Creative Crafts for Creative Kids

Pencil Toppers

creativekidscrafts — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:00:31 +0000

Jazz up your No.2 pencils with this cute and easy pencil topper craft! You can follow along and make the frog shown below or get creative and create your own design using the same technique. The possibilities are endless. This project is perfect for art classes, after school programs, a rainy day, you name it!

Things you will need:

A pipe cleaner (You’ll need green for the frog)
A piece of craft foam (You’ll need green for the frog
A pair of googly eyes
Glue
Scissors
A pencil for drawing with
Markers (You’ll need green and black for the frog)
A brand new pencil for topping

Step 1: Begin by drawing the shape of a frog on a piece of craft foam. Make sure that the frog is not too big other wise it might not sit right on top of the pencil. You can place the pencil under your drawing as a guide. Once you draw the frog, carefully cut it out.

Step 2: Once you cut out the frog outline it in green marker and add a smile in black marker. You can add additional details if you’d like.

Step 3: Take a pair of googly eyes and glue them to the frog and let dry.

Step 4: While the glue is drying begin wrapping the pipe cleaner around the top of an unused pencil. Start at the base of the metal piece that holds the eraser in place and wrap tightly until you reach the end of the eraser. Use the scissors to cut off the excess pipe cleaner leaving about a 1in tail for attaching the frog.

Step 5: Center a line of glue down the back of the frog and press the pipe cleaner down firmly. You can add a piece of clear tape to hold everything in place if you need to. Let the pencil topper dry.

Congratulations! You have made a super cute and easy pencil topper. These toppers add a little flair to a plain pencil but remove easily when you need to use the eraser. Just pull the topper off to erase and then slide it back on. Did you do this project differently? Did you make a different animal? Make crazy shapes instead? Please share your comments and photos in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Festive Presents

creativekidscrafts — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 02:10:58 +0000

If you’re looking for a way to spruce up your holiday presents and add a personal touch, check out these cute cards made to look like gifts! You can make them to suit any holiday or theme…Even birthdays! This project includes a printable template to make cutting the initial shape of the card much easier.

Things You Will Need:

Card stock in the colors of your choice
A copy of the template (click the link for a PDF)
A ruler
Scissors
Glue
A pencil
A pen
Crayons or markers

Step 1: Begin by printing out a copy of the template. Lay it out on a piece of card stock then trace it and cut it out. You will cut on the solid lines and fold on the dotted ones.

Step 2: Use a ruler to help you neatly fold the edges that were marked on the template by dotted lines. Be sure to crease the edges well to make sure they stay folded.

Step 3: Once you’ve folded the edges of your card, glue down the bottom half of the present to secure it. Next you’ll want to define the edges of the present by drawing lines with crayons or markers. You want the present to have the illusion that it’s three-dimensional so make sure the lines meet at the right spots.

Step 4: It is now time to decorate the present. I’ve cut some red paper into strips and a bow which will give my present the appearance that it is wrapped and tied with a bow. You can decorate your present in a similar fashion or use crayons, markers or other embellishments to make it unique.

Congratulations! You have made a greeting card that looks like a present! Use a pen to write a message inside before giving it to someone special. How did your project turn out? Did you do something differently? Please share your comments and photos in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Festive Thanksgiving Gifts

creativekidscrafts — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:22:24 +0000

Presents aren’t just for Christmas and Hanukah! They’re also a great way to give thanks to the ones you love on Thanksgiving too. Get the kids involved this Thanksgiving and have them make this simple project sure to brighten up any table setting. These make great party takeaways or seating cards if you plan to make your seating arrangements ahead of time.

Things you will need:

Brown construction paper
Tissue paper in an assortment of fall colors
Baby food jars (one per gift)
School glue
A paint brush
A small dish or cup
Scissors
A pen
A leaf stamp
A brown stamp pad
Snack-size candies or mints

Step 1: Fill a dish with one part water and two parts glue and stir it up. Additionally, rip the tissue paper into small pieces.

Step 2: Begin painting a section of the jar with the glue and water mixture.

Step 3: Begin placing bits of tissue paper over the glue. Continue painting with the glue mixture and covering the jar with tissue paper until it is completely covered.

Step 4: Once you’ve covered the entire jar with tissue paper, paint a thin layer of glue mixture over the paper and let it dry.

Step 5: While the glue is drying, put some ink on your stamp and stamp out a leaf onto a piece of brown paper. Once the ink dries you should cut out the leaf, trying not to be too exact in your cutting. If you don’t have a leaf stamp try tracing a real leaf with a marker and coloring it in. Similarly, if you don’t have a brown ink pad, use a small amount of brown paint instead.

Step 6: Flip the leaf over and use a pen to write something special for the person receiving this gift. You might say why you like the person or why you’re glad to have them in your life. Grab a few pieces of candy or mints and the leaf and tuck them into the jar.

Congratulations! You have made a Thanksgiving gift sure to brighten the mood anyone you give it to! Once the candy has been eaten you can place a battery-powered tea light into the jar and use it as a festive votive or nightlight. Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please share your comments or photos in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Halloween Bookmarks

creativekidscrafts — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:54:11 +0000

With so many food allergies these days, it’s no wonder many schools ban certain foods such as nuts. If you have a food allergic child or have one that attends a school with restrictions for holiday parties and school lunches, this project would make a perfect substitute for candy at the class Halloween party. This project is also great for the avid reader in your life.

Things you will need:

Construction paper in Halloween colors
Crayons
Glue
A ruler
A pencil
A pen or marker
Scissors
Yarn in a Halloween color
Clear packing tape
A hole punch

Step 1: Think about what kind of design you want on your bookmark. For this project I will be making a candy corn bookmark. Some other ideas include bats and pumpkins. Once you have an idea, draw each of the pieces you need. You also need to draw a rectangle for the base of your bookmark.

Step 2: Cut out all of the pieces you just drew for your bookmark. For this example I cut out enough pieces to make about 20 pieces of candy corn.

Step 3: Glue all of your pieces together. If you are making this project with a younger child, they can simply color a design onto the bookmark rather than cut out lots of little pieces.

Step 4: Glue all of your finished pieces onto the base of your bookmark. I have glued the candy corn in a random pattern as seen above, covering the entire bookmark completely.

Step 5: Once the glue has dried, flip your bookmark over and write “Happy Halloween” on the back. If it is a gift for someone else, you can choose to write their name as well.

Step 6: Cut a length of clear packing tape and lay it flat on the table. Gently place your bookmark on top, pressing down firmly to remove air bubbles.

Step 7: Cut another length of packing tape and lay it over the top of the bookmark. Smooth out any bubbles and cut around the edges to clean things up.

Step 8: Once everything is assembled punch a hole in one end of the bookmark. Additionally, you’ll cut a length a string and thread it through the hole, tying a knot to secure.

Congratulations! You have a made a fun Halloween bookmark! This project is a great alternative to candy as a treat for friends at a school party. It is also perfect for the little reader in your life! Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please post your comments and pictures in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Morning Magnets

creativekidscrafts — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 15:28:03 +0000

Getting ready for school in the morning is no easy feat, especially when little ones can’t remember what they need to get done. Make things easier for everyone with these crafty morning magnets. They’re an easy reminder that will help get everyone out the door on time.

Things you will need:

Markers or crayons
A pencil
Scissors
Glue
White index cards
Store bought magnets or the free ones you sometimes get from local businesses

Step 1: Cut your index cards in half. It might help to fold them in half first so you have a nice line to cut on.

Step 2: Discuss with your child each of the tasks you expect him to do in the morning before school. Maybe he needs to get himself dressed or make his bed. Once he knows what will be expected of him he can draw each activity on one of the cards. It might also help to write the task at the bottom so he has both the visual and written reminder.

Step 3: If you’re using the free magnets like I am, cut them into small pieces that will fit on the back of your cards.

Step 4: Glue the magnets to the backs of each card. Let the glue dry.

Congratulations! You have made some easy morning magnets! Stick them on the fridge as a reminder to the kids about what they need to do in the morning to get ready. Once a task gets completed, say getting dressed, remove the corresponding magnet from the fridge so everyone knows what still has to be done. Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please post your comments and pictures in the comments section! Happy crafting!

Uncle Sam’s Hat

creativekidscrafts — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:36:19 +0000

Help celebrate the 4th of July with an adorable (and functional!) Uncle Sam’s hat! Recycle a cereal box and a coffee can and turn them into this festive hat perfect for holding silverware or other small items at your family BBQ. This project promotes recycling and is a great way to get kids involved with the party festivities.

Things you will need:

An empty coffee (or similar) can
A cereal box
Red, white and blue construction paper
Glue
Scissors
A Ruler
A pencil

Step 1: Wrap a piece of white construction paper around the can and glue in place. If the paper is longer than the can, trim off excess paper.

Step 2: Use your pencil and a ruler to measure and cut a strip of blue construction paper to fit around the base of the can. Additionally, you’ll want to cut out several stars from your extra white construction paper.

Step 3: Glue the stars onto the strip of blue construction paper. Make sure to space the stars an even width apart.

Step 4: Glue the blue strip around the bottom of the can.

Step 5: Use your pencil and ruler to draw several stripes on the red construction paper, trying to make them all the same size. Cut the stripes out.

Step 6: Glue the red stripes around the top of the can, lining up the edges with the top the blue stripe and the top of the can. Trim any excess red if you’ve cut the stripes longer than you need.

Step 7: Glue a piece of blue construction paper to a piece of cereal box. Once the glue dries, draw or trace a circle onto the paper. Make sure the circle is larger than the bottom of the can because this is the brim of the hat. Cut out the circle and glue it to the bottom of the can with the blue side facing up.

Congratulations! You have made Uncle Sam’s hat! Use it as a centerpiece and fill with fresh flowers or stick it on the food table and fill with silverware. Any way you use it, this hat is fun and functional and will make a statement at your 4th of July bash! Did you make this project? How did it turn out? Please share your comments and pictures in the comments section! Happy crafting and happy 4th of July!

Patriotic Paper Sparklers

creativekidscrafts — Sat, 28 May 2011 22:50:22 +0000

Nothing says Memorial Day (or the 4th of July) like the colors red, white and blue. To show your holiday spirit you can make these easy and fun patriotic paper sparklers to use as centerpieces at your family BBQ! This is a good beginner project that anyone can do!

Things You will Need:

Red, white and blue construction paper
Toilet paper rolls (one per sparkler)
Silver paint
A paint brush
A star-shaped stamp
Crayons (optional)
A pencil
Scissors
Glue

Step 1: Roll a piece of blue construction paper around the toilet paper roll, mark it with a pencil and cut it out. At this point you’ll want to add any decoration using your crayons.

Step 2: Wrap the piece of construction paper around the toilet paper roll and secure it with glue. Set it aside to dry.

Step 3: While the toilet paper roll is drying stamp out some stars with the silver paint on white paper. Set it aside to dry.

Step 4: While the paint is drying cut several strips of red and white paper. Make the strips all different sizes from wide to skinny.

Step 5: Wrap some of the strips around your pencil to make them curly. There is no need to curl the entire strip as some of it will be hidden!

Step 6: Glue several strips to the toilet paper roll. You’ll want to glue them on the inside with the curly ends sticking out the top. Mix it up and make some curly and some straight.

Step 7: Once the stars have dried you want to cut them out. You will then glue them to the ends of some of the strips of curled paper. I’ve also added a few as decoration to the base of the sparkler.

Congratulations! You have made a patriotic paper sparkler to add some spark to your holiday parties! Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please feel free to post comments and photos in the comments section! Happy crafting!

Musical Maracas

creativekidscrafts — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 02:09:44 +0000

Did the Easter Bunny go overboard this past Easter? Do you have leftover plastic eggs overflowing from baskets? You can save those eggs for next year or turn them into festive musical maracas for Cinco de Mayo! After a fellow blog reader asked what she could do with all of her leftover plastic eggs I was prompted to turn them into a craft….A Cinco de Mayo craft no less! You can research and discuss the holiday or simply treat this as a musical project.

Things you will need:

Empty plastic Easter eggs
Various “fillers” such as dried rice, beans, coins and beads
Stickers
Glue or tape

Step 1: Open your egg and fill the bottom portion about half way with a filler. In this picture I am using dried rice. You can make a variety of maracas and fill each one with something different. For example you can fill one with coins, another with beads and another with beans. While you are filling the eggs try to guess what each one will sound like when you’re finished.

Step 2: Glue around the inside rim of the top of the plastic egg.

Step 3: Put the top on your egg and wipe excess glue from the outer rim.

Step 4: If you want you can use clear tape instead of or in addition to the glue when sealing you egg. Simply take little bits of clear tape and work your way around the outside of the egg until it is taped shut.

Step 5: Let the glue dry and decorate the egg with stickers.

Congratulations! You have made an Easter egg maraca just in time for Cinco de Mayo or for anytime you want to make music! If you’ve made a bunch with different fillers you can shake them all and play a guessing game trying to figure out what is inside each one. Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please feel free to share your comments and pictures in the comments section! Happy crafting!

Easy Easter Basket

creativekidscrafts — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:46:05 +0000

Easter is almost here so help celebrate this special holiday with a cute Easter basket paper craft! Depending on the variation of this project you choose to do, it can be either a beginner or advanced beginner craft. Practice weaving paper strips in the advanced beginner version or simply practice drawing lines if you’re a beginner. Either way, this project is sure to please and look festive to boot!

Things you will need:

Construction paper (two pieces brown, one piece white, one piece green, various color scraps)
Crayons
Pencil
Glue
Ruler
Scissors

Step 1: Draw a basket shape on a piece of brown construction paper. If you plan on doing the advanced beginner version of this project draw vertical lines along the basket at equal widths apart. These will be used for weaving later on. If you just want to do the beginner version, omit the lines.

Step 2: Cut out the basket. If you are doing the advanced beginner version of the craft carefully cut the vertical lines. Additionally, you’ll need to cut out several strips of brown paper for weaving. If you are doing the beginner version, omit cutting the strips.

Step 3: If you are doing the advanced beginner version of this craft you will start “weaving your basket” at this point. Take a strip of paper and weave from right to left, going under, over, under, over as shown. Make sure that you do all of the weaving from the wrong side (back) of the basket.

Step 4: Take a second strip of paper and begin weaving from left to right, going under, over, under, over. Repeat steps three and four until you’ve “woven” the entire basket.

Step 5: Once you have “woven” the basket you will glue the ends down so the strips don’t slip out. There will be loose ends on both sides of the basket so be sure to glue them all! If you are doing the beginner version of this project and have not woven strips of paper you can draw this texture on instead. Simply take a crayon and practice drawing a crisscross pattern on the basket.

Step 6: Take your scissors and cut strips of green paper for the basket grass. The strips do not need to be perfect or even. This is perfect for the beginner cutter just learning to handle safety scissors. Glue the grass to the backside of the basket so it is poking out of the top.

Step 7: Draw several egg shapes on the piece of white paper and cut them out.

Step 8: Use your crayons to color the eggs. Additionally, you can decorate the eggs by gluing on various colored scraps of construction paper.

Step 9: Glue the eggs onto the basket. Remember that you are gluing everything to the back of the basket with the right sides forward. This means you will put a dab of glue on the bottom front of the egg and glue it to the back of the basket (gluing front to back). Let everything dry and flip the entire project over.

Congratulations! You’ve made an easy paper Easter basket! It’s simple to adjust this craft to any skill level and make it your own. Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please feel free to share your comments and pictures in the comments section. Happy crafting!

Spring Suncatcher

creativekidscrafts — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 02:12:47 +0000

Say hello to spring with this easy and fun suncatcher project! It’s a beginner project that teaches colors, tracing and cutting skills. Once it’s dry you can hang it in the window and let the sun shine through!

Things You Will Need:

Wax paper
Tissue paper in the colors of the rainbow
Cotton balls
A pencil
Glue
Scissors

Step 1: Rip off three pieces of wax paper. One should be large enough for a rainbow and the other two should be large enough for clouds. Begin by drawing a rainbow on the largest piece of wax paper. You can either draw it by hand or print out a picture of a rainbow and practice tracing it onto the wax paper. Next, draw a cloud onto each of the smaller pieces of wax paper.

Step 2: It’s time to practice naming your colors! The colors of the rainbow appear as follows: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Beginning with the red tissue paper, rip it into small pieces and crumple into tiny balls. Draw a line of glue where the red stripe of the rainbow is and gently place the crumpled up tissue paper on it, pressing lightly.

Step 3: Repeat step two for each additional color. It is best to work in order, one color at a time.

Step 4: Cut out the cloud shapes and spread a layer of glue on each one. Next press several cotton balls onto the glue to make clouds.

Step 5: Once the rainbow dries cut it out around the edges. Once the clouds dry add a layer of glue to the back of them and lightly press them onto the ends of the rainbow. Let everything dry and then you can hang the rainbow in a sunny window! I’ve used clear tape to hang mine.

Congratulations! You have made a spring rainbow suncatcher! It is easy to modify this design and make it your own. Simply draw or print out and trace a simple image from the computer and follow the same steps above, working one color at a time. The more basic the image the easier the project will be. Did you do this project? How did it turn out? Please feel free to post comments and pictures in the comments section! Happy crafting!