Crafts Archives - Page 15 of 20

Summer Craft – Fish Flop Painting

June 7, 2013 By Deirdre

We have checked out a ton of books recently. One of them called Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni lead to a wonderful summer craft I am calling Fish Flop Painting. I love it when a book immediately lead to my coming up with a fun craft. JDaniel loves when it leads to a messy one.

Fish is Fish a wonderful tale of the friendship between a frog and fish. They both start out looking the same, but over time one of them changes and experiences things out of the water. The illustrations and text just draw you in and make you yearn for the fish to get to see the same things the frog has. He so wants to experience them.

Summer Craft- Fish Flop Painting

How did we Fish Flop Paint?

Foam fish were cut out of a foam sheet with a sticky backing. I thought the fish would stick to the flip well with the sticky backing. My husband suggested I use really strong glue. He was right the fish came loose after only few painting walks. They had to be glued on with strong glue.

JDaniel attached the fish to the flip flops. I told him to put them anywhere he wanted to.
We then used a paintbrush to place paint on the fish. Red and blue paint were used. (Yes, I had the Dr. Seuss book about One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish on my mind.) One flop flop received red paint and the other got blue.
Then JDaniel took a walk down a long sheet of white paper. His initial steps lead to deeper fish prints than those that were made after a few steps.
After I few steps, I would have him sit down and we would add more paint. I think he headed up and down the paper about four or five times.

I really like the final result. The fish are clear in some part and blurry in others. This summer craft of fish flop painting will definitely be done again. Especially now that we have fish super glued to the bottom of flip flops.

If you like this summer craft idea, here are some more summer crafts you will like:

Paper Plate Shark Mask

Paper Plate Jellyfish

Pool Noodle Shark

You will find more wonderful ocean themed activities on my Ocean Related Activities board on Pinterest.

Kid’s Crafts- Summertime Binoculars

May 28, 2013 By Deirdre

I was contacted by JoAnn Fabric and Crafts to create my own version of one of 72 crafts in their spring catalog. After looking through the catalog of kid’s craft I selected one of a set of binoculars. JDaniel loves to observe bugs and birds in our yard. I thought he would enjoy having some summertime binoculars.

How to make this kid’s craft:

Here are the materials we used (The differ a little from the materials used to create JoAnn’s):

1 sheet of blue sticky backed foam

1 sheet of green sticky backed foam

1 bag of bug and snail foam stickers

2 toilet paper rolls

Glue gun

Glue for the glue gun

Yarn

How did we put ours together:

Cut out a (2) 6×6 foam squares out of the blue foam.

Attach one square to each of the toilet paper rolls.
Cut (4) 6×3 foam rectangles out of the green foam.
Attach on a rectangle to the top and bottom of each tube with the part of the rectangle hanging over the ends of the tubes.
Cut small slits in the under hanging foam.
Fold the slits into the ends of the tubes.
Decorate the tube with the foam stickers.
Place a few dabs of glue from the glue gun onto both tubes.
Hold the tubes together.
Put a small hole on the outside of each of the tubes near the end.
Place one end of a 16-inch length of the yard through each hole and tie it off.

We had a wonderful time putting these together. I want to thank JoAnn’s crafts for inspiring us to make our summertime binoculars. When JDaniel heads out into the backyard, he will most probably we armed with his special viewing device.

The bugs and the hopping birds in the yard will be tracked down and followed using these special binoculars. I won’t be surprised if the boys next door don’t ask for a pair of their own. They tend to hunt and track bugs and birds along with JDaniel.

Do you have a kid’s craft that can be used for pretend play or exploring?

Disclaimer: I was sent a gift card to buy the materials to complete this craft. We really did have fun making our binoculars.

Story Retelling – Finger Puppet Story Walking

May 24, 2013 By Deirdre

That’s My Daddy! out of the spring Tiger Tale Books collection I was sent to explore this week. It is a sweet book that shares the wonderful things that dads do for their children. They can reach high places, fix anything, are super strong, are not scared of the dark and so much more. This book is a fun read and is great for working on story retelling.

The book features an animal dad displaying the many things that dad can do. The animals the illustration chose for each attribute are really cute. A giraffe dad can reach high places. An owl dad isn’t afraid of the dark. A woodpecker dad is able to fix anything.

Before or after reading this charming book, you may want to picture-walk the book with them. There is a humor and fun elements in almost every picture.

What did we do after reading That’s My Daddy!?
Story Retelling- Finger Puppet Story Walking I made finger puppets that represented most of the dads featured in the book by cutting them freehand out of cardboard from cereal boxes. These are a type of puppet in that you stick your fingers through holes at the bottom of the puppet to make the puppet walk. Since seals don’t walk on feet, I cut a hole flipper hole in his side for JDaniel to stick a finger through. As we retold the story, JDaniel was asked to select whichever puppet he wanted. The same puppet could tell the whole story or the puppet that matched a particular page could be used.

He had fun selecting puppets to help him retell the story.

Here are some other puppets I think you will like for story retelling and pretend play:

Owl Hand Puppet

Five Little Turkey Stick Puppet

Yoda Paper Bag Puppet

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. I was given the book That’s My Daddy! to review by Tiger Tale Books.

Father’s Day Crafts- Walking In My Father’s Shoes

May 14, 2013 By Deirdre

Father’s Day is such a wonderful day to celebrate. I wanted to create a Father’s Day craft that would capture a memory and carry a message of how much JDaniel loves his dad. The idea I came up with was a craft I am calling Walking In My Father’s Shoes. We have created a few other Father’s Day crafts I will share with you at the end of this post.

When JDaniel was little he would put his little feet into him father’s shoes and stomp or shuffle around the house. He had to stomp or shuffle. My husband’s shoes were heavy and way to big for him. Yet he loved to slip his feet into them. There was something wonderful about putting on his dad shoes and trying to walk in them.

If JDaniel grew up to be like his father and chose to walk a path similar to him, I would be thrilled. They are very similar already due to DNA and life experience. Seeing JDaniel grow into even more of who his father is would be wonderful. (I am not saying he shouldn’t be his own person. Just that his dad has wonderful qualities.)

How did we make one of my favorite Father’s Day crafts?

We painted the bottom of an old pair of my husband’s sneakers with blue paint and carefully placed the shoe onto paper. We had to pressed the sole of the shoe from the inside to make as deep a print as he could. Rocking the shoe back and forth seemed to help.

Father's Day Crafts- Walking In My Father's Shoes

After the shoe print dried, I painted the bottom of JDaniel’s foot green. Then I helped him place his footprint on the paper.
The next step will be to print out the words Some Day I Want To Walk In Your Shoes on a larger piece of paper and put a frame around it. We haven’t done that yet so, I made a mock up on PicMonkey of what it will look like.

This simple Father’s Day craft would be so easy for you to put together. I bet you have child that loves to walk in his father’s shoes.

Here are some more Father’s Day crafts:

Amazing Out of This World Father’s Day Card

Star War Themed Light Up Father’s Day Card

“Best Dad I Ever Saw” Paper Plate Craft

“You Nailed It” Footprint Card

{Kids Activities} 10 Fun Flower Posts

May 11, 2013 By Deirdre

Mother’s Day always makes me think of flowers. I think it is because my husband has always given me flowers for Mother’s Day. Here are some wonderful links to flower themed snack, meals, learning activities and crafts.

Three Child Friendly Spring Salads – Children will have fun trying three fun and fresh salads that they can help you make.

Upcycled Flower Craft – An old soda bottle, a cupcake liner, and a straw can be used to make a fun flower.

{Mother’s Day Craft} How to Make Paper Flowers – Directions for how to make three different types of flowers your children can make for Mother’s Day. JDaniel’s Flowers and a Mother’s Day Quote – Mother’s Day at my house just won’t be Mother’s Day with a bouquet of flowers.Paper Circle Flowers – These fun flowers will be just fun to make.Tissue Paper Dandelions – We you love the book and the dandelions you can make with tissue paper.Counting Flowers in Your Neighborhood – Children can take pictures of bunches of flowers found in your neighborhood. They can use these pictures to create counting sheets.

Paper Plate Sunflowers– You will love the book that goes along with this fun craft.Signs of Spring Bento Lunch – Leftover can be usedd to create a fun garden themed lunch. Tangram Rose Snack -This fun snack will give your children the chance to create a fun flower using tangram shaped sandwich pieces.I hope you find a kids activity featuring flowers that you love and decide to try at home. Whether you make one of the flower themed crafts or meals, I think you will find smiles blooming on your children’s faces as they create them. There will also be smiles on the faces of those people who receive them as a gift.Here is 1 more! That makes 11 fun kids activities flower posts!Sunflower Learning Kids Activities and Crafts

Spring Craft for Kids – Weather Headband

May 3, 2013 By Deirdre

I usually come up with activities for JDaniel and I to do after we read a book. This week we did it backwards. We made this spring craft for kids that displays spring weather in a headband first and then explored our home library for a book that talked about spring time.

Spring Craft for Kids - Weather Headband - It's Spring Time!

It’s Spring Time! by Elizabeth Bennett is a wonderful board book I was sent to review by Tiger Tales. It is a book that shares signs of spring with wonderful pictures and fun rhymes. Seeds being planted, baby birds cheeping for their mom or dad, spring cleaning, spring rain are all shared in this book.

JDaniel loves the glitter that appears on every page spread. It really makes the pictures glitter. I really love the precious animals. They are so adorable.

How did we make our spring craft for kids?

Spring Weather Headband Craft for Kids – It’s Spring Time!

Colored strips of paper were glued together. The colored strips are arranged in the order they appear in a rainbow.

Then we stapled the rainbow to a light blue construction paper hand hand. We tried the rainbow tucked into the band and on the outside the band. Outside looked a whole lot better.

What do you need to have a rainbow? We brainstormed and decided that you needed sunshine, clouds, and raindrops. We sorted through our construction paper to find the right colors for these weather elements and then cut them out.

Once we had all the small weather elements, we blued them onto the headband. The original was to glue the clouds, raindrops, and suns in pattern around the headband. They needed up being randomly place on the band.

There must be something about five year old and hats or headbands. JDaniel really loved wearing this headband craft. After making a spring craft for kids weather headband in April, we may have to come up with a different themed spring craft for kids headband for May.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

Kids Crafts – 14 Ways to Paint with Kids

April 28, 2013 By Deirdre

With days filled with rain this spring or days filled with pollen at my house, children are looking for activities to do inside.I looked through my archives of post last week and found 14 different ways to paint. Painting is a wonderfully fun way to spend time when you have to be indoors. I hope you will find a new way on this list that your children will really enjoy. Finger Tips Painting on a Photo MatLast year for Mother’s Day JDaniel decorated the photo mat to put around a Mother’s Day poem with his fingertips. I love how it turned out and so did my mom.Torch Painting with a SpoonWe talked about the Olympic torch while working on activities with an Olympic theme last summer. I wrapped a paper towel around a kitchen spoon and JDaniel dipped it in the paint. Tapping the spoon in the paint made a fun design on the paper towel.Corn Cob Painting

Last fall JDaniel used a plastic corn cob to paint in a turkey roasting pan. The kernels from the cob made a wonderful pattern on paper.Magnet and Paperclip PaintingA simple magnet (large enough for a child to hold) moved under a paper plate with paint blobs and a paperclip on it make a wonderful painting experience.Ice Cube Rainbow Painting

Food colored ice cubes are such fun to paint within a turkey roasting pan. They wonderful for indoor play or water table time in the summer.Hand Print PaintingWe have done a number of hand print painting projects. My favorite is the one we made for a post called Legend of the Dogwood for Easter.

Salad Spinner PaintingWhen JDaniel was younger, this was his favorite way to paint. I loved how mess free it was. You simply place loose paint and a piece card stock into the bottom of a salad spinner. Children just push down on the spinning element for as long as they like. When it is done, the card stock is filled with swirls of paint.

Cotton Ball PaintingCotton balls can be dipped into painted and dapped onto paper. The cotton creates a really fun texture on the paper or object you are painting.

Finger Painting with PuddingJDaniel always loved to eat what was on his fingers when he was younger. Painting with pudding was a great and safe way for him to finger paint.

Painting with Tree BranchesOne of the beech trees in our backyard is forever dropping tree limbs. JDaniel and I decided to use them as paintbrushes in a post I wrote for the Kid’s Activities Blog.

Cookie Cutter Stencil PaintingCookie cutters make great stencils for children to paint in. They just place the cookie cutter where they want it on the paper and swirl the paintbrush inside the cooking cutter. We did just that in another post for the Kid’s Activities Blog.Chalk Paint Making

JDaniel loved breaking up the chalk for this paint. It required a hammer and smashing. There are millions of ways to paint with kids. I hope you will find that these 14 ways for kids to paint are ones your family will enjoy. Oh! I have over 100 ways to paints with kids pins on my Ways to Paint with Kids Pinterest board. I would love for you to stop by and check them out.

{Mother’s Day Craft} How to Make Paper Flowers

April 24, 2013 By Deirdre

How to Make a Paper Flowers for Mother's Day

A simple bouquet of flowers make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift. A simple bouquet of paper flowers crafted by their child or children will melt their hearts. I love to get Mother’s Day crafts from JDaniel so, I set out to show him how to make paper flowers. Wouldn’t you like to get this bouquet?We looked at three types of flowers. The first two were easy for him to construct and the third required fine motor skills that he hasn’t yet developed. I think older children would have no trouble constructing them.

We created (He and I) hand print lilies, origami tulips, and tissue paper mums. Let me walk you through the steps we went through to make make paper flowers

How to Make Paper Flowers

How to Make a Paper Hand Print Lily

Trace your child’s hand or have them trace their own.
Cut out the hand print.
Cut out the anther and stigma of the flower out of yellow construction paper.
Fold the thumb in and then fold bottom left hand side of the hand print up towards the thumb.
Wrap the end of the hand print that reaches past the folded thumb behind the hand.
Glue or tape it down.
Attach a stem made of green construction paper to the hand print lilly.

How to Make a Paper Tulip

Start by cutting a piece of scrapbook paper or wrapping paper into a square.
Then fold the square in half to make a triangle. Fold it so the fancy side of the paper is facing out.
Take the right hand corner and fold it up at an angle. It should be point to about 11 o’clock on the paper.
Then fold the left hand corner up towards about 1 o’clock on the paper. I hope the use of clock times isn’t confusing. I thought that thinking about where the hands would be on an analog clock would help you.
Add a green construction paper stem.

How to Make a Tissue Paper Mum

How to Make a Paper Flowers for Mother's Day

Place four sheets of tissue paper into a pile.Fold the tissue paper with a fan fold.
Place a pipe in the behind the center of the folded tissue. I like fold about 1/4 of the pipe cleaner over the to the front and then twist it around the long end of the pipe cleaner. The twist needs to be done tightly.
Use scissors to make thin cuts on both of the long ends of the tissue paper.
Slowly pull up each layer of tissue paper to the center on each side of the pipe cleaner.

While I am showing you how to make three different types of flowers, I think that you could easily make one type of flower. A single flower bouquet would be lovely.

After you learn how to make paper flowers, you may want to create one of these other Mother’s Day gifts:

Mother’s Day Teacup Printable Craft and a Collection of Poems

Mother’s Day Poem and Fingerprint Craft

Kids Art Project- Plastic Container Jellyfish

April 10, 2013 By Deirdre

JDaniel has decided that gelatinous creatures are his favorite animal. We have both poured over pictures of them in library books. I think it is the ones that are found in the deep sea that he loves best. They have bio-luminescence which he think is the coolest thing. I decided to make a kids art project that focused on jellyfish. (I will tell you more aboutv the kids art project later.

Visiting Jellyfish

When I told him we were going to the Tennessee Aquarium during our Spring Break, he was excited. When we visited the aquarium’s website and found out that they had a special jellyfish exhibit, he was over the moon. I don’t know how many times we looked over the pictures of some of the jellyfish that were going to be in the exhibit. While we were at the aquarium, we got to go behind the scenes to to moon jellies in incubation tanks. (The aquarium lets kids pick two special activities to attend during your visit. ) When I saw baby jelly fish on the activity board, I knew we had to select it. He loved it.

Kid's Art Project- Plastic Jug Jellyfish

Moon Jellyfish in a Holding Tank

We searched from the top to the bottom of the first building in the aquarium for more jellyfish and didn’t find any. Then we searched from top to the bottom of the second building for them. Finally we entered the final exhibit in the building and found them.

There were several wonderful tanks filled with jellyfish. Some glowed like the ones above. Others just looked cool like the upside down jellyfish below.

It wasn’t until the very last tank that we saw the comb jellies. They are JDaniel’s absolute favorite. I didn’t end up with a clear picture of them or I would have shared it with you. They display a colored thread inside them that changes color. They really are cool.

Creating Our Kids Art Project Jellyfish

On the way out of the museum we stopped in the gift shop and looked over the jellyfish items they had on sale. There weren’t many and one jellyfish that caught JDaniel’s eye was a plush jellyfish with tentacles made of ribbon. I told him that I thought I could make him a jellyfish mobile for his room when we got home. He decided that I probably could.

When we got home I dug through our recycling bin and pulled out a few items we could use for the body of the jellyfish. They was a plastic jug that used to hold green tea and a plastic berry container.While JDaniel was at school, I put it together. I think he could have made this a kids art project he completed on his own, but I really wanted to surprise him by having it done when he got home.

It is really just a berry container with two types of ribbon (One was wide with colored stripes and the other was bright blue with sequins.) and bright green rick rack woven through the air holes. One of the types of ribbon has a wire in it that allows the ribbon to be bent and twirled into place.

The berry container was placed inside a cut down plastic jug. I used fishing line to connect the two plastic items to together. I wove the fishing line through a hole in the jug and down into a whole in the berry container. Then I wove it back out through the berry container and up through another hole in the jug.

The berry container was attached upside down so I could adjust the ribbons it I needed to and so I could put a light stick into the container from time to time. JDaniel would love to watch it glow.

JDaniel was thrilled with it. It is now hanging from the ceiling fan in his room. I don’t mean to brag, but I think this plastic jug jellyfish is cuter than the plush jellyfish from the museum.

Earth Day is coming up. I hope you will dig through your recycling bin to find items you can craft with. Maybe you could even make a kids art project or join the tissue box creation. The Tissue Box Challenge starts next week on the 16th. I hope many of you will enter the contest.

This post is linked to Mrs. Matlock’s Alphabe Thursday. It is U week and this mobile is really unique.

{Craft for Kids} Legend of the Dogwood

March 27, 2013 By Deirdre

Have you ever heard of the poem The Legend of the Dogwood Tree before? I hadn’t until my husband shared it with me. He remembers having it shared with him in Sunday school when he was a little boy.It is a beautiful poem about the about the species of tree that may have been used for Christ’s cross.

I decided the poem would have more meaning if I created a teaching tool to go along with it. JDaniel could easily have made this hand print craft on this own and would have if we hadn’t had a lot of things going on to get ready for our Spring Break trip.

How did we make these crafts for kids?

I brushed white paint onto my palm and then made four hand prints to make the dogwood blossom’s petals. I choose to space that hand print so that it didn’t overlap the other prints as three of the petal’s prints do. It needed to be a little longer than the other three.
The indentations at the bottom of my palms stands for the nail holes in Jesus’ palm. The red fingerprints represent his blood. They were made by my pinky finger. I made the indentations more definite when I cut out the cross later on.
An orange bingo marker was used to create the crown of Jesus or the center of the dogwood blossom. I filled in the crown but, you could create a simple ring of dots.
The dogwood blossom was cut out to resemble a cross and glued to light blue paper.

What does each painted element stand for?

The white paint stands for the purity of Christ.
The indentations at the bottom of my palms stands for the nail holes in Jesus’ palm.
The red fingerprints represent his blood.
The crown in the center of the dogwood blossom is the crown of thorns Jesus was made to wear.

Here is the Legend of the Dogwood Tree that my husband remembers:

Legend of the Dogwood Tree

In Jesus time, the dogwood grew

To a stately size and a lovely hue.

‘Twa strong and firm it’s branches interwoven

For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.

Seeing the distress at this use of their wood

Christ made a promise which still holds good:

“Never again shall the dogwood grow

Large enough to be used so….

Slender and twister, it shall be

With blossoms like the cross for all the see.

As blood stains the petals marked in reddish brown

The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.

All who see it will remember me

Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.

Cherished and protected this tree shall be

A reminder to all of my agony.”

Author Unknown

You don’t have to actually make a craft to share this poem and lesson with your children. You could tell the story by using a real dogwood bloom if you have a dogwood tree available.
I think this craft for kids is a wonderful illustration of the Legend of the Dogwood and the message it shares.