Crafts I Enjoy With My Children
Hello everyone, and thank you Jill for allowing me the honour of being a guest blogger! A little about me - my name is Sarah and I used to be a childrens’ librarian but am now a busy mum of two little girls, aged 5 and 3, as well as owner of an online toyshop selling educational toys and games (www.toptoybox.co.uk). I was talking to Jill about some of the crafts I enjoy doing with my children (nothing too complicated!) and she thought they might be good to share. So here goes: my top 5 crafts for children that won’t cost a penny (well, pretty much…!)
1) As this picture shows, my little girls love to be princesses! Making princess hats or crowns is very easy and lots of fun. For the medieval hat, we simply made a cone from a large sheet of card, fitted it for head size, then taped together. The children then added their own decorations. Glitter glue is great here and don’t forget to add some streaming ribbons once the glue/paint is dry for the complete medieval look. Puncture two small holes either side of the hat rim and thread some elastic though to keep it in place. (And of course this is easily adapted into a wizard’s hat with lots of shiny stars!)
2) This is one for the summer (if it ever arrives!). Sea shell crafts are great for children. Add wiggly eyes to make little sea creatures, or create a picture frame to put a holiday snap in. Buy a cheap, plain wooden frame (the sort that haven’t been waxed or varnished are best) and then using PVA glue, stick the shells onto the frame, making sure that all of the shell edges meet for best effect.
3) How about making your own paper-weights? There are two ways to do this - either buy some air-drying clay and shape it into a ball, or simply head into the garden and find some nice smooth stones. Then let your children paint the stones with either pretty patterns or bug /animal designs. Ladybirds and bumble bees are popular and easy, and a pair of stick on googly eyes finishes them off perfectly.
4) In this house we hardly ever buy greetings cards. They might not be at professional standard, but everyone seems to appreciate a homemade card. One idea for you which always works well: take some buttons of different colours and sizes (we always take buttons off worn-out clothes before recycling them) and stick them onto some sturdy folded card to make a bear design, pretty flower head, caterpillar, or whatever else you can think of! Younger children can also make a very pretty card simply be sticking bright buttons in a random design.
5) And finally. I am amazed when children come to visit both that they have never made one of these and at how much they absolutely love doing so, and I thought that maybe lots of mums haven’t thought of this one yet so hopefully this will be a great share!
Simply draw a big, bright red double-decker bus outline onto some paper, not forgetting the windows. Then take an old catalogue, magazine, or even junk mail, and cut out lots of different faces to stick onto the bus windows. And there you have it - a real life bus! This craft can be adapted for seasonal occasions too - at Christmas we cut out toys we like and stick them onto a large paper stocking, and at Easter we glue eggs and chocolates onto a big paper egg, before adding a ribbon around the middle to finish. Very easy and very satisfying!
Happy crafting, everyone!
Such lovely ideas. I was given a photo frame by my nephew. It was made of ice cream sticks glued together and decorated with shells. My best gift ever x.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post... So glad your girls friends are learning some traditional fun. so many kids miss out thesee days with technology.
ReplyDeleteDawn
Sounds like lots of fun! Of course, the thing I like about kids' crafts is when they're allowed to put their own stamp on them and not having to decorate to an adult's standards.... it's amazing what their imaginations come up with!
ReplyDelete