Enchanted Kingdom

Enchanted Kingdom

Ages: 4 and up

Parental supervision recommended

Difficulty *****

Time 20-30 minutes

Create your own enchanted kingdom from everyday items, a few craft supplies, and a dash of imagination. A suggested supply list can be found below.

Materials Needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• Empty paper towel tubes
• Transparent tape or glue
• Pencil for tracing a circle
• Pretty wrapping paper
• Scissors
• Construction Paper
• Yarn, string, fishing line, streamers (any or all of these)
• Clip art or cut outs of animals and people you would like to have in your kingdom
• Clip art or cut outs of small flags, banners, Pom Poms, pipe cleaners, stars, stickers, or other decorations for your kingdom
• Cardboard or poster board to use as a foundation for your kingdom

How-to Steps:

1. Measure and cut paper of your choice to cover the outside of your paper towel tubes.
2. Secure the paper to the tube with glue and or tape. These tubes will be the towers in your kingdom.
3. Use construction paper for your tower roofs by tracing a circle onto construction paper, then cutting a single line to the center of the circle. Fold into a cone shape. Glue paper cone to the top of your decorated tube.
4. Repeat these steps until you have as many towers as you want in your kingdom. Glue the base of your towers to a large piece of cardboard or poster paper, then decorate with clip art, stickers, pom -poms and other items of your choice. This craft was inspired by the book 123 I Can Build! by Irene Luxbacher.

Bottle Top Fish Counting

Bottle Top Fish Counting Craft

Ages: 3-5 years

Parental assistance may be needed with smaller children

Difficulty: * * * * * (2/5)

Time: 20-30 minutes

This counting craft ties in with the summer reading theme, Reading is MathMagical.  You will be creating an underwater scene using plastic bottle lids to make fish.  A number on the fish determines how many air bubbles you’ll make for each, which encourages counting and number recognition.  Let your imagination swim away with you on this craft!

Materials Needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• One piece of blue construction paper (any shade of blue)
• 3-5 plastic bottle lids (any size you have, and enough to make as many fish as you like)
• Sharpies
• Construction paper scraps of any color
• Scraps of tissue paper
• Glue stick
• Glue Dots (to affix lids to paper – less messy, no dry time required)
• Small Styrofoam plate
• White paint
• Drinking straw

How-to Steps:

1. Choose how many fish to include in your underwater scene.  That’s how many lids you’ll need.  Use the Sharpies to draw on fish faces and gills.  Parents, write a random number somewhere on the fish.  This indicates how many bubbles we need to make later on.
2. Next you’ll use the construction paper scraps to make a tail and fins.  Arrange them on the construction paper however you choose.  Then attach Glue Dots to the edge of the lids, and place lids over paper fins and tail to form the fish.  You can use regular white glue or glue sticks if you don’t have Glue Dots. 
3. Take the tissue paper and scrunch it however you’d like to make the seaweed.  Rub the glue stick of the construction paper and arrange the tissue paper into seaweed stalks.
4. Squeeze some white paint onto a small Styrofoam plate.  Take the drinking straw and dip it into the paint.  Then press the straw onto the blue construction paper making the correct number of bubbles for each fish.

Your scene is complete!  Proudly display it for everyone to see!

Rocket Ship

Rocket Ship

Ages: 7 and up

Parental supervision recommended

Difficulty: * * * * *

Time: 90 minutes (30 minutes for painting, 45 minutes for drying, 15 minutes for assembly)

For the future astronaut: a rocket ship for your room!  Below are a list of materials and directions on how to make a 4 foot tall rocket ship!  You may need a parent or guardian to help paint, cut, and use the glue gun.

Materials Needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• Half of a small cardboard carpet tube
• One plastic funnel
• Two sheets of Styrofoam poster board
• Spray paint in metallic and at least one other color
• Tin foil
• Hot glue gun and sticks

How-to Steps (All needs to be done with parent/guardian help and supervision):

1. Outdoors, spray paint the entire outside body of the carpet tube with metallic paint; let dry outside
2. Cut 4 equal fins for each rocket from the poster board; spray paint both sides outdoors with the opposite color; let dry outside
3. Wrap tinfoil around funnel
4. Once spray paint has dried, apply hot glue to the edge of one end of the carpet tube; place funnel on top and hold for 60 seconds to let dry in place (if glue does not hold the first time, apply more to the outer edge so that the glue will touch, and therefore stick to the inside of the funnel)
5. Apply hot glue to the longest edge of each fin and apply to the opposite end of the rocket from the funnel, placing them evenly apart at 90 degree angles (so the rocket will stand on its own); hold for 60 seconds to let dry in place

Flower Bookmark

Flower Bookmark

Ages: Preschool and up

Parental supervision recommended to keep things clean.

Difficulty: *****

Time: 5 minutes

These bookmarks are so easy and fun to make, you can make one for everyone in the family! 

Materials Needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• Paint (various colors)
• Cardstock or construction paper
• Scissors

How-to Steps:

1. Cut your paper to the size bookmark you want.
2. Pour out a small amount of each paint color.
3. Dip fingertip into the paint and dab off extra paint.  Press finger onto the paper.  Use multiple prints to make the flower, stem and leaves.  Clean your finger after each paint color, unless you want to mix colors.
4. Write your name on the bookmark so everyone knows it belongs to you.  If it is a gift, put the other person’s name on it.

Handmade Lilies

Handmade Lilies

Ages: Appropriate for all ages. 

Parental supervision suggested for younger children (scissors involved).

Difficulty: * * * * *

Time: 10-20 minutes

These personalized flowers make good Mother’s Day presents.  You may already have many of the supplies at your house.  Surprise someone special with their own bouquet today!

Materials needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• White paper
• Green construction paper
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Clear tape
• Drinking straws
• Disposable cup
• Markers
• Stickers (optional)
• Small lump of modeling clay (or a few pebbles or marbles). 

How-to Steps:

1. Spread your fingers out and trace around your hand on white paper.  Repeat as many times as you desire.  Each hand will make one flower
2. Cut out the hands.
3. Wrap each hand around a drinking straw (with the wrist at the bottom and fingers sticking up).  Tape in place.
4. Using a pencil, gently curl each finger back, away from the straw.
5. Cut leaves from the green paper and tape to the straw.  (Lily leaves grow in pairs.)
6. Decorate a disposable cup with markers and/or stickers.  This will be your vase.
7. Place the clay (or pebbles or marbles) in the cup to keep it from falling over and then arrange your flowers.

Fun with Raised Salt Art

Fun with Raised Salt Art

Ages: 3 and up

Adult supervision may be needed depending on age of child

Difficulty  ****

Time:  20 minutes to create and a few hours to dry

Get crafty with raised salt painting. Use glue, watercolor paints and salt to create a one of a kind work of art.

Materials needed (located at your favorite craft store):

• Heavy paper, such as poster board, art paper or construction paper
• Paint brushes
• Small cups or bowls of water  to moisten paints and clean brushes
• Children’s watercolor paints
• Multipurpose glue, white or clear
• Table salt or kosher salt
• A tray or cookie sheet slightly larger than your paper, to catch the excess salt

 How-to steps:

1. Place your paper in the tray or cookie sheet.
2. Squeeze glue onto your paper in whatever pattern or design you like best.
3. Sprinkle a layer of salt on top of the wet  glue design. Gently shake extra salt into the tray. Salt can be discarded or used for another project. Return paper to the tray.
4. Use your paintbrush to dab your favorite paint colors onto the salt covered glue. The moist paint will then be soaked up by the salt and start to spread across your design. If it does not spread, try adding more water to your watercolor paint.
5. Allow to dry flat. 

Curtain of Clover

Curtain of Clover

Ages: 4 and up (adult help may be needed)

Difficulty: *****

Time: 30 minutes

Get ready for St. Patrick’s Day with a curtain of shamrocks and four leaf clovers.   Get creative and add glitter or use several shades of green paper.

Materials Needed:

• Green Construction Paper
• String
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tape
• Pencil

How-to Steps:

1. Fold your construction paper in half.  Draw half a heart on the folded edge.  *see example*  Cut out several hearts.  You will need 3 hearts for each shamrock and 4 hearts for each clover.  For stems, cut thin rectangles from the construction paper.
2. Tape or glue groups of 3 or 4 hearts together for each leaf.  Attach stems to the back.
3.  Cut lengths of string that will fit inside your window.  
4. Tape or glue your leaves to the string.
5. Attach each string to the top of your window.