Check out the full tutorial here:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/KID-MADE-ACORN-ORNAMENTS-OR-NAME-PLACE-CARDS

Materials

• Paper towels
• Liquid watercolours or food colouring
• Containers for your paint
• Brushes
• Acrylic gloss (or diluted white glue or Mod Podge)
• Scissors
• Floral wire or chenille stems
• Beads
• Paper/scissors/ or fringing scissors
• Floral or Washi tape
• Balloons
• Thick paper

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Don your smock.  Paint your paper towel gently with your watercolour paints.  We found that just touching the brush to the towel worked.

• Leave to dry overnight.

• Once dry we folded our paper towel back up and then folded it in half.  With the fold at the bottom we cut out petal shapes.

• Have an adult blow up the balloon for you.

• Place your balloon in a small bowl with the tie facing downwards and place it in a craft tray to catch any drips.

• Paint the balloon with your acrylic gloss, Mod Podge or diluted white glue where you are going to put your first set of petals.  Gently lay the petals on top and paint them gently, going in a downwards direction.

• Repeat this process going the opposite way.  Layer as many petals as you would like, making sure that the towel is saturated, but not dripping.

• Allow to dry overnight.

• With the help of an adult, use a pin to pop the balloon.  (Depending on your age and abilities, you may be able to do it yourself!) We recommend inserting your pin near the tie of the balloon so it can gently deflate, preserving the shape of your bloom.  Gently peel out your balloon and with scissors, trim away any extra dried glue/ gloss.

• We taped some gold wire to the top of the floral wire with a bit of floral tape.  We then added some fringed paper and beads to form the flower’s centre.  We also added a few beads under the bloom to stabilize it.  Go with whatever you have or like to make the stamen of your flower (such as chenille sticks and beads)!

Purpose

• Getting out into nature to develop one’s observational skills.
• Using a real object as an inspiration point for creating.
• Exploring how to make three-dimensional shapes.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Plastic lid
• Drill (to be used by an adult)
• Scissors
• Yarn
• Black paint
• Sponge (You could also use your finger or thumbprint)
• Thick paper such as cardstock
• Thin black pen
• Craft tray

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Have an adult drill holes in your plastic lid for you.  We did this over a sample square of carpet, but you could use a scrap of wood etc.  We recommend that you use safety googles for this process and follow the equipment directions.

• Cut your yarn into a manageable piece.  We find for children that this is about one arm’s length.  Tie a large knot in one end and thread the other through your needle.

• Start on the underside of your lid to hide your knot and then begin sewing your web in a pattern you like.  You can go up and down through the holes, around the edges etc.  You can use a hole more than once.  You may find it helpful to have an adult hold the lid steady while you sew.  Once you are done, secure a knot on the underside and trim off any excess yarn.

• Now to add your spider!  Don your smock.  Put a little squirt of black paint into your tray, dip you sponge or the pad of one of your fingers into the paint and apply it to your paper.  Allow to dry.

• Once dry, add some legs to your spider with your thin black pen.  Then glue your spider onto your web or punch a hole in it and dangle it from your web with your yarn!

• Hang up your web or attach it to a Halloween gift and enjoy!

Purpose

• Developing one’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination.
• Learning a real life skill.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.

Materials

Wings & Antenna

• Headband
• Chenille sticks
• Pom-poms
• Paper bag
• Paints
• Sponge, paint brush etc.
• Felt
• Scissors
• Glue gun/glue

Body

• Cardboard
• Pencil/eraser
• Glue gun/glue
• Felt
• Pom-poms
• Sewing marker or white pencil crayon (*Optional- handy for little ones)

Attaching Wings

• Self-adhesive velcro (we sewed the velcro to the shirt just to assure it would stay, but this is optional)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Here was her inspiration:

• Cut open your bag (removing the bottom, the top where the handles were and the sides.)  Ours happened to have a beautiful pattern on the outside so we used this as the underside of the wings.

• Don your smock.  Place your bag parts into a craft tray and paint them however you would like.  Our daughter used a sponge, making long strokes.  Allow to dry overnight.  If your bag was blank on the exterior, flip your pieces over and paint the other side.  Allow to dry.

• We then prepared the body of the butterfly (an older child could draw the abdomen and the thorax) by sketching and then cutting the shape out of cardboard.  Cutting cardboard can be difficult for young children so it may require some adult assistance.  We suggest a good pair of scissors, cutting off excess pieces to make it more manageable, doing a rough cut and then a polishing off cut (rounding out sharp edges).

• We then placed the body on a piece of felt, traced around it with a white pencil crayon and then cut out the felt copy.  We glued the felt to the cardboard body base and trimmed off any excess.

• We then glued pom-poms onto the felt, carefully pulling off all the spidery glue webs!

• Our son wanted to help so he drew the wing shape for the butterfly and cut it out.  (We then flipped it over and traced the wing going the opposite way onto the other side of the paper.)  The wings were then glued to the cardboard body.

• From your felt, cut out and glue any spots and stripes from you might like on your butterfly.

• Add any painted details.  Allow to dry.

• Cut your velcro into two strips.  We pulled it apart and stuck (followed by sewing) the one side of the velcro to a shirt and then stuck the other side to the cardboard.

• Our antenna were formed by taking two chenille sticks, folding them in half, twisting them around the headband and then gluing a pom-pom on each end.  Allow to dry and pop it in your hair!

• Voila!  Your butterfly is complete!

Purpose

• Using a photograph as inspiration for creating.
• Celebrating various holidays.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills (cutting different materials to strengthen muscles and using different strategies for manipulating various tools)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and a glue gun with care and adult supervision.
• Small objects such as pom-poms can be a choking hazard, therefore keep out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years or those that tend to put things in their mouths.

Materials

• Cardboard
• Plastic containers
• Paint brushes
• Clothes pins
• Glue gun/glue
• Acrylic paint
• Thick paper
• Scissors
• Ribbon
• Cord
• Drill (Please use with safety googles!)
• Craft tray

Optional Items:  

• Beads
• Tape
• Face paints

We always a smock helpful too!

Directions

• Don your smock.  Paint your paper as this will be the masterpiece featured on your easel. (Ours features the work of our toddler!)  Allow to dry overnight.

• Put a few squirts of acrylic paint into your clear, plastic containers and tilt and turn them around to create the look of full paint containers.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Cut your cardboard into two equal pieces that would fit you in both the front and the back without being obtrusive.  (Large enough to fit your tray of paints and your painting!) Cutting cardboard can be tricky so use a good pair of scissors.  You may need an adult to help you with you for this.

• Have an adult score your cardboard at the bottom of the front board to make a small shelf for your paints to rest on.

•  Have an adult help you make holes near the top of the cardboard pieces.  (This will be to loop the ribbon to hold the easel together.)  We also made ones that would go around the sides (hidden under the painting for the front and matching on the back piece of cardboard.)  You may need an adult to hold the cardboard steady while you drill or if they prefer they can do this part.  Be sure to wear safety googles while using a drill.

• Have an adult drill a hole in the back of the plastic containers (once the paint is dry) and through the back of the cardboard where they would sit.  (Depending on your age and abilities, you may be able to do some of this with adult supervision.)  String cord through the holes and knot them.  Since it can be hard for children to tie knots that are big enough not to go through the hole, we attached beads as shown to hold the containers in place which assisted our son in the tying process.

• Glue one side of your clothes pins to the cardboard in a spot that would hold the piece of artwork.

• We then glued the paint brush to the cardboard (but you could use something like velcro dots to adhere to the cardboard so you could remove it easily).

• Loop the ribbon through the holes so you can make ties on the shoulders and on the sides. (Hiding the knots on the inside.)

• We then added a bit of paper tape on the edges of the cardboard for a more finished look and a few paint smears with the face paint!

Purpose

• Celebrating various holidays.
• Re-imagining cardboard and plastic.
• Learning to work collaboratively.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors, a glue gun and a drill with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Are you getting excited about Halloween?!

Check out the full tutorial for these puppets (and lots of other playful Halloween projects!) at:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/KID-MADE-HALLOWEEN-TRICK-OR-TREAT-CRAFT-STICK-PUPPETS

Materials

• Felt (We used a felt sheet for the banner base and other colours for the image)
• Scissors
• Dowel
• Beads
• Pencil/eraser
• Paper
• Fabric glue

* If your beads don’t fit snuggly on the end of your dowel, you may need a bit of wood glue.

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.  Glue or sew your rick rack onto the back of your background felt sheet and allow it to dry overnight.  You could skip this step or snip off two of the corners of the felt rectangle that would form the bottom of the banner if you want.

• Sketch out an idea for your Halloween banner.

• Cut your pieces out of felt and arrange them on your felt square to see how they fit.   You could cut out your sketch and use it as a pattern, pinning or taping it to your felt and cutting around it again.  Or you could increase the size as we did.  A tip for cutting the letters that require a hole such as the “o” is to fold the letter in half, making a small snip which will then allow you to slide your scissors in to cut out the interior circle.  Our son also thought it pertinent to mention that when cutting use your less dominant hand to rotate the material being cut which is also a clever tip!

• Twist your beads onto the ends of your dowel.  Ours happened to have fit snuggly, but if yours don’t, use a bit of wood glue.

• Wrap one end of your felt sheet over the dowel and glue together as shown.  Allow to dry overnight.  You could also sew this and slide it on your dowel, attaching the bead after.

• Glue on your pieces and allow to dry overnight.  Attach a ribbon or cord and hang up your banner to add some kid-made Halloween fun to your wall!

Purpose

• Celebrating various holidays.
• Planning and executing a specific task.
• Developing one’s fine motor skills, by cutting various materials.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Beads can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children ages 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things into their mouths.

Materials

• Black cardstock
• White cardstock
• Black marker
• White pencil crayon, crayon and/or a correction pen
• Scissor/ ruler or paper cutter (to be used with an adult)
• Plastic spiders
• Glue or glue gun
• Stapler
• Scrap paper

We always find these items helpful:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock to protect your clothing.

• Cut your paper into 3 or 4 strips going lengthwise.

• Place one of your strips on your scrap paper and draw webs.  (This will allow you to go off the edges.)  We used black marker on the white strips and white crayon on the black strips.

• Once done, create a cylinder with one of your strips, placing one end over the other and stapling them together.

• Place another strip inside of the first one and create a cylinder stapling it together (as seen in photograph).  Repeat, many times, forming a chain.  Our chain is a bit shorter to go over a door, but make it as long as you want to hang on a mantle, over a table or stretched from your ceiling!

• If you like, glue a few spiders onto your chain.

Purpose

• Using various materials to create images.
• Celebrating various holidays.

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors or a paper cutter and a stapler with care and adult supervision.