Here are four craft activities to keep the kids busy and having heaps of fun. You won’t need a lot of materials, the crafts aren’t difficult, and the little ones are sure to be entertained with their creations.
Colourful Caterpillars
What You Need
Green craft paper (various shades)
Green felt pen
Pom poms (large)
Googly eyes
Scissors
Craft glue
Hole Punch
Method
Draw a leaf shape onto your green craft paper. Draw on leaf details, using a green felt pen.
You will then cut out the leaves. For younger children, they may need adult assistance during this step.
Use the hole punch to create little chew marks from your hungry caterpillar. To give the leaf more shape, you can fold the leaf along the middle.
To create your caterpillar, grab however many pom poms you’d like and glue them together in a line. Please note: your caterpillar can be as long or short as you want, and any colour combination you like. Allow time for the glue to dry.
To finish your caterpillar, glue two googly eyes to one end. Once complete, place your caterpillar on their leaf.
Handheld Fruit Fans
What You Need
Coloured Popsicle Sticks
Drill with small drill bit
A4 PaperPencil
Watercolour paint
Paintbrush and water
Craft glue or glue gun
Split pin paper fasteners
Method
Draw out your fan shape onto your A4 paper. Using your watercolours, decorate the fan area in any fruity design you like. Dry and cut out.
Ask an adult to drill the holes into one end of each popsicle stick. You will need five sticks with a hole large enough to poke through the ends of the stick pin paper fastener. The head of the fastener needs to be bigger than the hole. Fix the Popsicle sticks together with the fastener, by bending the ends of the fastener back.
Evenly spread the popsicle sticks apart and glue one end (the open end) to the back of your fan. Allow to dry.
Once dry, fold each popsicle stick in on each other, creating the folds of the fan as you go.
Please note: The fans pictured here have a fruity theme, but your fan can be any design you like.
Fire-breathing Dragons
What You Need
Paper towel roll (cut in half)
Craft paper
Large and small pom poms
Googly eyes
Scissors
Red, orange and yellow tissue paper
Glue stick
Glue gun or glue dots
Method
Cut your coloured craft paper to the size of your paper roll. You want it long enough to wrap all the way around. Glue to the paper roll using your glue stick.
Attach the googly eyes to the large pop poms using the glue gun or glue dots. For younger children, we recommend using glue dots until they are confident using a glue gun to avoid any burns. Once you have dried your dragon’s eyes, glue them to one end of the paper roll as you see in the picture. Then attach the smaller pom poms to the other end to create the dragon’s nostrils.
To create the dragon’s fiery breath, cut the tissue paper into pointy 20 – 25 cm strips. Using your glue stick, glue the non-pointy ends of the tissue paper to the inside of the ‘nostril’ end of the paper roll.
Once the glue is all dry, you can blow on the open end of your dragon’s head and watch as the dragon ‘breathes fire’!
Musketeer Swords
What You Need
Empty wrapping paper rolls
Aluminium foil
Scissors
Craft knife
Glue and/or sticky tape
Glue gun
Decorative stick-on ‘jewels’
Scrap cardboard
Method
Flatten one end of your wrapping paper roll, then join the sides with a glue gun or sticky tape. Cut this end to a blunt point.
To make the handle (hilt) of your sword; cut a piece of cardboard into a long rectangular strip, at least 30 cm long and slightly wider than your wrapping paper roll. Round the ends of the cardboard strip.
Trace the round end of the wrapping paper roll near one end of your cardboard strip. Ask a parent to cut this circle out with a craft knife. Slide the cardboard strip over the end of the wrapping paper roll, leaving about a toilet roll’s distance from the end. Secure in place with a glue gun, so you are left with the semi-circle sword handle as pictured.
Cover the ‘blade’ end of your sword with glue, and then aluminium foil. Lastly, decorate your sword’s handle with stick on jewels.
