Showing posts with label easy kids craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easy kids craft. Show all posts

17.10.19

Egg carton Mice

egg carton mice kids crafts easy crafts


WHO ate all the CHEESE??!

These little egg carton mice are having a lovely time, and when the kids have finished playing with them, they can be packed away inside the big cheese for next time.

You will need:
2 Egg cartons
Pencil
Scissors
Plain paper
Paint
Glue/glue stick
Black marker or gel pen
Yarn (for tail)

1. First, roughly cut out the middle cones from the carton, so they're easier to work with.




2. Use a pencil to lightly draw a line around the bottom of the cone, just above the bumpy cardboard join (for guidance, so doesn't matter if the line is a bit wobbly!) 
Cut up to the line at an angle, and then along it, so the edge is even and the cone sits flat.  Trim if you need to. Make some smaller mice bodies too.

3. Next, you want to make them sit forward a little. So, draw a pencil cline straight across one side, about 1cm up from the bottom.


4. Then draw a diagonal line from each end of the pencil line, down the sides to the corner. 


Cut along the pencil line. You will end up with a more mouselike body.




5. For the ears, simply use a paper heart! Fold a piece of plain paper over, and draw half a heart on the fold (keep in mind the size of your mouse, so you don't make the ears too big).


6. Cut the heart out, snipping the middle a little lower than you would normally, open up and glue on the back of the head near the top (the longest side of the cone)






7. You could paint the body and ears separately before sticking together, but we went for an all over body paint - just need to make sure not to overload the brush with paint, or the ears will get too soggy.


8. Once dry, paint on some pink..

... then use a black pen to draw eyes, a nose and whiskers. Try to draw the eyes up close to the base of the ears, on the flattish top part of the cone, and the nose and whiskers right underneath the eyes.



9. For the tail, snip a slot at the back of your mouse, cut a few cms of yarn and slot into place.




10. For the big cheese, remove the middle cones from inside the second carton by squeezing and cutting straight across each one. Snip them off as near to the base as you can - so there'll be more room inside for your mice!

Make holes in the carton lid with small sharp scissors, like nail scissors (keep closed, press down and twist from side to side) This needs to be done by an adult. Cut different sized holes, then let little ones loose with the yellow paint!

11. We folded a piece of kitchen paper inside our cheese, so they didn't fall through the holes.
And they've got something nice and soft to sleep on too... of course..










14.10.19

Simple shape potato printing for Halloween!

potato printing


I'm LOVING potato printing! And there's so much you can do with simple shapes. Perfect for pictures, decorations and cards, and fun for all ages. The theme here is Halloween, but I'll definitely be trying out some other ideas in the run up to Christmas.

Triangles pop up a fair bit! For the witch, cut a potato in half.  Slice a sliver off the bottom of your potato half, so it sits flat and is easier to work with.



Either use a ruler and pen and draw on a triangle, and then score using the ruler and a sharp pencil, or score straightaway. 




Start with the base line of the triangle and take it right to the edges. Roughly mark the midpoint of the base line at the top of the potato, and score lines up to this mark. 



Use a piece of kitchen roll to wipe away potato bits and moisture. 

For the witch's face, score a line across the triangle, a few cms from the tip and another just below it.



We found the easiest thing to do next was to cut the triangle out on the score lines. 



TIP: (To be done by an adult) Cut two wedges away, either side, at back, leaving a ridge of potato to hold onto. A sort of potato handle! Easier for little hands.



For this print we brushed on the paint so we could make her face green. Don't use too much paint or it will squidge around the edges.







When the paint is dry use a black pen to add a wicked witchy face, hair and a brim for her hat.

We used the side of a piece of coffee stirrer and a mix of yellow and orange paint to print on a broomstick.

The ghost also starts off as a triangle too. Draw and score as before. This time I used a sharp knife to cut away slivers up to the score line, to define the triangle (to be done by an adult) - though you could completely cut away the sides again, like we did with the witch.

Once the triangle is defined, draw and score a line to round off the top of the triangle, then slice up to the score line. Draw and score a zigzag along the bottom and slice across the potato, up to the score line again.




As it's one colour printing, you could make your own stamp pad. 

Soak a piece of thin, damp kitchen sponge in some white paint. We put ours in a small recycled clear plastic pot, (think it had been a humous pot!) then you can pop the lid back on to stop the paint drying out too fast. But when you've finished printing, let the sponge air dry (it could eventually get mouldy if it stays wet) and just wet with water and add more paint when you want to use again.

Or you could brush on a layer of paint.

Print on coloured paper or paint a black background first, and let it dry.



When your ghosts are dry, use a black pen to draw on a hauntingly spooky face.


For the pumpkin, the shape is there already! You can either carve a face or simply print the round shape and add a face when the paint is dry.

We cut out small triangles for eyes and a nose, and a semi circle for the mouth.





The bat is made from two small triangle shapes. First, draw and score a thin triangle, curve the base inwards to define the bat's ears, and slice slivers away around the sides, or cut out completely, like the witch.




The second triangle should be a similar size, but wider - use the curved edge of your potato for one of the sides.



Print the narrow triangle first, tip pointing down, this is your bat's body.

Use the other triangle for the wings - print two either side, overlapping them and make sure the curved edge is at the top.





Dot on some yellow paint for eyes and when dry, add a black centre with the pen.



Happy Halloween!







31.10.15

Leaf Art and a gift idea


More often than not a little collection of things finds its way home in a pocket after a walk. And there are rich pickings at the moment - conkers, pine cones, acorns and stacks of colourful autumn leaves. 
Leaves are great for simple craft projects - just don't forget to press them quickly, before they start curling and crinkling up. 

This is when I miss the old telephone directories, because they were perfect for the job. Still, a large book works fine. Put a few leaves between pages and weigh down with some other heavy books for a couple of days, until you’re ready to use them.

But what to do with your leaves? A few years ago we made bookmarks which worked brilliantly - they were useful, looked pretty good and made perfect presents. 




The thing is, just about everyone we know in the whole wide world has been given one. 

Time for something new...



..so, this is the other idea - a leaf art/collage notebook.

Make sure you’ve got a good selection of leaves - colours, sizes, shapes.

I got the plain notepads from Asda. Only 45p. They’re spiral-bound ones, but any kind would do. If there’s some writing on the front, cover with a piece of white paper cut to size (glue down with a glue stick)


Arrange your leaf design first, and when you’re happy, start sticking. We found it was best to brush a thin layer of craft glue on the back of the leaves. Lots of inspiration online or try with your own pattern.

Then cut some clear sticky back plastic - you'll only need a piece to cover the front, with a cm or so extra to fold round the 3 edges.  



Start at the bound side, peeling a little of the backing paper off at a time, and smoothing out air bubbles and any wrinkles as you go. 




Then wrap the extra sticky back plastic neatly over the edges.





Quick workshop update - it was such a full on day, with 3 sessions fairly close together and more kids than expected! And even though I wished I'd brought something like a hair dryer because it was too cold for the paint to dry quickly, and what I planned to fit into the hour was massively overambitious, everyone seemed to enjoy it - lots of impressive making anyway! For me it was just lovely seeing the animals come to life and watching the kids come up with their own ideas about how their lions/penguins/giraffes should look. Sure that's what it's all about.

I'm kicking myself I didn't take more photos - there are a few here, on the MYOZ Facebook page - I'll definitely take more at the Hay workshop at the end of November. And now I've had a bit of practice and learnt a few lessons, I'm feeling much more confident about that one!


26.6.14

Flamingos flock to the Zoo

I haven't rolled up to the zoo for a while, so, time I think for a bit of pink! Bring on the flamingos!



As well as an egg box, you'll need:
ice-cream carton lid
orange pipe cleaner (20cm/8" long)
2 pink feathers
green, yellow and blue paper (or plain paper to paint)
PVA craft glue
glue stick
sticky tape
pink paint (red and white)
craft scissors
nail scissors
small ball of plasticine
black felt tip pen

We had a bit of a pipe cleaner quandary, because (as we found out) flamingos have pink legs - but the pink pipe cleaner didn't look quite right with the pink paint we used, so we opted for orange instead.


1. Cut out an egg cup for the body and push the bottom of the cup up with your thumbs to make it more dome-shaped. Paint pink, plus both sides of part of the egg box lid, for the head and neck (pull off any label - doesn't need to be a big piece)

2. Draw your flamingo's head and neck - sort of like an S shape - wider and straighter where it joins the body (but make sure this bit is no bigger than the height of your egg cup body) and long enough here so there's enough to push through a slot. (See picture below)

3. Make this vertical slot in the middle of one side. Draw a pencil line where you want it - put a ball of plasticine behind, so there's something to push against.
Use the nail scissors to make a hole on the line (keep them closed, press down and twist slightly from side to side). Once you've made the hole cut along the line, making sure it's the right size for the bottom of the neck. Wiggle the scissors in and out of the slot to make it easier to push the neck into place.
Leave out for now though, while you finish the body.


4. Fold the pipe cleaner in half and attach under the egg cup body with sticky tape.

5. Glue on two feathers either side of the body, and draw eyes and a beak with a fine black pen before slotting the head back in.


6. For the watery setting, take some blue paper, draw around the lid, cut out, then press this bit of paper into the edges of the lid top, before cutting along your creased line (see first pic) - this helps get a good fit.

7. For younger makers or if you'd like to simplify your watery scene, glue the blue paper to the lid now and jump to step 11, OR, if you want more detail, leave the blue piece to one side and cut a sandy yellow piece to fit the lid in the same way as you've just done for the blue water. Glue the yellow piece in place on the lid (a glue stick is great for this)

8. About two thirds of the way along your blue piece, cut a wavy line. We drew around this wavy line on some pale blue paper (see second pic -white paper would be great too). Make a few waves if you like, about a cm or so wide. Or you could paint waves on instead.


9. Before sticking the water down, cut a 4cm (11/2in.) strip of green paper, long enough to go around one end of the lid. Draw a pencil line along the strip, about a cm from the bottom edge and fold along the line. Cut a zigzag fringe of grass along the wider top part, up to the fold. It looks good if the grass is uneven and different heights. Add a few yellow rush grass tops if you want, with snips of yellow paper or yellow paint.

10. Make a few snips below the fold, this will make it easier to press the grass around one end of the lid, especially in the corners (pic 4). Glue the grass in place then  glue the water and waves on top. Add a few cut out circles where you want your flamingo to stand, giving a kind of ripple effect. (Or paint them on)

11. Poke a hole through the middle of the ripple circles with the nail scissors (best done by an adult as the plastic is tough). Keep the hole small or your flamingo will wobble.

Bend the pipe cleaner over when you're happy with the leg length and sellotape underneath. Cut the other leg so it's a similar length and fold the very end of the sharp tip over. Strike a flamingo pose!



Many more projects like this in my craft books, 'Make Your Own Zoo' and 'Make Your Own Farm Animals'