Posts Tagged ‘diy crafts for kids’

Shannon Walbran Niebuhr is our DIY Kids columnist.  She is a mommy blogger who also offers creativity classes for parents, teachers, and nannies to encourage more effective play with children.

Today’s craft is a dreamcatcher, a beautiful and magical item that is supposed to “catch” nightmares as a spiderweb traps flies.  Are your kids experiencing any anxiety in this time of transition after the holidays and the stress of “back to school”?

We made a dreamcatcher this week because my young son was complaining about bad dreams.  I hope it helps him, and maybe it will help you and your child, too!

Our dreamcatcher uses items you can often find at a thrift store or hospice shop.  It’s an easy make for children 3 and up.  We’re showing you the basic version.  You could add beads, feathers, or even small toys to help decorate it and make it more meaningful.

What You’ll Need:

Step 1:

Center your doily in the embroidery hoop.

With your child, choose the colors of the ribbons.  If the kids are old enough, let them help with cutting the ribbons.

Step 2: Tie one ribbon from a corner or point of the doily to the hoop, loosely.

Continue around the circle of the doily, tying it on.

Step 3: Hang the dreamcatcher on the wall in the bedroom.

Do you have any other tips or tricks for kids who can’t sleep well?  Have you ever tried “Monster Spray” with essential oils to squirt around the room before sleepytime?  Please share in the comments below!

Note: If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the uniquely detailed free weekly newsletter for parents in Gauteng – Jozikids – or KwaZulu-Natal – Kznkids.

Shannon Niebuhr is our DIY Kids columnist.  She is a mommy blogger and offers classes to parents and teachers on how to play more effectively with children using the arts.

Today’s project uses an item many of us have around the house: a foam veggie tray from the supermarket.  Cut it up into pieces and you’ll have a “free” source of foam shapes for the bath, which would cost you R50 or so at the toy shop.

It’s easy, but here are a few tips to make your project go smoothly.

Step 1: Choose your tray.

It’s best to choose a tray that is clean, without cracks or holes.  If it’s sticky from its vegetables, you can wash it lightly with dishwashing liquid and then let it dry in the sun.

Step 2: Cut it into flat shapes.

Your tray has walls that go upward to hold those nice vegetables in place.  Cut it down into flat pieces.  Use a decently sharp scissors, not a knife (which would leave raggedy edges, as you can see in the photo below).

3. Cut those shapes into designs.

What works here is simplicity.  I tried alphabet letters, but they fell apart because of the curves and the holes.

Go for geometric solids like rectangles, squares, and triangles.

An American educator from the early 20th century named Caroline Pratt said that children most enjoy working with shapes that fit neatly together.  She called them “unit blocks,” and it’s what many wooden building block sets are based on today.

To obtain “units,” make one rectangle as your base.  In half, that’s 2 perfect squares.  Each square in half is 2 perfect triangles.  Those will then all match up and give the child a feeling of satisfaction and “rightness.”

4. Play with them in the bath or on a tiled wall in the kitchen

When wet, these shapes stick to smooth surfaces such as a bathtub wall or tiles.  You can re-arrange them to build cities, for example.

If you’re feeling educational, you can sort them by shape or count them up into columns and rows (certainly good preparation for learning Excel later on!)

Yes, veggie trays usually come in black only, but that offers great contrast.

These bath shapes won’t last forever, but they will give your veggie tray another chance at serving your family.

Do you have any recycling materials lying around, waiting to turn into wonderful craft projects? List them in the comments below and we’ll use them in upcoming DIY KIDS articles!

Note: If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the uniquely detailed free weekly newsletter for parents in Gauteng – Jozikids – or KwaZulu-Natal – Kznkids.

by Shannon Walbran Niebuhr, our DIY Kids columnist.  A mommy blogger and teacher, Shannon offers classes to parents, teachers, and nannies to help them play more effectively with children.

Today’s craft is a Treasure Box so your child can store the stones and feathers you find together on your walks, or perhaps special notes from you.

Use up your stash of 5c coins to give this box a special copper gleam!

What You’ll Need:

Time: 30 minutes to paint, overnight drying time, 30 minutes to glue on coins

Instructions:

Step 1

Paint the box white.  Let it dry overnight.

Step 2

Gather your stash of small change.  You can use a variety of South African coins or add any foreign coins from your collection.  Here we used all 5c South African coins.

Step 3

Using No More Nails, glue the coins across the top of the box.  You can use just a small dab of glue on each coin.  If they don’t make it all the way to the end evenly, stagger the lines.

Step 4

Once you’ve covered the top with coins, you can leave the box as we have, a Treasure Box,

or you can continue with the following variations:

by Erin Ismay, art lover and creative enthusiast, venturing into the world of business running art and craft parties for kids,  loves travel, photography and spending time with her hubby! She’s also the owner of  pop art parties

This is my favourite Easter activity from when I was a child. We did this every year as a family and then would exchange our painted eggs on Easter day! The best part is that they are edible!

You will need:
White candy coated chocolate Easter eggs
Food colouring
Paint brush or cotton buds
Water
Paper towel
Containers for food colouring

Step 1:
Put some food colouring in small containers. You can dilute the colour with water to make it lighter, but be sure not to take too much diluted colouring onto your brush as if its too watery it will run. Otherwise use the colour as is undiluted. For younger kids, use cotton buds to paint with as they soak up extra water. For older kids who want to be more precise in their designs, use a thin brush.

Step 2
You can either hold your egg with your fingers and paint it, or set it in an egg holder and do the top half and then bottom. You can be as creative as you want to do whatever designs come into your head. At the end you should have some beautiful eggs that you can eat later! Enjoy!

by Minette Tonoli, mom to 2 gorgeous girls  (4 + 9mnths), passionate homeschooler and herb lover. 

All things sweet these days are saturated with artificial flavourants and colourants, and all the brightly coloured Easter egg candy on display is probably not any different. For something a little different, when making and colouring your own eggs, try using natural colourants – you’ll be surprised to find that many herbs and spices and other foodstuffs you might have handy can give quite surprising colour tints to your boiled Easter eggs. Here is what you do for a quick Easter egg colouring craft.

Instructions ( see colouring options below)

1.       Put your eggs in a fairly large pot – it should be large enough for four eggs to boil without touching or stacking.
-Fun idea – why not draw on your eggs with wax crayon or candles before you colour them – the colouring will not adhere to the wax and your design will show off after the eggs have been coloured. Or tie rubber bands around your eggs to have them look “tie-dyed” after colouring.

2.       Fill the pan with water enough to cover the eggs by about 1cm

3.       Add 2 tsp of white vinegar to the water

4.       Add your dye colour (see ideas below).

-Note that it may take quite a bit of dye material to get vivid colours, e.g. 2tbsp of Turmeric, 2 cups of onion skins, ¼ cup hibiscus flowers etc. It could be great fun having the kids experiment with different amounts of dye material to see the effects.

5. Boil your mixture and reduce to simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes

6. Remove the eggs with a strainer onto a bowl covered with towel (or I simply used the egg carton they came in) and let dry

7. If at this point you don’t think your eggs are coloured enough, you can add them back to your colouring liquid and leave overnight.

8. As a final touch, if you wish, gently rub cooking oil over your eggs to give them a shinier look

Colouring options

Red/Pink – Fresh beets, canned/frozen cherries
Orange – Yellow onion skins / Paprika
Light yellow – Lemon peels / Orange peels / Ground cumin spice / Chamomile tea
Golden yellow – Ground Turmeric
Blue – Red Cabbage Leaves (preboiled for about 30 minutes) / Blueberries (crushed)
Purple – Grape juice
Brown/Beige – Strong coffee / Black tea / Black walnuts shells
Golden brown – Dill seeds
Orange brown – Chili powder
Light green – Spinach leaves (boiled)
Violet / purple – Violet blossoms / Hibiscus tea / Red wine

**Pictured eggs made with Turmeric (gold) and variety of effects with Hibiscus tea (blue/purple)

Note: If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the uniquely detailed free weekly newsletter for parents in Gauteng – Jozikids – or KwaZulu-Natal – Kznkids.

by Erin Ismay, art lover and creative enthusiast, venturing into the world of business running art and craft parties for kids,  loves travel, photography and spending time with her hubby! 

In the spirit of Easter and ‘easter eggs’ this is a great activity to do using recycled egg shells to create a lovely mosaic. Mosaics are so popular right now but can be an expensive activity. This is a less expensive take on doing a mosaic type picture.

You will need

Clean broken eggshells
Food Colouring
Vinegar
Paper towel
Craft Glue
Plastic containers
Paintbrush
Paper for picture (can be any colour)

Step 1:

Mix your different colours using a drop of food colouring, fill with warm water and a dash of vinegar to set colour,

Step 2:

Put some broken eggshells into the food colouring and let soak for about 10 minutes.
Then take out and dry on paper towel.

Step 3:

Once you have your colourful eggshells all dry you are ready to start your artwork. Decide what picture you want to make. Then dip your paintbrush into some glue and do the outline of the picture in glue and then you can start sticking the eggshells onto the glue.

At the end you will have a beautiful artwork!

Note: If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to the uniquely detailed free weekly newsletter for parents in Gauteng – Jozikids – or KwaZulu-Natal – Kznkids.

by Nikki Bush, a self-confessed parenting adventurer and mum to two boys. She is also an inspirational speaker, best-selling author, game designer and toy judge.   Her company is called the Bright Ideas Outfit.  Play and connection fuel her work.

Being able to pull fun ideas seemingly out of thin air sets you up as a hero in your child’s life story.  Make sure you have thought it through and have all the necessary ingredients, bits and pieces on hand before suggesting something. It doesn’t have to be complicated – the simpler the better.  Kids love it when they know you have a plan, and in our materialistic world they are still impressed when you create fun out of nothing, particularly if you share the experience with them.

So, during the very long Soccer World Cup school holidays, take a few minutes every second day to create a “making fun out of nothing experience” which also doubles up as a connection experience between you and your child.  Inspire your child by being fun to be with.

WEEK 3

Here are three ideas for this week which are simple to do and don’t require much in the way of specialised equipment or ingredients.

PAPER LACE MAKING

This fun activity can be used for a purpose, such as making ‘lace’ place mats for the dinner table tonight or to decorate gift tags or cards. It can also just be a doodling activity enjoyed by young and old alike. Paper lace making is creative and great for stimulating fine motor control and eye-hand co-ordination. And, if a special someone lives out of town, why not let your child post his / her creation as a gift. The simple experience of posting a letter is and adventure for a young child.

You will need:
* A4 paper (white or coloured)
* Scissors (blunt-nosed for preschoolers)

What to do:
1. Fold the A4 piece of paper in half.
2. Fold the paper in half again (now you have quarters).
3. Using your scissors, cut triangular notches out of the folded sides of the paper. Vary the size so that you create a different design.
4. Cutting rounded shapes is a more advance activity for the older child.
5. The full A4-sized piece is easier for the younger child to use. Older children may wish to use smaller pieces of paper.
6. Why not glue the coloured lace work onto a white or black piece of paper to show off the design.

STRIPEY JELLY

Now here is a very simple but impressive and yummy dessert to make with packets of jelly. It’s also the antidote to instant gratification because your child has to wait patiently for each layer of jelly to set. They will be quite fascinated and the wait will be well worth while. Alternate plain jelly layers with creamy jelly layers for an attractive effect. If you really want your child’s efforts to be appreciated, serve when you have guest around to witness the masterpiece.

You will need:
* Four packets of different coloured/flavoured jelly (or as many as you like)
* 250ml cream
* Boiling water
* Cold water
* Clear glass serving dish or a jelly mould
* Mixing bowl
* Measuring jug
* Spoon

What to do:
1. Make up the first layer of jelly as per the instructions on the packet. Normally dissolve the jelly powder in 225ml of boiling water (parents of younger children need to help with the hot water). Stir until all granules have dissolved and the liquid is clear. Add 225ml cold water. Stir and then pour into the glass serving dish or jelly mould. Place in the fridge to set. This takes 2 – 3 hours.

2. Choose another coloured jelly. Dissolve the jelly powder in boiling water. Now, instead of adding cold water only, add half cold water and half cream (110ml of each will do fine).

3. Gently pour the creamy mixture on top of the first layer of jelly and carefully transfer the dish or mould back to the fridge to set. The creamy layer sets quicker than the clear jelly layer.

4. Make another clear jelly layer and finally top with a creamy layer. You now have a wonderful stripey jelly that is absolutely delicious!

COLOUR-CHANGE FLOWERS

This experiment is so satisfying because it provides results very quickly. You can do it with any white cut flowers (I used iceberg roses from the garden). A good experiment to prove that plants drink water and that water travels upwards from the stem to the petals.

You will need:
* A few white roses or carnations work well
* Two glasses
* Water
* Blue and red food colouring

What do do:
1. Half fill each glass with water.
2. Put approximately half the bottle of food colouring in each glass, making the water in one red, and in the other blue.
3. Now place a flower in each glass and wait to see what happens. Within 1 ½ – 2 hours the flower should have a blue or red hue and then the edges of the petals should start changing colour.

Have fun!

For more ideas of games to play with your child these holidays click here for Nikki Bush’s Top 20 recommendations, and here for Week 1 of Making Fun Out of Nothing ideas and here for Week 2.