Use All Tips with Caution and Adult supervision!
Be careful of allergies and safety!
Tip 1 (Recycle Craft) - Take a big container and start throwing empty containers into the container (i.e. Toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes, Kleenex boxes, clothes that don’t fit anymore or are old, washed out plastic milk cartons) and then at the end of a week or two sit down with your child and make something recyclable. We made ‘Daddy’ out of boxes and even cut out old shirts and used them for clothes on the recyclable ‘Daddy’ then we placed the Daddy into bed with a remote control in his hand as a joke. The real Daddy thought it was hilarious! This teaches creativity and recycling. You can label the container "Treasures" that you put the recyclable items into.
Tip 2 (Spider/spider web craft) - Take a piece of old wood/board and have your child hammer nails into the board (you can do this if the child is too young for hammer and nails). Next have the child wrap string or yarn around the nails making a spider web design. After the spider web is done you can even make your own spider out of pom-pom and stick pipe cleaners into the pom-pom (8 legs) or you can make the spider's body out of clay and then stick pipe cleaners into the clay. Attach your spider to the web and you are done! This can be a great decoration for Halloween or it can be used to learn about spiders (check out a book on spiders at the library for further learning).
Tip 3 (Cotton Balls) - Go outside and observe the clouds in the sky and take paper, glue and cotton balls outside with you. Take a piece of paper and have your child glue cotton balls onto the paper as he/she sees in the sky. Maybe the clouds look like a certain shape (i.e. whale, boat or a face). This teaches copying skills and imagination.
Tip 4 (Yarn art) - Take a block of wood and glue pieces of yarn to the block in different designs. Wait for the glue to dry and then have your child dip the block into paint and press the block with paint onto a piece of paper. Continue until the work of art is done! You can also use ink instead of paint or glue the yarn to a toilet paper tube.
Tip 5 (Nature Hike) - Go on a nature hike. Bring a plastic bag for your treasures (or a cloth sack). After your hike you can use what you find in a craft. If you find rocks, you can paint pictures or designs on the rocks. If you find pinecones you can paint the pinecones green and sprinkle glitter to make a Christmas Tree look (don't forget to hook little ornaments to the tree!) If you find flowers you can glue the flowers onto a piece of paper and then make a vase for the flowers out of tinfoil or construction paper. There are lots of ways to be creative. Make faces with the items you collected (a maple tree seed could be a smile or acorns some eyes).
Tip 6 (Putty) - Take one tablespoon of liquid starch and put it in a bowl. Add two tablespoons of white glue and let set for five minutes. You can add food coloring if you want and then mix until starch is absorbed and food coloring is mixed. Store in a jar or a plastic egg (from Easter time leftover). This is a great craft around Easter or just in general. You can use the putty and roll it over comics from newspapers to pick up the picture or just mold it into sculptures.
Tip 7 (Painting with something other than paintbrushes!) - Use these items to paint with as something different: cotton balls, Q-tips, yarn, vegetables, marbles, toy cars (the wheels make pretty designs), corn cobs, ferns, pine branches, feathers, wheat, hay, grass, and sticks. All of these things make beautiful designs.
Tip 8 (Body collage) - Cut open brown paper bags and tape ends together to make a long piece of paper big enough for your child to lay down on. Have him/her lie down on the paper and trace them with a marker or pen. You can cut out the body shape or have your child do it if able. Then have your child cut or rip pictures out of magazines of things that they like and glue them to the body shape (you can also as a variation have them write the body parts or draw in bones or organs to learn about anatomy for a science approach). Attach a piece of yarn to the top and hang the collage or put it on your refrigerator.
Tip 9 (Painting rocks) - Take a nature hike and find rocks/stones. Have your child wash the rocks and dry them. Paint designs on the rocks. You can make the rocks look like pets (even add wiggle eyes) or look like members of your family. The painted rocks can be given away, put in a vase as decoration or used as 'pet rocks.'
Tip 10 (Balloon Pinata - Paper Mache) - Mix flour and water into a paste. Take a blown up balloon and rip pieces of paper and place them on the balloon. Coat the paper with the paste (use an old paint brush). Place 2 or 3 coats of paper on the balloon leaving a small hole not covered with paper at the bottom to put candy in. After the balloon is dry then pop the balloon and pull it out. Put candy into the balloon and cover the hole. You can cover the hole with paper mache (or do like I do and cover it with strong tape as a short cut). The pinata can also be painted.
**This is a great project for using up Halloween candy or Easter candy!
Tip 11 (Music instrument) - Clean and dry an old soda can. Fill the soda can with beads, beans or anything that will make a noise (This is a great activity if you want to teach counting. Count the number of items that goes into the can). Tape the hole closed and then cover the can with aluminum foil. Decorate with stickers or whatever you like. Shake the can to make a noise. This is great as an instrument for a band!
Tip 12 (Make your own Harp) - Take a nature hike and find an old fallen stick that looks like a 'Y.' Have your child put rubber bands over the top of the 'Y.' This is great to go with Tip 11 for your band. You can also decorate the harp any way you like (add ribbons around the bottom).
**Note** Not responsible for injuries from use of above crafts. Must use caution and adult supervision! Use at your own risk. Be aware of the age of the child and choking hazards.
