Crafts and Kids

A Cheap and Fun Craft

2008-06-21T16:58:00.003-05:00

Okay, I fess up, when the boys decorated their tiles for Father's Day, I thought I had BOTH grandpa's taken care of in the gift department. I wasn't thinking, obviously I couldn't have one boy give one grandpa a tile he made and the other give the other grandpa his tile (are you following me?). Both boys had to give their tiles to one grandpa, thus leaving the other grandpa giftless for Father's Day.

Lucky for me, my own father was out-of-town on a fishing trip all week long, so I had some time to plan another craft my boys could do while he was gone and give him as a belated Father's Day gift. I had wanted to have them make a plate they color or paint on and then give to him, but I couldn't find that craft at Walmart. But, I did find a Kid's Craft Kit that was a wooden star frame for $5! It was on clearance so I snatched it up. You simply paint the wooden frame and then decorate with the sticker theme included- this kit was a sports theme. It will be the best gift, I even have a sports picture of both of my boys to put in it. My oldest son painted it in a rainbow of colors and added the stickers. It turned out really cute.

Now my youngest son needed something easy to do, so I purchased a bunch of koozies that are foam and some foam letters and decorations. I put the following on the outside of it, and yes, it is super classy: "Papa's Beer" on one koozie and let my four year old decorate it with the foam stickers. I know Papa will love it, he loves a beer at night and he loves his beer to be cold, so why not keep it cold in a cute koozie made by his youngest grandson?

Flood Update

2008-06-13T12:01:00.003-05:00

The flood is way worse than anticipated: The Cedar River will crest today around 32 feet, flood stage is 12 feet...you can imagine what my city looks like now.

Update: Here is a picture of part of our downtown, the brick building in the left hand lower corner of the picture is the YMCA that my husband is a director at. It will take months to get it up and running again.

500 Year Flood....

2008-06-11T12:53:00.006-05:00

15 years ago Iowa experienced what some thought were the worst floods possible. Unfortunately, this has turned out not to be true- 2008 will go down in history as the worst flooding seen in the state. Right now, communities around me are under mandatory evacuations, including areas of our downtown. My husband is an employee of all three YMCA's in our city and he is downtown right now sandbagging around the downtown Y. The parking lot is already taking on water, but he and his other employees are staying until they are kicked out. My doctor's office just called, they are downtown as well, and my appointment for Friday morning has been cancelled, they are closing the office until at least Monday. Right now it is raining- AGAIN, which isn't helping the flood waters and it is supposed to rain tomorrow and tomorrow night. I can't tell you how crazy it all is. We have good friends who had to evacuate their home in Palo, IA and some other people who attend the church I work at, who are also in the line of the flooding. My husband's work is affected, not to mention the thousands of other people that I don't know who could lose their homes and businesses.

I have posted two pictures of the flooding- the river hasn't even crested yet and it is over the banks. One picture you will see is the courthouse in the city, it is located on an island, the bridges around the island are now closed as they expect the water to be over the bridge when it crests on Friday. The other is a view from a factory in our downtown area into a street in a semi-residential area that will flood soon. Right now the drains are backing up into the streets because they can't drain into the river like the normally do, the river is too high to do this, so it is causing much flooding in residential neighborhoods.

I will post more pictures as I get them- it is just supposed to get worse. The river in our downtown area is currently at 21 feet, flood stage is 12 feet, it is expected to crest Friday morning at 24 feet- twice the flood stage level. Unbelieveable! I feel so bad for the people this is affecting.

They have now expanded the evacuation for the city of Cedar Rapids, calling this potential flood the worst flood in 500 years. The evacuation comes within 5 blocks of where I work...I wonder if I will get there tomorrow? This is just growing and growing to be what they are now saying, the worst flooding in 500 years.

The Tile Craft....

2008-06-09T10:34:00.007-05:00

So today we started the tile crafts as a gift for two old men for Father's Day. If you see the above men, don't tell them what their gift will be...shh, it's a secret. After prepping the tile (which consists of washing and drying them) the boys were able to start painting them. So, I put plenty of paper towels under their tiles, gave them a bowl of water and paper towels to rinse and dry brushes with and let them go to town. I believe more paint got on my kitchen counter and on Max's shirt (You mean you aren't supposed to wipe your hands covered in black paint on your shirt? That paper towel was where I was to wipe my hands?) then on the tiles, but the boys had fun. Brady made a picture of his great grandpa in the hospital after he hit his head (don't ask) and I know you will be able to tell by looking that is exactly what he painted) and Max made a beautiful rainbow and tree, a popular thing to draw at six.

I will let them dry for 24 hours and then bake them in the oven to preserve the paint and then place them in frames and then Father's Day gifts will be done. Except I need two more tiles.....I can't give one Grandpa a tile from one boy and not the other, so we will either do two more tiles or I will buy the plates you can draw on at home. Either way, it is sure to be messy, but who cares? These gifts are cool!

A Great Garage Sale Find

2008-06-07T19:25:00.006-05:00

I have been searching for something crafty to do with my boys for Father's Day gifts for the grandpa's. Today while out garage sale-ing with my garage sale-loving friend, I found this Memory Art: 2 Tiles to Treasure, a complete box for only $2.00. You can't beat that! It comes with two tiles, paint and frames to paint. My six year old thinks I completely rock because he gets to draw and paint something special on this tile. When I showed him it he said, very seriously, "I am going to really take my time and paint very neatly on this because it is a gift." I will post pictures when they are done. I fully anticipate my four year old's to be a big blob of nothing, but as long as he is proud of it, then who cares? The grandpa's will love it (or at least SAY they love it) because it came from the boys and was made with pride.

I think these retail for about $13, so for $2.00, I got quite a deal. I have never been one for garage sales, but I couldn't pass this up. I think I am onto something.

Fun in the Mud

2008-06-05T15:24:00.004-05:00

Not a craft, but I couldn't resist sharing my two little men having fun outside today. Lot's of rain lately and that means lots of wet grass with muddy water. That means two little boys who take off their shirts and run through that glorious water for 30 minutes, loving that it is summer and that Mommy didn't seem to care that they were filthy dirty. Being a mom of only boys sure is something, there was no way I would have touched mud, let alone run through it and dive in it. No way. My boys however, think it is the best thing in the world. I guess when you are four and six, there isn't a lot that beats getting muddy!

Oh, and if any of you can guess which of my boys was my 35 week preemie, let me know. I will give you a hint, it isn't the little skinny dude in the video...LOL!

My Son's Eye

2008-06-04T00:01:00.002-05:00

As you have read, my oldest son recently got glasses and had to wear a patch because he is considered legally blind in his left eye. The eye doctor had him wearing his patch for 8 hours a day at first. You know I was so surprised by how well Max did with this. He wore it at school everyday, and the best part was, not one child cared. Not one! Kindergarten is so awesome because I have found that kids could care less about the differences in their peers. His counselor even had a story she read to the class about a little boy who wears a patch. It was such an uneventful transition for him and you have no idea how relieved I was.

After one month of wearing the patch 8 hours a day, we returned to the eye doctor and imagine our pleasure when his doctor said that if Max were to take a driving test (because that is just around the corner, he is six now!)he would pass! He was so happy with how much his vision has improved, he said he only has to wear the patch for six hours a day now. We go back in July and I am hopeful he will lessen the time again. Another cool thing? Max didn't love the sticky eye patches that adhere to the eye and the patch that slid over the outside of the lens were just too bulky and too easy to peak around. So, I did some research and came across a site called Anissa's Fun Patches and found some really cool patches. I HIGHLY recommend them to any kid wearing a patch. They aren't bulky and they have stickers on them. Max is doing really well with them. So well that his eye doctor asked me for the patch information as he had never seen one like it before. The site owners are wonderful to work with. Again, I can't say enough good things about this type of patch or this site.

So, Max's vision is coming along, we are really proud of him. Thanks to everyone who asks about him from time-to-time.

My Son's Question...

2008-06-03T15:59:00.002-05:00

"When are we going to start doing crafts again, Mom?" Umm, yeah, I have been pretty lax in that. Honestly, I can't remember the last time I did a craft with my boys- that is pretty bad since I have taken great pride in doing crafts at least weekly with them for the last few years. I guess when I was hired to do a part-time job as a director of education for a church, they actually meant more like full-time but pay me for part-time. My job is taking up way too much of my craft time with my boys. I am working on that. It seems when I am not at the office, I am on the computer at home working, and that has got to S.T.O.P- Stop!

My oldest son had his last day of school day, so I am making a promise to him and to me that we will start doing crafts again. I promise...so please check back.

It's been awhile.....

2008-05-02T07:54:00.002-05:00

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated my blog in a long time. I haven't...I have meant to, but when I get on the computer it seems I am somehow distracted with looking things up for work or one of the boys wants to play and I forget to post. It has been a busy month and a half for me. I am only working part-time as the CE Director of a local church, but between looking for new curriculum, writing letters and trying to get involved in Youth Sunday, graduation recognition, teacher recognition, and planning our upcoming Vacation Bible School, I feel like all I ever do at home anymore is work, plus I am already looking ahead at Christmas programs. It's just a busy time. Mother's Day is coming up though and I want to get a really easy but meaningful craft posted that my oldest son did while he was in preschool. It is neat and would make a great gift. I will try to do that this afternoon.

My oldest son is doing well with his glasses, though we have already been through one pair and are on a new pair entirely. His patch therapy seems to be going okay, we will know more after his appointment in two weeks. Brady, my youngest had an xray of his stomach yesterday due to some pain he has been having for quite awhile. I am sure he is fine and most of this is his dramatics, but it will be nice to know 100% that there is nothing there. I am getting ready to have a genetic test done to determine if I have the gene my mom had for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. So far through echocardiograms, myself and my boys have tested negative for it, but the genetic test will show if I even have the gene. If I don't, then no more echo's for us, if I do have the gene, then I will be monitored closely for symptoms and the boys will have to be tested genetically for it. If I do have the gene, let's hope my boys don't.

My hubby is working a lot and dealing with a lot of people who can't quite understand the basics of coaching young children, nor how to respect the property they are coaching at. Otherwise he is good.

I will update with a craft hopefully this afternoon.

An Easter Idea

2008-03-21T18:36:00.003-05:00

For those of you who want to add some religion to your Easter egg hunt, I wanted to share what I am going to do at the church I work at for an activity with the kids.

I wrote out the story of Easter in very easy-to-read terms, about one sentence steps. I think I made the story into 10 easy steps. I typed them in Word and printed them out. I then cut each sentence out and put one sentence strip inside one egg, so there were 10 Easter eggs filled with one sentence about the Easter story.

On Sunday during our gathering time before Sunday School, I will hide the eggs in the chapel and then pair up the kids, with one older kid and a younger kid together. Each group will find one egg and then come up to the front of the chapel gathering area. We will then have the kiddos open their eggs and as a group must put themselves in order of how the Easter story happened by reading their sentences out loud and then deciding which is first, etc.

Just wanted to share our fun activity in case any of you want to steal it! LOL. Enjoy!

Horton Hears a Who

2008-03-17T14:28:00.003-05:00

I had a date today with a fantastic little guy. Just me and my five year old. Rarely do I get a chance to just hang out with him alone because I also have a three year old. Today though, I took my oldest son on a date to see Horton Hears a Who.

We had a great time eating popcorn and nachos and watching a movie that is FANTASTIC if you are five or the mother of a five year old. The movie, like all Dr. Suess works, has a great lesson to be learned from it, but it also is fun, funny, action-packed, and goes by quickly- which is a key when entertaining young children.

I highly recommend seeing this movie with your kids. We have seen other children's movies in the last year, but none held my son's attention like Horton did. Typically once the food runs out, my five year old is done with the show and asks to leave. This time he sat and watched the entire time, laughing and cheering.

Go see Horton, you will have as much fun as your kids, at least I did!

My Son is Considered Legally Blind....

2008-03-14T17:11:00.003-05:00

In one eye. My husband and I are completely shocked but so grateful that we followed up on the kindergarten eye exam he had done a few weeks ago. The eye exam showed he had a vision issue in his left eye and recommended seeing an eye specialist. We had that appointment yesterday and the results were shocking to us. His right eye is perfectly normal, 20/20, his left eye- 20/400, which according to the doctor makes him legally blind in his left eye. He is five years old! We, quite frankly, had no idea he even had a problem with his sight, so the information given to us yesterday left us reeling.

The doctor, who was phenomenal, said there wasn't anything we could do to change what happened, that kids our son's age don't often report a vision problem and because Max's right eye is simply perfect, Max doesn't even know he can't see well out of his left eye. His right eye has taken over and done all the work, which has tricked his brain into thinking everything in his vision is okay. Because we caught this before he turned 8 or 9, the doctor says with treatment it will hopefully get better.

He is going to have to wear glasses, and we ordered him a really cool pair with a Superman case. In a few weeks after he gets acclimated to the glasses, he will have to wear a patch over his good eye. This will force the left eye to become stronger and hopefully improve his vision in that eye. I am so sad that he will have to wear a patch, mostly because I don't want him to get teased at school, and yes, he will have to wear the patch while at school. He won't have to wear it all day, but it will have to be worn at school. The thought of him getting teased because of this makes my heart hurt.

I realize though, that this is somewhat fixable. His vision will hopefully improve, but the dr forsees him always having to wear glasses, but not with such a strong prescription in the left eye. I also realize how lucky we are, because as I was sitting there listening to the dr tell me that his condition is serious, I realized it could have been worse. I could have been sitting there listening to the doctor tell me that my son had a tumor that was pressing on his retina, which was causing his vision issue. Once I heard that he was healthy and it wasn't due to a tumor, I realized that we can handle whatever needs to be done because we were blessed that it was just simply a fluke in his eyesight.

He is such a neat kid, a great athlete and super smart, I know that glasses will just make him even more special.

Time has gotten away from me

2008-03-12T21:03:00.003-05:00

I am sorry that there hasn't been a new blog about a new craft. We have been insanely busy. I started a new job, albeit part-time, as Director of Education for a local church and it has kept me busy. Besides that, both my oldest son and myself came down with Influenza A and my youngest had the stomach flu. We have been sick this winter and I am ready for the snow to melt and the cold to be gone.

I am thinking of revamping my blog, so that besides craft ideas I will also talk about things families can do, review great family movies, discuss family road trips, etc and do crafts. As soon as I get a minute, I plan on making some changes, so please check back.

Make Corn Starch Putty, "Oobleck"

2008-02-28T17:19:00.004-06:00

My youngest son came home from preschool on Tuesday with green hands. I, of course, asked what activity he did at preschool that gave him green-stained hands. He, of course said, "I don't know Mommy, I can't remember." It was just today when he came up to me and said, "I know what made my hands green, we made Oobleck." I was on the phone with a friend at the time and we both had no idea what Oobleck was. Turns out, Dr. Suess (who he is learning about in preschool)has a book titled, "Bartholomew and the Oobleck". I had never read it, so I am now heading to the library to check it out.

That said, his awesome preschool teacher sent home the Oobleck recipe today and I wanted to share it with you. You can read the book with your child and then make your own Oobleck. How cool is that? This recipe is thanks to C.David Christensen from the University of Northern Iowa (my alma mater!)

What You Need:

-Aluminim pie plate or shallow container or bowl
-1 cup corn starch
-1/4 to 1/2 cup water (his teacher says a little less than 1/2 cup)
-Green Food coloring
-Light plastic, metal or wooden objects
-Scissors
-Small containers to hold the Oobleck
-Plastic knife

What You Will Do:

-Pour the cornstarch into the pie pan or bowl.
-Add water slowly (with the green food coloring added) and mix the cornstarch and water with your fingers until gooey.
-When the mixture will pour or drip slowly from your hand your Oobleck is a good consistency

Kids can play with the Oobleck using the metal or wooden objects- set them in the middle and see what happens, you can slice it in the pan with the plastic knife, try to cut it with scissors. Play with the Oobleck. The best part is, Oobleck recycles easily. Let it dry on something flat, put it in a container with holes poked in the top, when you want to play with the Oobleck again, add water and it gets back to the gooey consistency.

Enjoy!
-If the mixture is too gooey, add more cornstarch.

I Promise-More Crafts to Come

2008-02-24T07:25:00.003-06:00

I promise I will be posting new crafts soon. My husband's grandpa is doing much better and I think our lives have calmed down a bit. Therefore, I promise to get some crafts posted soon. Please check back! I am sorry for the delay in crafts, but life kind of got in the way!

Make a Marshmallow Snowman

2008-02-13T14:28:00.003-06:00

Not a Valentine's craft, but a cute one for winter. If you all have been bombarded with snow like we have this winter, this may remind you too much of all that snow outside- but it is cute, and easy! I will post pics when my youngest does this craft, in the next day or so. My husband's grandpa is still hospitalized and will be for awhile, but right now we are cautiously optimistic that he is going to be okay. The dr doesn't expect him to be 100% again, but we think he will get better- thank goodness. We are still going to the hospital daily to visit him, which doesn't leave a lot of time for crafts, but I do plan on doing this one soon.

Marshmallow Snowman Craft

What you will need:

-several mini marshmallows
-construction paper, color of your choice
-pen or pencil for drawing snowman template
-glue
-markers to decorate snowman if you wish

What you will do:

Have your child draw two large circles on the construction paper to make the outline of the snowman. Your child can decorate the snowman by adding a hat with markers or even material you have, he or she can add buttons by drawing them on or coloring them, etc. Don't let your child forget the eyes and nose! Once this is done, have your child glue the mini marshmallows on the outside of the snowman, one by one on the circles that he has made for the snowman outline.

That's it- marshmallow snowman is done! Enjoy and don't eat it!

Trying to Get One More Craft

2008-02-09T19:04:00.000-06:00

I am really trying to get one more Valentines craft in. Right now I am not so sure, we have been spending a lot of our time at the hospital where my husband's grandpa is hospitalized. Frankly, he isn't doing so hot and I am worried about him. If I can get another craft in within a few days, I will post it. In the meantime, if you pray, chant, or just simply think positive thoughts about someone, can you send up some of those for Grandpa? He truly is one of the most amazing men I have ever met. I just love him- plain and simple. He may not be related to me by blood, but I sure do think of him as mine.

Thanks!

Make a Heart Hat

2008-02-06T12:12:00.000-06:00

I was right, yet another snow day today. When I was teaching these snow days would have thrilled me, but now I am not loving them so much! I am trying to keep my boys busy, but my oldest isn't enjoying being cooped up inside and often acts up because of it. He has been out to play, but the wind is awful and it is still snowing heavily- a foot of snow and counting.

We did this Valentines craft today to keep busy. I call it a "Heart Hat" and my three year old loves it. My oldest didn't get to finish his because he was being naughty, so he will do his later. The heart hat isn't the prettiest, but it was fun. Here is what we did:

Make a Heart Hat

Things you will need:

Paper, color of your choice
scissors
pencil for drawing heart
glue
glitter
markers or crayons
tape or a stapler

What you will do:

If your child is able, have him draw a large heart on a piece of paper. If he isn't able to draw quite well enough yet, an adult can do it. Place another piece of paper behind the paper the heart is drawn on and then cut the heart shape out, this way you will have cut two hearts out that are the same size. You will need a small strip of paper cut thin, to glue, tape or staple between the two hearts so the heart hat will fit on your child's head. Have your child decorate the hearts the way he wants to. My youngest colored a bit and then put glue and glitter all over it. He also wrote his cousin Abby's name in glue and then glittered over it. His plan is to give it to her. When the glue dries, you can tape, glue or staple the two hearts together to fit around your child's head.

Easy to do and a little crafty too!

New Craft Coming Tomorrow

2008-02-05T14:46:00.000-06:00

I am convinced we will have another snow day tomorrow, so the boys and I will do a Valentines Day craft and I will post it tomorrow. We are under a Winter Storm Warning right now and may get more than 12 inches of the white stuff. Come back tomorrow afternoon or Thursday for an updated craft!

Make a "Stained Glass" Heart

2008-02-03T07:33:00.000-06:00

I have some time before my husband heads back to the hospital and I go to the church I was recently hired to work (as Director of Education) for a meeting, so I thought I would at least post the craft and then would do pictures later when the boys and I get around to doing this.

This heart is easy to make and fun to do. It isn't stained glass but it is supposed to have the appearance of it. I did it in the arts and crafts classes I taught a few years ago and the kids loved it.

"Stained Glass Heart"- What You Will Need:

Red construction paper
Glue
Tissue paper in various colors
Scissors

What You Will Do:

Cut the red construction paper into a large heart shape. If you can't cut one you like, simply print a template off the Internet on red paper. Tear the tissue paper into medium sized pieces. Glue different colors of tissue paper overlapping onto the heart template. Because the tissue paper is so thin, it will give the appearance of seeing through it, kind of like stained glass. If you really want to get creative, do this to two hearts, stapling them together all around, leaving the top open, stuff the top with cotton or crumpled up paper, then finish stapling. Hang it from the top with string.

I want to try an alternative to this craft that I found on the Internet where you melt crayons and use those as the "stained glass" look. I will post about it when we do it.

Sorry No New Craft...

2008-02-02T19:45:00.000-06:00

Sorry! We didn't get around to doing a craft today. We had to take my husband's grandpa to the ER today. We have been there since late morning, so the boys and I never got around to the craft today. I am not sure if we will tomorrow, but please check back soon- we are going to make a "stained glass" heart. The heart obviously won't be real stained glass, just created to look like it.

Thanks!

Coming Next Week...

2008-01-31T13:43:00.000-06:00

Next week I will have a few crafts just for Valentines Day. Stay tuned! I plan on doing them this weekend with the boys and then will post them next week. Come back and visit please!

Valentine's Box

2008-01-27T11:07:00.000-06:00

We made my kindergarten son's Valentine mailbox today and it turned out pretty darn cute. Is it bad that we actually had to go out and buy a new pair of shoes just because we had no shoe boxes to use for this activity? We spent $15 on new sandals that probably won't fit come summer just so my kid could have this box to take to school for his Valentine's party. Oh well, he had fun making it and can hardly wait to do his cards now.

Make a Valentine's Box:

What you will need:

Shoe box with a hold cut in the lid to fit cards
white wrapping paper and tape
decorations to decorate the box
crayons, markers, etc- if you wish
knife to cut hole in top of box

What you will do:

Cut the hole in the top of the box, probably best to let a grown-up do this. Wrap the box with the lid on in the white paper (or color of your choice, we had white). Put decorations all over the box. My son chose to put his name and spell words with some glittery letters we purchased at Target (love that store!) and then he also picked out some pink glittery stickers (much to my husband's dismay-LOL) to stick on as well as heart stickers. I think it turned out really cute and my son is thrilled with it!

My preschooler will do this at school this year, so we actually had to purchase a pair of sandals for him as well- just to have the shoebox. Kind of an expensive craft for us, but unlike most people we had no shoe boxes in our home!

Coming up this Weekend: Valentine Card Storage Box

2008-01-23T14:05:00.001-06:00

Check back on this blog this weekend. We are going to be working on our Valentine's card storage boxes. They are going to be awesome!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Craft

2008-01-20T07:48:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow, January 21st 2008, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This is one day when I was teaching that I focused solely on this man. I took the entire month of February for Black History Month to teach about other famous black Americans, including MLK Jr, but this day was one (because we always had school) that I made it a point to really teach my students about a man who fought so hard, yet in such a peaceful way, to bring change to our country.

Now that my kids are older and my kindergarten age son doesn't have school tomorrow (teacher inservice day), I am going to do a small lesson at their level (my three year old may not totally get it) about MLK Jr and then do a craft. My goal is to have the lesson teach very basically about who MLK Jr was and what he really wanted to see change in our country many years ago. I will then do a craft by making a freedom bell tomorrow.

Freedom Bell:

What You Will Need:

Construction paper or heavy paper
Bell template, or draw your own
Tin foil
Scissors
Permanent Marker

What You Will Do:

Cut out template of the bell, have kids wrap the bell in the foil and then they can decorate the bell or write words that relate to MLK Jr's "I Have a Dream" speech with the permanent marker.

This is an easy craft for little ones to do. I also found a coloring sheet that we may do. I will post pictures tomorrow once we are done with our bells.

Make a Bean Math Game

2008-01-17T07:49:00.000-06:00

This is an easy craft using old prescription bottles and dried beans. You can simply decorate a prescription bottle like you did in the tooth holder craft, then get out a package of dried beans. I like navy beans. If your child is young, you would use maybe ten beans, painting five one color and five another color. If your child is a bit older, you can use more beans, painting half one color and the other half another color.

Place the beans in the prescription bottle, put the lid on, shake the beans and let some fall out. The key is not to let all the beans come out of the bottle when shaking it. Once the beans have fallen out, separate them by color and then add the beans to get the total. You can even turn it into a subtraction activity or a multiplication one.

You really just need paint and beans for this project! Enjoy!

Make a Tooth Holder

2008-01-14T15:23:00.000-06:00

We made a container that will hold my son's teeth as they fall out, before the tooth fairy gets to our house. This way we are assured that any teeth we lose in the morning won't have disappeared by nightfall. The container my son decorated isn't the prettiest, but he is proud of it. He painted it in his school colors and now he can't wait to actually lose a tooth so that he can use his tooth container.

Make a Tooth Container: What You Will Need:

empty and clean pill container
paint
glitter
glue
anything you can think of decorate it how you like
paintbrush
newspaper to protect your space

What You Will Do:
After you and your child have selected how you want to decorate the empty pill container, simply begin decorating it. My son opted to paint his red and black and that was all he wanted. He now has his own individual tooth storage container and is anxiously awaiting that first tooth to even become loose. It could be awhile, but he is ready!

What I Like About this Craft:

As I previously mentioned, I have been saving many of my husband's grandma's pill containers that are empty. I didn't want to throw them away, in my attempt to start being more "Green" and making sure things aren't thrown away. I have been trying to not send things to our recycling center, instead thinking of ways I could reuse these items in my home rather than resorting to recycling them at the center (which isn't at all a bad thing, I just wanted to use items like this creatively at home by reusing them). I like this craft because it allows me to use something that at one time I would have tossed in the trash or put in the recycling pile. Now it has a use other than what it was originally intended.

Recycled Pill Container Crafts Coming Up....

2008-01-10T14:20:00.001-06:00

This weekend my boys and I are going to make some neat things with old pill bottles. I am the caretaker for my grandma and my husband's grandparents and when their medication is out and needs refilled, I have been saving their old pill bottles in hopes of finding some crafty thing I could do with them with my boys.

After much searching, I have discovered two new crafts to make- of course the pill containers will be well-washed and dried for these activities, but come back after the weekend and see what we made! I will have pictures and the steps involved in making our new crafts.

What we will be doing over the weekend with our empty pill bottles:

-Make a pill bottle math game with beans.

-Make a pill bottle to hold any teeth that will be falling out (sniff, my oldest will start losing his teeth soon- he is five and I am not ready for this next childhood milestone).

Please stop back and see what we have done once the weekend is over!

Something to Keep the Kids Busy

2008-01-09T09:01:00.000-06:00

I have both of my kids home today, my oldest son has an ear infection, he feels fine after Motrin and some antibiotics, but he is running a low-grade fever, so that means no school for him today. You can tell he is in kindergarten and loves school, because he was devastated about not going. I am sure as he gets older, this upset at staying home sick from school will change. LOL.

That said, I decided I don't want both of my boys lying around playing video games or watching TV (trust me, we will watch TV today, but I wanted them to do something a bit educational as well)so I found something educational to keep them busy for a bit.

The boys were given this activity for Christmas, a take on the good old paint-by-numbers I was fond of as a girl. This is a stick-by-number activity and it is fabulous for the over five category. This activity consists of several laminated cards in the shape of a specific animal, such as a lion, a tiger or other zoo animal. Each animal comes with several different numbers all over it and of course, those numbers are matched to a specific color that should go on that number. Instead of paint, this activity comes with several different colored foam sticker pieces in a variety of colors. Your child will simply look at the number on the animal picture and match it to the corresponding color, peel the sticker of that color and stick it to the number on the picture.

It is an easy thing to do that will keep kids busy. My five year old is working on his right now, I do not recommend this for anyone much younger than five. My three year old worked on his for about five minutes and then declared himself done with it. He is now running around the living room playing the air guitar, so number and color matching holds his interest for about five minutes. When he is five, we may do this again. LOL.

You can get an idea by the pictures I have included what this looks like. I am not sure where it came from, but you can see the title on the box and if you are interested, do a Google search for where to locate something like this. It isn't messy but it is somewhat educational and entertaining for kids- unless you are my three year old.

What a Great Deal!

2008-01-08T14:50:00.001-06:00

My kids love to help me cook in the kitchen and I just found out that Pampered Chef has a great online deal right now for the Kid's Chef Hat and Apron- only $8.00 plus tax and shipping! These are regularly priced at $20 plus tax and shipping, but through our online outlet you can get them much cheaper! It really is a good deal.

You can order them at my website listed below, just find the products section and then the outlet area for where they are. There are some great deals in the outlet as well!

A Great Model to do for Younger Kids

2008-01-04T06:48:00.000-06:00

My boys were given these airplane models for Christmas and they are perfect for little boys or girls. There aren't several parts that need to be attached, instead there are about six pieces kids assemble with adult help (my five year old and Daddy did this together). You snap the airplane wings to a middle part and then attach the wheels with glue. The model comes with kid-safe paint and my son enjoyed painting his. He worked a long time on the painting part- kept him busy for a long time, which is unusual for him.

My sister-in-law bought these at a local Michael's Craft Store and they are for 5 and up in age. You can do a Google search for where else to find them, they didn't have a specific name brand on them.

Had to Share This

2008-01-02T12:12:00.000-06:00

As a Pampered Chef consultant, I of course, want people's business, but I had to share about another home-based business. Yes, this has nothing to do with kids and crafts, but I just love how this turned out and I felt the need to share. My friend is an Upper Case Living consultant. If you don't know what that is, Upper Case Living is vinyl wall lettering that you use to add decorative touches to your home. I purchased two expressions from my friend, one that I put up in our family room yesterday about family. I centered it between two pictures of my boys. The other I put in my their toy room. It sums up what a little boy is to a "T".

The letters are semi-easy to put up, you rub them with what looks like a credit card onto your wall. I just love how my family room looks now, the pictures I took in our family room didn't turn out super well, but you can get the gist of how it looks.

If you are interested in Upper Case Living, my friend's website is: www.uppercaseliving.com you need her Demonstrator's ID: 567439 and the Registration Token is: sheffner

Of course, I must mention my Pampered Chef website as well (shop online, book a show-January has AWESOME hostess benefits!) www.pamperedchef.biz/kayescooking

Tomorrow we are back to craft posts....my boys had a cool airplane model they received- it is great for little ones! I will share tomorrow!

Take care!

Come Back and Visit After the New Year

2007-12-31T11:53:00.000-06:00

Please come back and visit after the New Year is over, we have lots of crafty activities planned. Our house has been full of guests and we haven't been able to do much other than play with our new toys, our visiting relatives and eat a lot of food. Come back by the end of the week to see some new things to try at home!

Happy 2008!

The Finished Heart...

2007-12-27T11:36:00.000-06:00

I absolutely recommend this activity for anyone who has young kids. My five year old loved it and even though it said ages 9 and up on the box, we had a good time doing it together. You can purchase these gross science experiments at local toy stores, I ordered (oops- Santa ordered!) it from KB Toys.com for about $14. You will need to prepare yourself that this project takes over a day to complete and you will need to boil things- so be ready for that. The heart activity comes with gelatin and cornstarch which you will bring to a boil on the stove top, then refrigerate in the well-sprayed heart mold overnight. The next day you can paint your mold once it is formed and solid- the activity comes with food coloring as paint. My mom came over to help my son paint his heart today and it turned out really cool. Check out our pictures of this fun project. One picture is the box so you know what I am talking about, one is the heart after we took it out of the mold and the other is my son and my mom painting the heart.

Stay Tuned...

2007-12-26T07:12:00.001-06:00

Stay tuned! We are going to be doing a fun activity this afternoon. It isn't a craft, per say, but it is a cool thing my oldest son (he's five) got from Santa yesterday. We are going to be making a heart and an eyeball. Santa brought this gross activity in honor of my mom, who had a heart transplant almost four years ago. My oldest son has been very curious about Grandma's new heart. Santa thought this would be a cool thing for him to do- make a heart. The eyeball is just an added bonus.

I will post pics and another blog later about the activity and where to buy the kit if anyone is interested.

Stay tuned.....

Cool Cupcake Craft for Christmas

2007-12-19T15:59:00.000-06:00

The boys and I made these fun confetti Christmas star cakes today and I had to share them. It was easy, follow the confetti cake mix (from Pillsbury, I believe) and mix the cake up. Use star shaped cupcake liners and bake on a baking sheet. We then decorated using fluffy white frosting and green sprinkles. Easy, messy and fun.

Here is the final product of what the boys did- can you tell they did their own sprinkles?

Cotton Ball Snowman

2007-12-17T05:51:00.000-06:00

This is a cute and easy craft as well. Kids love pulling the cotton apart and then using glue to glue on the cotton pieces.

Cotton Ball Snowman:

What You Will Need:

Cotton pieces, pulled apart
snowman template printed on paper, or draw your own
googly eyes for the snowman's eyes, or just draw your own
fabric piece for the scarf, or have your child color one in
fabric piece for his top hat, or again, color that in
buttons
glue

What You Will Do:

Have your child place glue or draw on the snowman's eyes as the first step. Then have your child place glue all over the rest of the snowman and glue on the cotton ball pieces you have pulled apart. Your child can then glue on the fabric piece for the scarf and the top hat as well as glue buttons on the front. If you are not using fabric pieces or buttons, it is important to have your child color all essential areas before putting glue and gluing on the cotton- just much easier this way.

I do this craft yearly with my boys and they love it. This year I discovered I had no cotton balls, so I improvised and used torn up toilet paper. Works just as well, not quite as pretty, but still works. See our pictures, I made one and both of my boys made one as well.

Reindeer Antlers Head Band

2007-12-14T06:27:00.000-06:00

This is an easy craft that kids enjoy. You simply need two hand prints cut out and a strip of paper to tape or staple them on.

Reindeer Antler Head Band

What You Need:

-Construction paper in brown and any other color your child chooses
-pencil for tracing hand print
-scissors for cutting
-tape or stapler
-hand prints from your child
-a head to fit the paper around
-tape measure for measuring around your child's head

What You Will Do:

Trace your child's hands onto paper and cut out. Brown paper works well because that is the color antlers might be. Measure the width of your child's head and then cut out a strip of a different color paper that is that length. Staple or glue the ends of that paper together. Staple or glue the hand prints on each side of strip of paper you just stapled or taped.

Your child can decorate this craft as he or she wants or leave it plain. My boys love wearing these around the house.

Cake Balls to Make Together

2007-12-12T06:46:00.000-06:00

One last food you can bake with your child. My boys love to help me make cakes and they thought it was fun to make these cake balls after making a cake together. It is a simple recipe to do and a great one to eat. I don't have a picture of ours as they are all in the freezer waiting for a party we are having next week, but take a look at the picture of the oreo balls, they look similar but taste different! Enjoy this recipe and have some fun making it with your kids!

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate frosting
1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored confectioners coating

DIRECTIONS
Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended.
Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.
Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.

Baking Fun.....Candy Kiss Surprises

2007-12-11T06:29:00.000-06:00

This is another easy and fun thing to get your child involved in. This isn't a craft exactly either, but it is an easy baking activity to do on a day when there is no school due to ice. Did I mention that we have no school today due to an ice storm? So, we are going to do this fun baking activity. It really doesn't get much easier than this. I made up the name as I am not sure what they are actually called, but I do know it came from Pampered Chef and it is an oldie but a goodie! I will post pics later today after we do this.

Candy Kiss Surprises:

What You Will Need:

refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
Hershey Kisses
mini-muffin pan (the Pampered Chef mini-muffin pan works fabulously!)
tart shaper or your own fingers
pan spray
oven

What You Will Do:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Spray mini-muffin pan with pan spray
-cut about 1/4 circle of cookie dough from tube (try to cut a full circle, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick)
-place cookie dough pieces into muffin pan, one per muffin area
-use tart shaper to push middle of cookie dough down gently
-unwrap each Hershey kiss and place in middle of cookie dough that was pressed with tart shaper
-place in oven and bake until cookie dough is lightly browned.

Delicious!

Make Oreo Balls...

2007-12-09T14:26:00.001-06:00

This isn't a craft, but my boys and I have enjoyed making these holiday goodies today! Here is a recipe and a pic of what the balls should look like. I also have a pic that I will post when I get it downloaded of my boys with their crushed Oreos. They had the important job of crushing those up for me (using our Pampered Chef meat tenderizer and oreo's placed in plastic ziplock bags)! What fun!

Oreo Balls:

1 package regular size Oreo cookies, crushed
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 package white almond bark
1 package chocolate almond bark

Using a blender or hand held mixer, mix Oreos and cream cheese together.
Roll into walnut size balls.
Chill for an hour.
Melt approximately 3/4 package of white almond bark.
Stick a toothpick in an Oreo ball and dip it in the melted white almond bark.
Allow to harden on wax paper.
Takes about 15 min.
While waiting, melt about 1/4 package of chocolate almond bark.
When Oreo balls are no longer sticky to the touch, decorate with drizzles of chocolate and white almond bark.

Make Your Kid an Angel

2007-12-06T06:56:00.000-06:00

If you have read the blog about making a reindeer with your hands and feet, you can do the same craft and make an angel. Simply trace and cut out your child's hands and use those as the angel wings. Trace and cut out a foot print of your child's and glue the hands on the back. Decorate how your child sees fit. The best part...you can add a head shot photo of your child at the top of the foot, in between the angel wings and there you have it...your child is an angel. See picture for a great visual.

Sick Bug Hit...

2007-12-05T14:27:00.000-06:00

Sorry for no new crafts the last couple of days! I have been hit with some sort of a flu bug...I am feeling better so I should be posting more ideas in the next day or so. Please check back!

Hand print and Footprint Reindeer

2007-12-03T11:20:00.000-06:00

My boys and I will be doing this craft today once school is out for my oldest. I will post a picture of it when we are done. This is a really cute Christmas or holiday craft for your kiddos to do!

Hand print and Footprint Reindeer

What You Will Need:

construction paper in various colors, or white paper to color
hands
feet
scissors
glue
markers
googly eyes or draw your own
pencil

What You Will Do:

Trace both of your child's hands on paper- make sure the fingers are spaced out. Trace one foot on paper as well. Once they are traced, cut them out. The hands will be the reindeer's antlers and the foot will be the reindeer's face. Glue the hand prints on each side of the footprint that has been cut out, it helps to glue them on the back of the foot, but don't cover up too much of the hand prints when gluing them on. Once the glue has dried, you can add facial features to your reindeer or color it however. I have seen pictures of them with ribbons and bows added and red noses for Rudolph.

Have fun with this!

Cotton Ball Snowmen

2007-11-30T06:07:00.001-06:00

This is another favorite craft of ours. It is really easy and uses supplies you most likely have around the home.

Cotton Ball Snowman

What You Will Need:

snowman template, or draw your own on paper
cotton balls
crayons or markers
glitter (of course!)
Googly eyes- or draw your own
newspaper to protect your work space
Glue

What You Will Do:

Simply have your child take individual cotton ball's and tear them apart. Then your child can decorate the snowman as he or she wants to. Of course in our house this involves glitter and glue, lots of marker coloring and googly eyes. Once the snowman is decorated your child can begin gluing on the pieces of cotton ball that he tore apart. The cotton balls can also be used to adorn the bottom of the paper as snow where the snowman is standing. My oldest also likes to use it to make clouds in the sky as well.

Glittery Christmas Trees

2007-11-29T00:01:00.000-06:00

This is another super easy craft you can do with your kids and it is Christmas themed as well. I just did this tonight with my boys and they loved it. Of course, it has glitter!

Glittery Christmas Trees:

What You Will Need:

Paper- we used red computer paper- this is what my boys picked
Glue
Glitter
Markers/crayons
Christmas tree template for tracing, or make your own outline(I just drew a Christmas tree outline on my boys paper for the Christmas tree)
Newspaper to protect your work space

What You Will Do:

Draw the outline of the tree on paper. My boys colored the tree in by themselves. We then added glue to the tree in the shapes we wanted- strings of garland, ornaments and a star at the top. Then shake the glitter over the glue until the glue is covered, lightly shake excess glue onto newspaper. Let dry. Cut out shape when dry (we will do that later!)

Pretty darn easy craft. We will cut ours out and add a ribbon at the top and hang in our home somewhere for an added decoration.
The picture included is my five year old's tree....he was pretty proud of it!

Dress Up a Plain Ornament

2007-11-27T07:27:00.000-06:00

Many of you probably have metallic or matte ball ornaments in different colors. Yes, they can be pretty with nothing on them, but have you thought about decorating them up in a simple way? By using glue and of course, glitter, your child can help to decorate these simple ornaments with a personal touch!

What You Will Need:

Metallic or matte ball ornaments (you can buy these really cheap at a dollar-type store)

Glue
Glitter
Ribbon for the top

What You Will Do:

Simply have your child place glue on the ornament in shapes he or she wants. We had our sons write their names with the glue (with some help from us), then shake the glitter over the glue design on the ornament, gently shaking off any excess glitter. Let the ornament dry, then place a ribbon at the top for hanging.

I don't have my picture of this downloaded, but I am fairly certain you can all picture in your mind what these would look like. Enjoy!

Pine Cone Ornaments

2007-11-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is another favorite of ours. Many of you have trees with pine cones in your yards, if not you can purchase pine cones at many stores that sell Christmas or holiday decor. The activity is simple and easy to do and of course, it involves glitter!

Pine Cone Ornaments:

What You Will Need:

Pine cones in various sizes
Glue
Glitter
Ribbon
Paint brush
Newspaper

What You Will Do:

Lay out the newspaper to protect your work space. Put glue on your paintbrush and brush glue all over the pine cone. Once you have done this, sprinkle glitter everywhere glue is on the pine cone. Shake the pine cone gently over the newspaper and let any excess glitter fall away. Let the ornament dry. Once dry, put glue at the top and glue on the ribbon- you will need to make sure the ribbon is tied at the top in order to hang it from the tree.

Let dry again and your ornament is ready to hang! A super easy and fun Christmas craft!

Cheap Christmas Ornament You Can Make....

2007-11-26T07:25:00.000-06:00

Here is a super cheap and cute way to get your kiddos involved in more than just decorating the tree...how about letting them make some of the decorations on the tree? This is easy, cute and fun! Simple paper ornaments cut out, decorated and strung by your child- you will look fondly on these ornaments for years to come.

Paper Ornaments:

Things You Will Need:

construction paper in various colors
scissors
stencil or template for tracing shapes
pencil
markers
glitter
glue
hole punch
yarn, string or ribbon

What You Will Do:

Simply use various template shapes to trace around on your construction paper. Have your child cut out the shape and punch a hole at the top of the shape. Your child can then decorate the shape anyway he wants to. You can look at the pictures of the ornaments my kids did, they used glitter (of course, glitter rules in my house)and glue. You can decorate with anything you want. Once decorated you can string the yarn or ribbon through the hole punched at the top and tie it, and your ornaments are ready to hang! Make sure your child writes his name (if able) and dates the ornament so you will know when it was made.

Stay tuned for tomorrow- I have another cute ornament your child can easily make! See you then!

No New Craft Today...

2007-11-21T16:55:00.000-06:00

My boys weren't interested in crafts today....it is lightly snowing and they would rather be outside playing in it. Who am I to say no to that?

Will be back with something new after the Thanksgiving holiday...please come back and visit next week!

Make this cute Pilgrim hat for Thanksgiving!

2007-11-20T14:20:00.000-06:00

This super cute Pilgrim hat will look adorable on your child this holiday. It is easy to make and most likely if you have young children at home, you have all the necessary supplies. My oldest son brought one home from school and it was so cute, I had my three year old make one at home as well.

What you will need:

construction paper of various colors, browns, yellows, white, black
stapler
glue
scissors
pencil

What you will do:

Have your child draw a large square on a piece of construction paper- color of their choice. Have your child draw a large rectangle on white paper. Then have them draw a small square on another piece of construction paper, preferably one that is a different color, then draw one much smaller square on yet another color of construction paper. Once all the squares and the rectangle have been drawn, have your child (with your assistance) cut out the squares. Once the squares are cut glue the white rectangle on the largest colored square then glue the second smallest colored square on the hat, on top of that square glue the smallest square.

Once that is done have your child cut a long narrow strip of construction paper (the same color as the largest part of the hat)you may need several long thin strips.One strip you will need to glue onto the colored squares that you just glued together. Take the other strips and measure your child's head, cutting the strips so that they will fit snugly around his head. Then staple the long strip onto the bottom side each side of the hat.

Presto! Your Pilgrim hat is complete and ready to wear this Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

Cookie Dough Play Dough- Fun!

2007-11-19T11:20:00.000-06:00

My kindergarten son has already brought home several different types of fundraising booklets for school. Of course as a parent you must buy something to show support for the school and help them purchase new things the school needs. One thing caught my eye in a catalog he brought home last month- cookie dough playdough. Granted, it was a bargain price at $15 (insert sarcasm here) but I thought it looked like a fun craft type activity we could do together. So I bought it and we waited for the right time to get this cookie dough out and play!

Today was the right time, my kindergarten son is off school all week so I have lots of daily crafts planned- today was the cookie dough playdough. It comes in four different colors and you can combine them and use them as you would playdough, the plus side to this is that it is safe to eat after you bake it. Of course, after doing a Google search I discovered I could make this type of playdough much cheaper, but what the heck, it was still fun! I have included before and after pictures of the train and the smiley face cookies!

I highly recommend doing something like this with your kiddos. My boys thought it was especially cool to get to "play with their food" as they normally aren't allowed to do this. My three year old made a train with his and my five year old made assorted smiley faces and circles. See pics for their masterpieces!

If you can't afford to purchase this type of play dough, here is a recipe you could possibly use:

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
assorted colors of paste food coloring
24 lollipop sticks

DIRECTIONS
In a bowl cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth.
In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture. Stir till soft dough forms. Divide dough into fourths. Tint each with a different food color. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Working with half of each color, shape dough into 3/4 inch balls and for each cookie place 1 pink, 1 green, 1 blue and 1 orange ball together to make 1 large ball. Shape into a 12 inch long roll (like a snake), starting at one end, coil roll to make a 2 3/4 inch round cookie. Place cookies 3 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheet. Carefully insert lollipop sticks into bottoms of cookies.
Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool and store in an airtight c

Stay Tuned for Next Week...

2007-11-16T13:57:00.000-06:00

No new craft idea today, but tune in everyday next week as I will update this daily with pictures and directions for crafts I am doing with my boys. My oldest son is off of school all week next week and since he is my kiddo who needs constant entertainment (he is five going on 15)I have a great week of crafts planned to keep him busy and to keep me from going crazy hearing him say he is bored!

See you on Monday!

Make a Gingerbread House or Train

2007-11-15T07:50:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite activities to do with my boys each year at Christmas time. You can tell by the picture that it isn't an overall pretty craft, but it is a fun one and that is all that matters. The picture is from last year's gingerbread train that my boys did when they were four and two- it was messy, therefore they enjoyed it!

Now, you could do this type of craft the hard way, by making your own batch of gingerbread, purchasing your own molds and then baking the gingerbread in the mold, letting it cool, make your own frosting and purchase your own candies to top it. Or you could do this the easy way, the way I choose to do it every year- buy a kit! These gingerbread decorating kits cost between $8 and $10 in my area and are well worth the money spent. Most likely if you are making all of your own items for a gingerbread train or house, it will cost you close to the same in supplies.

These kits come with everything you will need, the gingerbread- already molded and cooked into shapes, the frosting, the candies and of course, the instructions! They even have a little platform you can use to build your train or house on. It took my boys and I about an hour to complete the train you see in the picture. My then four year old did a lot of it himself and I assisted my then two year old quite a bit. This year I am sure my now three year old will tell me, "I do it by myself Mommy" as with anything else, so we will see how it turns out in a couple of weeks when we do this project.

You can purchase these kits at most major retail stores. I usually get ours at Target, but they are just about everywhere. Enjoy this project and display it proudly in your home- your kids will love it!

Paper Mache Activities

2007-11-14T08:34:00.000-06:00

I stumbled upon some wallpaper paste the other day(why I have it I have no idea, we have no wallpaper in our house)and I suddenly recalled one of my favorite activities I did with my students when I was teaching- paper mache' dinosaurs! Every year I did a dinosaur unit with my behavior disorder students and it was so much fun! My trick wasn't making our own paper mache', instead we used wallpaper paste with a little additional water. This activity was our final project in our unit and the kids really enjoyed it.

Each student was assigned a dinosaur to research throughout the unit and at the end, they made their dinosaurs out of paper mache, we even made trees for our background and dinosaur eggs. We then invited other classrooms to our room to see our project. Using wallpaper paste instead of making our own paper mache' was a timesaver for me, but still allowed the kiddos in my room to get their hands messy. You can make most anything into paper mache' using wallpaper paste, don't limit yourself to dinosaurs. I plan on getting out the wallpaper past next week when my kindergartener is off of school and making something for Christmas presents for the Grandparents! Not sure what yet, but it will come to me!

What You Will Need:

Lot of newspapers ripped into various sized strips
Lots of newspapers for balling into shapes
Balloons if you want to make a round object
Wallpaper paste with some water added if needed...
Masking tape
Paint
Paint brushes
Paint shirts and rags for catching paint drips
Toilet paper rolls or paper towel tubes

What You Will Do:

Using newspapers(this is what we did to make the dinosaur bodies and heads)ball the paper up until it is in the shape you want. If you are making a dinosaur, make the body and then the head. You can use toilet paper or paper towel rolls to make necks and legs if you wishg. We then masking taped the two together, then made the legs and taped that onto the body. You will use a lot of masking tape, but don't worry, it won't show through. Once you have the shape you want, you can begin dipping the newspaper strips into the wallpaper paste, sliding your fingers over the strip of paper to get off excess paste, then wrap around the object you have created with the balled up newspaper or balloon if you are using one. Do this until the entire object is covered in strips of wet newspaper. You can smooth out any bubbles while wet as well. Once you have completed the entire project (you may want to do more than one coat of wallpaper paste as it dries and you see how sturdy it is), let the object dry. Once it is dry, you can add your paint and finish your masterpiece!

Take a look at the picture of a completed paper mache dinosaur and remember- don't limit yourself to just dinosaurs- use your imagination and get messy with your kids making whatever you wish!

What to do With all that old Kid Art

2007-11-12T15:26:00.000-06:00

Kids love to draw and color and many times these masterpieces are too cute to throw away. However, many parents are stumped as to what to do with these works of art, after all, your fridge can only hold so many drawings. One thing I really like doing is framing favorite pieces of my boys' old art work. I admit that I save almost everything they make me or bring home from school. I have a cedar chest full of my kindergartener's work (and some of my three year old's as this is his first year in preschool), but there are many pictures they have done that I use to decorate certain areas of my home.

Turning your child's art into framed decorative pieces for your home is really easy and really cheap, if you don't mind heading to your local dollar store. I simply purchase several very cheap frames at the Dollar Tree or Dollar General and then I frame select pieces of art by my kids. I hang these pictures up in my boys playroom and I have one wall in our basement family area with framed art by my kiddos. You can even purchase a cheap matte to add a more decorative touch to your child's work when framing.

This isn't hard to do and my boys really feel a sense of pride seeing their work displayed in our home.

Save Those Creamer Bottles to Make Snowmen

2007-11-09T15:55:00.000-06:00

I have always recycled my old coffee creamer bottles, but had never thought of using them to do a craft with my kiddos. It never crossed my mind that an old creamer bottle could become a cute snowman until someone from a board I visit (Work at Home Mom's- http://www.wahm.com/ ) posted this craft and I fell in love. My kids and I did this today for the first time and with the way I go through coffee creamer, we have will have plenty more to make as it gets closer to Christmas. These cute snowmen are easy for little ones to make and fun for grown-up's as well!

What You Will Need:

Old washed and dried plastic creamer bottles with labels peeled off
twigs from your yard
googly eyes
material for scarves (we used pipe cleaners- super easy!)
pom-pom's for buttons or round stickers for buttons
markers
scissors or knife to make holes for arms
glitter (optional, but we use glitter on just about every craft in this house)
glue

What You Will Do:

Before I let my kids go to town on this, I made one with them watching so they knew what to do. I also cut in the arm holes before hand as well- you can place the arms where you see fit. Once you have done this, simply place the googly eyes (we bought the self-adhesive kind) under the lid of the coffee creamer (this lid makes the snowman's hat), draw a nose or use anything you want for it, we used permanent marker to make a circle for a nose. My boys drew a mouth and then placed glue in the mouth shape, and proceeded to sprinkle glitter on the glue to have a "glitter" mouth. You will then place glue on the area you want your buttons to go- your buttons can be the pom-pom's you have or stickers. My youngest used circle stickers and my oldest opted for gluing pom-pom's for buttons. Once you have done that, place the twigs in the holes you made for arms and then wrap your pipe cleaner around the snowman's neck for a scarf. If you have extra material you could use material instead of pipe cleaners for a scarf. Once you have done all of this, your snowman is complete. My boys added sticker ears and my youngest placed stickers all over the back- stickers and glitter make for a beautiful snowman!

I have posted some pictures of my boys making theirs and then of our finished products (again, my camera date is wrong- we did these today, November 9th). Can you tell which one Mommy made and which one are my kids? It doesn't really matter, we had a great time together!

Handprint Wreath

2007-11-08T08:25:00.000-06:00

This easy and fun activity makes a great Christmas decoration. It can be a little messy, so prepare your work space with lots of newspaper and wet rags for wiping paint from wet hands. You can do this any time of the year, but it is fun to get out the red and green paint and make this handprint wreath to decorate your home this holiday season.

What you will need:

Washable paint- preferably in Christmas colors (red and green)
Paper plates- try to get a heavier plate if possible
Scissors
String for hanging your finished wreath
Your child's hands
newspapers
wet rags
extra paper plates to squeeze paint on
glitter
glue

What you will do:

You will want to first cut the circle in the middle of the paper plate out, so that the plate resembles a donut. Once this is done you can begin the messy part! Your child should place his hand into one color of paint, covering his entire palm, then he should take his painted hand and with your help (if needed) place it on the cut out paper plate and press down so his handprint is imprinted on the paper plate. Do this throughout the paper plate, leaving space for the other colors.

When your child has filled the wreath area with one color of handprint let it dry. Have him wash his hand off with the wet rag or in the sink and wait patiently for the first paint color to dry. Once the first paint color is dry you can begin the process again using the other color and filling in the empty spaces on the wreath. It is best to let the first paint color dry before beginning with the other color or you could have a lot of smearing paint on your wreath. Once your wet wreath dries entirely and you are completely done putting painted handprints on, then make a hole in the top for stringing the ribbon through to hang. You can also add glitter or holiday stickers to the completed project. For glitter simply add glue to the areas you want glitter then sprinkle glitter onto the glue, shake off any excess and let dry.

Many people like to do this project by tracing hands onto construction paper and then cutting out the handprints and gluing onto the paper plate. I prefer the messier version and love using paint, so do my kids! I also like using paper plates with the middle cut out because it is an easy and cheap template and makes the wreath into a perfect circle!

My kids and I do this holiday craft yearly, I will take pictures and download them to this post as soon as we get it done this week! Stay tuned!

Make Your Own Tortilla Chips

2007-11-07T07:05:00.000-06:00

Okay, not a craft but something fun to do with the kids regardless. It takes very little time to whip up this healthy snack and it's cheaper than buying tortilla chips at the grocery store. Kids will have fun using the pizza cutter (under supervision of course!) to cut tortilla's into triangles, placing them on a baking stone, spraying them with butter spray and shaking a little sea salt over the tortillas before baking. In the picture (with the wrong date on it- we made these yesterday) you can see our end result. My boys helped me make tortilla chips to take to a Pampered Chef show I was doing that evening and everyone raved about them.

What you will need:

Flour or corn tortilla's, as many as you want

baking stone

butter spray

sea salt

Preheated oven at 400

Directions:

Cut tortillas into triangles, size up to you. Place tortillas on baking stone (Pampered Chef stones work AWESOME!). Spray tortillas with butter spray until coated, sprinkle a bit of sea salt into your hand and then sprinkle over tortillas. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven until lightly brown and crispy. If you are using a Pampered Chef stone, you won't have to turn the chips over during baking, they will bake evenly on both sides. Remove baked tortillas from stone when done baking, serve with salsa or cheese dip. Yummy!

As I mentioned this isn't technically a craft for kids, but it is an easy food item that kids and parents can make together- plus it is healthy!

Handprints for Christmas...

2007-11-06T07:06:00.000-06:00

Do you want a cool Christmas or Hanukkah gift this year that will also preserve your little one's handprint at the size it is today? You should consider making this cool handprint craft to give to grandparents and other loved ones this season. Your family and friends are sure to enjoy an ornament or a plaque with your child's handprint. Salt dough handprints are easy to create and make great gifts. You can decorate them as much you like by adding ribbon, color or painting them by hand. Whatever you choose to do with them, they are sure to be a hit and your child gets to help which gives him or her a sense of pride in this very special gift!

You will see an example of a handprint my oldest son made when he was two- we added food coloring the imprinted part and he wanted the color to be pink, so we used very light food coloring and then carved his name with a plastic knife while he held it and I helped. It may not be super pretty, but he was incredibly proud!

Salt Dough Handprints

What you will need:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

food coloring (optional)

ribbon(optional)

baking sheet

paint (optional)

markers (optional)

dough roller

your child's hand

pencil

Mix together flour and salt until blended. Add your one cup of water and knead like you would bread (see post on playdough- this is very similar). If you are adding color using food coloring, you will want to mix the food coloring in the water before pouring into the dry mix. You will want it mixed very well. If it is too sticky add flour, you don't want it too sticky or your child's hand will stick when trying to do the handprint.

Once you have the dough to the correct consistency you will want to roll it out to about six inches. You can make it any shape you want, we love to make ours into hearts or circles, be as creative as you wish! Once you have it rolled out, your child will take his hand and place it in the middle of the rolled out dough and push down. He may need some assistance with this. Make sure not to press too far or his hand will go through the dough and you will need to start again. The great thing about salt dough handprints is that you can start over by kneading it into a ball again and then rolling it out again should you not be happy with the result.

After you have a handprint you like, you can carve names or dates in it and you may want to put a hole in the top if you are planning on stringing some ribbon through it to hang. You will want to put your salt dough handprint onto a baking sheet into a preheated 250 degree oven for about four hours. I typically turn the handprint over after about two hours and continue to bake. (On a side note, my Pampered Chef mini-deep dish baker works very well for baking these handprints!)

When the baking is done, the salt dough handprint should be hard. Let it cool and then you can decorate however you wish- from paint to markers, ribbons, etc- the choice is yours and your child's. How fun for the little ones to see their own handprints and to decorate them as well!

These handprints are great gifts and last a long time with the proper care. Salt dough handprints are fun gifts for kids to give family members during the holiday season! Enjoy!

Let's Get Messy

2007-11-05T15:20:00.000-06:00

Make Your Own Playdough

Let's get messy with this craft and have some fun with your kiddos. We love to play with playdough at our house. The best kind of playdough to play with is the kind you make yourself! Most likely you have all of the ingredients in your house, there should be no reason why you can't dive in right now and get going on this fun kid and parent craft!

What you will need:

Large Bowl for mixing
1 cup water
1 cup salt
1 to 2 TSP vegetable oil
3 to 4 cups of flour
2 TBSP cornstarch
food coloring
measuring cups
mixing spoons

In your large bowl measure 3 cups of flour and the salt. Mix the two together. Add cornstarch and blend. In a separate bowl measure the water. Mix in food coloring to the water before pouring into the dry ingredients (I have discovered if you mix the food coloring into the playdough after you have mixed all the ingredients, wet and dry, you get a tie-dyed type of playdough instead of a solid color). Mix the food coloring in the water and then pour the water into the dry ingredients. Many people use spoons to mix, but I have found the most fun and the messiest is to use your hands and get dirty! Plus, your hands are the best way to mix most anything. Knead the mixture like you would bread dough. Add the vegetable oil as you mix. If your playdough is too sticky, add some more flour, if it is too dry, add a bit more water. You may have to play with it a bit to get it to the consistency of actual playdough, but it is so fun to get your hands dirty! Most kids love making this craft and love getting messy! I always store this playdough in the fridge in an air-tight container or plastic bag.

The best part about this craft is that there is no cooking involved and if your child puts some in his or her mouth, it isn't going to harm them. It may not taste great, but it won't hurt them!

The Leaves are Falling...Make Something With Them!

2007-11-05T12:26:00.000-06:00

The leaves are falling outside and the days are turning colder. You may be glancing out your window wondering what you could possibly do with all of those leaves coming off of your trees. Why not turn those leaves into a cool craft you can do with your kids?

LEAF T-SHIRT

There are several crafty things one can do with leaves. Why not make a leaf t-shirt? It's easy and fun and kids love it!

You will need:

1 old plain t-shirt, color of your choice
several leaves in assorted sizes
fabric paint in the colors of your choice
piece of construction paper or other sturdy paper
paintbrushes
newspapers for protecting your craft surface

Once you have the supplies collected you and your child can begin painting the veiny side of the leaves you have collected, paint using any color you wish, spreading paint evenly and thinly throughout the leaf, including the stem. Once you have spread the paint on the leaf, turn the leaf with the paint side down and place on the t-shirt. Take the construction paper or sturdy paper of your choice and place it over the leaf on the shirt. Rub the paper where the leaf is and then lift up the paper and pull up the leaf. You should have a painted leaf print on your t-shirt. Repeat with as many leaves as you desire. Your t-shirt will look something like the one in the picture.

LEAF WREATH

Another fun fall leaf activity is simple and cheap! Collect as many leaves as you can with your child. Once you have done that you will need:

one paper plate per child
glue
leaves
scissors
string
hole punch

Cut out the middle of the paper plate using the scissors. There are many child safe scissors so if your little one wants to cut you may want to look into these. Once the middle of the plate is cut out, squirt some glue all around the remaining piece of the paper plate. You can use either side of the plate, it is up to you. Take your leaves and stick them onto the paper plate with glue, arranging in any way you wish. What you will want to consider is that no paper should be showing through, you should have your leaves spread throughout the paper plate, overlapping and even hanging off the edge of the plate. Once all the leaves are glued on, leave the plate to dry. You and your child will have created a beautiful leaf wreath to display for fall. If you want to hang it from a door, simply hole punch the top, string some thread or yarn through the hole, tie it at the top and hang up! Your child will feel great pride that his or her wreath is hanging for everyone to see! Will it be perfect? Probably not, but it will be special because your little one made it!