Puppet Theater

We bought the girls a sand table yesterday. Both girls were very excited about the sand table until I opened the box and the sand table was in several pieces. I began to scratch my head as I looked at the parts meanwhile Lu made off with the box...giggling as she dragged it away. So Em's nap time was all about...what should we turn our box into. The possibilities were endless. Lu quickly gathered some of her squirreled away treasures (she is a little crafty chip off the old block) to decorate the box, some Christmas wrapping paper, a piece of a pink boa, a pink flower, and some ribbon.

While we were brainstorming I turned the box inside out. Much better to start with a blank slate.

I suggested a puppet theater and LU went crazy for the idea (although I don't know if she knew exactly what a puppet theater is.) I cut off the bottom flaps, cut a big door on one side and a window on the other. I folded the top 2 sides and back flaps in and left the front flap up as the marquee. I secured it with a piece of cardboard to make it stiff. I also quickly sewed a curtain from a fabric scrap and strung it on some ribbon. I punched 2 holes each on the side corners and secured the ribbon by tying it tightly.

I quickly made some puppets from Popsicle sticks and paper plates. I cut slits into the two side flaps (which I had folded in earlier) to hold the puppets.

I made a removable sign from one of the flaps I cut off. It is secured with clothes pins. So it can be changed out for different productions. Lu has already requested a sign that says the Animal Show and Cinderella.

Lu and I decorated the front. This will be an ongoing activity. Stickers will be added, other objects will be glued to it... We already glued on one of our ribbon spool flowers to the front and drew on the sides since these pictures were taken!

Ta-daa! The L + E Show!

A happy little girl :-) She already has plans for her next box...a pirate ship! Ahoy!
Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Quick & Easy Starfish

Paper
Scissors
Paint
Pencil with Eraser
Glue
Hole Punch

Cut out 5 Starfish Arms. Kindergarten children should be able to do this if you draw a line for them to follow. The arms do not need to be exact or symmetrical so this is a good early cutting project.

Arrange arms by overlapping them. Glue in place. Dry.

Dip eraser end in paint and stamp dots all over your starfish.

Lu wanted to put the number 5 in the center because a starfish has 5 arms.

For extra dimension we punched small holes all over the starfish.
EDIT: A Touch Of Country made an excellent suggestion on the comments page. She did a similar project with her students and had them glue oatmeal to the Starfish. I think sand would also work well - although you would have to glue starfish to a piece of cardboard since sand can be heavy.
Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Model Magic Lion

OK! I promise this is the LAST Model Magic project! Lu and I just loved playing with the stuff! We usually work 2D so this was a nice change for Lu.

Model Magic or Clay
Marker
Optional:
Paper Plate
Glue
Sand
Googly Eyes

Start with a ball - Smoosh it

Fold top over - Pinch up ears

Make eyes with marker cap - look familiar? The owl inspired the lion! (sounds kind of wise...the owl inspired the lion.)

We used a crayon to make indents for a mouth

ROARRR!

Carefully cut mane around bottom of face

The body - Roll a fat cylinder - Smoosh

Legs - Roll skinny cylinders - Smoosh

Tail - Roll long skinny cylinder - Smoosh one end - Cut slits into flat end of tail

Assemble - Oh - Lu's legs came out so fat we only used two of them. I had her make a slit on the bottom of each one.

Proud artist! She wanted to color him, add the googly eyes and make a home for him in the jungle. See first photo. Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Sunday Snapshots: You're Craftastic!

Here is a craft project submitted by one of 4CK's Followers, Kristen. She does not have a blog...but should! Because as you can see she is quite crafty! She and her kids made these pillows from scratch! The kids had fun picking out their fabrics, stuffing the pillows and then gluing (hot glue gun filled with fabric glue sticks) on their felt initial.

One of 4CK's earliest followers, Laurie, sent in some pictures showcasing the tulip favor cups on her beautiful Easter table. She also gave me a craft challenge...End of Year Teacher's Gifts. A great suggestion since Teacher Appreciation Week is coming (Two birds - one stone!) I'll put my craft hat on and start thinking!


Thanks for sharing! Keep the pictures coming. If I get enough Sunday Snapshots may all be Follower submitted projects! By Follower I don't mean you have to officially follow...just if you check in on us from time to time. Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

How To Make a Quick Clay Owl

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Wow, what a week this has been. It is not that anything different happened this week it is just that I didn't have the energy and felt completely scattered all week. This ever happen to you? For example, I packed the prize boxes, of course forgetting to put in a nice note to all the winners, then I couldn't mentally gear myself up for: juggling two kids, 5 boxes, rain, and most likely a line at the Post Office. So the boxes drove around with me all week. I finally completed the task yesterday...it wasn't even that terrible of a task. I hope you all love your cards! Sorry for the delay.

I also wanted to acknowledge all of the people who entered my first giveaway! I read all your comments and appreciate what you had to say. It seems like you are all looking for easy crafts for kids...my specialty! So, keep writing to me! I love hearing about your ideas, suggestions and adventures in crafting!

Here is a quick how to I came up with while Lu was making beads. This would be fun for grade school/middle school kids.

Start with a ball (we used Model Magic.)

Smoosh to make circle

Use marker cap to make UUUUUU's on belly

Fold sides in

Fold top down - pinch ears a bit

Use marker cap to make eyes

Use butter knife or similar to make beak -
Finally you can play with a bit by smooshing sides a bit to make owl more round.

Let dry and paint. We used Model Magic here but any clay or modeling clay would work.

Click here for a variation.

Mother's Day Ideas: Card Board MOM Sign

This is a project for older children. I should think with an adults help an eight year old could manage this. I left the cardboard unpainted but you could spray paint it.

cereal box
paper cutter or scissors
glue gun

cut box into 7 one inch strips


curl 4 strips - start by running your fingers along the length of the strip several times - pulling up as you go. This will make it easier to then wrap the strip around your finger to curl.

To make a M: start with 2 curled strips

One strip folded in half to form a V. Notice the two ends are folded.

You will be gluing these items together. You will also be gluing a piece of ribbon to the top of one of the M's points.

Like so:

Place a bead of glue in fold of bottom point. See picture. This gives your M more rigidity. When your done gluing it should look like this. Repeat to make 2nd M.

To make the Heart O: Fold one strip in half and curl like so. Glue at base of V. This piece will be called part A.

This is the tricky part...well simple to do but hard to explain. Glue the two M's together mid curl. See photo. Leaving approx an inch or more to create a V which will be the base of the Heart. Glue part A to the V. See picture.

When you are finished it will be fairly sturdy. I think this came out so cute. It seems like it has a lot of steps but it isn't as hard as it looks. If you have middle school kids - I think they would have fun doing this and then probably wanting to figure out how to do their own name.

Here is a variation:

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King