Sun Handprint Craft

Bring a little sunshine into your home with this super easy sun handprint craft for summer! And as it involves some painting, some tracing, some cutting and some sticking, it proves a particularly popular craft for kids!

You will need:

Paper plate
Yellow paint
Black marker
Yellow, orange and gold construction paper
Scissors
Glue

Instructions:

Start by painting the paper plate and leave to dry.

In the meantime, trace around your child's hand onto the three colours of construction paper. You will need about 12 handprints. A mixture of colours looks great but you could just use yellow if you prefer. Cut out the handprints.

Use the black marker to draw a cheerful face on your sun. If you are using a permanent marker, you should supervise this bit carefully!

Now turn the sun over and stick the handprints around the edge to form the rays.

Gingerbread Playdough                                                                        

1 cup flour                                                                                                              
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tsp. veg. oil
lots of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, whatever!
(the recipe called for food coloring, red and green to make brown, but I didn't need any after I threw in my spices.)

DIRECTIONS:
Mix the dry ingredients. Play with the spices till you get the scent you want and the color. Mix water and oil together first and THEN add them to the dry ingrediants and stir. In a pot, cook the mixture for two to three minutes, stirring frequently. The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pan and clump together. Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes soft and smooth. Allow to cool and store in an air tight container. ENJOY!!

 

Fan-Tastic Snowflakes

Punch a bunch of these simple paper snowflakes, then hang them from your ceiling or fireplace mantel. For a truly frosted-looking flake, use parchment paper or vellum.

Materials

• 8 1/2 by 11-inch sheet of paper
• Stapler
• Scissors or pinking shears

• Hole punch
• Clear tape

Instructions

1. Fold the paper lengthwise and cut it in half.

2. Starting at one short end, fanfold the paper in 1/2-inch folds. Staple the fan in the middle.

3. Use scissors or pinking shears to trim both ends, then hole-punch a design into the fan?s folds. When you are finished, unfold the fan to create a circle and tape the edges together to secure it.

 

Your kids can make these adorable ladybugs as shelf decorations, or make a large one as to be used on Mom’s desk as a paperweight. While the average ladybug is red, ours come in several vibrant colors. Let your kids pick their favorite!

What you'll need:

How to make it:

1. Completely wash and dry all rocks.
2. Paint rocks in desired colors, allow to dry. Apply second and third coats if needed. Lighter colors will require more coats than darker shades.
3. Paint head on using black acrylic craft paint. There is no pattern needed, simply paint about ¼ of the rock black in the “front”.
4. Use a black Sharpie to draw a straight line down the center of the rock, starting at the center of the base of the “head”.
5. Dip the end of a large paint brush, or the eraser of a pencil, in black craft paint. Dot on the spots, reloading with paint after every dot.
6. Once the paint is dry, spray the rock(s) with acrylic sealer spray. Allow sealer to dry completely.
7. using white craft glue, attach wiggle eyes and let dry.

Tips:

• If you are doing this in a group setting such as scouts or a classroom, you may find it easier to prepare the rocks ahead of time. Wash, dry and apply a coat of Liquitex Basics Gesso to each rock. This is a craft medium (white) that works well with many projects. It will also create a base so that less coats of color paint will be required.
• Bigger rocks are easier for small hands to manipulate. They are also heavier, so be sure that there are enough adult helpers for a group of little ones.
• White and black paint can be used instead of wiggle eyes. Simply dot on white paint, allow to dry, then use a smaller tool to dot on the black.