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