Materials

• Large tile or plexiglass
• Brayer
• Ink (or you can use paint)
• Cotton swabs
• Hole punch
• Yarn
• Large, plastic needle
• Scissors
• Poster (Bristol) board (if you want a smaller folder, use construction paper or cardstock)

We always a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Don your smock.  You may want to cover your table with a plastic cloth as well.

• Folder your poster board in half.  If there is a shiny side, make sure that this is in the inside as the ink will better adhere to the more porous side.

• Put a small scoop of ink onto your tile.  (You could use plexiglass too if you like).  Spread your ink out onto your tile, using your brayer.

• Use cotton swabs to make an image.  We went with a drawing our ourselves so as to house all our work we bring home from school this year, but you might select something for a particular theme or unit of study.  You could also use an item such as a popsicle stick to make your lines.  As your ink or paint starts to dry and this will affect the transfer, you have to work at a fairly quick pace.  Our daughter drew herself, complete with her strawberry birthmark.

• Once you are done, lay your folded paper on the tile and rub the surface to assure contact with the ink.  Make sure to put the folded section of your paper at the bottom of your image!

• Carefully peel it off, revealing your image!

• Allow your work to dry overnight.

• With the help of an adult, punch holes approximately 2.5 centimetres/ 1 inch apart on both sides of your folder, going through both layers of the paper.  (Depending on the material that you chose, this is why you may need an adult’s help!)

• The kids wanted to use three different colours of yarn, but one strand works just great too.  We lined up our pieces and trimmed them to be an equal length and then tied a large knot at one end.  We knotted our needle on at the other end (older children can just thread the needle without the knot to keep it secure.)  We then went with a simple “wrap-around” (over-cast) stitch where you start coming up through the bottom, wrap around the outer edge and then come up through the bottom of the next hole, repeating this pattern.  But go with whatever you fancy!  If you would like your initial knot to be more secure you could go through the initial hole, wrap around the other edge and then use those two ends to make a knot before starting.  For the end of the sewing we then went through the last hole a few times, made a secure knot, left a little bit extra and trimmed our excess yarn.

• At the bottom or top of your image, write your child or student’s name, grade and/or the year.  Or if the folder is for something specific, such as a unit of study, include that.

• Place your work inside!

• Here is a variation our son did with watercolours to create an envelope to house a gift for his teacher for the first day of school:

• Go with whatever theme, technique or medium interests you!

Purpose

• Creating materials to help keep one organized
• Experimenting with various types of printmaking.
• Developing fine motor skills (cutting sewing, folding etc.)

Safety Notes

• We suggest that you wear a smock and use a craft tablecloth to protect your clothing and surfaces.
• Use scissors and needles 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

• Blank t-shirts
• Self-adhesive foam
• Scissors
• Fabric paint
• Tray
• A piece of word or cardboard to stick your shapes to (creating a stamp)

• Card-board t-shirt insert (or just a sheet of cardboard from the recycle!)
• Brushes
• Cotton swabs

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Insert your piece of cardboard into your shirt.  This will prevent the fabric paint from leaking onto the back and also “gluing” the two layers of the shirt together.

• Draw and cut out your foam shapes, peeling off the adhesive and attaching them to your wood or cardboard.  For the initial try, we used simple shapes just to get the hang of it to make a night shirt.  However, once you understand the concept, you can create more sophisticated shapes.  (We moved onto our goal- a city scape.)

• We then experimented with two different methods for applying the paint:

Dipping 

• Squirt your paint into your tray and dip your stamp into it.  We wiped off any excess paint between the shapes with a cotton swab and then applied the stamp to our shirt.  We repeated this process, making rows of the pattern created by the stamp.

Brushing the Paint On (this was our preferred method as it afforded a bit more control!)

• Allow your shirt to dry overnight and enjoy!  Here is our practice night shirt and our city scape for school. Wouldn’t it be fun to use your city scape shirt for a starting point for drawing yourself as a superhero flying overhead or add a photo transfer of you dressed in a superhero costume!

• P.S.  We figured out that there was an adult shirt in the pile and the city scape seems like it will last for next year too!

Purpose

• Exploring various ways to make a stamp.

Safety Notes

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

BIG thanks and lots of love to the Webers!

Materials

• Shrink Art (You can buy this at craft stores)
• Scissors
• Hole Punch (use a bigger than standard one if you are doing a key ring!)
• Scissors
• Pencil/eraser
• Cookie sheet
• Oven mitt
• Pencil crayons

Directions

• Cut your shrink art piece into a manageable size, bigger than your intended letter.

• Scuff it with sandpaper.

• Draw out your letter in pencil or as our son did, sketch it on another piece of paper and then overlay the shrink art piece and trace it.  He decided to use a permanent marker for a more defined line, but a black pencil crayon works great too!  You could make your bag tag into any symbol you like- perhaps something for your swim bag, library book bag or sports equipment bag.

• Colour in your letter.

• Cut out your letter.

• Punch a hole in one end.

• “Cook” your letter, according to the package directions using a cookie sheet, with the direction and supervision of an adult and with an oven mitt to help with the removal process!

• Let your letter cool and have an adult lace the key ring through the hole on your letter and the the zipper pull on your back pack or lace a bit of twine and attach it to a gift!

Purpose

• Developing one’s find motor skills (cutting, lacing, colouring etc.)
• Make an identifying symbol for one’s belongings.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care and adult supervision.
• Twine, cord, yarn etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Small items such as key rings 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.
• An oven should be used with an adult and be sure to follow the product directions.

* In speaking with my mom after making the shirts, she said that she found that string worked better for children over elastics!  Guess that gives us an excuse to try tie dye again!*

Materials

• Marbles or String
• Elastics
• Scissors
• White or light coloured t-shirt (This would be great to cover up a shirt with a spot!)
• Tie dye kit (rubber gloves if they are not included)
• Craft tray (Depending on your dye you may need a bucket & spoon, check your directions!)
• Old clothes, smock etc.

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Put your marble onto a spot on your t-shirt and wrap your elastic around it, many times as tightly as you can.  (You may need an adult to do those last few twists!  OR try tying and knotting string tightly.) Repeat with as many marbles as you like.

• We also tried putting elastics further down from the marbles as shown.

• Follow the directions on your dye kit and dye your shirt or portions thereof.

• Once completed, remove your elastics (carefully with your scissors or if you can unwrap them) and marbles and follow the wash directions on your dye kit.

• Enjoy your shirts!

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills (learning how to use elastics)

Safety Notes

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

• Ric Rack
• Sandpaper
• Seashells
• Glue
• Scissors
• Thick paper
• Paint, pencils, markers, coloured paper, fabric pencil crayons etc.

We always find these items helpful too:

• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Don your smock.
• An adult could make these prompts the day before or involve your child(ren) in the process!
• Cut out “sandy beaches” from sand paper, “waves” from rick rack and glue down seashells.  These are just suggestions- we’d love to see what you come up with!

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Put out the creation materials that you would like to use- whether it be drawing and colouring supplies, sketching and painting supplies or stuff to cut up and collage together!

Purpose

• Creating prompts to engage and encourage
• Developing one’s fine motor skills

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, rick rack etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore be sure to use with direct supervision and for its intended purpose.
• Small objects 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.

Hang these in a window to remind you of your summer adventures or add them to your tree at Christmas!

Materials

• Sea urchin shells (these can be purchased at tourist spots, craft stores or on Etsy)
• Wooden beads
• Cord
• Scissors
• Floral foam
• BBQ skewers
• Acrylic paint
• Brushes
• Craft tray
• Pony beads
• Optional: *Coloured beads (If you would like to skip the painting: glass ones, tassels, whatever you like! etc.)

We always find a smock helpful too:

Directions

• We wanted to paint some of our wooden beads, however, you could leave them natural in colour or use pre-painted beads to skip this step.

• Have an adult cut off the sharp points off of the BBQ skewers.

• Put a pony bead at the bottom of your skewer.  This will hold your beads in place and prevent them from sliding down when you paint them.

• “String” your beads onto your skewer.

• Insert your skewer into your craft foam.

• Don your smock.

• Paint your beads.  We find it helpful to hold the skewer with one hand at the top while you paint with the other.

• Paint as many colours as you would like for your ornament.

• Allow to dry overnight.

• Cut a length of cord (we went with our child’s arm span to allow for some extra) and fold it in half, stringing your beads and your urchin shell (we put one in the inside of the shell), down the double length of cord.

• This will lead to a loop at the top and excess at the bottom.  Knot above your beads, making a secure loop and below and then trim off your extra cord.

• Voila!

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Purpose

• Developing one’s fine motor skills (painting, lacing beads, cutting etc.)

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.
• As a BBQ skewer can be sharp, be sure to use with care.
• If your child has a shellfish allergy, avoid this activity.

http://bkids.typepad.com/intro/2015/08/diy-shrink-art-animal-necklace.html

Check out our full tutorial on:

http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/DIY-CLAY-ALPHABET-BEAD-CRAFT