Fall Leaf Dream Catcher Craft

Use natural materials to make a great looking dream catcher/mobile craft. This makes a good Fall or Thanksgiving craft activity after a nature walk. Visit the great Mom site below for the full tutorial.

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Father's Day Coat Hanger Craft

Here's a fun and easy way to customize a coat hanger for dad on Father's Day. He can put his favorite jacket on it. This could also easily be turned into a mobile craft. Visit the site below for more details.

Motherhood on a Dime

Earth Day Mobile Craft

Go to Classified: Mom to learn how to make this great Earth Day mobile craft. Reinforce environmental messages with this cute activity.

Classified: Mom

St. Patrick's Day Mobile Craft

Here's a great looking mobile craft for St. Patrick's Day.


Materials:

• construction paper
• card stock
• St. Patrick's Day motif templates(leprechaun, shamrocks, rainbow, pot of gold)
• scissors
• hole punch
• string
• crayons
• tape
• glue
• glitter

Directions:

• Cut 2 strips about 4" wide down the length of a sheet of green construction paper.
• Tape or staple the lengths together end to end to make one long strip.
• Write "Happy St. Patrick's Day along the strip and decorate with glitter. Allow to dry.
• Roll and staple the strip into a big loop.
• Prepare St. Patrick's Day motif templates on card stock for children to color or print out in color.
• Punch holes on the motifs and holes around the bottom of the loop. Attach with strings.
• Punch holes in the top, tie strings and hang up.

Michael's

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Hat Streamers Preschool Craft

This St. Patrick's Day leprechaun hat streamers craft is so cute. This is a really simple craft perfect for preschool. Your kids will love displaying their St. Patty's Day decoration. Visit this great site for the tutorial on this and many other great craft ideas.

Minnesota Mamma's Must Have's

St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun Hat Streamer Craft

This cute St. Patrick's Day Leprechaun hat streamer decoration craft idea comes from a Japanese site. Cut out a large Leprechaun hat and attach rainbow streamers to the back and hang up. Such a cute and simple idea. Sorry, only Japanese.

Yaplog

Winter Snow Cloud Mobile Craft

For a winter or weather theme, you can make this simple snow cloud craft.

Materials:

• blue construction paper
• white paper
• yarn or string
• glue
• tape
• scissors
• cotton balls or batting

Directions:

1. Trace and cut out a cloud shape from blue paper.
2. Cut three squares about 5 inch from white paper.
3. Fold the white papers and cut at random points to make original snowflakes.
4. Tape snowflakes to lengths of string and then tape to the back of the cloud.
5. Glue cotton balls to the front of the cloud.
6. Hang up on the wall, window, or ceiling as a mobile.

Valentine's Day Love Banner Craft

Here's a pretty Valentine's Day banner decoration craft idea. String up some hearts that spell love and hang it on the door. Follow the link to All Kids Network for the complete details.


All Kids Network

Valentine's Day Yarn Heart Craft

 

 

Make something special and different this year with this Valentine's Day yarn heart craft These little wrapped yarn hearts make a great decoration. You can put them on the wall, desk, or make a mobile with different sizes. Visit this great site, 2 Little Holligans fo the full details.

 



2 Little Hooligans

Valentine's Day Tissue Heart Preschool Craft

 

Here's a really simple preschool for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. Decorate the hearts with tissue paper and hang up for a great Valentine's decoration. This easy craft is perfect for preschool classes or at home. Follow the link for more details.

 



Social Moms

4th of July Patriotic Flag Mobile Craft

This 4th of July patriotic flag mobile craft is a great way to show your spirit. The original version of this craft pictured here was made from soup can lids and wire, but you can easily adapt this idea to a easier and safer paper craft.

Materials:

• soup can
• card stock
• red and blue markers
• white out or white paint pen
• dowel rods
• red and blue beads
• string
• hole punch
• super glue

Directions:

1. Use a soup can to trace 9 circles onto white card stock and cut out.
2. Color the top left quarter of the circle blue. Add red stripes. The first stripe on a flag is red. Add white dots to the blue field for stars with a paint pen or white out. Repeat for all circles.
3. Punch a hole in the top of each flag circle.
4. Cut 2 dowel rods about a foot long and tie together in a cross shape.
5. Add a blue or red bead to the ends with super glue.
6. Cut 4 pieces of string the same length. Cut 4 more strings longer than the first group. Finally cut 1 string the longest.
7. Tie all the strings to the flag circles.
8. Tie the other ends to the dowel cross. Tie the 4 shortest ones on the ends of the dowels, the longer 4 inside those, and the longest one in the middle.
9. Tie a string o top of the flag mobile and hang up.
10. Adjust the strings on the dowel to get a good balance.

Variations:

Actually, since we're using paper, the flags don't need to be circles. You could make rectangles.

You could paste both sides o the card stock with 4th of July wrapping paper and cut out the shapes from that.

  Source: Crafts for all Seasons

4th of July Star Mobile Craft



 

This 4th of July Star mobile craft is recycled from a cereal box. You'll have loads of fun doing it.

Materials:

•  cereal box
• red and blue paint, brushes
• glitter(or red and blue paint with glitter)
• newspaper
• pencil
• star templates
• scissors
• exacto knife
• hole punch
• red, white, and blue ribbon
• glue
• clothespins

Directions:

1. Completely cut apart a cereal box. Cut off and discard the top and bottom flaps. The front and back panels will be used to make the stars. The side panels the top ring.
2. Lay down newspaper. Paint the blank side of the front and back panels blue and sprinkle on glitter. Paint the blank side of the side panels red and sprinkle with glitter. Or use glitter paint. Allow to dry.
3. Trace big and small stars on the printed side of the blue panels and along the red panels.
4. Cut out the blue stars with scissors. Discard the excess.
5. Cut out the red stars with an exacto knife.
6. Glue the 2 red side panels together to make a ring. Secure with clothespins.
7. Cut different lengths of ribbon. Sandwich the ribbon between 2 stars of the same size with glue.
8. Punch holes around the bottom of the irng and tie the stars.
9. Punch holes around the top and tie ribbon to hang up the 4th of July mobile.

Source: 4 Crazy Kings

St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Mobile Craft

Here's a great looking rainbow collage mobile for St. Patrick's Day.

Materials:

• card stock
• scissors
• black and gold, yellow construction paper.
• construction paper scraps in rainbow colors or magazine scraps
• glue
• hole punch
• gold glitter glue (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut a fat "U" shape for the rainbow from card stock.
2. Cut little pots from black construction paper and gold coins shape from yellow construction paper. Add gold glitter details to gold coins if desired.
3. Glue the gold coins shape to the back of the pots.
4. Glue on construction paper scraps to make your rainbow. Allow everything to dry.
5. Punch holes at the top of the rainbow, the bottom of the rainbow at both ends, and the top of the pots of gold.
6. Use string or yarn and tie the pots of gold o the rainbow and tie at the top to hang up your St. Patrick's Day Rainbow mobile.

Source: Lucky Me blog

Ranbow with Clouds Mobile Craft

Here's a great looking rainbow wit clouds mobile made with finger painting. This is great for a St. Patrick's Day or Spring craft

Materials:

• card stock
• scissors
• hole punch
• ribbon or yarn
• paint in rainbow colors

Directions:

1. Beforehand, cut our a "U" rainbow shape and 2 cloud shapes from card stock.
2. Teach the kids the order of the colors of the rainbow, Roy G. Biv.
3. One by one, use fingerprints to color the rainbow. Red starts at the top.
4. Use fingers to color the clouds blue. Allow to dry.
5. Punch a hole at the top of the rainbow, the bottom of both ends of the rainbow, and the tops of each cloud.
6. Attach the clouds to the bottom of the rainbow with ribbon.
7. Tie a string at the top and hang up your rainbow mobile.

Change the clouds to pots of gold for St. Patrick's Day or paint both sides, one blue clouds, the other a pot of gold.

Coffee Filter Butterfly Craft

This is a simple and beautiful butterfly craft from coffee filters and pipe cleaners.

Materials:

• coffee filter(the flat round kind)
• markers
• spray bottle with water
• pipe cleaners

Directions:

1. Decorate your coffee filter in pretty colors with markers
2. Spray with water and let the colors bleed into each other. Allow to dry.
3. Pinch the coffee filter in the middle and tie with a pipe cleaner. Leave some extra at the end to make the antenna.

They can also be tied together on a string to make a mobile.

Clothespin variation:

Follow the directions above, but pinch in the middle with a colorful clothespin. Use a short piece of pipe cleaner to make antenna and pinch at the top of the clothespin.

Crafts for All Seasons

Plastic Fork Sun Catcher Mobile Craft

This is not really a craft for little kids, it takes a little more manual dexterity, but I couldn't resist posting it. This mobile is made completely of clear plastic forks. There was no glue used. The forks are slotted together and build and build into this long chain shape. It looks like the spine of some alien. Hang up and watch it turn in the breeze.

St. Patrick's Day Rainbow Mobile Craft

Here's a really original and simple idea for a modern looking rainbow mobile. Also great for St. Patrick's Day. The mobile pictured uses construction paper strips. This is a good project to use scrap paper strips you're probably saving already. Or, I also like the idea of using craft sticks(Popsicle sticks). You can buy colored craft sticks or paint your own.

Materials:

• construction paper in rainbow colors or craft sticks(Popsicle sticks) in rainbow colors
• string or white thread
• 2.5 inch Styrofoam ball
• gold glitter
• glue
• tape
• scissors

Directions:

1. Cut thin rectangular strips from paper in rainbow colors. The mobile pictured used 8.5x1 inch strips. Or use craft sticks.
2. Brush glue all over the Styrofoam ball and cover in glitter. Allow to dry.
3. Tape the strips or sticks along a piece of string or white thread in the order of the rainbow.The mobile pictured used 4 strips for each color.  Leave about an inch between each strip. Leave a generous amount of extra string at both ends.
4. Thread the needle on the purple end and push all the way through the center of the gold glitter ball. Tie the bottom.
5. Hang the other end up.

Source: Paging Supermom

Pteranodon Dinosaur Mobile Craft

Here's a great idea for a Pteranodon Mobile Craft. Print the template onto hard paper, cut out and hang up. You can use a paper plate and hang as many as you want.

Materials:

• pteranodon template(see below)
• construction paper or card stock
• scissors
• paper plate
• string

Directions:

1. Print out the template and cut out from thick paper. Assemble the pieces.
2. Tie the pteranodons to string to hang up.
3. Punch holes and attach to a paper plate to display.
4. Go here for the Pteranodon Mobile Template
   
   
   
   

Valentine's Day Melted Crayons Mobile Craft

Here's a simple, but fantastic looking idea using melted crayons and wax paper to make stained glass hearts that make a great sun catcher hanging in a window. However, you'll need an adults help with the ironing.

Materials:

• wax paper
• crayon shavings
• pencil sharpener
• scissors
• pencil
• heart templates
• electric iron
• newspaper

Directions:

1. Beforehand, make lots of crayon shavings using crayons and a pencil sharpener.
2. Take a large sheet of wax paper and fold in half.
3. Open up and sprinkle an even layer of crayon shavings inside. Pastel pinks and reds generally look better for Valentine's, but don't be afraid to mix your colors.
4. Close the wax paper and fold a little down on the three other sides so the melted crayons don't squish out the side.
5. Lay down newspaper, the wax paper, and more newspaper on top. Iron with an electric iron on low to medium to melt the crayons. Don't make it too hot or they'll burn.
6. After melting the crayons, trace various sized hearts on the wax paper and cut out.
7. Tape a piece of string and hang up. Or, take many hearts and tie them to a coat hanger or paper towel roll to make a mobile.

Martha Stewart

 

Hey Diddle Diddle Mobile Craft

Here's a really nice nursery rhyme themed mobile craft from DLTK.

Materials:

• Hey Diddle Diddle templates from website
• paper towel roll
• scissors
• crayons
• glue
• yarn
• blue construction paper
• paper stars

Directions:

1. Visit the DLTK website(link below) and print out the Hey Diddle Diddle characters template.
2. Decorate the paper towel roll with blue paper and stars to make a night sky.
3. Color and cut out all the characters. There are 2 mirror images to sandwich together.
4. Glue the characters together with the a length of string in the middle.
5. Tie the strings to the cardboard tube.
6. Tie another piece of yarn through the tube and hang up.

Here's the original site with the templates:
Hey Diddle Diddle Mobile

I really like this craft and the cartoons look great, but the disadvantage is that there are 8 characters, all with 2 mirror images. That's A LOT of coloring and cutting for little kids.

Actually, I made an easier version similar to the one shown. I used chopsticks tied at the center to make a cross at the top.

Materials:

• 4 or 5 characters from coloring pages
• 2 disposable chopsticks tied in the middle
• yarn
• crayons
• scissors
• tape

Directions:

1. Tie chopsticks at the top to make a cross.
2. Color and cut out pictures.
3. Tape to pieces of yarn.
4. Tape the yarn to the ends of the chopsticks and hang up.