Posts Tagged ‘Kid’s Crafts’
Do you love the sound of wind chimes? - the tinkling music they make as the breezes blow. Why not let your kids make one? This would be a great kids craft. With your guidance and a few supplies, they will enjoy the time spent with you and appreciate the end result, too. Kids just love to see the result of making something with their own hands. And the cost will be minimal.
The one I have in mind is made of bamboo and comes in a kit. My son and daughter-in-law just recently bought me a very cute bamboo wind chime. When I first saw it, after thinking how cute it was, I thought to myself that it would probably not make a very pleasant sound. How surprised I was when I hung it on my porch and heard the subdued musical notes that came from it.
Christmas is just around the corner, and while it may be a little late to start our Christmas crafts, I just have to share this one with you. Considering that it is a simple project, hopefully you will find the time to fit it into your schedule. It is so much fun. And this might just be a great project for your kids.
I saw this recipe in our local newspaper yesterday. Now it may not be new to you, but it is to me. At least, if I’ve run across it before, I have forgotten it. (Maybe you don’t have that problem.) Anyway, the column was written by Carol Cloud Bailey, known in our paper as “Yard Doc.” The recipe is for dough ornaments which will have your house smelling great for a long time. The ingredients that you will need are:
1 1/2 cups cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup white school glue
If you prefer a different aroma, Carol suggests that you add 1 tsp. to 1 tbsp. each of ground nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and allspice.
You also will need the following supplies: a bowl, plastic wrap, a drinking straw, and a cookie sheet.
Use a spatula to mix all the ingredients, adding the cinnamon slowly. The dough should be thick like a stiff cookie dough, but not sticky. Knead the dough slightly until smooth and cover with plastic wrap. Then let it sit for at least an hour. Flatten and roll the dough until about 1/4 inch thick. (Thinner dough tends to crack and curl; thicker dough doesn’t dry well in climates such as ours here in Florida.)
Cut into desired shapes using a template and knife or cookie cutters. Use the drinking straw to punch a hole for the ribbon or yarn to hang it.
The ornaments may be placed on a rack to dry, turning every so often; this will take three to five days, or longer if the air is damp. She prefers to put them on cookie sheets in a warm oven, about 170-200 degrees, for about two hours, flipping them several times. When cool, you may decorate them with beads, ribbons, paint, or glitter. Do not cover the entire surface to allow the fragrance to fill your house.
Carol suggests storing them in sealed containers with silicone packets to absorb moisture.
Preschoolers are full of life and energy. Keeping them busy and entertained often becomes quite a challenge. One solution is to come up with some preschool craft ideas.
Doing arts and crafts is one of the highlights of a preschooler’s day. These various activities allow children to express themselves and during the process they learn many things as they are participating in these projects. They can learn letters of the alphabet and simple words. They can be taught to identify and name animals. Colors and their names become familiar to them. The list goes on and on. The benefits of involving our youngsters in these learning arts and crafts are varied and numerous.
If you have a crafter friend or relative to buy a gift for and just are lost for ideas, check out my holiday gift ideas for crafters of all ages. What crafter does not enjoy receiving a craft items for Christmas or for a birthday?
There are so many holiday gift ideas for crafters that the only problem one may have is which one of the many choices to settle on. In that case, a gift certificate to a craft store is always welcome.
Kids crafts – these two go together as naturally as a nut and a bolt. Kids love to make things, and perhaps the most rewarding thing that you can do with your children is to put crafts together.
You will find that crafting will encourage children to show some creativity, and they will be proud to show off their skills, giving them a great sense of achievement. In the process you can teach your kids how to recycle items, such as tin cans, glass bottles, can lids, and tissue boxes (things you would normally throw out) by making beautiful projects out of them.
No doubt most of us at one time or another in our life have created an origami project. I can remember, as a child, folding the corners of a sheet of paper to the center of the paper itself, sticking a pin through the center where the ends of the points overlapped, and attaching it to a stick. Taking it outside in the wind and watching it turn and whirl was great fun. The result, a pinwheel, was just one example of origami for kids to make.
The sailboats, airplanes, hats, and other items we made, though slightly more complicated, were all simple projects using origami. Once a child has mastered these skills, he can easily progress to more advanced paper folding designs.
We can come up with an abundance of kids craft ideas when we think back to our own childhood. One of the most basic craft projects we learned to do is to color with crayons and markers. This is a great activity for youngsters as there are many educational coloring book pages available, giving them the opportunity to learn while coloring.
Kids love to draw, but instead of having their simple construction paper pictures on your fridge, why not teach the kids to make greeting cards with them. (Grandparents love to receive cards featuring art from their grandchildren!)
All kids love to paint with watercolors and acrylic paints. A favorite pastime of mine as a child was mixing plaster and water, pouring the mixture into a small mold, and then painting the item when hardened and removed from the mold. Doing this will give your kid a great sense of 
accomplishment.
With a little thought and research, we can find lots and lots of craft ideas that will get the kids away from the TV and video games for awhile.