Category: Arts & Crafts

Acorn Animal Craft Challenge

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Travis’s craft challenge from Highlights this month was to make little animals using nothing more than acorns, wiggle eyes, and paint.

We collected a whole bunch of acorns (about 20) from oak trees nearby, which was no easy feat in 10 degree weather!

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Inside, I asked him what colors he wanted to paint, thinking about what animals he might end up with. He opted for gray, so we mixed black and white together. Because he didn’t want to get his fingers messy on the small acorns, I held them while he painted.

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For variety, we made a few pink acorns as well.

Once the paint dried, we glued together a few simple creatures. The stems on the acorn caps made us think of curly pig tails, so two pinkish acorns were glued together as pigs. Travis glued on the googly eyes, although the large size of the eyes made it hard for them to stick while the glue dried.

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The gray acorns made us think of little owls, who also received eyes.

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If Travis were older, I would have encouraged him to paint on little feathers, but I knew that sort of fine detail was too much for him. In sum, a cute project but not our favorite craft challenge to date.

Tic-Tac-Doughnut

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Here’s a crafty spin on tic-tac-toe, with quite a few twists! The game was just the thing to keep us busy on a cold morning inside.

To make the playing board, cover the non-magnet side of magnetic paper (available at craft stores) with colored tape; cut the paper into strips, making 4 pieces total.

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To make the “doughnuts”, cut 10 circles from brown craft form and cut out the centers. Decorate with puffy paint as frosting!

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This was definitely Travis’s favorite part, getting into the idea that he was an icer at a bakery. We got creative and decorated all 10 differently, but for more accuracy, you might want to decorate 5 with one pattern and 5 with another. We just had to remember whose playing piece was whose!

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Let the puffy paint dry completely (this might take a while, if your kids were enthusiastic with their blobs of paint!). Attach a strip of the magnetic paper to the back of each doughnut.

To play the game, attach the colored magnet strips to a baking sheet as the board.

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Start tossing doughnuts onto the sheet.

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The first player with 3 in a row wins! Hmm, there might have been a little cheating and reorienting going on, but Travis loved the challenge.

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Prefer your tic-tac-toe a little more traditional? Check out a few versions we’ve made in the past!

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High Chair Painting

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I’ve loved my first forays into making art with Veronika, and today I dared to give her real paint for the first time, meaning it wasn’t sealed up or homemade. The verdict? She did not eat any! In fact, there wasn’t much of a mess at all.

For this age, though, I do recommend strapping baby into a highchair before pulling out the paints, resulting in the safest, least messy location. You can cover the floor below with newspaper if desired, and tape down the paper to the high chair.

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I started this way, using a few blobs of store-bought finger paint. But this time I gave her paintbrushes, and showed her how to dab into the blobs and swish it around. She looked so proud to hold the brush!

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After a few strokes, though, she preferred to pick at the masking tape. Hmm…

Thinking quickly, I gave her a fresh sheet of paper with no tape, and just held onto it firmly.

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Now, Veronika loved it. The serious look on her face was her way of really processing how it worked to smoosh down the bristles and see new paint appear.

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She kept at it for quite some time.

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You’re an artist, Veronika!

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A proud first paintbrush painting!

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Aluminum Foil Art

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Aluminum Foil Painting (7)Something as simple as switching up the canvas can make an everyday activity like painting feel new again! Recent shiny mirror play prompted me to have Travis paint not on paper but on… foil!

I put the foil against a sturdy cardboard backing, and used snack bag clips to hold it securely.

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At first I thought he might want to use permanent markers on the foil. These made not only vibrant colors, but also fun texture where it indents the foil slightly.

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He was instantly designing a Star Wars ship (of course), but quickly decided to move on to paints.

I mixed tempera paint colors with a couple drops of dish soap in each (which supposedly helps it adhere to the foil better).

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Now he was off and running!

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He mixed colors, made fun designs, and wasn’t content until the whole surface of the foil was finished.

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What novel canvas has your child used for art? Please share in the comments!

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Tape Resist Letters with Homemade Edible Finger Paint

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It was Daylight Savings today, and parents know what that means: an extra-long day where the kids wake up extra-early. Here’s just the right kind of messy project to help fill those extra hours… Daylight savings or any day the kids are up early!

I knew I wanted a messy art project for Veronika, but she’s still too little for paint since those little fingers go right to little mouth. This homemade finger paint recipe was perfect. After breakfast, I made the following:

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Combine 2 and 3/4 cups water in a saucepan with 1/2 cup cornstarch. Bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, dissolve 1 packet of vegan jel dessert (such as Simply Delish) in 1/4 cup cold water. I used the orange flavor, meaning our paint would be nice and sweet, but unflavored is fine!

Once boiling, remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the jel mixture. Let cool completely.

Transfer to plastic cups and add food coloring if desired for other colors. Since the finger paint was naturally yellow, I added a few drops of red for some orange cups and a few drops of blue for some green ones.

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Next, I added masking tape to a few pieces of construction paper for the tape resist portion of the project. A big V for Veronika seemed just right, and we made a T for Travis, too. Give the paper to your little one and add a few big blobs of paint.

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Veronika was more hesitant than I would have thought to get her fingers in there at first! I showed her how to smear the paint all over the paper, mixing and mushing the colors.

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I moved her down to the floor at one point, thinking she might want to get messier with lots of paint and paper spread out, but even then, she was a touch hesitant.

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No matter what, your paper will be very wet once completed, and will probably take all day to dry; I know ours did!

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Once the “paint” dried, I peeled off the masking tape for the big reveal.

You could also do this activity with more complicated patterns or pictures, simply applying the masking tape in whatever design you like. Big kids might just want to get their hands in there too!

Monster Balloon Decorating

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Blow up these “monsters” to decorate the house on the eve of Halloween! The LED lights should last about 48 hours.

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Travis was thrilled with the little balloon lights (you can find these at party stores). Turn one on and slip into an uninflated balloon, then blow up.

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I had pre-cut a few monster features for Travis on sticky-back black craft foam. As an alternative, you can make mouths, eyes, and noses on black cardstock and use a glue stick to attach to the balloons. But we found that the sticky backing made things very easy!

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Our monsters were wiggly and wobbly as we decorated them; it was ultimately easier to hold them between my legs than to tape them onto a table, which we had tried first.

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The darker it gets, the more your monsters glow!

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Travis loved having these creatures around to set the mood for Halloween.

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First Birthday Silhouette

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Here is my gift to my baby girl on her first birthday, a silhouette that might not mean much now, but hopefully that she cherishes for years to come.

To start, cut a piece of patterned paper to fit a picture frame; I chose one that was 5×7 inches.

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Have a photo printed that shows your baby in silhouette. You’ll probably need to orchestrate this carefully, and if needed, zoom in and enlarge so that the face fills nearly the entire photo print. Place underneath tracing paper and carefully trace the silhouette.

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Cut out the tracing paper, transfer to black cardstock, and cut out the shape. Glue the cardstock onto the patterned paper and insert into the frame.

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I doubted my ability to get this to come out right, but she looks adorable! What a moment in time to capture and frame.

Boo Mobile

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The spooky decor continues! On the heels of eerie snack cups, Travis helped make a mobile to hang in the house this Halloween.

First, wrap 2 dowels in orange. Thick yarn would have made quicker work of this step but since I only had orange needlepoint thread, so I was proud of Travis sticking with it.

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Secure the thread with tape. Tie the two dowels crosswise to each other with more thread.

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For decorations, we cut simple ghost shapes from white craft foam. Travis loved adding their spooky faces, including one with “fangs”.

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I also cut the letters B-O-O from orange craft foam. Attach these decorations to more thread with tape, and tie each thread to one end of the dowels. Hang with a final piece of thread, whether in black or orange.

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Boo!

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Catnip Toys

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It’s our cat’s birthday today, 11 years old! Travis loved the idea of celebrating our little guy, so we put together these easy catnip toys for him.

Ranger Rick had a template to follow for Halloween-themed cat toys, since National Cat Day (October 29) falls just before the spooky holiday. I printed out the pumpkin and ghost templates and  traced them onto appropriately colored felt, along with shapes for facial features and a green pumpkin stem.

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Whoops, because I didn’t have much white felt, some of our ghost features were reversed white-on-black.

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Use fabric glue or hot glue to attach both sides of each shape nearly all the way around, leaving an opening. Travis helped stuff these openings with cotton balls.

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And then of course we added catnip, a small spoonful to each. Travis thought the smell of it was wild, and loved the idea that it would drive the cat crazy.

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Seal up the remaining seam with more glue. I glued on the features, and then it was time to treat the cat!

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Travis loved tossing down the birthday present.

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And our cat was quite appreciative! How will you celebrate National Cat Day? Please share in the comments!

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Make Binoculars

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These super-simple binoculars are a fun way to introduce the item to your baby. No complicated decorations or lenses here, just some quality “I Spy” play!

I taped together two empty toilet paper tubes with several layers of colored tape. Sometimes I prepare crafts while Veronika watches so she can play along, but I knew she would be an imp with the tape, so secretly put these together while she napped.

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Once awake, I peered at her through the binoculars. Hello, Veronika!

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I showed her how to hold the tubes up to her eyes and verbalized what I saw. “Look, there’s the cat! Look, it’s daddy! Look, a toy train!”

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Next it was her turn; I handed the binoculars over, and she puzzled over how to peer through them. She loved holding them, and placed them up to her head in imitation, although needed my help to get them centered over her eyes.

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Her favorite though was whenever I looked at her through them, rewarding me with a big smile each time. A great first pair of binocs!