Kids Activities - Christmas Stocking Decorations

These Christmas stocking decorations are fun for kids to make and decorate and pretty to hang on the tree. And of course you can slip a small present inside, too!

 

 What You  need:

1. Red felt
2. Needle and thread
3. Sequins, buttons and other decoration
4. Fabric glue
5. Ribbon

Instructions:

Fold the felt in half and cut two stockings out. Use blanket stitch or a small running stitch to sew the stockings together, leaving the top edge open.

Cut a length of ribbon and fold in half to make a loop and sew or glue  inside the stocking. Decorate with buttons, glitter, felt shapes, sequins, beads -  however 

you like.

 

 

Hang on the Christmas tree filled with candy canes and other goodies.

Kids Activities : Cup And Ball Santa Craft

Made using simple craft cupboard materials, this delightful Santa Christmas craft is sure to delight kids of all ages!

What You Need:

1. Polystyrene ball
2. Paper cup
3. Pink paint
4. Red paint
5. Red and white felt
6. Small red pompom
7. White pompom
8. Wiggle eyes
9. Red, black and pink craft foam
10. Pink pen
11. Glue

Instructions:
Paint the ball pink and the cup red and leave to dry.Glue the ball to the bottom of the cup.

Cut two arms from red foam and two hands from pink. Glue one hand to the end of each arm and the other ends of the arms to the body.

Cut a strip of black foam and glue it around the middle of the cup as a belt.
Make a hat by rolling some fed felt into a cone. Glue the edge of the cone and glue the hat to the top of the ball. Cut a band of white felt and glue it around the edge of the hat. Add a pompom at the end of the hat.

Cut a beard from white felt and glue to the front of the face. Add a red pompom nose.

Finally, add two eyes and draw on a mouth.

Kids Activities - Tin Can Telephone

Take two tin cans, some felt, glue and string and you can create this craft from days gone by. We experimented with the age-old toy, the tin can telephone. We wondered if covering them in felt would make the voices harder to hear. After experimenting, we’ve discovered that it didn’t make a big difference, and makes them look much better! 

 What You Need:

• 2 empty aluminum cans
• 1 large nail
• hammer
• 2 small washers (or nuts)
• cotton string
• scissors
• felt, colors of your choice
• instant grab glue

 

What You Do:

1. Using nail and hammer poke a hole in the bottom of each can.


2. Thread string through the hole in the can. Tie ends of string around the washers. This will keep the string from coming back through the hole.


3. Cover cans in felt using instant grab glue. Trim the excess from the top of the can, leaving about ½” to fold inside the can. This will protect mouths and ears from any sharp edges on the cans.


4. Decorate the outside with strips of different colored felt.

Tip: If you don’t have washers, wrap the end of the string around a small rock and secure it with glue.

Kids Activities - Rock Bees

Here are instructions on how to make bees using rocks, paint and wire. While bees usually aren’t welcome guests, these cute little critters will receive warm smiles! Make these adorable bees to decorate your room, camp dresser, or mess hall table. 

What You Need:

• Small, smooth rocks
• Acrylic paint: black, yellow, white
• Craft wire
• Scissors
• Instant grab fast drying glue
• Pony bead (just for propping purposes)
• Paintbrush
• Toothpick

 


What You Do:

1. Paint rocks yellow. Depending on your paint, you may need several coats to cover the rock. Let dry.

2. Paint 2 black stripes across the back of the rocks. Let dry.

3. Use the handle end of a paintbrush to dot on white paint for the eyes. Let dry, then use a toothpick to add black to the whites of the eyes.
 
4. Wrap craft wire around the tip of your pointing finger. Repeat for another loop right next to the first. Trim off the excess wire.

5. Put a generous strip of instant grab glue across the back of the rock, place the craft wire wings into the glue. Place a pony bead behind the wings (make sure it doesn’t touch the glue!) to prop them up and allow them to dry completely.

Optional: instead of craft wire, you can simply cut wings from black craft foam or felt and glue them on.

Kids Activities - Water Bottle Flowers

Use discarded water bottles to make fun and funky flowers. Millions of water bottles end up in landfills each year. Instead of tossing your water bottles, turn them into a work of art!

 


What You Need:

• Plastic single serve water bottle with lid
• White craft glue
• Scissors
• Sand or soil
• Pebbles or rocks
• Drinking straw or twig 

 





 What You Do:

1. Remove labels and lids, but don’t throw them away. We will be using the entire water bottle! If your water bottle does not have a label, have a bit of scrap paper nearby to use instead.


2. Cut the water bottle in half, put the bottle half aside. Cut slits, about an inch or so wide, in the top half of the bottle. You should end up with 8 “petals”. Bend the petals outward.


3. Put the lid on the bottle top. Squeeze some white glue into the lid and insert the straw or twig into the glue. Next, wad up the bottle wrapper and surround the straw with it, to help give the straw stability.


4. Put some sand or soil into the bottom half of the water bottle, about 1.5 – 2 inches in depth. Pack it down a bit and insert the bottom end of the straw into it. Add pebbles or stones on top of the sand to help stabilize the straw (stem).

Optional: If you like, cut strips of fabric to decorate the flower petals and the flowerpot. You can also round the petals by trimming the ends with scissors.

Kids Activities - MILK CARTON BIRD HOUSE

A lovely one-season birdhouse made from recycled household materials.

 What You Need:

• Milk carton
• Stapler and staples
• Masking tape
• A soft cloth, rag or chamois
• Brown paint (acrylic is best) watered down
• Scissors or a knife (and adult assistance)
• Twine

 


What You Do:
 

1.   Clean and dry the milk carton thoroughly. 
 

2.   Staple the top of the carton shut. 

 
3.   Tear off small pieces of masking tape and cover the entire carton with the pieces of tape. 

 
4.   Using a soft cloth, rub brown paint all over the tape-covered carton. This will give the carton a rough, bark-like finish. 

 
5.   Cut a hole (WITH ADULT ASSISTANCE) about 4" above the bottom of the carton. The hole should be approximately 1" to 1 1/2" in diameter. This hole is for the birds to get in and out of the house. 

 
6.   Poke a few drainage holes in the bottom of the carton and two ventilation holes in the top of the carton. 

 
7.   Poke a hole through the top of the feeder, string a piece of twine through the hole and hang your feeder on a tree.

Kids Activities - Acron Mobile

Kids can make this fun decoration for a camp cabin, or as a souvenir to take home after camp. Make this fun decoration for your camp cabin, or as a souvenir to take home after camp.

What You Need:

• 2 sturdy twigs
• 14 acorn tops
• 7 pennies or washers
• Twine
• Hot glue gun or instant grab glue
• Scissors

 

What You Do:

1. Without cutting the twine, tie a loop around the center of one of the twigs. With the long piece remaining, tie to the center of the second twig then trim off the excess.

1. Tie twine around the end of the top twig. Once tied, then cut to the desired length. Doing it this way will reduce any waste that might occur from cutting pieces too short accidentally and finding out after you’ve tied them on. Continue this process until you have four pieces on the top twig and three on the bottom.


2. Add a layer of glue to a penny and press an acorn top to the glue. Grab the acorn top and turn it upside down, exposing the penny on the other side.


3. Add glue to the exposed penny, then lay one of the pieces of twine into the glue and press a second acorn top onto the exposed penny and twine. This will sandwich them together.


4. When finished, trim any excess twine and dot some glue around all the knots of twine.
5. Hang!

Tip: You can use instant grab glue for this project, however it will take longer for the glue to grab. A hot glue gun should be used with adult supervision.

Kids Activities - The Very Hungry Caterpillar handprint art

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, are the perfect inspiration for some good old-fashioned handprint art. How many other things from the book can you make with your handprints?

Materials:

• A2 sheet of cardboard or paper
• Paints
• Paintbrushes
• A4 sheet of orange construction paper
• Craft glue
• A large bucket of soapy water (for cleaning up)
• An old towel (same as above)

Instructions:

1. Start by reading the picture book with your child. 
2. Now create your own Very Hungry Caterpillar using just handprints.
3. Find an area outside or lay down lots of sheets of newspaper or a drop sheet before you begin. This gets messy! 
4. The best way to make handprints is to paint the palms of your hands and then press your handprints onto the paper. 
5. For the caterpillar's body, paint your palm green and your fingers blue (his legs).
6. Make four handprints in a row for the body. Paint in a red head and give him a face. Use your pointer finger dipped in black paint to make two antennae.
7. Now add some things to your scene. We added a sun (handprints rotated around in a circle) and a butterfly, made using three handprints for each wing and a body cut out of construction paper and stuck in the centre.

Kids Activities - Make a rainbow wind spinner

Teach your kids about the importance of recycling by reusing some stuff from your recycling bin. This cheerful rainbow wind spinner is made out of a recycled plastic bottle and is an easy craft activity for kids.

Materials:

• Recycled plastic soft drink bottle (with a plastic lid)
• Rolls of electrical tape (green, blue, red, yellow)
• Small stanley knife
• Brass barrel swivel ( a fishing accessory found in the fishing section of K-mart)
• String
• Paperclip

Instructions:

1. First take the label off your recycled bottle.
2. Now, where the label was, you are going to make the bottle look pretty by placing stripes of electrical tape in different colours around the centre of it. About six to seven layers of tape should do it.
3. Next you are going to make vertical slits at 2cm in the area that is covered by the electrical tape. Measure out 2cm intervals as a guide and then use a stanley knife to make the slits. (Kids you should get Mum or Dad or an older sibling to do this.) When using a stanley knife always make sure your hand is not in the 'line of fire' -  don't put your hand in the direction you are cutting. Always cut away from your supporting hand.
4. Now that you have your vertical slits, push the top of the bottle down to make the strips flare out. When they do, pinch each strip across the middle to make a fold
5. Next you have to angle the strips at the top and bottom so that they will catch the wind. Do this by making 45 degree folds ot the right at the top and bottom of each strip.
6. Now get the bottle top.  You are going to make a hole in the top of it. To do this you can either:heat the paper clip or a kitchen skewer so that it melts through the plastic to make the hole use a small hand drill hammer a nail through it
7. Unfold the paper clip so it's a straight piece of wire. Thread it through one eyelet of your swivel. Fold it over and twist the two ends together. Now thread them through the hole in the top of the bottle lid and fan them out so it stays in place.
8. Tie string to the other end.
9. Put the lid on the bottle.
10. Hang your spinner from a tree outside and watch it spin in the wind!

Kids Activities : 3-D standing Christmas star

Create a 3D standing Christmas star with this art and craft kids activity. Kids will love how simple this project is and how beautiful the result. You can hang it on your tree or place it on your table for all to admire!

Materials:

• Printer (optional)
• Plain paper
• Stiff paper or craft board
• Christmas wrapping paper
• Scissors and/or craft knife
• Glue
• Pencil

Instructions

1. Draw a star onto a regular piece of paper.
2. Cut out your paper star - this will be your template. (Note: a 5-point star works best for this project.
3. Trace around your template star with a pencil onto a piece of craft board, to create two identical stars. hen cut out your stars.
4. Now use your paper star template again to create four more identical stars with some pretty Christmas wrapping paper.
5. Glue your four wrapping paper stars on to your two craft board stars. You need to cover both sides of each of your craft board stars.
6. Once the glue dries, make a slit in each of your two covered craft board stars. In one star the slit starts from an inner corner and goes to the centre point of the star.
7. In the other star, start your slit from an outer point, and cut to the centre point of the star.
8. Slip the two stars together through the slits you just cut.
9. You may need to place some tape at the centre for stability.
10. Stand your star on a table, or attach a string to use as a pretty 3D tree ornament.

 

Kids Activities - Halloween Witch Hats

 

Cute craft for kids to enjoy the spooky night. 

Materials:

• paper plate
• piece of construction paper
• scissors
• tape
• paint (black)
• string (elastic)
• sequins, stickers, ribbons, etc. (optional)

Instructions

1. 

•  Roll your paper into a cone shape and tape it shut. This is the top of your hat.
• Make pie-shaped cuts in the center circle of your paper plate, which will become the brim of the hat.
• Fold the triangular sections upward and tape them to the inside of the bottom of the cone. Now the shape of the hat should be finished.
• Paint the hats black and decorate as much as your child desires.
• Cut the string so that it's long enough to fit your child’s face from ear to ear, under the chin. Tape the ends of the string to the opposite sides of the hat (the outer rim of the paper plate) to make the hats wearable