Materials

• Watercolour paper
• Copy paper
• Watercolour paint (we went with liquid watercolour)
• Water to dilute your paint, or to apply over top
• Container (for diluting your paint)
• Sponges
• White out pen
• Paper tape
• Scissors
• Stapler (sorry- it seems to have migrated out of the photograph!)
• Alternatives: Acrylic paint (the kids selected this shimmery, sparkly version), glue pen

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Lie your watercolour paper into your craft tray.  Sketch out your underwater scene using a whiteout (correction) pen.  A glue pen or a glue bottle (with a nozzle tip) will also provide a resist, but the pens provide finer detail.  Our son had a suggestion for younger children of making simple bubbles with a round sponge and acrylic paint, which also worked as a resist.

• Allow to dry.

• Dilute your watercolour paint and apply it to your project like a wash.  You could add undiluted paint over top in spots or water to create various effects.  Additionally you can apply your acrylic paint to accent certain areas while it is wet or dry.  Our son also experimented with absorbing some of the paint with a paper towel.

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Fold your paper in half.  Fold a small pile of copy paper in half.  Insert your copy paper into your cover, staple and then trim the edges.  We used a bit of paper tape to cover the staples to prevent any scratches.

• Draw away!  (Our booklets were for a car trip, but these would be great for sketching beach finds, recording aquarium observations etc.)

Purpose

• Exploring various resists for painting
• Creating child-made sketch books

Safety Notes

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

Materials

• Shrink Art sheets (you can purchase these at craft stores)
• Cookie tray (and an oven mitt too!)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Pencil crayons
• Sand paper
• Small containers (You could re-use items from your recycle, but the kids were excited to use these little glass bottles)

• Little items to create the ocean such as gravel, sand, small beads, plastic gems, rocks etc.

Directions

• We used these water creatures as an inspiration.

• You could plan out your work on a sheet of paper if you like.

• Scuff your shrink art paper with sand paper.

• Slip your plan under your shrink art sheet and trace around it with a black pencil crayon.  You could tape down the pieces to hold them steady or have an adult hold it for you.

• Colour in your work with your pencil crayons.

• Trim the edges, leaving a border.

• Lay your work on a cookie sheet and follow the product directions as to cooking.

• Once cool, insert your little creature into a bottle or container, along with little items to create a background such as sand, gravel, plastic gems and a little bit of water if you like.

• Then the kids then created all sorts of little animals!  Here’s their favourites:

Purpose

•  Sketching items based on real objects, animals etc.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Follow the product directions with an adult and use safety gear (e.g., oven mitts)
• Small items 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

• Various colours of felt
• Sewing supplies (or you could go with a sewing machine like we did)
• Scissors (these kitchen ones are great for cutting multiple layers)
• Funnel
• Measuring cup or scoop
• Poly-fil pellets or something similar
• Beads (optional)
• Pencil/ paper
• Clear plastic bag (optional)

Directions

• Sketch out your ideas.

• Cut out a simplified version of your fruits from felt.  You could do this freehand or draw large sketches and pin or tape them to your felt.  You will need two of each.  An easy way to assure that they are exactly alike is to fold the felt in half and cut both copies at a time.

• Add any beads, buttons etc. to embellish your work, sewing them on.

• Sew the two layers together on the outside edges, leaving a small border and a hole to insert your funnel.  (As seen below.)

• Insert your funnel and pour in your pellets.

• Move your pellets to the opposite side of the hole and then sew the hole shut.

• Enjoy playing with your bean bags.  We took a little basket and tried to get our fruit in it from various distances. What games can you think of?

Purpose

• Developing one’s fine and gross motor skills

Safety Notes

• Use scissors and sewing materials with care and adult supervision.
• Beads, pellets etc. 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

• Iron-on jean patches
• Iron (to be used by an adult)
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Sticky Notes (optional, but helpful for younger children)

Directions

• Cut a shape out of your patches.  For younger children a simple trick is to draw your shape onto a sticky note, apply to the patch and then cut around the lines.

• Have an adult iron your shapes onto your shirt, pants, jacket etc., following the product directions.

• Once set and cooled, enjoy your simple personalized clothing!

Purpose

• Re-imagining items

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Be sure to follow the product directions.
• An iron is intended for adult use.  Be sure to follow the directions for the appliance and unplug and allow it to cool in a safe spot.  We recommend using an ironing board or similar surface.

Materials

• Driftwood
• Thin craft wire
• Yarn
• Scissors
• Wood glue (optional, but in our case, requested!)

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Put out the materials and see what your child(ren) come up with.  We would love for you to send us their creations!

• Our son was previously exploring wrapping these BBQ skewers with yarn as seen below and this sparked the idea for a boat sail.

• The wire was helpful in making a frame:

• Our daughter made a starfish.

Purpose

• Developing one’s construction skills

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces (if you partake in the glue!)
• 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.

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/BEAUTIFUL-KID-MADE-SEASHELL-WREATH

• http://make-it-your-own.com/nature-finds-twig-photo-frame/

Materials

• Wooden frame (you can find these inexpensively at craft and dollar stores)
• Glue gun/glue
• Seashells

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• With an adult, collect seashells.  We took ours home and washed them in a soapy solution and allowed them to dry overnight.  However, you could also purchase them.

• Don your smock.

• Glue your shells onto your frame.

• Allow to dry and pop in a picture of yourself at the beach!

Purpose

• Getting out into nature

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use a glue gun with care and direct adult supervision/guidance.
• Small items such as shells 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

• Bin  (We usually use a shallow, under your bed storage type, but a small one as shown in the photos works too!)
• Corn starch
• Water
• Food colouring (To avoid dying your hands, you could also use washable watercolour paint)
• Measuring cup(s)
• Spoon

Optional: Glitter, small toys, containers, play cooking materials etc.

We recommend that you wear a smock for this activity!

Directions

• We suggest doing this activity outside or in a space that you don’t mind getting dirty.  Don your smock.

• Place your cornstarch into your bin.  The ratio is generally 2 portions of cornstarch to 1 portion of water.  (For our small batch we used 2 cups of cornstarch and 1 cup of water.)

• Add your water and stir.  This is a great time to learn about basic measurement.

• Add your food colouring until you have reached your desired colour.  You could add it to your water, however, our children enjoy the dispersal of the colour adding it at the end.

• Add glitter if you like, stirring it in.  The kids wanted a shimmery water scene.

• Enjoy exploring- what happens when you squeeze the goop and then release it in your hands?  What happens when you try to move or push it?

Purpose

• Sensory play
• Learning basic meansurement

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft table cloth to protect your clothing and surfaces.  Or simply enjoy this outside!