construction paper to the same size, 8”X8” is a good size
Cut shapes from your folded up paper. Think the oldschool snowflake method, Fold, crease, fold crease. The bigger the cuts the better, you want to see through this cutout as much as possible.
Spread a very thin layer of white glue on your wax paper and start randomly sticking your tissue paper pieces till it’s COMPLETELY covered, let dry 2 hours or overnight if possible. (might have to place under heavy book to flatten if it starts to curl up)
Add sporadic dots of white glue on your construction paper cutout and place over tissue paper sheet. Press firmly.
Hang in a sunny window and see the tissue paper light up like stained glass.

Kids can help tear tissue paper, spread glue, stick tissue and even cut if they are old enough. I prefer to use the scissors myself. Shae isn’t careful enough yet to not cut herself or me and I can’t find good non metal blade scissors. This craft can be any shape or size, using any color tissue paper and done at just about any age. There is something for everyone.

Tissue Paper Spring Bouquets

everything you need

spring flowers

Supplies

Colored Tissue Paper, cut into 2 inch squares (not perfect)
Cardstock or Construction Paper
White Glue
Pipe Cleaners or Markers

Instructions

Lay out your paper in the direction of choice and spread thin layers of glue in 3 inch circle
Scrunch up tissue paper and stick to glue, continue till you have as many filled bouquets as desired
Glue pipe cleaners or draw lines with markers for the stems
Let dry for 1 hour.

Another craft where a 2 or 3 year old could pretty much do the entire craft on their own.

Stay posted….more to come.

Turkey Day Craft with Shae

November 24, 2009 by Melissa

I knew I was doing a smart thing when I had Shae collect a bucket full of pinecones last week. I was prepping for Thanksgiving and needed to keep her occupied with a toddler craft.

I wrapped a pipe cleaner to the top of a pinecone to give it a clean handle but let her use finger paints, glitter glue, beads, gems and pom-poms.

She loves doing crafts I have to make it a point to do more.

Did you notice she’s using both hands to paint?

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