Rainbows, butterflies, bunnies, flowers, and ladybugs are starting to pop up everywhere. If you’re looking forward to spring, this might be a great time to pick up some inexpensive supplies and enjoy a family craft project. Here are some ideas to get you started.
When is the last time your kids tried printing? All it takes is some paint, a shallow paint container like a paper plate, and various items you find around the house. These cute Gift Bow Flowers are super easy: just dip the bow (sticker side up) in paint and press it on your paper. Add a green stem and you have a bouquet! Other things that are fun to print: celery (believe it or not, if you cut a bunch straight across, it makes a “flower-like” shape), the ever-popular fingerprints or handprints, and even random items from the junk drawer! Here’s where you can find the Gift Bow Flower craft. Also in this article: handprint bees, dot marker butterflies, and fingerprint flowers.
Tissue paper can be used in many ways for kids’ crafts. You can tear it, cut it, crumple it, fold it or make it into little balls. Layer different colors. Turn squares of tissue into fluffy artwork! How? Squash a square of tissue paper over the eraser end of a pencil, then dip the paper (still on the pencil) in school glue. Press the gluey paper onto a shape: maybe a paper plate, or some construction paper. Now do it again and again. It will take patience and lots of little squares, but you’ll have a fluffy, colorful picture when you’re done! Here’s another idea: suncatchers are easy to make with tissue shapes. Cut a shape from waxed paper or clear “Contact” paper and attach tissue scraps. Cover with another clear sheet and hang it in the window! Here are some more spring-themed ideas, several using tissue.
Yarn can be the start of lots of craft projects. Here’s one that will develop kids’ small motor skills AND make a pretty decoration. Yarn Wrapped Tulips only require three items: brightly colored yarn, cardboard for the shape you’d like to wrap, and popsicle sticks for flower stems. A couple of useful tools would be scissors and glue. A parent will probably need to cut the cardboard shape and make a small slit or two to anchor the yarn. Then hand it to the kids and let them wrap – up and down, side to side, diagonal, or every which way. If you don’t like the color of the cardboard showing through, you can have the kids color the flower shape before adding the yarn. When they’re done, glue the popsicle stick stem to add a final pretty touch and show them off in a vase!
And then there are coffee filters, those lovely lightweight crinkled papers that allow kids to create interesting colors by mixing watery or diluted paint and using gravity to let it seep through the paper. Coffee filters can be used to make pretty butterflies, but they can also be used in lots of other ways: suncatchers, flowers, “dancers,” and much more! Here is an article that will give you ideas for various seasons of the year.
Enjoy springtime!