Mixtape Monday: Grow, Paint and Eat! – Easy Craft for Kids
Posted: March 30th, 2009Welcome to the March edition of ‘Mixtape Monday’, our last-Monday-of-the month burst of craft and inspiration, brought to us by Justine at Mixtape Zine.
Today’s piece on easy craft for kids, authored by Laura, of SugarChill and SeaBird Chronicles blogs , is just perfect for the upcoming Easter break when you need a little extra amusement up your sleeve.
Laura lives by the beach in Miami, USA. She has twin toddlers and is overly fond of organic gelato, daydreaming, and swimming. Her blog, SeaBird Chronicles, covers the art, design, and craft scene with a side of Miami, children, and food.
Enjoy! - Angela. Read previous issues of Mixtape Monday here.
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Here is a week’s worth of crafts and creative activities for young children. I could go on about all the benefits of fine motor skill development, science lessons, and art concepts in these ideas – but then they wouldn’t be quite so fun!
1. Puffy Paintings: Mix together equal parts self-raising flour and salt. Add enough water to form the consistency of white glue. Distribute among several small containers and add food colouring as desired. Let your child use cotton swabs to paint on a piece of cardboard (a cereal box, milk carton, etc). Microwave the painting for about 30 seconds – the paint will rise and harden for a fun 3D effect!
2. Growing Grass Hair: Place a couple of dozen grass seeds in the bottom of a clear plastic cup and cover with a dozen cotton balls. Add enough water to moisten the cotton balls without drowning the seeds. Create a face on the side of the cup. Check each day if the cotton balls need a bit of water . . . in a week or two Grass Guy’s hair will need a trim!
3. Stained Glass Collage: Place a large piece of contact paper on the table or floor, sticky side up and masking tape the edges down. Place a handful of collage bits (pipe cleaners, leaves, tissue paper, shapes, flowers, wrapping paper, feathers, buttons) next to it and your child can go crazy! To seal it, remove the masking tape and fold the contact paper in half – or – cut another piece of contact paper and place it on top. Looks colorful hanging in a bright window – or you can make small ones for the Christmas tree!
4. Pretzel Necklaces: Even the youngest toddlers can do this. Tie a pretzel to the end of a decorative piece of yarn and show your child how to add more. When they’re finished tie the ends together and they can munch away! (Under supervision while the necklace is around their neck!)
5. Box Train: Cut several cardboard boxes (cereal or fabric softener boxes, etc) a few inches from the tops. Your child can paint/glue/marker to decorate the box tops. Then punch a hole on each shorter side of the boxes and run a string through two or three to make a train, with the open side up so it can be filled with cargo and dragged around the house! If you end up with extra box ends, you can use them as drawer organisers. You can find photos of all the activities above – completed by my two year-old sons – at
SeaBird Chronicles. Have fun!
This article can be found in issue 7 of Mixtape Zine. You can buy current and backcopies of Mixtape here.
