http://www.hellowonderful.co/post/KID-MADE-PERSONALIZED-EASTER-TEES-AND-TOTES

Purpose

• Exploring different painting materials and tools
• Thinking of others

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• We recommend using a craft tray and a smock to protect your clothes and surfaces.

Make it Your Own

• Make It Your Own is a Canadian children’s website.  We hope to inspire educators and families with projects to do together, explorations of various mediums and techniques and to get out into nature to source supplies.  We love re-imagining items and thinking of new ways to share children’s artwork.  We are often described as “an educational mom, a digital dad and their three mini-makers.”

Materials

• Paper gift bags (The ones we used were Kraft, but any type will work)
• Buttons
• Craft glue
• Markers
• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Put 4 spots of glue onto your paper bag into the shape of a four leaf clover.

• Put your buttons in the glue.

• Once dry, draw a stem to attach your leaves together.

• Fill your bag and give it to a friend!

Purpose

• Thinking of others

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• Buttons can be a choking hazard therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put items into their mouths.

Materials

• Canvas or cardstock
• Contact paper
• Craft (white) glue
• Liquid watercolours or food colouring & water
• Salt
• Paint tray
• Droppers
• Craft tray
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Permanent marker
• Smock

Directions

• Put your canvas into your craft tray.

• Cut out a piece of contact paper the size of the canvas.  On the side with the peel off paper, draw a large egg (a bit smaller than your canvas).   You could go with any shape you like, but we were making this for an Easter gift.  To cut it out, gently fold it in half and make a snip to get you started.  Cut around the lines.

• Have an adult help you peel off the backing of the contact paper and adhere it to the canvas so that it makes a stencil.  Be sure to smooth it out to make sure that it makes contact at all the edges.

• Make designs with your glue in the centre of your stencil on the canvas, overlapping onto the contact paper.  Sprinkle salt onto your glue.  Have an adult gently shake off the excess salt.   Allow to dry overnight.

• Don your smock.  Once you have checked that your glue is dry, prepare your paint.

• Using your dropper, slowly apply the paint to your salt/glue lines, watching the paint travel.  This is the fun part!

• Allow to dry overnight.  Carefully peel off the contact paper.  Depending on the brand of glue, you may need to cut off some of the extra glue pieces, that lay outside of the stencil of the egg.

• Hang your work for Easter or give it to a friend!

Purpose

• Exploring different painting materials and tools

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• If you use permanent marker to draw out your egg, be sure to wear a smock to protect your clothes.
• We recommend using a craft tray to contain the salt, glue and paint and to protect surfaces.

Materials

• Paper rolls
• Paint
• Paint brushes
• Smock
• Craft tray
• Permanent markers (Optional)
• Felt
• Scissors
• Fabric scissors
• Chenille sticks
• Beads
• Glue or stapler
• Small toys

Directions

• Cut your paper rolls into the shape that you like.  We cut petals into one side of some of the rolls to make flowers and cut squares into the tops of the others to make the tops of the castle.  We cut some slits in the bottoms so we could stack them.  We also experimented with doing this after the paint dried and both techniques worked well.

• Don your smock.  Paint your rolls the colours you would like.  This might take a few sessions if you go with a few colours or a layering of colours.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Draw any details you may like with marker (For example you could have drawn brick lines for the castle in our case.)

• We then glued (or a stapler is a quick method) on a few details with chenille sticks and beads and made a base out of felt- leaves for the flowers and a moat for the castle.  We twisted the chenille sticks around a pencil to make them look like curly vines.

• Once your glue is dry, set up your scene and have a ball!

Purpose

• Re-cycling items
• Making props for play

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• Follow product directions.
• Beads can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of reach from children 0-3 or those that tend to put things into their mouths.
• A glue gun (if you go with that option) should be used by an adult or depending on your age and abilities, with direct adult supervision.
• Exercise care with a stapler.

Materials

• Thin dowels (You could use skewers with the ends cut off by an adult alternatively)
• Green paint
• Felt
• Fabric glue
• Fabric scissors
• Craft tray
• Smock
• Floral foam
• Paint brush
• Ribbon (Optional)

* You could collect various tall, plastic containers for arranging your flowers in, adding to the fun!

Directions

• Don your smock.

• Stick your dowels in your floral foam on your craft tray and paint them green.  Allow them to dry overnight.

• Cut out two exact copies of your flowers, gluing any components together. (We found folding the felt in half beforehand made this easy.)  You could do leaves as well.  We made ours quite simple, however you could add beads, sequins, gems, rick rack etc.  Allow to dry overnight.  For younger children, you could do simple layered circle flowers.  For older children, see where their creativity leads.

• Put glue on the interior of one of your flowers.  Put one end of your dowel in the centre.  Glue the other copy of the flower on top.  Allow to dry overnight.

• Tie some ribbon around your bouquet and give it to a friend.  We added a few books about Plants to our gift!

• As our daughter suggested: Put on your own flower puppet show and enjoy getting a bit silly!

• And of course, take some time to smell your flowers!

Purpose

• Creating items for imaginary play
• Thinking of others

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• Wear and smock and use a craft tray to protect your clothing and surfaces at home or school.

Materials

• Muslin Bags (you can get these at craft stores or order them through Etsy)
• Fabric paint
• Paint brush
• Ribbon
• Safety Pin
• Embroidery floss
• Needle
• Cardboard
• Scissors (Whoops!  We forgot these for the photo- sorry!)
• Smock
• Craft tray

Directions

• Cut your cardboard to a little smaller than the size of your bag and insert it inside.  This will prevent your fabric paint from gluing your bag together.

• We wanted to create a series of bags for St. Patrick’s Day treats, using our fingerprints.  We brushed paint onto our finger pads with a brush (to assure a more even coat) and made the leaves of a shamrock, gold and a rainbow.

• Allow your work to dry overnight.

• We then sewed a few details onto the bags to enhance our fingerprints, using our embroidery floss.

• We then removed the thin string that was provided with the bags and replaced it with ribbon or cord by clipping a safety pin onto the end and pushing it through the channel. (So this would be easier for little hands to tie.)

• Voila!

• Here are a few of our further explorations of the materials:  (Even baby got in on the action, creating the greeny-yellow bag!)

Purpose

• Thinking of others
• Exploring sensory experiences (painting with our fingers)

Safety Notes

• Use scissors and a needle with care & supervision.
• Be sure to wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect surfaces and your clothing.
• Be sure to wash your brush immediately after use so as to prevent damage.

Materials

• Air dry clay
• Egg shaped cookie cutter or old butter knife
• Rolling pin
• Thin piece of dowel or bamboo skewer
• Clay board
• Smock
• Craft tray

Possible Embellishments

• Sealant or gloss
• Beads
• Lace or ribbon
• Paint
• Rick rack
• Embroidery floss/needle
• Fabric glue

Directions

• Follow the directions on the clay product that you choose.  This is an activity that may require adult assistance in the kneading to prepare the clay, depending on the age of the child.

• Roll out the clay to the thickness described in the directions on a clay board or surface used for craft materials (e.g., craft tray).  We went with a little over half a centimetre or approximately 1/4 of an inch.

• Cut out your eggs with a cookie cutter or better yet, make your own egg with a butter knife.

• Make a hole (or holes) with the end of your dowel or skewer.  We made some holes around the perimeter of some of the eggs to add a string detail and some on the edges to lace across.

• Allow to dry according to the product directions.

• You could sand the edges if you would like, wearing a mask and safety glasses to protect yourself from the dust.

• Don your smock.  If you like, paint the eggs and allow to dry overnight.  Do the same with the sealant or gloss if you like.

• Glue on the embellishments that you might like.

• Use your embroidery floss and sew your details on your eggs. (We found it helpful to have an adult to hold it steady.)

• Lace ribbon, cord etc through the top hole to make a loop.  Add any beads that you may like etc.  Give your egg to a friend.  (You could write your name and the year on the back with permanent marker, attaching it to a gift.)

Purpose

• Developing fine motor skills, working with various materials and tools.

Safety Notes

• Wear a smock and use a craft tray to protect surfaces and clothing.
• A butter knife should be handled with care, direct adult supervision and transported with the point downwards.
• Cord, lace etc. can be a strangulation hazard and therefore should not be used for play, but rather with direct adult supervision.  If you go with a necklace be sure to remove it when on a playground or use a release clasp depending on the age of your child.
• Beads can be a choking hazard and should not be within reach of children ages 0-3 or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Be sure to wash your hands after handling the clay.
• We recommend having an adult cut the point off of the end of a bamboo skewer prior to use as they can be sharp and work more effectively in creating a uniform hole when flat.

Materials

• Washed food pouch caps of various colours
• Twine or ribbon
• Wooden beads
• Gold paint
• Gold glitter
• Paint brush
• Smock
• Paint tray
• Bamboo skewer with end cut off by an adult
• Floral foam
• Scissors

Directions

• Don your smock.  Stick your skewer into your foam and put your beads onto it, placing it in your craft tray.  Paint your beads gold and while they are wet, sprinkle them with glitter.  This will make the “gold” at the end of your rainbow!

• Cut a length of ribbon or cord the size of your arm.

• Lace your caps and any beads that you may like on your cord or ribbon.

• Add your gold beads.

• Our ribbon got a bit stuck when we did a few of the beads so we first took the end of a thin paintbrush and pushed it through the bead to clean out any wooden bits.  We then used the brush end to help push the ribbon through and it worked like a charm!

• Explore various patterns, until you find one you like.

• Knot your necklace and enjoy it!

Purpose

• Re-using objects.
• Developing fine motor skills.

Safety Notes

• Use scissors with care & supervision.
• Remove your necklace when playing (e.g, on the playground) to prevent strangulation.
• Be sure to wash your hands after using glitter.
• Beads and caps can be a choking hazard, therefore be sure to keep them out of the reach of children 0-3 years of age or those that tend to put things in their mouths.
• Yarn, ribbon, cord etc. can be a strangulation hazard, therefore it is important that it is used for its designated purpose and with direct adult supervision.
• Use a smock and a craft tray to protect surfaces and clothing.
• Be careful with a bamboo skewer as it can be sharp.  We recommend an adult cutting the end off prior to use.