Crafts this month?

[mom-in-alberta]

So, what are y'all doing for craft/art activities this year?
I have a two year old and an almost two year old, so they have to be fairly simple. And I don't mind saying that the budget is tight, so nothing that will break the bank!!
My 4 yr old will do pretty much anything, but I have a hard time picking things for this age group, without seeming like I am doing it all for them.

[playfelt]

Tomorrow we are marble painting white on red and green paper. Then I am cutting out ornament shapes from white cardstock that will fold in half and cutting an opening in the middle of both sides of the ornament and then I will cut a piece from the marble paintings when dry - red one side and green for the other - and tape them inside. Mine are young too so it will be a lot me done but in front of them. They will be able to do the gluing closed but I will do the cutting of all the parts tomorrow night so we can assemble on Thursday.

On thursday they are getting gingerbread cutouts from beige cardstock to decorate as desired and then we will glue on google eyes. We will glue them to a piece of dark brown foam and I will cut them out leaving a dark border around the gingerbreadman. I will also work one on one with the gluing from the day before as they colour.

On Friday I have snowflake stickers they will put onto a blue cardstock circle cutout.

[KingstonMom]

I have 5 between 18 months and 4 yrs. We did snowflakes. The kids just coloured plain white paper (scribbles) and I folded them and cut them toi create snowflakes.
I also took pictures of each kid beside my xmas tree, had the photos developed, and made a frame with construction paper, backed with cereal box cardboard for strength. The kids used xmas stamps i had with an ink pad and marker to decorate. (I only did this one with my 3 and 4 yr old). The parent loved it.
I also cut out green xmas trees, had the kids point to where they wanted to decorate with pom-pom ball, and i used hot glue gun to attach.
an idea i was thinking of doing was cutting out a large christmas tree from brown craft paper, and doing a large scale paint project (in diapers or something to avoid big clean up)
or getting the Sears toy catologue and helping the older ones create a wish list or letter to Santa with pictures of toys they like.

[Sandbox Sally]

I am doing homemade dough, and we will cut out shapes with cookie cutters, bake em, then I will get the kids to paint them, leaving a hole in the top for some ribbon - VOILA! Keepsake Christmas ornaments!

[KingstonMom]

alphaghetti- could you share your reciepe for homemade dough? thanks!

[sunnydays]

My guys are are two and under as well and I don't see the point in doing crafts that require ME to do all the work. Yesterday I gave them snowman cutouts on construction paper and then I used a glue stick to cover the body with glue and gave them each a handful of cotton balls...they loves sticking them all on and they were all able to do it easily (even my 17 month old). then I helped them glue on googly eyes and we were done. I think the key with little ones is simple and quick...attention spans are not long enough to sit for an hour doing a craft.

[Sandbox Sally]

Ingredients:

1 cup salt
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water

Instructions:

In a large bowl, combine the salt and the flour
Make a well in the salt/flour mixture and add the water
Knead until smooth and shape into a ball
When not in use, wrap in plastic or store in an airtight container

[mlc1982]

Today my group made snowman heads. I cut a hat out of red paper, two eyes out of black paper and a nose out of orange paper for each of them. We used white paper plates. We started by gluing the hats in place and then covered the plates with glue. We placed cotton balls all over the plates. Then glued the eyes and nose onto the cotton. My group is from 15 mths - 4 yrs and they all enjoyed this.

[Sergeants Mom]

I also did that w/ my group. The kids really enjoy painting and decorating them, and yes, they are a wonderful keepsake.


I am doing homemade dough, and we will cut out shapes with cookie cutters, bake em, then I will get the kids to paint them, leaving a hole in the top for some ribbon - VOILA! Keepsake Christmas ornaments!

[sunnydays]

I haven't tried this yet, but I would like to try using the dough recipe and putting their handprints in it as a keepsake for the parents. Has anyone tried this?

[Spixie33]

I haven't tried this yet, but I would like to try using the dough recipe and putting their handprints in it as a keepsake for the parents. Has anyone tried this?

I saw that on pinterest and was going to do it next week once I get some more salt.
Here is the link. They look awesome.

http://homemadegrits.blogsp ot.com/2009/12/handmade-christmas-homemade-ornaments.html

The recipe seems a bit different but not that much different from Alphagettis.

BTW Alphagetti - we did Christmas cookie decorations today using your recipe and they were good

I am contemplating trying the hand prints next. They do look great.

[Sandbox Sally]

spixie, did you bake them or let them air dry? I accidentally set my oven too high, and the decorations came out all puffy! Funny enough, I prefer them this way...hehe.

[Skysue]

So, what are y'all doing for craft/art activities this year?
I have a two year old and an almost two year old, so they have to be fairly simple. And I don't mind saying that the budget is tight, so nothing that will break the bank!!
My 4 yr old will do pretty much anything, but I have a hard time picking things for this age group, without seeming like I am doing it all for them.

Christmas oriniments! We have made, rudolph, snowman, skate, sleigh, wreath etc.. just go to the $$$ store and buy form cord sheets you get 12 for $1.00 and you can cut them out yourself. You can buy buttons, jewels & googely eyes from there as well!

Also "Let it snow" page, take brown crayon and draw a tree without leaves then cut out small white snow balls and let the kids stick the paper snow on & a snow man!

[Spixie33]

spixie, did you bake them or let them air dry? I accidentally set my oven too high, and the decorations came out all puffy! Funny enough, I prefer them this way...hehe.

I baked them. I think I baked them about 10 minutes at 350F and then after we painted them I put them back in the warm oven a little longer just to make sure they were nice and hard.

Mine never puffed at all. I was worried about that but figured they wouldn't puff up because there was no baking soda or yeast or baking powder. I did make mine pretty thick though. I think I had the dough around 1/4 " thick

[sunnydays]

I just made mine today and they look great! I am too afraid to bake them though as I don't want to risk them puffed or cracking, so I am letting them air dry...it was a lot of work doing all those handprints and putting the names and dates on them, so I don't want to do it again! I am going to glue a photo of each child on the back of the handprint ornament. I think it's going to be really nice :)

[Spixie33]

I just made mine today and they look great! I am too afraid to bake them though as I don't want to risk them puffed or cracking, so I am letting them air dry...it was a lot of work doing all those handprints and putting the names and dates on them, so I don't want to do it again! I am going to glue a photo of each child on the back of the handprint ornament. I think it's going to be really nice :)


Did you use the pinterest recipe or the one that Alphagetti posted? Now you make me nervous based on your descriptions and how hard it was. lol

[mom-in-alberta]

Thanks so much everyone! Great ideas.... :)

[Momof4]

I haven't tried this yet, but I would like to try using the dough recipe and putting their handprints in it as a keepsake for the parents. Has anyone tried this?

We did this in the summer when I had a Dinosaur theme and this is how we made fossils, except I told them to tell their parents the handprint was a dinosaur footprint. I used my old playdo for this craft bedcause I wanted to make a fresh batch.

The ornaments that were mentioned earlier was our Christmas present to parents a few years ago and I also used my old playdo for these crafts. We cut out Christmas shapes and I put a hole in the top for ribbon, the children painted them and I used spray shellac after.

[lori123]

I added some spice to this recipe - cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice....they smell nice but my dough seemed too sticky....am I adding too much water? the end result was okay but not as pretty as the website pictures...i may try it again tomorrow and not do it so hasty....

[sunnydays]

Spixie: I used the one Alphaghetti posted, but I didn't bake them. It wasn't actually difficult, just a bit time consuming and since I have all 2 and unders, they were inpatient! The main problem was that I wasn't finished rolling the dough when they started waking up from their naps. My advice is to roll and cut out circles in the dough and have it on a cookie sheet (I put a little oil so they wouldn't stick), then when the kids are awake, you can just make the handprints quickly. After two days of drying, mine were still not hard, so I put them in the oven at 200 for about 45 minutes to finish it up. I was very nervous about the puffing up that Alphaghetti mentioned (for ornaments it would be okay, but it might ruin handprints). They turned out great and the parnets LOVE them!