Crafts

Fairy Craft – Fairies and Other Creatures at Night in the Forest

We’ve done lots of outside activities for fairies and elves so this afternoon we did a fairy craft of fairies and other creatures at night in the forest.fairy craft night forest

To start, we used a piece of black construction paper to look like night. We went outside and got a few small twigs from some bushes along the sidewalk. We brought these back in and Little Sister arranged them on the paper to look like trees in the forest. Using a small paintbrush, she spread white glue on one of the twigs and pressed it onto the paper. While the glue is still wet, the twigs do wiggle around.fairy craft night forest

The first twig stuck down a bit, but Little Sister didn’t like the glue all over the paper. She wanted tape instead. In the kitchen drawer there is clear tape but for some reason her choice was the roll of masking tape. She didn’t seem to mind that it wasn’t transparent and cut off pieces to stick down the twigs.fairy craft night forest

Next, came the googly eyes. A little dab of glue on the back, and these stared out from the night.fairy craft night forest

Fairies have fairy dust. Glitter makes fairy dust and a mess all over the house. Whoever invented glitter glue must have had kids. When Little Sister squeezed the glitter glue, it came out in globs so she spread it around with the paint brush. She needed to use every single color in the box. Usually, she doesn’t spend as much time on projects but lately she seems to have developed more interest.fairy craft night forest

Doing crafts with kids depends on their interests. Your child may not be thrilled by fairies, but this fairy craft idea would also work for monsters or scary beings in the forest. On blue paper, kids could glue eyes for sea creatures and use green yarn for sea weed. The glitter glue might be bubbles in the water rather than fairy dust. What are your child’s interests?

This is #8 in a whole series of fairy and elf activities. Check the play-of-the-day for some to appeal to your child.

Mayhem and Messy Play #18: Messy Craft Play with Kids

Whenever we do crafts it is always messy craft play. Just getting the materials and covering the work area means it messy before we even start. But it certainly engages the kids and is worth the effort. (Unless it involves glitter. Glitter is questionable.)halloween craft messy fun

Craft play can’t help being messy. Materials can include glue, scissors, sequins, buttons, paper tubes and rolls, crayons, paints, felt markers, nature items, bottle caps, tiny pebbles, fabric, yarn, bits of lace, aluminum foil, straws, cotton balls, breadtags, stickers, pasta, clothespins, paper plates and cups, and whatever else is available at the moment. **Note: Do not take out everything at the same time or you will never get the mess cleaned up. It’s better to put out a small amount of something, or a container of assorted stuff so it can be tucked back away. Keeping materials sorted is all but impossible. Our solution is one of those plastic rolling drawer towers. This keeps stuff sort of organized.

These are samples of some of our messy craft play:

messy craft play
Little Sister just liked coloring on some tissue paper rolls. She didn’t make anything but was quite satisfied to roll them around and color on them. Big Sister made an entire Elsa castle after watching Frozen for the zillionth time. She had help to cut out the holes in the cereal box base, but painted them all and hunted thru the craft supplies for other treasures.

Bread tags, pasta, and little twigs made these two pictures. And lots of glue. One of these was made by a boy. Girls are not the only ones that like to do crafts. Kids will reflect their own interests in what they make, be it dinosaurs, space, or flowers. Often, the process is far more important than the product.

Messy play can use lots of one item, or one of different things, as in these cards. The button card was also made by a young boy whose parents make and sell their craft work. The other has a stamp, drawing, sticker, foamie, macaroni, and a googly eye. Kids are creative in different ways.messy craft play

The “monster-who-lives-in-the-backpack” and eats all the notices that come home from playschool and daycare was fun to create, as was the “Wild Thing” from Maurice Sendak’s story, Where The Wild Things Are. Inspiration for messy craft play can come from anywhere.

messy craft playNature inspired some outside hunting for treasure and then, instead of a pirate hat, Big Sister made a nature crown.  One spring we made dinosaur land and in the summer, a fairy house. (I’ll add these photos when I find them.)

Messy craft play for kids doesn’t end as kids grow up. How many parents and caregivers out there still love crafts?

Kids Recycled Christmas Decoration – Handmade and Homemade Too

Christmas has a very special kind of magic; a kids recycled Christmas decoration is a way kids can make some of that magic and pass it along to others. In Big Sister’s own words after she made something to give away, “I feel good.”

toilet paper roll star craft

Just a quick search oh Google gives so many ideas for items kids can make. Check your recycling box and she what kinds of treasures are in it. Paper towel and tissue rolls are nearly always in ours. There are a few water bottles and cereal boxes too. Along with a few scraps of fabric, buttons, wrapping paper, magazines, ribbon, and whatever else you can find in the craft basket, there’s plenty of material for little hands to explore and create.kids recycled Christmas decoration

Last week, when doing some Christmas pattern fun with paint dabbers we used some stiff cardboard and made candy canes. You could also draw a circle on a big enough cardboard and let kids paint a wreath. This wouldn’t have to be in a pattern, just a few sports of red to make berries and green all around.

handmade-childrens-decorations

Cut out stiff paper in any shape, such as a heart, star, circle, candy cane, and let kids paint the background color. When it’s dry they can use markers and crayons to draw or print a message.

nativity-water-bottle-craft

These two Nativity scenes were made by the children of friends and readers, one with recycled water bottles and one with tissue paper rolls. Instead of just passively seeing the Christmas story, when children are involved in making different people and animals for themselves, they take on a much deeper role almost as if they were participating in it. Depending on your family traditions, recycled decorations may be much different. Tissue paper rolls can become the candles in a Menorah.

nativity-toilet-paper-rolls-craft

Old Christmas cards offer other options for making ornaments. Four circles folded in half and glued back to back make colorful balls to hand on a tree.

handmade Christmas decoration

Three toilet paper rolls can be opened up and flattened to make a six-pointed star. Add some color and glitter and enjoy it for years. An alternative is to have kids paint several of these with white as snowflakes. After all, we need more reasons to use glitter.

toilet paper roll star craft

Christmas isn’t just a season for receiving, it’s also for giving. Handmade and homemade items are ones that come from our hearts. A kids recycled Christmas decoration is sort of like giving one to Nature, isn’t it?

 

 

Wood-scraps Dragon Castle Craft – Recycled Treasure for Play

Some bits of wood made for a fun and exciting wood-scraps dragon castle craft. Along with some glue and paint, the kids created their own toys and fun. After adding some shelves in the garage, we had a few bits of wood left over. Instead of recycling them, I gathered them into a box and … Continue reading Wood-scraps Dragon Castle Craft – Recycled Treasure for Play

Geo Pumpkin Craft Fun with Pins, Elastics, Yarn, and Buttons

Today’s geo pumpkin craft fun was inspired by the photos on several sites for Halloween activities.  This gives us another day for pumpkin play and learning. What is a geo pumpkin? The name geo pumpkin comes from the math resource known as a geo board. This is a square board with pins or nails placed … Continue reading Geo Pumpkin Craft Fun with Pins, Elastics, Yarn, and Buttons

Olympic Games #3: Make A Flag Craft for Kids

The Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic Games, where each country’s team will have a flag and flag bearer, inspires this make a flag craft for kids. Last month, both the United States and Canada celebrated their major holiday. For each of these, we made flags. To make a sort of US flag, use a rectangle … Continue reading Olympic Games #3: Make A Flag Craft for Kids

Make a Flag for Canada Day Craft and Celebrate with Friends

This week the US President, the Canadian Prime Minister, and the Mexican President had a Three Amigos meeting. Today, make a flag for Canada Day. Amigo means friend, and the meeting was to support friendly ties of the three countries that make North America. July 1st is Canada’s national holiday. This year, that holiday is … Continue reading Make a Flag for Canada Day Craft and Celebrate with Friends