Five Holiday Decorating Craft Ideas for Kids!

Winter Memories – January Kids Craft Club

Kids Craft Club January 2010 Make winter memories come alive with crafts from the  Kids Craft Club!  If you’re not already in the club, there’s just less than one week left to subscribe for this craft package.

There’s something magical about trees that are covered in a light dusting of snow.  Can you imagine a whole forest of trees in the winter?  What would it look like?  Make your own winter forest collage with this month’s Kids Craft Club  supplies.  Then make a memory book so you can keep track of special moments all season long.   

Subscribe by December 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of January.


Five Holiday Decorating Crafts

With mounting excitement as the kids start their winter holidays, now is the perfect time to get crafty for the holiday season!  Here are five easy craft ideas to help you Deck the Halls or trim the tree!

Pinecone craft idea for kids 1. Pine cone Christmas ornament – pretend your pinecone is a mini tree: paint it green and add ribbons, pompoms, and sequins to trim it.  Mount it on a piece of cardboard as a table decoration.  OR – skip the paint and decorate your pinecone with sparkles and ribbons, looping a ribbon through the top to hang it on your tree
 Clothes Pin Angel craft 2. Personalized doily angel craft – You’ll need one large and one small paper doily, a clothes pin, and a headshot of your child.  Fold large doily in half, and then in half again.  Affix to clothes pin, with point of folded doily at the top.  Glue your child’s head to the top of the doily ‘dress’.  Add angel wings by folding small doily in half and gluing to back of clothspin.  Clip to your Christmas tree
 Home made Christmas cracker craft  3.Toilet paper roll Christmas Crackers – fill several toilet paper rolls with fun surprises such as candies, sweet messages, or cute photos.  Decorate a piece of paper with festive colours, or use old wrapping paper, and wrap toilet paper roll with paper, tying ribbons to close at either end.  Place rolls on dinner plates for a family gathering, and open your Christmas crackers together!
 Christmas tree mobile craft  4. Christmas tree mobile craft -make tree segments by cutting pairs of paper strips, tapering strips into a Christmas tree shape. Lay bottom pieces of tree on work surface and cover with glue.  String a couple of wooden beads onto a thin ribbon or string, and lay on top of bottom segments, looping back to a top star shape. Cover with matching top segments.  Decorate your tree with leftover paper pieces and other decorations
 Finger Knitting Garland craft  5. Finger-knit garland – all this requires is some yarn and a nimble set of fingers!  Our six year old could do this independently once we got him started, but younger kids might need mom or dad to lend a helping hand with looping the yarn around.  For instructions, watch our crafty girl explain it in this ‘how to’ video

Contest Winner – Thank You Card Kit

Congratulations to Jade, who won this month’s card making kit draw from our homepage!  We’ll be contacting Jade by email to get shipping information for your Thank You Card making kit!  You can enter next month’s draw here.

Be sure to join our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed as well – for quick craft ideas, interesting articles, and giveaways

 

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Valentines Cards, Valentines crafts, and kids parties made easy

Puppet Master – February Kids Craft Club

Chinese New Year crafts and Valentines Crafts Chinese New Year Crafts, Valentine’s Day Crafts from the  Kids Craft Club!   If you’re not already in the club, there’s ten days left to subscribe for this craft package.

In China, the lunar new year will be celebrated with Chinese New Year on February 3rd.  Dragon dances and lion dances are often part of Chinese New Year celebrations.  Make your own dancing puppet this month with the Kids Craft Club .  Just like the ones you see on parade, make your brightly coloured puppet shake and shimmy from head to tail!

Then make a ‘hearty’ Valentine’s box that will be just what you need to collect Valentines from friends and family!

Subscribe by January 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of January.


Make Valentines Cards – It’s only a Month Away!

Critters Card Making Kit Yes it’s true, the next exciting kids ‘holiday’ is a mere month away.  Instead of getting caught at the last minute, scribbling names onto Valentine’s cards, choose one of our Valentine Card Making kits for immediate shipping, so that your kids can work on their one of a kind Valentines well in advance of the big day!  Choose ‘Critters’ or ‘Construction‘ themed cards in packages of 8 cards with matching envelopes, or 24 mini cards for the whole class.

Simple Party Planning with Themed Party Crafts

Kids Craft idea for parties - crown craft Planning a party in winter can often seem burdensome – the Christmas holidays have just ended and are usually exhausting for parents and caregivers.  Make your winter party planning a little easier by choosing one of Craft Caravan’s New party crafts.  Whether you’re planning for a houseful of super heros or a palace of princesses, our party crafts will make your party a little more simple to plan, and a lot more fun for the kids!

**Your party crafts can be personalized with bright letters to spell the name of each child!  Your party guests will love decorating a craft with their name on it

 


Crafty Idea – Message in a Bottle

Message in a Bottle craft, recycling craft This is a fun craft idea for a special Valentine or just ‘because’, and it’s a great way to repurpose your recyclables too!

Supplies: clean jar or bottle from the recycle bin, coloured tissue paper, glue, scissors, piece of writing paper, something to write with, ribbon, sponge or cotton swab

To prepare: Make sure your jar is clean and dry before starting.  Pour a small amount of glue into a shallow bowl or old plastic lid.  You may want to thin the glue by mixing 2 parts glue with 1 part water, for easier application.  Cut tissue into squares that measure about 5cm x 5cm (2” x 2”).

Decorate your bottle: Dip your sponge or cotton swab into glue and dab onto a small area of the bottle.  Cover glue with tissue.  Dab another area with more glue, and add new tissue squares.  Continue covering small patches of the bottle with glue and then tissue until the bottle is entirely covered with tissue.  If there are any dry corners of tissue that are not entirely stuck to the bottle, simply dab a little glue on top and press into place.

Tip: Your finished bottle doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth!  You can give your bottle more texture by placing tissue onto the glued area and then pushing tissue onto itself, creating some bumps.

Write your Message: put a special message on your writing paper, roll up the paper, and tie it with a ribbon.  Carefully insert the message into your bottle so that it’s possible to pull the message out again.  Give your message in a bottle to someone special


Crafty Idea – Heart Book Mark

Heart Bookmark Craft Here’s a simple craft idea that your kids can make for their favourite bookworm.  Pop it in an envelope and put it in the mail as a special Valentines surprise!

Supplies: red, pink, or other construction paper, decorating supplies, scissors, glue, ribbon of any width and ~15 cm in length

Cut two medium sized hearts from the construction paper and decorate the hearts.  If you’re giving the bookmark to someone, you may want to write a special message on the hearts.  Once the hearts are decorated, put the end of the ribbon at the point of one heart so that it hangs down from the heart.  Glue the second heart on top of the first, so it catches the end of the ribbon in place.  Cut two small sized hearts and sandwich them at the end of your bookmark.  You’re finished!


Card Kit Giveaway – Construction Valentines Card Making Kit

Construction Themed card making kit for kids Congratulations to Visakha, who won this month’s card making kit draw from our homepage!  We’ll be contacting Visakha by email to get shipping information for your Valentines Card Making Kit!  You can enter next month’s draw here.

Be sure to join our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed as well – for quick craft ideas, interesting articles, and giveaways

 

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December Craft Ideas by Craft Caravan

Winter Wonderland – December Kids Craft Club

Winter Wreath craft, Winter Garland craft Craft a winter wonderland with crafts from the  Kids Craft Club!  Only one week left to subscribe for this craft package.

Brighten up your indoor space with some fun winter crafts!  This month with the Kids Craft Club, decorate a festive wreath to hang on the door to your room or even the door to your house, and then make a fun winter garland to brighten up any window! 

Subscribe by November 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of December


Planning a Holiday Party?  Christmas Party Crafts!

Snowflake Ornament Craft Just in time for the holiday season, Craft Caravan is pleased to introduce our party craft kits!  If you’re planning a holiday party for your kids, include some craft time.  We make it easy with prepared kits that contain everything you need to get crafty at your party!  These kits are also great for families who want to decorate their Christmas trees with lots of home made ornaments!  View our selection here.

Christmas Cards & Christmas Gifts

Christmas cards for Kids

Season’s Greetings Cards & Christmas Cards

Sending Christmas and seasonal cards is usually one of the first tasks on the holiday list of things to do.  Making cards by hand gives your Seaosn’s greeting a personal touch and it’s a great craft for the kids!  Our Christmas card making kits and Season’s Greetings Card kits are now online for purchase – check them out!

Kids Craft Club – PreORDER for Christmas Gifts

A Kids Craft Club subscription is a great way to extend Christmas excitement throughout the year!  If you’re shopping for a Christmas gift, sImply wirte ‘Christmas’ in the comment section of your order form, and your child will receive their first craft project right after Christmas!


Crafty Idea – Pine Tree Forest

This is a really simple way to make an interesting table or mantle display.  Vary heights and sizes of trees for your own pine tree forest!

Supplies: construction paper in shades of green, green card stock, scissors, tape or glue, piece of cardboard or paper to use as the forest ‘base’

Paper Christmas tree craft idea Directions:

1. For each tree, cut two identical triangles from green cardstock.  Bend wide end over to make a 2.5 cm (1″) flap that can be glued to forest base.  Glue or tape triangles to forest base so they’re facing each other, approx 1.5 cm (~ 1/2″) apart

2. Cut circles from various shades of construction paper or paper, starting with a large circle that is wider than the base of your triangle tree, and making additional circles that are smaller than the previous.  We made 6 circles per tree.

3.  Fold largest circle in half, and cut two crosswise slits on either side of centre, approx 1.5 cm (~1/2″) apart.  Slide largest circle over top of tree triangles, settling at the base.  Note: younger kids will need help with this!

4.  Continue adding slits to circles and sliding them onto the tree base until the smallest circle is fitted to the top of tree.

5. Decorate your trees with stickers, tissue, etc if you want to, or make more trees to create a forest.

Did you try this craft?  Send us your comments and photos and let us know how you liked it!  For more winter craft ideas, visit our craft articles.


Crafty Idea – Sparkly Snowflakes

A simple twist to the ever-famous paper snowflake!  Great for kids who are too young to cut an ornate snowflake – you do the cutting, they do the sprinkling!

Supplies: white paper, scissors, glue, sugar, sponge or cotton swab, string

Sparkly snowflake craft idea Directions:

1. Fold your square or round piece of paper into half, then again into quarters.  Use scissors to cut small shapes out of the paper.  When you open your paper you will have a snowflake shape

2. Mix one part glue with one part water to create a thin glue.  Place snowflake on a vinyl placemat or splashmat, and dab glue onto snowflake.

3. Sprinkle sugar over glue covered area.  Flip your snowflake, dab with glue, and sprinkle again.  Let your snowflake dry by hanging or clipping it up, or by letting it rest over the lid of a cup or bowl.

Did you try this craft?  Send us your comments and photos and let us know how you liked it!For more winter craft ideas, visit our craft articles here.


Five Minute Fun – Popcorn Snow

If you’re looking for an easy crafting medium to fit into winter themes, don’t forget about popcorn!  It’s always on hand, simple to make, and great for crafts.  Think popcorn snowman or popcorn garland.  Simple and fun!


Contest Winner: Season’s Greeting Card Making Kit

Seasons Greetings Stickers Congratulations to Amy, who won this month’s card making kit draw from our homepage!  We’ll be contacting Amy by email to get shipping information for your Season’s Greetings Card making kit!  You can enter next month’s draw here.

Be sure to join our Facebook page and follow our Twitter feed as well – for quick craft ideas, interesting articles, and giveaways

 

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Kids Craft Club for Groups, Halloween Crafts, and more!

Feasting in the Fall – November Kids Craft Club

Apple craft and corn craft Join in on fall fun with crafts from the  Kids Craft Club!  Only one week left to subscribe for this craft package!

Corn and apples are two fall time favourite foods.  These foods are special because they can be used for eating, or for decoration!  Make an apple craft with this month’s Kids Craft Club, but watch out for a sneaky surprise in the middle!  Then decorate a patchwork cob of corn that’ll look way too pretty to eat!

Subscribe by October 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of November


Introducing the Kids Craft Club for Groups!

Puppet Crafts After many months and many many customer requests, we’re pleased to introduce our Kids Craft Club for groups! If you meet with a regular playgroup or operate a small daycare, we’ve got a crafty solution for you!  Join the Kids Craft Club and receive a package of crafts for 4, 6, 10, or 14 children.  Make daycare or playgroup even better with the Kids Craft Club!

Enter to Win a Box of Recycled Paper Pencil Crayons!

Earth Friendly Pencil Crayons We’re running a contest on Facebook right now, and it’s so easy to enter!  Just leave a comment on our Facebook page telling us what you do with your child’s finished arts & craft projects.  Take pictures?  Frame them?  Scrapbook them?  Stack them in a pile?  Let us know for your chance to win!

Tip: Join our Facebook Group or watch our Twitter feed for upcoming giveaways to introduce our great selection of eco-friendly kids craft products!


Christmas Cards & Christmas Gifts

Christmas cards for Kids

Season’s Greetings Cards & Christmas Cards

Many people like to plan ahead for Christmas, and sending Christmas cards is usually one of the first tasks on the list.  Making cards by hand gives your Christmas wish a personal touch and it’s a great craft for the kids!  Our Christmas card making kits are now online for purchase – check them out!

Kids Craft Club – PreORDER for Christmas Gifts

A Kids Craft Club subscription is a great way to extend Christmas excitement throughout the year!  If you’re shopping for an early Christmas gift, sImply wirte ‘Christmas’ in the comment section of your order form, and your child will receive their first craft project right after Christmas!


Crafty Idea – Pumpkin Decorating

Sugar Pumpkin Decorating Craft Carving pumpkins is a lot of fun, and a great family activity, but the bulk of the work usually falls to mom, dad, or caregiver.  If your kids want to get a little more ‘hands on’ try decorating pumpkins instead!  Check out our Pumpkin Decorating article on the blog archive at savvymom.ca

Five Minute Fun – Handprint Ghosts

Gear up for Halloween with this simple activity!  Trace your child’s hands on white paper, with fingers closed together, making sure that you finish your tracing where you started it, for a completely enclosed shape.  Cut your ‘ghost’ shape out and draw or glue eyes onto ghost at the top (near the ‘heel’ of your handprint). Footprints make great ghosts too!


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Crafty Ideas September 2010

Spin a Web – October Kids Craft Club

Spider web craft Join in on fall fun with crafts from the  Kids Craft Club!  Only one week left to subscribe for this craft package!

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could build a web, just like a spider?  With this month’s Kids Craft Club craft supplies, you will have what you need to do just that!  Make a spider web and then craft a spider finger puppet to sit in your web, just waiting to catch it’s prey. You can become a web designer with the Kids Craft Club – a spider web designer that is!!

Subscribe by September 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of September


New to Craft Caravan: Eco-friendly craft supplies!

Earth Friendly recycled crayons Now craft time can be more eco-friendly than ever, with our new selection of environmentally conscious craft supplies!  Perfect for your child’s arts & crafts bin, or as a gift item.  Choose from natural paints, natural modeling dough, recycled crayons, newspaper pencil crayons, and more.  Watch our website and facebook page as we introduce even more great eco-friendly craft supplies!

Tip: Join our Facebook Group or watch our Twitter feed for upcoming giveaways to introduce these great new kids craft products!


Fall Crafty Idea – Wise Old Owl

Many species of owls have feathers in browns and oranges that are reminiscent of fall.  Put some fall leaves to good use with this simple craft!

Supplies: brown paper bag, white & black construction paper, fall leaves, orange felt, glue

Owl Paper Bag craft Directions:

  1. Find two fall leaves that have pointed edges, and glue them into place for ears
  2. Cut oversized eyes from white and black construction paper, and glue them into place
  3. Cut a diamond beak and claws from orange felt, and add to your owl.  You’re done!

 


Put the FUN into Fundraising!

Scrapbook Making Kit for Kids Fundraising doesn’t get any easier than this!  If your child’s group or organization is looking for ways to raise funds, contact us about our Card Kit fundraising program!  A fundraiser that’s truly for the kids – raise funds and have fun!  Visit our website or contact us for more information.

 


Fun Fall Facts – Spider Webs

Did you know that ‘spider webs’ are what we call webs that are still being used, while ‘cob webs’ is the name for webs that are abandoned?

The silk that spiders use for their webs is amazing because it’s strong, elastic, and sticky.  Scientists are still trying to reproduce the properties of spider webs for human use!  A spider’s silk has as much tensile strength as steel!

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June Crafty Ideas by Craft Caravan

In the Country – July Kids Craft Club

Canada Flag Craft

American Flag Craft

Join in on July celebrations with crafts from the  Kids Craft ClubJuly is a time to celebrate from coast to coast!  Hot summer days and bright sunshine bring lots of excitement, with Canada celebrating Canada Day on July 1st, and the United States celebrating Independence day on July 4th!  July’s crafts are all about celebrations ‘In the Country’.  Make a cool pendant craft that you can wave around just like a flag, and then make a country-themed mobile to hang outside or indoors.  Getting crafty – a great way to join in with all of the festivities!   Subscribe to receive your package at the beginning of July!

Subscribe by July 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of July


Summer Project Package – Five Fun Crafts for your Kids!

Kids Craft Projects for Summer If you’re looking for some extra kids activities throughout the summer, our summer craft package is just what you need!  Loaded with craft supplies and project ideas, it’ll be easy to get crafty when you’re looking for something to do.  Limited Quantity, order here.

 


 

Crafty Idea – Salad Bowl or Herb Pot Teacher Gift

Put these salad bowls or herb pots together now so that they’ll grow into fine looking ‘bouquets’ over the next week!  A great way for your child to say thank you for their teacher’s support throughout the school year

Supplies: Lettuce or other leafy green food plants, or herbs such as cilantro, basil, or rosemary, popsicle sticks, markers, plant pot, soil, decorating supplies such as ribbons, paints, stickers, etc

Lettuce Bowl Craft

Herb Pot Craft

Directions:

  1. Start your planting project by decorating your pot:  if you have a terra cotta pot, you can paint it.  Other pots can be decorated with stickers, ribbons, crayons, or even sidewalk chalk
  2. Plant your seedlings, adding dirt so that the plant base is resting just below pot edge.  You will need to leave enough room for watering!
  3. Make a plant label using a popsicle stick and marker.  You can decorate your plant tag with stickers, paints, or other supplies
  4. Include a thank-you card for  your teacher so that she knows who her gift is from
  5. Remember to water your ‘bouquet’ and give it lots of sunshine until you are ready to deliver it to your teacher

 


Crafty Idea – ‘I Am Canadian’ Maple Leaf Frame

Canada Day is at the very beginning of July, so we’ve included this project in anticipation of the national celebration.  If you’re American, replace the Maple Leaf with a star from the Star Spangled Banner.

Supplies: red construction paper (or white, to make a star), scissors, glue, photo of child, newspapers or magazines, decorating supplies such as glitter, ribbons, paper shred, etc.

Maple Leaf Craft Directions:

  1. Cut maple leaf from red construction paper
  2. Search old newspapers or magazines for letters to spell the words ‘I Am Canadian’
  3. Glue photo of child into centre of maple leaf

4. Glue ‘I Am Canadian’ letters around photo
5. Decorate maple leaf with glitter, ribbons, etc


Five Minute Fun – Bugs at Work

The next time you’re on a walk or outside with the kids, make a point of watching some bugs hard at work.  Whether it’s ants, bees, slugs, or earthworms –  watching insects at work is a simple nature activity that you can do anywhere in the great outdoors!  It will likely spur on lots of questions and might even inspire an insect-inspired craft session!

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May Crafty Ideas by Craft Caravan

Summer Sunsets – June Kids Craft Club

Summer Sunsets Crafts Mark the first day of summer this June with two fun crafts from the Kids Craft Club!  Make a summer sunset picture with shades of pink, yellow and orange – add some black shadows to create a perfect sunset!  Then get ready for the ‘longest’ day of the year with a summer lantern craft.  Hang your lantern in your room or carry it with you to celebrate long summer days fast approaching!

 

Subscribe by May 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of June


Fundraising Fun!

Fundraise  with Card Making Kits If your child’s group or organization is looking for ways to raise funds, book a card-making-kit fundraiser with Craft Caravan!  A fundraiser that’s truly for the kids – raise funds and have fun!  Visit our website or contact us for more information.

Crafty Idea – Magestic Eagle Craft

Spotting an eagle is a rare and exciting occasion, so we were thrilled to have three separate sightings on Saturday.  Here’s a crafty idea drawn from our eagle sightings:

Supplies: toilet paper roll, 1 piece of facial tissue, elastic band, newsprint or cotton balls, brown, white, and yellow construction paper, googly eyes, glue, needle and thread (optional)

Toilet Roll Eagle Craft Directions:

  1. Scrunch newsprint into a ball (or bunch cotton balls) and place in centre of facial tissue to make eagle head.
  2. Position head at the end of toilet paper roll, and secure with elastic band.  Cut 2 wings out of brown construction paper: cut an arc that is longer than toilet paper roll to make top edge of wings.  Cut ‘feathers’ into bottom edge of wings.  Glue wings onto toilet roll.

3. Cut tail feathers out of white construction paper and glue onto toilet roll.  Cut beak from yellow paper, and glue   beak and eyes onto head.

4. Optional: Poke holes into eagle body at top edge of wings and just before the tail.  Loop string through and tie so that you can hang onto the string and make your eagle fly!


Simple Science – Colourful Flowers

My crafty kids noticed that the flowers they got me for Mother’s Day had turned the water pink!  I explained that some flowers are dyed to change their colour, and they wanted to try this at home.  Here’s how:

Mix 20-30 drops of food colouring into ~1 cup of water, and pour the mixture into a flower vase.  Using a white flower, cut the bottom tip of the stem off, and place the flower into the water container.  Let the flower sit and check back periodically to see if the colour has changed.  This can take a whole day!  The flower will slowly change colour as the water moves from stem to petals, showing how flowers ‘drink’ water from their base through to the flower tips.


Five Minute Fun – Dandelion Bouquet

Dandelion Bouquet No one really likes weeding, but collecting ‘wild flowers’ to make a bouquet is fun for everyone!  Enlist the kids to help with the weeding by collecting a dandelion bouquet!  The bouquet won’t last very long, but it looks pretty while fresh, and it guarantees that those nasty little seeds won’t be spreading!

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Crafty Ideas April 2010

Barnyard Babies – May Kids Craft Club

Lamb
 

Spring is full of new life, which means the barn yard will be full of wobbly legs and new little voices.  Use this month’s craft supplies to fashion your own baby barn yard animals – whether it be a calf, a lamb, or even a little foal, your pretend barn yard will soon be full of little animals learning to walk under the watchful eye of their proud owner – you! 

Subscribe by April 23rd to receive this craft package at the beginning of May

Just Arrived!  Our New Website!
 

  We’ve updated our website to make it easier for you to use, and we’re excited to know what you think!  Take a look at our new site here.  Leave us a comment, and also visit our new blog to stay connected with new crafts and activity ideas more regularly! (Note – we updated our newsletter format as well)

Some things we hope you’ll enjoy on the new website:

Crafty Idea – Twiggy Blossoms

Make a Twig blossom with tissue flowers!
Supplies: twig or branch (found on the ground), small tissue squares in pink or white, glue 

Directions:

  1. Make sure that the twig you’re using is dry
  2. Dab a drop of glue onto the twig. Pinch tissue together around the twig, gluing it together and scrunching to make it look like a blossom.
  3. If wrapping the tissue around the twig is too difficult, simply scrunch tissue and stick into the glue on the twig
  4. Repeat with tissue squares up and down the length of your twig branches so that your twig is now in full bloom
  5. Display in a vase or bottle

 

Crafty Idea – Name That Monster

If you met a monster with the same name as you, what would it look like?  Make your monster to find out!  Thanks to our Crafty Girl’s school teacher for this fun idea!

Supplies: construction paper or other paper, pencil crayons, crayons, or markers, decorating supplies such as googly eyes, pompoms, yarn, fabric pieces

Make a Monster from your name!
Directions:

  1. Fold your paper in half, lengthwise
  2. Print or write your name across the entire length of the paper, making sure that the folded edge is at the bottom of your name
  3. Cut the paper around the tops of the letters of your name
  4. Open the paper up, and turn it over so that your name is underneath.  Now you have your monster body (see photo)
  5. Decorate your monster by adding a face, colouring, and/or using decorating supplies.
  6. Just like you, every monster will be unique!

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Crafty Ideas March 2010

Springy Activity 

  Spring break is upon us, which means five fun-filled days of having the kids all to ourselves.  If you’re staying close to home during the break, you might want to have a few clever activities in your back pocket.  Here’s our list of ten fun things you can do with the kids at home!

Ten Springy Activities for Spring Break

Sprout Some Seeds
1. Sprout Some Seeds – fold 2 paper towels in half.  Moisten towels.  Place one on a lunch plate and sprinkle your seeds (such as snowpeas, beans, or squash) on top.  Place second moist towel on top of seeds, and move plate to a draft free location.  Keep towels damp by spraying with water when necessary.  Your seeds should sprout by the end of the week.  If you’ve chosen snowpeas, you can plant them directly in the ground once sprouted!
2.  Wash the windows – this may be work to us adults, but it’s child’s play to the kids!  Minimize the spills by giving them wet cloths and rewetting when necessary, instead of leaving them to their own devices with the water bucket!
Footprint Rainbow Craft 3.  Make rainbow footprints for a treasure hunt – trace footprints in all the colours of the rainbow.  Number them and take turns laying them out to lead to treasure!
4. Decorate a pot and plant something – a great way to play in the dirt without getting TOO dirty!  To decorate, consider markers, sidewalk chalk, stickers, sparkles, paints, etc.
 Count Some Coins 5. Roll some coins – kids love sorting, and the bigger ones can learn about coin value.  Plus, they’d be helping mommy and daddy with the finances!
 Thank You Card 6. Make and send a card – Grandma and Grandpa or that special relative or friend will be thrilled by an unexpected, handmade surprise in the mail!  Get the ball rolling with our selection of Card making Kits
 Orange Peel Bird Feeder 7. Make a bird feeder – we repurposed an orange peel into a feeder.  Simply scoop out half of an orange, let it dry slightly, poke some holes with a skewer, and fill with seed.  String the feeder up in your yard
  8. Build a fort – blankets and chairs and kids, oh my!
 Paint with a flower 9. Paint something unusual – water on tiles, diluted food colouring on bread, or WITH something unusual, such as spring flowers dabbed in paint, toy cars rolled through paint, or bubble wrap as a paint stamper
 10. Go on an ‘I Spy’ walk around the neighborhood – in search of new buds and spring flowers.  Take sketch books in case you feel inspired to draw what you see. 

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Crafty Ideas February 2010

Winter Games Crafts

The Olympic torch is quickly making its way to Vancouver now, and we’ll soon be watching our country go for gold!  Do some sports or
medal crafts with the kids, or be inspired by the Olympic logos and mascots.  Here are some ideas to get you started:

Mascot Puppet:

Go to the Olympic website to find out which mascot is most like you, and then make your favourite one!  We recreated our favourite
sasquatch with an easy paper bag project:

Sasquatch puppet
Supplies: 2 brown paper bags, cream paper, white paper, blue felt, scissors, glue, crayon or marker

  1. Cut the bottom of the paper bag off, zig zagging your cuts to resemble tufts of hair
  2. Use the scrap from the bottom to make a jagged tuft of hair.  Glue onto top of bag
  3. Cut a heart shaped face from cream paper.  Glue onto top of bag.  Use marker or crayon to make face
  4. Cut arms from 2nd paper bag and glue onto your puppet.  Make hands out of cream paper and glue onto arms
  5. Cut ear muffs from blue felt.  Cut ear muff band from white paper.  Glue into place

Inukshuk Paintings

Thanks to Melanie for her craft ideas and photos!  Her family did Inukshuks two ways – with black paper and with handprints. 

Handprint Inukshuk

Inukshuk1
Supplies: white paper, tempura paint (red, yellow, green, light and dark blue), red construction paper, marker.

  1. Dip the sides of your fists into red and yellow paint to and stamp the legs of the Inukshuk.
    Wash and then repeat with light blue (body), dark blue (arms – stretch out hand and use the side of
    whole hand), fist for the green head.  
  2. Dry, cut out, paste onto red construction paper, print 2010 on the top, and GO CANADA on the bottom.

Sunset Inukshuk

Inukshuk2
Supplies: white paper, tempura paint (red, yellow, orange, green, blue), pastels (optional), black construction
paper, scissors.

  1. Draw wavy lines using coloured pastels or crayons across white paper about 3-4cm apart.  
  2. Fill in white spaces using tempura paints (use blue greens on the bottom half, and red/yellow/oranges
    on the top half)  let dry
  3. Using black paper and scissors, cut out 5 shapes to form your own inukshuk.  It can have 2 legs,
    a body, head, and a long piece for the arms, or try some other combination of stacking
  4. Glue onto coloured background

Recommended Reading

Thanks to Portia from Once Upon A Huckleberry Bush for her Olympic reading recommendations! 

 

Outstanding Olympics

Outstanding Olympics

By Clive Gifford

The Olympic Games is the greatest sports celebration in the world. This colorful book offers
all the information you need about the world’s top athletes, their amazing achievements and
the rivalries and competition among nations. The perfect companion to our own hosting of
the games – and way beyond!

Olympic Mascots

Miga, Quatchi and/et Sumi

This is the lovable story of the mascots Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and their sidekick Mukmuk unfolds on the
magical landscape of Canada’s West Coast.

Written in both English and French, learn the legends behind these now famous characters as they introduce
the world to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

Read More