Super Hero Popsicle Stick Puppets

The creativity of children continues to amaze me.

Yesterday I opened up the craft box and just left there for the girls to have fun with.

My 5 1/2 year old came up with these and made them all herself, I wasn't invovled until I took the pictures.

They used:
Gem stickers (2 for each)
a popsicle stick
a pen to draw the mouth
a piece of foam paper(We had some in our box from a previous craft. They were pre-cut into the shape of feathers. We used them on our pumpkin turkeys last year. That craft is shown on this blog)
a few flower felt stickers

These are so cute and I cannot believe how easy they are to make.

4th of July Flags

This is a fun craft and you can take the opportunity to teach you child about the flag.
We used these items for each flag:
red, blue and white contruction paper
4 pipe cleaners red, white and blue
1 bead
glue stick
a hole punch

Pre-cut the shapes:
1 large white rectangle
1 small blue square
14 red stripes

I let my girls use a small hole puncher to punch out 50 stars. This is a great opportunity to pratice counting and talk about why the flag has 50 stars.
Next they glued on the blue square and the stripes.
Then, we braided three pipe cleaners together. Slide one large bead on to the top of the pipe cleaner. Fold the pipe cleaner back uder the bead to hide the sharp wires and keep the flag from falling off.
Punch two holes in the flag (top and bottom) and slide the flag through them.
Fold the bottom of the pipe cleaner up a bit to hide the sharp ends and wrap the last pipe cleaner around it to make a handle.

Now your kids will have a fun and safe flag to wave at the parade or 4th of July celebration.

Box monsters, mini toy box

Okay, my girls came up with this one on their own. They took these boxes out of the recycling bin. They liked the fact that they opened up and thought it looked like a mouth. They asked for google eyes and decorations. This is what they came up with. For about a week they carried them around the house and would eat up the toys as they went around. Hey, a good clean-up trick. I got tired of looking at them and now they are recycling. Fun and cheap

Polly pocket cardboard dollhouse or toy car garage

Here is another idea for a polly pocket or small dollhouse. My girls have actually been using it as a house for their Cars(Tow Mater and McQueen). We recycled the last dollhouse. I love disposable toys.

This was a very sturdy box that we received. I cut a large hole in the back and top for easy access. A few windows and a couple of doors that can open or close. Then the girls decorated it with markers.

Cardboard Box Castle

We turned a delivery box into a fun afternoon craft. I quickly cut holes for windows, a mail slot and a few peep holes. You'll notice that I spent very little time on the design, but the girls didn't mind at all. I brought out a bag of markers and the let them color to their hearts content. We later added a plastic bag to the door so that the doors would stay closed. We've had this in our backyard for 3 weeks now and both of my girls still play in it.

Toilet paper roll people

Items used:
toilet paper rolls
pipe cleaners
google eyes
feathers
tissue paper
misc craft items

This craft took about a half hour to complete all items used were found in our craft supplies.

These are quick and easy. Poke 4 holes through the toilet paper roll, 2 on each side and slide the pipe cleaners through. Curl up the ends of the pipe cleaners to cover the sharp points. Then let the kids get creative.

Valentine's Heart Family

Today we used the great craft kit that Aunt Julie gave us to make these fun projects.

Items used:
construction paper
foil paper
google eyes
sequins
foam pieces
tissue ribbons
thin ribbon
glue and markers

I cut hearts out of the foil paper and we all let our creative juices flow.

Have fun. We spent 1 1/2 hours on this project

Foam stamp art, kids thank you cards

We got this idea from parents magazine. We cut up a foam packing piece into a square. Had my daugther write thank you on a piece of paper. I held it up and traced the letters on to the back in reverse. I then placed the paper on the foam and traced over her letters. That left her writing in the foam. I used a pecil to make the inpression a little deeper into the foam. Then she sponged washable paint onto the foam piece and stamped it on the card stock. Cheap and easy, this projet only took a 1/2 hour and we had all of the supplies at home.

items used:
foam packing piece
card stock
scissors
sponge
washable paint

Tea Hats, Party Hats, Fun Tea Party hats

These are easy fun hats that you can make for a birthday party or just for a fun day of dress-up at home.

Items needed:
2 sheets of gift wrap or 2 pieces of newspaper
masking tape
hot glue
decorations (flowers, feathers, pom poms, etc.)

Place the paper on you childs head, wrap tape around just above the ears. You can style the hat by rolling the edges up, leave it loose for a floppy hat.

Use hot glue to attach the decorations.

Tea Time Clock, invitation or craft

My daugther wanted to make a clock for her birthday party invitation this year. This is what we came up with.

items used:
*card stock two square pieces for each clock
*paper fastners
*puffy craft tape
*various pieces of crafting paper
*number stickers
*glue stick
*flower stickers

The hands on the clock are able to turn because we used the fastner to hold them on. We glued the second sheet of card stock on the back to hide the hardware. The flower sticker hides the fastner on the front of the card.