Wondering abou the Kids Craft Club? We’ve been sending craft packages to kids around North America (& the world!) since 2007! Here are a few reasons why kids and their parents love the Kids Craft Club!
Why adults love the Kids Craft Club:
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Why Kids Love the Kids Craft Club:
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My kids and their friends discovered a really fun way to make bird nests from seeds collected from ornamental grasses. View their video demonstration here. We happen to have a smoke bush in our yard, and I thought maybe the seeds from the bush would work well for this craft too. If you’re not familiar with smoke bushes or smoke trees, they look like this:
See all that seedy fluff waiting to be transformed? I snapped off a handful of the fluff and set it out to dry (the fall rain has started!!)
To make your birds nest, strip the fluff from the stems by running the stem through your fingers. Collect the fluff and roll it into a ball:
Then shape the nest by carefully pulling at the edges, and squishing your thumb or fingers in the middle. Your finished nest will look something like this:
Tip: the smoke bush seeds were fun to shape into a nest, but they didn’t stick together as well as the nests that were made from grasses (see video). To make sure your smoke bush nest sticks together, dilute some glue with water (2:1) and moisten the nest with the glue mixture as you work. Let your craft dry on a piece of waxed paper so that it doesn’t stick to your work surface.
We’re pleased to post this article by guest blogger Emily Patterson (@epatt1062), on behalf of Primrose schools. Read her suggestions for family friendly fun that will get everyone active, creative, and enjoying the outdoors! Thanks Emily for sharing your great ideas!
Though the temperatures are falling and the leaves are changing, families do not have to remain confined to the house in perpetual boredom. Budget-friendly activities are abundantly available that will keep kids’ mind and body active, until it is time to retire into deep slumber.
Activity helps kids apply and retain the knowledge learned during the school year. Events may also serve as an incentive to motivate kids to learn. Kids that can apply the knowledge they learn are often more successful in the classroom and in their lives. Use creativity to engage their minds, keep their bodies active and fight boredom.
Here are ten wallet friendly boredom busters that are easy to implement in the fall months:
Bike rides are a relaxing and fun ways to keep the body active and the mind focused. Exercise increases blood flow and energizes the body to help kids focus and study in school. Bike rides may also help kids learn about inclines, resistance, velocity and other scientific concepts that may be difficult to understand in an abstract form. Take your kids on a bike ride and surreptitiously introduce these concepts in a way that they are not even aware they are learning.
Raking leaves may seem like a chore, but it can be great exercise, educational and incredibly fun. While raking leaves, encourage kids to select a few interesting leaves of various colors that may be later used in an indoor project. While raking leaves, parents may discuss the process of leaf change and why it occurs in nature. The collected leaves may be arranged into an autumn collage, framed and hung on the wall for many months of enjoyment. Parents will complete a household chore while spending time educating their kids.
Apple picking is fun for the entire family. If your home is located near an orchard, simply load the kids into the car and head to the orchard for a couple of hours. Many orchards will also host apple bobbing events, hay rides and offer recipes for apples. Kids may learn about the different apples that are grown on the orchard and the maturation process. Families may also learn historical information about the area where the orchard is located. Apple picking is an affordable outing that also provides the household with a healthy snack.
Create teams and have the kids make up a story to reenact for other family members. The kids may select to be the actor, director or the producer of the show. Costumes may be made from old clothes or use old Halloween costumes to bring their stories to life. Music may be created by using wooden spoons, pots, pans and other empty canisters lying around the house. The performances may be recorded for future enjoyment. This is a great way to make family memories and encourage musical and artistic talents.
Scavenger hunts can easily be combined with educational concepts to help kids understand science, math or other challenging subjects. Kids may be challenged by the clues that may include riddles to help them understand strategy and English concepts.
The clues may also incorporate simple math by asking kids to walk a number of steps, then subtract a number of steps to reach their destination. The clue may also incorporate geometry by asking kids to follow the path of an isosceles triangle or a rectangle. This helps kids retain the information is a fun and engaging way.
Nurture the artist in your kids, by encouraging them to create a special Art Treasure Chest especially for them. In the treasure chest, kids will keep their art supplies which may include: glue, child safe scissors, tape, markers, construction paper, paper towel rolls, magazines and aluminum foil. The exterior of the box may be decorated by each child. When kids are ready to create, they may go directly to their own personal treasure chest with their supplies. This avoids arguments over scissors, crayons, markers and other supplies.
Some parents may not enjoy the great outdoors, but camping out on a freshly cut or perfectly manicured lawn in the backyard may be more appealing to the non-outdoorsy types. Parents may purchase a tent, sleeping bag, flashlights and candles from a discount store to get them through the event.
Plan a meal that may consist of roasting hotdogs or hamburgers on a hibachi grill. Smores are also popular camping food that kids will enjoy. For those that are unfamiliar, smores consist of a roasted marshmallow and a bar of Hershey’s chocolate sandwiched between graham crackers. Kids enjoy the sweet treats. Who knows, they may even learn some basic survival skills.
Perhaps camping is not necessarily your family’s interest. Try building a fort instead. The forts can be simple made of sheets and chairs or they can be more elaborate construction. The fort style will depend on the skill level of the fort builders and the patience of those involved. Kids may keep focused on this event for hours. From the building stages to the actual occupation, kids will learn mathematical skills.
Math skills can be tested in the kitchen. Have your children select their favorite recipe and participate in the preparation. During the process teach them about tablespoons, teaspoons, cups and fractions. This is a fun way to test math skills while keep the mind fresh and engaged.
Memories are an excellent way to build family bonds and help kids remain social. Encourage kids to take pictures and create a scrapbook of their memories. The scrapbook may be made from construction paper bound with yarn or a spiral bound notebook.
While these are some fun and engaging activities, use your imagination and devise your own affordable fun. As long as the activities are challenging without being boring, the kids should remain engaged for hours.
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Emily Patterson (@epatt1062) is communications coordinator for Primrose Schools providing written work to the blogosphere which highlights the importance, and some of the specific aspects, of a quality, early childhood, education.
Fall winds mean leaves scattered on the ground, and along with the leaves comes an abundance of twigs and small sticks that kids can’t seem to resist picking up. Our kids have a collection of sticks sitting in a bucket on our front door stoop. We didn’t dare send the collection back to nature without telling the kids (after all, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure) but we felt confident that they’d be up for turning some of their sticks into fun craft projects. We’ll happily let sticks into the house to be used in these fun nature crafts!
You’ll Need – a small dried branch (no leaves), tissue paper or bright coloured paper, scissors, glue
What to do:
Ensure that your branch is clean and dry. There are two ways to make your branch into a bright tree for display.
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First Method
Cut small rectangles of tissue paper – about 5cm x 3cm per piece. Your child can take a piece of tissue, scrunch it up, dip one side in glue, and stick it onto the tree. Alternately, he or she can dab a bit of glue onto the tree branch, and wrap the tissue onto the branch. See our picture below.Second Method |
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Second Method
Cut leaf shapes out of coloured or printed paper, leaving a long-ish tab at the end. Dab a bit of glue onto the branch and stick each leaf by wrapping the tab. This method was inspired by the ‘Fabric Leaf Tree’ found at Two Girls Being Crafty, and simplified for kids. |
For method number two, we made our tree come to life by adding a little fold into each leaf. We also made a fold at the end to create a little tab. We put glue on the backside of the tab, and wrapped it around the branch:
We liked the look of the pretty votive holders we found at Fossil, and tried our own kid-friendly version. This can be used to hold pencils, as a small vase, or for small trinkets.
You’ll need – a clean dry empty can (choose a size that suits you; we used an old tomato paste can), some wide masking tape, dry, thin sticks and twigs, ribbon
What to do:
Remove the label from your can, and ensure that it is clean and dry. Prepare the twigs you want to use by snapping them to approximately the same height as the can (tip: for larger thick twigs, an adult can cut to size with pruning sheers). Wrap collars of masking tape around your can STICKY SIDE OUT.
Stick the twigs to the tape, covering and open spaces with small bits of twig or other finds from nature (such as dried grasses, dried leaves, etc). Tip: an adult can help by holding the can while kids press the sticks on. Wrap a ribbon around your finished can to secure sticks, and tie a bow to complete.
The stick person is every child’s favourite way to draw people, so why not do it with real sticks? Parents or caregivers can help guide this activity by asking what part of the body they should start with, and “what do we need next?”. An easy way to identify basic body parts as they craft.
You’ll need – stiff cardstock or cardboard, construction paper, small sticks, crayons, markers, or pencil crayons, scissors, glue, yarn (optional)
What to do:
Choose some sticks that can be broken easily into smaller pieces for your stick person shapes. Think about pieces for legs, arms, body, skirts, feet, and heads. Tip: if your child wants to make perfectly round heads for their characters, have some yarn on hand to replace sticks where necessary. Start working by laying stick body part out on top of your paper, and then pick up the piece to add a generous amount of glue to the area before putting your stick back in place. Repeat with the rest of your body parts and let dry. Colour in a mouth, eyes, and nose.
Here’s an easy and fun idea if you’re looking for tactile activities or sensory table ideas for your kids. Great for preschoolers and elementary school kids alike, the kids will get a big kick out of squishing tomatoes with their bare hands!
Start with a bowl full of fresh tomatoes. If you don’t have fresh ones, use canned whole tomatoes and skip straight to the crushing part!
Remove the skins. This part should be done by an adult! To get the skins off, put tomatoes into boiling water for 30 sec – 1 min, and then plunge into cold water.
Once the tomatoes are cooled, the kids can remove the skins, which will be cracked open and easily peel away. Teach a composting lesson by adding the skins to your compost!
The skinless tomatoes are ready to be crushed!
Make sure the kids have clean hands (up to their elbows!) and all jewelery is removed. Get crushing! To watch how much fun our kids had doing this, check out our tomato crushing video
Some ways you can integrate this activity into your home, daycare, or preschool activity schedule:
I’ve never sent potato chips to school with the kids’ lunches before, but now that we’ve discovered this easy, healthier option to bake them ourselves, this might just become the newest lunchtime or after school snack! My eight year old was the tester for this project – she had fun with it and it was super easy for her. (I did all the chopping and placement in oven). Plus, the kids liked the finished product!
To make home made potato chips we used:
3 yukon gold potatoes (these were from our garden – exciting for me b/c I’m new to growing potatoes. One of ours was giant, so you could use 4 average sized potatoes. You could also try russet)
Cooking oil (we used canola oil)
Salt (up to 1/2 tsp, but we just used a shake or two)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum!!! If you try this with your kids, let us know!!
If you’re looking for some yummy ideas for your next road trip or camping expedition, enlist the kids to do some baking. Before our most recent camping trip, we decided to try making soft pretzels to take with us. My daughter took the lead on this one – she ended up doing most of the work and her pretzels looked far more ‘pretzel like’ than mine did! Maybe you need small hands to make a perfect pretzel?
We used this recipe:
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast (1 packet)
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
3 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten
coarse salt
Here’s our pretzel maker hard at work:
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Note: you don’t need to sit like a pretzel to make pretzels, but maybe that’s why her pretzels looked so good?!! You can roll the dough in your hands or on the board, depending on which works better for you.
Egg wash and salt sprinkling were fun for her and easy for any age! You might want to dust some of the salt off after the kids sprinkle, so that they’re not over-salted
Our finished product – we needed to test them right out of the oven and they were YUMMY!
I love strawberries, and this is the time of year that they can be found in abundance! Most grocery stores carry strawberries all year these days, but there’s nothing like fresh picked strawberries from a strawberry farm or patch. Picking strawberries and deciding what to do with them is a great activity for the kids too. Here are some strawberry-themed activities and ideas to explore with the kids:
1. Go strawberry picking – strawberry season is now, so check out your many local strawberry farms. The ones in our area provide buckets or allow your own, so let your child grab their favourite bucket, pail or basket before you go. For older kids, the bucket weighing can be a great math opportunity too – it gets weighed before picking, and after, so kids can figure out how much weight they picked. Depending on the quantity of strawberries you’re aiming for, and you’re child’s age & interest, this activity can take anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour or more.
2. Mush up some strawberries – put some cleaned, hulled strawberries into the bottom of a pot or deep mixing bowl, and let the kids mush them up with a potato masher. You might need to help them get started by doing the first couple of mashes, or you can cut the strawberries in half before they get started. It’s also a lot of fun to put the potato masher aside and let the kids at it with their hands. The gooey mushy feeling of the strawberries is a fun tactile experience for toddlers and preschoolers in particular. Make sure to use clean hands for this project so that the strawberry mush can be used as a topping, turned into jam, or included in a smoothy.
3. Make strawberry watercolours – cut a couple of berries in half and place into a pot with a cup of water. Bring the water to a boil, boiling for 1 minute (note: an adult should do this part!). Let cool. Remove the berries and use the pink water to make water colour paintings in pink themes. Think cotton candy, flowers, or sunsets. You could also use the liquid as a natural dye for playdough, similar to the dying process used in this natural play dough
4. Strawberry stamping – cut some berries in half and use them as stamps on paper or fabric. This is a good activity to do outside on a sunny day
5. Hulling strawberries – I’ll admit that this seems like a mundane task to most adults, but work can be fun, especially for kids, so invite them to help as you hull your berries. We usually hull them and I slice them into a freezer bag to enjoy throughout the winter
Do you have any strawberry season activity ideas? Let us know!
Make a simple craft project as a nice way to say ‘Thank You’ to the teacher this year. Here are five ideas to help the kids get crafty for their teachers.
1. Painted Pot with summer greens or herbs – this is one of the simplest and most striking crafts for kids to do. Paint a terra cotta pot and plant it with summer greens or herb of your choice. We’re thinking mint would be a nice choice of herb, as it can be used for everything from mint tea, to salads, to mojitos!
2. “Look how much you taught me!” Card – Collect samples of your child’s writing or drawing from the beginning of the year, and samples from the end of the year. Photocopy the samples (or use originals if you’re willing to give them up!). Glue into position on inside of card, with one side titled ‘Then’ and other side titled ‘Now’ The back cover can be reserved for a nice ‘Thank You!’
3. Decorated box of cookies or other snack – a simple box can be embellished with anything from ribbons to stickers to drawings. Line the box with waxed paper and fill with sweet treats for your child’s teacher to enjoy
4. Letter covered pencil jar – clip letters of various fonts from a magazine or newspaper and decoupage onto an old can. Clean and dry can thoroughly before you begin. Mix 2 parts glue with one part water. Using a paint brush, paint a patch of glue onto the can and paste letter. Cover letter with more paste. Repeat until entire can is covered with letters. A teacher can never run out of storage containers and this one will be a great way to start school next year!
5. Re-Usable Shopping Bag – decorate a plain reusable shopping bag with fun embelishments like felt flowers, ribbons, and bows. Use fabric paints to write something special for your teacher, like ‘#1 Teacher’ or ‘Teachers Rule!’……your teacher can use the bag again and again for everything from toting books to carrying groceries.
Ever since watching the movie The Incredibles, my kids often discuss what sort of super heros they would be – what their powers would be, what their suits would look like, etc. Of course since the Incredibles are an entire family of Super Heros, my husband and I also get to join in on the fun and decide what our Super Strengths would be (for the record, mommy always has eyes in the back of her head, that’s just a given….)
Your kids can profile their dad the Super Hero with this Fun Father’s Day Activity. Print the SuperDad Activity Sheet and fill it in – draw your dad’s face at the top of the SuperHero suit, choose an emblem that represents him, and color his suit in. Remember to add a picture of yourself to the page, because we all know that kids are truly the source of their parent’s strength!
