Posts Tagged ‘Spring Craft’
Dinosaur Park
Posted on: July 22, 2009
(It’s just nice to have an easy craft up your sleeve when you need something to entertain the kids. This is easy, mess-free, and fun. The boys loved it. This is good with young toddlers on up.)
Things you need:
- Green paper (or scrapbook paper that looks like grass)
- Dinosaur stickers
- Tree or rock stickers (optional)
- Crayons (optional)
Give the child the green paper. Have the child decorate it with dinosaur stickers, creating a whole dinosaur world.
Adding stickers
Working on a dino world
The child can draw more scenery or add stickers.
Finished projects
Pirate Flags
Posted on: July 21, 2009
(Here’s another craft we did at Evan’s theme fourth birthday party. I figured this was easier and less messy than giving the children fabric and fabric paint. This is an easy craft that is great for a group of children as well as young toddlers. I recommend foam stickers, but you can use regular stickers and markers. This craft is not messy, is easy, and all the children enjoyed this craft. We have already made a second set of flags because the boys enjoyed them so much.)
Things you need:
- Foam sheet (either black or red)
- Pirate foam stickers
- Pirate stickers
- Markers
Give the child the foam sheet.
Foam sheet with a coin foam sticker
Let the child decorate the flag with the stickers and markers.
Decorating the flag
This is a great time to talk about how pirate flags were to scare merchant ships so that the pirates could take over the ship without a fight.
Evan's Pirate Flag
Sean's Pirate Flag
Egg Carton Turtle
Posted on: July 1, 2009
(Another egg carton craft. After making spiders, caterpillars, and bugs {I’ll get to those at another time}, I wanted to make something other than a bug for once. So I came up with this turtle. This is another easy craft where you can pick how you want to decorate the carton. The boys loved making them and playing with them. The first time I didn’t even want to throw out the turtles until an unfortunate smooshing accident. Remember Styrofoam egg cartons cannot be colored or painted on, so use cardboard.)
Things you need:
- Cardboard egg carton
- Scissors
- Crayons, markers, and/or paint
- Pen
- Green construction paper or green craft foam
- Scissors
- Glue
- Optional: things to glue on to decorate the shell
Cut out a cup from the egg carton.
Egg carton cup (again)
Trace four feet, using a dime, on the green construction paper. Make a “U” shade using the dime for the head, and make an obelisk shape for the tail.
The body parts
Cut out the shapes. Have the child draw eyes on the head. Have the child decorate the shell.
So I used the photo. We made them on the same day.
Have the child glue on the feet on each corner of the cup.
Adding the feet
Then glue the head between two feet, and glue the tail on the opposite end of the head.
The turtle brothers
One of the first turtles
Easy Egg Carton Bug
Posted on: June 30, 2009
(Another favorite craft medium of mine is the egg carton. You can make lots of things with it. You can paint them, color them, glue them. But you have to get the cardboard kind because you can’t do anything with the Styrofoam kind. I like to let the boys’ imagination run wild sometimes, so I let them make any kind of “bug” they wanted. We have painted our bugs in the past, but I let them use markers and then dive into my goody box of randomness. Evan chose to use little tiles from a stepping stone kit.)
Things you need:
- Cardboard egg carton
- Scissors
- Markers, crayons, and/or paint
- Googly eyes
- glue
- Any decoration you want to use (shells, buttons, marbles, noodles, etc)
Cut a cup from the egg carton.
Egg carton cups
Have the child color the egg carton cup.
Coloring the master piece
With the opening down, have the child glue the eyes on the carton.
It has eyes!
Have the child glue on extra decorations.
Evan's is the right one, the "lady bug." Sean's is the left, going for minimalism
A Better Pompom Frog
Posted on: June 29, 2009
(After the sad misery of a failed project, I worked out a better frog. It took me a few days, but I came up with a better idea. The boys love these frogs just as much as the Ugliest Frogs in the World. Maybe more because the Ugliest Frogs in the World have taken a vacation, trying to find out where everything went totally wrong. This was an easy craft, and depending on the gluing skills, it could be relatively mess-free.)
Things you need:
- 2 in green pompom
- 2 small green pompoms
- 2 googly eyes
- Green craft foam
- Glue (school or craft)
- A pen
- Scissors
Glue a googly eye on each of the small green pompoms. Allow them to dry.
Who's looking at you, kid?
Cut out a circle out of the green foam to make a lily pad. I used the top of the juice can to make my circle. Cut out a triangle out of the circle.
The lily pads
Have the child glue the 2in green pompom. Have the child glue the frog eyes to the top of the 2in pompom.
I can see! I can see!
Sitting like two frogs on a log
Ladybug, ladybug
Posted on: June 23, 2009
(I always liked pompom animals. They seem so much fun, so cute. Evan likes carrying them around and naming them. So I decided we needed to make lady bug ones. This was an easy, simple craft that both boys enjoyed, which turned out to have no mess.)
Things you need:
- Red 1 in pompom (or 2in)
- Black mini pompoms
- Black marker
- Googly eyes
- Glue
Have the child make black dots on the red pompom. The child might have to swirl around the marker to make a good size dot.
Making spots
Glue on the eyes.
He can see!
Then glue the mini pompoms on the top to make antennas.
Now he is a true bug.
Evan decided he needed to decorate his bug more, so he added a mini red pompom for an earing.
The ladybugs
Plastic Egg Heads
Posted on: June 22, 2009
(I always liked those cute little egg shell planters. I once read that cutting grass was an easy way for children to learn how to cut. So I combined the two projects. Since I was going to let Evan cut the grass, I figured I better use plastic egg cups. Luckily these ones even had holes. The boys loved doing this because they got to color with markers and play with the dirt. How awesome is that!)
Things you need:
- Egg carton
- Plastic Easter egg shells
- Markers
- Dirt
- Grass seed
- Spoon
- Water
Take the plastic eggs and have the child draw faces on the eggs. (I wanted to add googley eyes, but Evan nixed that idea.)
Decorating eggs
Place the eggs in the egg carton, so that they cannot be tipped over.
See, mine had a face.
Have the child place some dirt in the eggs with the spoon.
There's a reason I suggested a spoon
Have the child put in enough grass seed to cover the area.
You might want to do this outside
Have the child put on a slim covering of dirt. (Um, we missed that step. We had too much dirt to begin with.)
Grow, baby, grow
Let the child water the plants and take care of them. (Unfortunately we only had three blades of grass grow. We’re redoing this planting experiment.)
Lilypad Boats
Posted on: June 12, 2009
( I got this idea at this website, but I decided not to float tea candles on them. I thought we could float frogs, which worked out well. The boys loved them! I made a few of them testing out with different glues. Don’t use school glue, unless it’s a one time use. Craft glue and hot glue worked well. Craft glue gets a little soggy, but it will re-adhere when dried.)
Things you need:
- 2 sheets Green craft foam
- A CD
- Scissors
- A pen
- Hot glue gun with glue or craft glue
- A toy to sail the boat, preferably a frog
Trace the CD on both pieces of craft foam.
Tracing circles
Cut out the circles. Cut out a triangle out of the circles (best to do it with one circle on top of the other), forming the lily pad.
Does it look like a lilypad yet?
Glue the lily pads together. Allow the glue to dry.
It's time to sail.
Take the lily pads out to the pool or bath.
So the green one is the life guard?
Pirate Spyglass
Posted on: June 11, 2009
(My boys are into pirates. So we had to make a pirate craft. We made spyglasses. The boys loved painting them, stickering them, and playing with them. Some stickers don’t bend well around the paper towel, which is just silly, so you can have some freak outs. My boys had the plastic wrap off within seconds of playing with them. Arrrr!)
Things you need:
- Empty paper towel roll
- Smock
- Paint or markers
- Stickers (optional)
- Plastic wrap
- Scissors
- Rubber bands
Have the child decorate the paper towel roll with the markers or paint.
Finger painting? Didn;'t I give you a brush?
If the child uses paint, let the roll dry.
Drying
Have the child decorate it with pirate stickers.
Looks more pirate-y!
Cut a piece of plastic wrap big enough to cover the end of the paper towel roll. Wrap a rubber band around the plastic to make it stay. Repeat with the other end.
There be a mighty fine spyglasss, mateys!
Sandpaper Lizards
Posted on: June 10, 2009
- In: Animal Craft | Easy Crafts
- 1 Comment
(We recently moved to Arizona, and the house we have moved into has lizards EVERYWHERE. I’ve never seen so many lizards converge on one spot before. Obviously this has stirred up some curiosity, so I decided we needed to make a lizard since the boys were not fast enough to catch one. This was a lot of fun. You can make this complicated for older children by having them do designs on the lizards, or you can make this very simple even for a young toddler.)
Things you need:
- Sandpaper
- Lizard cut out
- Black marker
- Crayons
- Scissors
I found some cool lizard color sheets here. Print one out and cut it out of the paper to make a template. Trace the lizard onto the sandpaper with the black marker. This will ruin the tip.
Tracing lizards
Have the child color the lizard. Cut out the lizard, which will sharpen the scissors. (My boys refused to let me cut out their lizards.)
The finished product . . . sort of
Faemom Crafts for Toddlers, Preschoolers and Kids 