crafts for kids Archives

25 Airplane Crafts for Kids

October 7, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

My three-year-old is constantly on the lookout for airplanes in the sky. If one of the other kids spots one, she has a fit until we show her where to look. Sometimes she doesn’t see it in time and then, well, let’s say she doesn’t handle that well. 🙂

Children of all ages love airplanes. There’s just something about the idea of flying through the sky that sends their imaginations soaring! So I rounded up 25 airplane crafts for kids that are fun, easy to make, and let kids “fly” just as high as they want!

If you love these, don’t miss our list of 25 leaf crafts or our list of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crafts for kids!

25 Airplane Crafts for Kids:

1. How to Make a Paper Airplane – Tinkerlab

2. Paper Airplane Launcher – Frugal Fun 4 Boys

3. STEM Paper Airplane Challenge – Kids Activities Blog

4. Airplane Clothespin Kids’ Craft – DIY Inspired

5. Airplane Play Dough – My Nearest and Dearest

6. Airplane Coloring Pages – Itsy Bitsy Fun

7. Airplane Sensory Bin – My Mundane and Miraculous Life

8. Footprint Airplane Canvas – Glued to My Crafts

9. DIY Airplane Crayons – Nothing If Not Intentional

10. Star Wars Paper Airplane Comparison – Royal Baloo

11. Craft Stick Airplane – Pleasantest Thing

12. Make an Airplane Runway for Kids – Dirt and Boogers

13. Paper Airplane Races – Creative Family Fun

14. A is for Airplane Craft – Kidz Activities

15. Giant Paper Airplanes – Fireflies and Mud Pies

16. Wooden Toy Airplane Craft – Moms and Crafters

17. Stunt Paper Airplane – Craftulate

18. Design a Propeller Plane – Planet Smarty

19. Paper Airplane Hangers

20. Egg Crate Airplane – Schooling a Monkey

21. Easy Toilet Paper Airplane – Spaceships and Laser Beams

22. Make a Straw and Paper Airplane – Tinkerlab

23. Paper Airplane Canvas Art – Mom Endeavors

24. Toilet Roll Airplane – Your Modern Family

25. LEGO Paper Airplane Launcher – Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Don’t miss these other crafts for children!

See more fun crafts for kids to make on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

This post is part of the Free Unit Studies blog hop! Stop by to read more fun airplane posts from these bloggers!

Styrofoam Cup Airplane Craft from Playdough and Popsicles

Exciting Reading List of Airplane Children’s Books from Crafty Mama in ME

Airplane Crafts for Kids from Look! We’re Learning!

Airplane Board Books for Toddlers from The Jenny Evolution

Airplane Travel from iGameMom

Learning Numbers with Airplanes from My Storytime Corner

Airplane Preschool Printables from Living Life and Learning

Airplane Color by letter Sight Words from Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

Airplane High Frequency Words from Adventures of Adam

Clothespin Airplane Engineering Challenge from Schooling a Monkey

25 Leaf Activities for Kids

September 2, 2016 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

Did I mention I love fall? I think that I say that every time I write about a fall activity.

But it’s true! Fall is my favoritest time of the year. Well, second favoritest after summer. (Also – is favoritest a word? It should be.)

We’ve made lots of leaf-themed activities before, including leaf flashcards, leaf garlands, and leaf snow globes.

But you can never have too many leaf ideas! These leaf activities for kids are a beautiful way to start discovering the season with the family!

25 Leaf Activities for Kids

1. Have some art fun with this Leaf Painting for Kids activity!

2. Learn about the special features that make leaves turn colors with this Leaf Chromatography experiment!

3. Try this How Do Leaves Breathe Experiment to find out how leaves get carbon dioxide!

4. These lovely Negative Leaf Impressions are a simple way to add art into your fall unit!

5. Gather the prettiest leaves in the neighborhood and make this Preserved Leaf Mobile!

6. Hand your smallest one some of these Fall Leaf Stickers and let them decorate a gift box!

7. Download this All About Leaves Printable Pack to talk about science and language arts with leaves!

8. This Autumn Leaf Threading activity is perfect for preschoolers!

9. There aren’t a lot of nature crafts that take my breath away, but this Stick and Leaf Butterfly Craft is downright gorgeous!

10. Let the kids set up an Autumn Leaf Investigation Table to encourage open-ended exploration!

11. Use those old toilet rolls to make this beautiful Toilet Paper Roll Leaf Stamping Tree!

12. Help tots learn their colors with this Fall Leaf Color Matching Activity!

13. Get a Maple Leaf Paper Punch and let the kids cut out leaf shapes!

Pages: 1 2

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Craft Ideas and Activities

August 31, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Gene Wilder died this week. And, while I didn’t know him personally, I was filled with sadness. I’ve seen Mr. Wilder perform in several films, but he will always be Willy Wonka to me.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was the first movie I watched as a child that really stayed with me throughout adulthood. Even as an eight-year-old, I could sense the film’s message that childhood was fleeting and should be treasured for as long as possible.

Naturally, I wanted to share that message with my kids, so we’ve already read the book and watched the film. But with Mr. Wilder’s passing, I felt like I wanted to revisit the film and its message with the kids while they’re still young.

So here are several Charlie and the Chocolate Factory craft ideas and activities to share with the family! Don’t forget to pick up the classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to read with your kids first!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Craft Ideas and Activities

1. Turn this book into a unit study with our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory unit!

2. Make a super cute Willy Wonka Pudding Cup Top Hat!

3. Want to make your own chocolate? This recipe for Almond Swirl Chocolate Bark is easy enough for kids to make!

4. Create your own Wonka Play Candy Store complete with playdough candy!

5. Use these Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Notebooking Printables to help kids review what they read in the story!

6. Confession: This isn’t actually for the kids. This Willy Wonka Action Figure is going on my desk at work!

7. Talk about the book around the dinner table with these Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Conversation Starter Ideas!

8. Make your own gooey Chocolate Slime for sensory play!

9. These Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Snacks are fun to snack on during read-aloud time!

10. Serve up a complete Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory dinner with a cabbage soup appetizer and blueberry pie for dessert!

11. Use this Printable Golden Ticket activity to challenge kids to come up with their own Golden Ticket terms!

12. If you’ve never seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, please stop the madness and watch it. Immediately.

13. These Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Lesson Plans from the official Roald Dahl website are perfect for extending the story into creative writing activities and more!

14. This Easy Chocolate Play Dough is fun for little hands!

15. These DIY Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Peg People are such a cute idea for reenacting scenes from the film or the story!

16. This Liquid Chocolate Mixed by Waterfall is the next best thing to the Chocolate River!

17. Let your toddlers fingerpaint with this Edible Chocolate Paint!

18. Wrap a standard chocolate bar with this Wonka Bar Wrapper with Golden Ticket for an extra special treat! (This is the one we used in our unit.)

19. These Eatable Pillow Snacks are a fun and simple snack for kids!

20. Remember the Giant Gummy Bears Wonka knocked down with his cane in the Chocolate Room? Make your own!

21. This Willy Wonka Toilet Paper Roll Craft is super fun and easy! (We used this craft in our unit as well.)

22. Charlie Bucket is easily the perfect child. Prin this Charlie Bucket Coloring Page for kids to color!

23. Want to make a slightly healthier chocolate snack? Try these Banana Chocolate Smoothie Pops!

24. Bring the classic story to life with this special Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Pop-Up Book!

25. Learn how to make your own Fizzy Lifting Drinks! And you won’t have to worry about floating up to the ceiling either. 🙂

26. This printable Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Word Search is a fun word activity for kids!

27. Make a batch of this Salted Chocolate and Peanut Butter Popcorn to enjoy as you watch the movie!

28. Use this recipe for Wonka’s Rainbow Drops to make these colorful candies! (Be sure to tell the kids NOT to try to spit in seven colors.)

And just because I want to mourn my lost childhood – my favorite song from the film:

See our Charlie and the Chocolate Factory unit in action!

Get more ideas for homeschool units from my Unit Studies board on Pinterest!

25 Beach Crafts for Kids

July 10, 2016 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Have you made it to the beach yet this year? We’re planning a quick trip to a local one in August, so I thought I’d look for some fun and adorable beach crafts for kids that we can make together before we leave!

What I love about studying the beach with kids is that the topic is so broad! You can learn about the sun, the ocean, ocean animals, beach sand, animals that live on the beach, seashells, ice cream, and so much more! So there are crafts for all these things below!

Read on to find some fun beach crafts you can try too!

25 Beach Crafts for Kids

1. Beach Diorama for Kids from Look! We’re Learning!

2. Puffy Paint Ocean Collage from ArtsyMomma

3. Seashell Keepsake Craft from Moms and Crafters

4. Beach-Themed Sand and Shell Art from Happiness is Homemade

5. Sand Footprint Craft from Paging Fun Mums

6. Newspaper Shark Craft from I Heart Crafty Things

7. Paper Plate Sun Craft from Buggy and Buddy

8. Starfish Ocean Button Craft from A Little Pinch of Perfect

9. Shell Sunflower Craft from Rhythms of Play

10. Sand Handprint Keepsakes from The Imagination Tree

11. DIY Beach Sand from Look! We’re Learning!

12. Cupcake Liner Sun Craft from I Heart Crafty Things

13. 3-Ingredient Ocean in a Bottle from Happy Hooligans

14. Paper Plate Seashell Craft from Artsy Crafty Mom

15. Sand in a Bottle Craft from Gift of Curiosity

16. Coffee Filter Beach Ball Craft from Look! We’re Learning!

17. Popsicle Stick Mosaic Sun Craft from Kids Activities Blog

18. Cupcake Liner Lighthouse Craft from Sugar Aunts

19. DIY Seashell Mobile from Nurture Store

20. Egg Carton Ocean Craft from The Imagination Tree

21. Bubbling Shell Painting from Mess for Less

22. DIY Moon Sand from Look! We’re Learning!

23. Paper Plate Beach Ball Craft from Glued to My Crafts

24. Sun Craft Scissor Skills Activity from A Little Pinch of Perfect

25. Beach Keepsake Craft from Fireflies and Mudpies

Need more summer learning ideas? Try these with your kids!

Plus, get even more ideas on my Summer Activities for Kids Pinterest Board!

And don’t miss my All About Beaches Printable Pack – perfect for keeping kids learning over the summer!

This post is part of the Summer Activities for Kids Blog Hop! Check out more summer fun for kids below!

Flower Suncatcher Nature Craft – Messy Little Monster

Make a Bee Bath – Kitchen Counter Chronicles

Water Play Car Wash – Play and Learn Everyday

Tic Tac Toe Races – Royal Baloo

Finding Dory Wind Sock Craft – The Gingerbread House

Farm Shoebox Diorama Craft

March 17, 2016 by Selena Robinson 7 Comments

A while back, we made a Beach Shoebox Diorama and the kids had so much with it that I thought we should make another one. So for this linkup with the Early Elementary Blogging Team, we decided to make a simple and fun Farm Shoebox Diorama Craft!

If you’re looking for a low-prep, easy craft that will keep your kids entertained, this is it! Roo, my most active child by a mile, actually sat in one spot and played quietly with the diorama after we finished. Talk about miracles!

Read on to see how to make this craft with your kids!

If you love this activity, don’t miss our other farm learning ideas, including our list of Kids’ Books about Farms and our printable Farm Animal Flashcards!

Farm Shoebox Diorama Craft

To make this craft, you’ll need the following:

An empty shoebox (a child’s size shoebox is perfect)
A copy of our free Farm Shoebox Diorama Printable Pack
Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Play sand
Scissors
Glue
Markers

Our Farm Shoebox Diorama Printable Pack has a background and farm props such as a barn, a tractor, and some farm animals. But you can also have your child draw his or her own farm pictures if you want to add a bit more art to the project.

After we cut out all of the pictures, Roo got to work on the background. We just used a blue marker for the sky, then he glued the farm scenery onto the bottom of the shoebox.

Then it was time to add the props! You simply fold each prop on the dashed line, then unfold it slightly to make them stand up!

Roo placed everything where he thought it should go.

Then we poured in about a cup of play sand. (Note: Resting the shoebox in the lid is a HUGE help when it comes to clean up.)

And we’re done!

If you look at Roo’s face, it’s basically saying “Hurry up and take the picture so I can play with it, Mom!” 🙂 And that’s what he did. He sat there for over an hour playing with his farm set.

And it only took 10 minutes to make!

Round out your farm theme with these other farm resources!

Get even more craft ideas from my Simple Crafts for Kids board on Pinterest!

Check out the other fun farm-themed posts by the Early Elementary Blogging Team!

Farm Odd Numbers Skip Counting Puzzles at Life Over C’s

Montessori Farm Activities (Free Printables) at Natural Beach Living

Are You My Mother? 13 Baby Farm Animal Puzzles at 123 Homeschool 4 Me

Make a Farm Diorama (Printable Sets Included) at The Natural Homeschool

Farm Animals Worksheets for Kids at Mrs. Karle’s Sight and Sound Reading

Fun {FREE} Farm Writing Prompts! at Preschool Powol Packets

Animal Nutrition: Why Cows Eat Grass and We Can’t at Schooling a Monkey

Farm Books for Kids (Farm Study Unit) at The Jenny Evolution

Beginning Sounds on the Farm at Parenting Chaos

Farm Skip Counting Math Worksheets at Living Life and Learning

Kindergarten Math with Farm Fingerprint Art at Sugar Aunts

Activities for the Book Hello Ocean: Beach Shoebox Diorama

June 16, 2014 by Selena Robinson 4 Comments

I’m originally from the coast and I miss the beach so much. In fact, I think it actually intensifies as I get older.

So when summer time approaches, my mind lightly turns to thoughts of warm sand, salt air, and waves.

Unfortunately, we live several hours inland now, so a trip to the beach is not always feasible.

But we can always head to the shore with a beach shoebox diorama activity!

This was such a fun summer activity and it only took a few minutes. Plus, it was a great tie-in for a beautiful beachy read-aloud!

If you enjoy this project with the kids, be sure to try our simple Coffee Filter Beach Ball Craft!

Beach Shoebox Diorama Activity

To make this beach shoebox diorama, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

Empty shoebox
Crayons
Printer (with ink)
Printer paper
Scissors
Glue stick
Cotton balls
Play sand (If you want to make your own, try our DIY play sand recipe!)
A copy of our Day at the Beach Diorama Pack (See below)

We decided to read the book Hello Ocean by Pam Munoz Ryan to introduce our beach theme.

I love this book. It’s very simple for young readers and the pictures are absolutely beautiful.

The poetry does an excellent job of capturing the feel of a day at the beach, right down to the taste of the salt water.

After we read the book, we decided to put together a shoebox diorama featuring a beach scene.

This was another of our super simple activities.

We only needed a shoebox, some crayons, scissors, glue, and our printable Day at the Beach Diorama Pack!

The kids colored the bottom and sides of the shoebox using the colors mentioned in the story: grey, blue, and green.

We cut out the background scenes…

and pasted them to the bottom of the shoebox.

Our background is all done, so it’s time to add a few props!

We cut out each upright scene image, including the bottom square, as one piece.

Then we folded the bottom square under to make the image stand up.

After we used a stretched cotton ball as a cloud, we poured a little play sand in the bottom and added our upright images to get a feel for the beach in our dining room! 🙂

Scroll down to get your printable beach shoebox diorama pack!

Don’t miss these other posts!

To see even more fun summer crafts, follow my Summer Activities for Kids board on Pinterest!

If you’d like to complete this activity with your littles, grab our free Day at the Beach Diorama Pack by clicking the image or the link below to download it!

>>>> Day at the Beach Diorama Pack <<<<

This post is part of the “A Book and a Big Idea: Summer” linkup at iHomeschool Network! Click on over to read the great book activities of our fellow bloggers!

20 Kid Crafts for Winter

December 12, 2013 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Winter’s fast approaching and it’s a great time to break out some winter crafts for the kids! I’m not in love with winter, but I do love to make cute crafts and that’s usually enough to perk me up out of the winter blues. 🙂 Now that we have a very active preschooler, she always wants to make things with scissors and glue, so crafting is a perfect way to spend some time with her.

I’ve rounded up some of our favorite kid crafts for winter from around the web and I’m sharing them here today! We’ll be trying out a few of these this month and through the season, but I’d love to hear which ones catch your eye as well!

By the way, if you want more winter craft ideas, don’t miss our lists of penguin crafts for kids and snowman crafts for kids!

20 Kid Crafts for Winter:

1. Printable Snowflake Math Factors Craft – Look! We’re Learning!

2. Winter Snowflake Slime – Little Bins for Little Hands

3. Glittery Snowflake Suncatchers – Happiness is Homemade

4. Sensory Blizzard in a Bottle – No Time for Flashcards

5. Snowman Factory – Buggy and Buddy

6. Foam Ball Winter Snowman – Crafty Morning

7. Cardboard Snowflake Printing – The Jenny Evolution

8. Paper Snow Globe Craft – Housing a Forest

9. Snow Puffy Paint – The Imagination Tree

10. Salt Truck Shape Craft – Sugar Aunts

11. Snowy Paper Collage – A Little Pinch of Perfect

12. Paper Polar Bear Craft – Crafty Morning

13. Fine Motor Ice Skates Lacing Craft – I Heart Arts and Crafts

14. Ice Wreath Bird Feeder Craft – Hands On As We Grow

15. Melted Snowman Shape Collage – Mom Inspired Life

16. Winter Necklace Craft – Domestic Mommyhood

17. Q-Tip Painted Snowman Craft

18. Ice Sun Catcher – Kid World Citizen

19. Children Catching Snowflakes Winter Craft – Crafty Morning

20. Winter Playdough Creation Station – No Time for Flashcards

And if you love these, try some of these other fun ideas for kids!

Plus, see more winter learning ideas on my Winter Activities for Kids board on Pinterest!

Simple Straw Bead Necklace Craft for Kids

August 30, 2013 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

If your kids are anything like mine, they’re always asking for the necklaces in the 25-cent machine at the grocery store. You know those fake gold necklaces that turn your neck green? Yeah, those.

I got tired of saying “no” over and over again, so I thought we’d come up with a simple jewelry craft that the kids could make and then wear on their own. That’s when we found this simple straw bead necklace craft and it was a perfect alternative! Plus, it didn’t turn their neck green, which was a plus. 🙂

Read on to see how to make these with your kids! And don’t miss my list of super easy preschool crafts you can make in just 10 minutes!

Simple Straw Bead Necklace Craft for Kids

This week, we jumped into the great book The Arts & Crafts Busy Book: 365 Art and Craft Activities to Keep Toddlers and Preschoolers Busy and found a super easy craft for kids of all ages: straw beads! And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.

Here’s what you need to make this craft:

We passed out tissue paper to the kids. They chose their own colors. Surprisingly, Roo picked blue as his new “favorite” color. He’s been hung up on red for years.

Then we spread glue over the paper. At first, we used glue sticks and they worked somewhat, but we ended up reinforcing them with liquid glue. So, to save yourself some time, use regular glue in the first place.

After that, you just place the straw at one end of the paper…

and roll it up tightly. We ended up adding a bit more glue to the very end of the paper just to make sure that the ends stayed closed.

Cut the straw into small pieces with a pair of scissors to make stringable beads. Have the kids string the beads onto a length of yarn, tie it around their neck, and you’re done!

Roo adored his necklace. He wore it the rest of the evening.

Pooh fiddled with his most of the day afterward, but he’s asked to wear it everyday since.

Tigger just loved her necklace! Right now, anything even remotely girly is a big hit with her.

Have you tried this straw bead necklace craft? How did it go? Share your experiences in the comments!

Don’t miss these other craft ideas!

Plus, see more crafting fun on my Simple Crafts for Kids Pinterest board!

Simple DIY Pinwheel Craft for Kids

August 16, 2013 by Selena Robinson 2 Comments

Windy days are made for pinwheels, am I right? Remember getting a pinwheel at the county fair or the book fair at school (my favorite place ever) and running outside to watch it turn in the wind? As a child, I could stare at a pinwheel turn for hours. They were just mesmerizing.

I had never made a pinwheel myself, so I thought the kids would enjoy learning how to make one as an easy spring craft. Like a lot of our projects, this DIY pinwheel craft is very simple and only requires a couple of supplies. If you like this activity, don’t miss our easy spring toilet roll butterfly craft!

DIY Pinwheel Craft

To make this pinwheel craft, you’ll need the following:

To get started, all you have to do is cut the paper into squares and then make a diagonal cut toward the center on each corner.

Actually, I didn’t even cut the paper into squares. I did the old school thing where you fold the paper in fourths and then tear it. (I know I’m not the only person who does that, am I?)

After you’ve made the diagonal cuts, take each cut and fold the right corner toward the left so that the end lands in the center of the paper.

You don’t want to actually “fold” by making a crease in the paper, because you need the paper to remain curved in order for the air to move through it. So you’re really just pulling the corners toward the middle here.

Once you have all the corners folded toward the center, just hold them down with one hand and then stick the push pin through with the other.

Make sure you catch all the corner ends and don’t stick yourself! I pushed the pin through first and then stuck the end into the pencil eraser.

And we’re done! The kids were so excited to try them out that they sat at the table trying to perfect how to blow across the sails to move them properly for about 20 minutes afterward.

I will say that these are not the most permanent pinwheels you can make, so if your kids get a little rough with them (like ours did), you’ll have to put them back together. But you just have to push the paper corners back down and re-pin. Easy peasy!

If you enjoyed this spring activity, check out our other spring learning ideas!

And get more ideas on my Spring Activities for Kids Pinterest board!

Textured Sponge Painting Preschool Craft

August 9, 2013 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

Art is one my favorite subjects to teach in our homeschool lessons. But when you’re starting with young children, I’ve found it best to keep the projects as simple as possible. After all, they’re not quite ready to study post-modernism. 🙂

So we tried this easy textured sponge painting preschool craft with our kids and they absolutely loved it! It was a simple way to study color and painting while giving them a bit of sensory input at the same time.

Read on to see how to do this simple art project with your kids! And if you love this craft, try our list of super easy preschool crafts you can make in 10 minutes!

Textured Sponge Painting Preschool Craft

To do this craft, you’ll need the following:

To set up this craft, we cut a large kitchen sponge into four pieces and handed them out. (This step should be done by an adult.)

Then we added a bit more texture by having the kids crumple up their paper before beginning. We found some super old fingerpaint (I mean, from when Tigger was a toddler) and added a bit of water to thin it out and then it was time to get started!

When we asked Roo if he wanted me to sketch his design for him, he said “I want to make whatever I want to make.” Got it.

Tigger wanted to paint a picture of a tree, so I sketched it for her to give her a little guide since the sponge tips are so large.

Pooh wanted to paint a train and it ended up not going as well as he would have liked. But the experience of painting was so fun that he was all smiles anyway at the end. I think that’s what art should be like for kids!

Here’s everyone’s work. Mine is at top left, Tigger’s is at top right, Pooh’s train is bottom right, and Roo’s unique individualist expression is at bottom left.

To give the pictures a bit more flair, we sprinkled glitter and colored salt on them before they dried. A simple introduction to Impressionism, perhaps?

Have you tried this textured sponge painting preschool craft with your kids? Let me know how it went in the comments!

Like this post? Try these other ideas for preschoolers!

And get more ideas for preschool learning on my Learning for Little Ones Pinterest board!