These colorful coffee filter valentines are a fun project and make a great Valentine card.  It’s a great project for younger children because it’s so simple, but I also did this will a girl scout troop and they had a ball making them because they enjoyed the tie dye effect of the coffee filters.

What You’ll Need

• 1 Basket coffee filter
• Watercolor paints
• Paint brush
• Permanent Black Marker
• Scissors
• Decorative edge scissors (optional)
• Glue

What to Do

1. Lay the coffee filter out as flat as possible. Use your paint brush to wet the entire surface. It doesn’t need to be dripping wet, just damp.

2. Paint the wet filter with the watercolors. You can paint something specific or just use random colors the way we did in our example. When you like what you’ve painted, let it dry completely.

3. Fold the painted coffee filter in half and cut out a heart.

4. Glue the coffee filter heart on top of a red piece of construction paper.

5. Cut around the heart to make a red border around the filter. (Use the decorative scissors for this optionally.)

6. Use the permanent black marker to write “Be Mine” in the middle of the heart, then use it to put the stitching detail around the edge of the filter. The stitching is a simple dashed line.
That’s it!  Quick and easy!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Coffee Filter Valentine

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We made this project for a school Valentine party for children and it was a HUGE hit.  When we finished this project, my son (five at the time) thought we could just take off our old mailbox and replace it with this one… He said our new pink one was prettier than our plain black one and the mailman might bring us more packages if we used this one instead. Oh if only it were that easy.

What You’ll Need:

• 2 Sheets Pink Fun Foam (12 x 18 inch)
• Dark Pink Fun Foam
• Brown Fun Foam
• Self adhesive foam hearts
• Scissors
• Cardboard box (See Step 1)
• Hot Glue Gun
• Exacto Knife (Optional)

What to Do:

1. The first thing you need to do is cut your cardboard box in the shape below. We use one of those large cereal boxes that you get at a warehouse store like Sam’s Club. You can make a smaller mailbox by using a shoebox, or tape pieces of cardboard together to make the shape below in the size you want.

Do not make your cut out any taller than 7 inches or any longer that 11 inches. Anything taller or longer will require you to piece together pieces of foam to cover the box and it won’t look as good.

We used an exacto knife to cut the cardboard. It allows you more control over your cutting and a more exact shape.

2. Choose one end of the cardboard cut out to have the door. Cut the door in that end by creating an arch that matches the curve of the box about an inch from the edge. The cut will look like a horseshoe. Refer to the red line in the image below.

3. Put hot glue on one end of the mailbox and then lay it on one sheet of pink foam. Let cool then cut off the excess foam. Do the same with the other end of the mailbox. Be sure to cover both ends with just one sheet of foam (You need the other sheet for step 4).

Cut on the line for the door. Lightly score the cardboard on the bottom of the door so that it will open easier.

4. Put hot glue on one of the long sides of the box and then lay it on the short side of a whole piece of pink foam. Wrap the foam up over the top of the box and secure with hot glue on the other long side of the box. Cut a small piece of foam and hot glue it to the door to make a handle.

5. Cut a strip of brown foam and wrap one end with a long piece of dark pink foam. This will make the flag. Hot glue the flag to the mailbox as shown in the example.

Don’t make the flag “pole” part too long or the flag too big — the foam isn’t ridged enough to hold it. You can replace the brown foam with a large craft stick to make it more stiff if you want.

6. Decorate the mailbox with the self adhesive foam hearts and the scraps of dark pink foam you have left over.

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Fancy Foam Valentine Box Craft

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This paper plate penguin craft is super simple to make out of stuff you already have, it’s something you can pull together at the spur of the moment… a must when dealing with little ones, and kids can do this one all by themselves!

Plus, I think it’s really cute… even though my picture really doesn’t do it justice.  Enjoy!

What You’ll Need

• Paper Plate
• Black Construction Paper
• Orange and Green Scrap Paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Pencil

What To Do

1.  Use the pencil to mark a circle on the inside of the plate.  You’ll instruct the kids to keep the center of the place clear so that the penguin will have a white belly.

2.  Tear black construction paper into pieces and glue the pieces around the outside of the circle you’ve drawn on the plate.

3.  Cut a triangle out of orange construction paper for the beak and two green circles to make the eyes.  Glue the eyes and beak onto the plate to complete the penguin.

That’s it… I hope you enjoy it!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Paper Plate Penguin Craft

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This is a cute little penguin that will come in handy if you’re working on a Winter theme, Winter animal theme, or Penguins themselves.  It would also be fun for any kind of winter themed scouting event, and we’ve even done them for homeschool!  I’ve shown some other options for creating a couple of different kinds of penguins like Emperor Penguins and Macaroni Penguins.

NOTE:  Some people have expressed a concern that they can’t use toilet paper rolls in preschools, even if they sanitize them first.  For this craft, you could roll up a piece of file folder and staple it to make a tube, cut a paper towel tube, or even make it with heavier construction paper if necessary!

These are the basic instructions for the penguin…

What You’ll Need:

• Toilet paper tube
• Black and white construction paper
• Scrap orange construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• 2 Wiggle eyes
• The templates below

What to Do:

1.  Cover your tube with black construction paper.  Print out the template below for the penguin parts.

2.  Trace the tummy template onto white construction paper and cut out.  Trace the wings template onto black construction paper and cut out.  Trace the feet and beak onto orange construction paper and cut out.

3.  Glue the tummy onto the tube so that the flat edge is at the bottom of the tube.

4.  Lightly crease the wings and then glue them onto either side of the tummy.  Creasing them before you glue them will help them stick out from the body a little.

5.  Glue on the wiggle eyes and the beak.  Fold the feet on the line to create tabs.  Glue the tabs to the front inside of the tube so that the feet stick out in front of the penguin.  (See picture above.)

 

To Create An Emperor PenguinIt’s really easy to create an Emperor Penguin by simply coloring his belly.  I used chalk in the picture to the left so that the colors would blend easily.  Simply color around the outside of the belly with yellow chalk and then put a line of orange next to that.  Blend the colors together.

You could do the same thing with crayons or watercolor paint, but the blending won’t be as smooth.  Younger children won’t care about that a bit.

 

To Create A Macaroni Penguin

It’s also a lot of fun to make a Macaroni Penguin.  First cut a piece of paper to fit around the inside of the tube.  Cut slits in the tube to make a fringe, and then glue it to the inside of the tube.  Rough it up to make it look more fuzzy.

Fringe too difficult? Use strings, yarn, or even a pom pom to make the crazy hair on the head of a macaroni penguin.

By the way, the picture above is a little deceiving.  Macaroni Penguins are supposed to have a little bit of yellow or orange hair on the outside edges of their top knot — but this is just too complicated for younger children!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Tissue Tube Penguin

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With paper folded the right way and a little ‘cutting edge’ imagination, you can create something better than your typical paper snowflake — you can make Snow Stars!

Younger kids may have a little trouble with this craft, but it’s like magic when they open them up. Well worth the work!

If you’ve got bigger kids, then they can really get creative and have a lot of fun with these.

What You’ll Need:

• Paper
• Scissors
• Pencil
• The Templates Below

Version 1:

1. Measure and cut your paper so that it’s square. Then fold it according to the diagram below. Using thinner paper and a larger square makes the folding and the cutting in step 2 a lot easier.

2. Once your paper is folded, you can cut it anyway you want. Unfold when complete.

This is pretty much the standard way of making paper snowflakes. Now let’s take a look at a different variation.

Variation 2:

1. Cut your paper into a circle. Fold the circle in half. Fold the half circle into thirds, one side over the other, as in the diagram below.

2. Once you have the paper folded, you’ll have a cone shaped piece of paper. Use the diagram as a guideline and cut out the shape you want for your snow star. The more smaller cuts on the folds, the more intricate your design will turn out. Unfold when complete.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Snow Star Craft

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This easy bead Christmas wreath ornament craft is really easy to make for children of all ages to create. It makes a great project for small groups like scouting or classrooms too.

One of these little wreaths would also look great tied onto a gift!

What You’ll Need:

• A 12 inch white pipe cleaner
• 35 green tri-beads
• 7 red tri-beads

What to Do:

1. Feed 5 green beads onto the pipe cleaner, then feed on one red bead. The beads should interlock over each other.  Keep alternating the beads until you have them all on the pipe cleaner.

2. Move all the beads so that they are in the middle of the pipe cleaner and there are equal lengths of pipe cleaner at both ends.

3. Bend the beaded pipe cleaner into a circle and twist the two ends together to make a circle. Use the remaining ends of the pipe cleaner to make a bow.

When you get ready to hang the ornament on the tree, you can use a wire ornament hanger and hook it through the top of the ornament where the pipe cleaners are tied. You can also tie a piece of thread around the ornament to make a hanger.

Don’t forget about our Little Kid Christmas Crafts book!  It’s only available for a limited time!

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Easy Bead Christmas Wreath Ornament Craft

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It just wouldn’t be crafting if we didn’t make something out of a recycled toilet paper cardboard tube.

This craft can be adapted to make just about anything including: Santa, Mrs. Claus, Reindeer, Snowmen, Elves, Angels, etc. In addition, you don’t just have to use toilet paper tubes. You can also use paper towel rolls and wrapping paper rolls.

You’ll Need:

• Recycled toilet paper tube
• Construction paper (red, white, pink, and black)
• Markers or cryaons
• Glue (or gluestick)
• Cotton balls
• Wiggle eyes (optional)

What to Do:

1. Wrap a cardboard tube with a 4 x 2 inch sheet of red paper and glue in place.

2. To make the face, use a 3 inch wide circle of pink paper and glue in place.

3. Cut a 4 inch wide half circle and roll it into a cone. Glue in place. Glue the cone on top of the tube to make Santa’s hat.

4. Cut a thin black strip of paper that is long enough to go around the tube. Glue it in the middle of the tube to make Santa’s belt.

5. Use the markers or crayons to make Santa’s facial features. You can use the optional wiggle eyes if desired.

6. Tear apart cotton balls and glue onto the tube to make the beard and hatband. Make a small ball of cotton and glue it to the point of the hat.

My kids are absolutely crazy about these things! We have to make new ones each year.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Tissue Tube Santa Christmas Craft

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This little stocking ornament takes a little time to make, but it’s not difficult and it makes a great ornament that will last a very long time. I originally made this ornament when I was about twelve at a friend’s house.

What You’ll Need:

• 13 x 13 squares of plastic canvas
• White yarn
• Green yarn
• Red yarn
• Scissors
• Small square green felt
• Glue

What to Do:

1. Cut a piece of plastic canvas so that you have a square that is 13 full squares.

2. Normally when you cross stitch, you create an “X” as in the picture below. The normal cross stitch pattern goes up through square 1, down through square 2, up through square three, and down through square 4.

For this design, you’ll only create half the “X.” In other words, you’ll go up through square number three and down through square number four as in the diagram below. This is a half cross stitch.

3. Use the pattern diagram below to create the stocking design. When complete, whip stitch around the outside of the square to cover up the plastic canvas edge.

4. Cut a piece of yarn to make the hanger. Loop the yarn and glue it to the back of the canvas. Cut a piece of felt large enough to cover the back of your ornament and glue in place.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Christmas Cross Stitch Stocking Ornament

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This is a fun way to keep track of the days until Christmas, especially for younger kids.  It’s also a good way to get in a little counting practice if you make them count the days off each day.

But don’t think it’s limited to younger kids — This is a big deal at our house where we make a big production of tearing off the next ring after dinner each night.  The kids absolutely love it!

What You’ll Need:

• The template below printed on yellow construction paper
• Red construction paper
• Green construction paper
• Glue
• Scissors
• Stapler
• Crayons (optional)

What to Do:

1.  Cut 13 strips of red construction paper that are about 1 inch wide and 8 inches long. Cut 12 strips of green paper with the same dimensions.

2.  Print out the bell pattern below on yellow construction paper. Color with crayons if desired and cut out. (You could also decorate the bell with glitter, sequins, markers, etc. if you want.)

3.  Roll one of the red strips of paper into a loop and staple it onto the bottom of the bell. Loop a green strip of paper through the red loop to get the chain started. Continue to alternate the red and green strips of paper to make a chain that has 25 links in it.

4.  Hang the bell and chain up in a prominent place and tear off one link at the end of each day until Christmas.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Countdown to Christmas Bell

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Run, run, as fast as you can… You can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man. This is a great way for younger kids to make a pretty realistic gingerbread man without all the mess and hassle of making them in the kitchen. This also makes a great bulletin board display or Christmas Ornament!

If you happen to be reading one of the many stories about gingerbread men, then this project would be ideal to go along with the story and reinforce what you’ve read with your child.

You’ll Need:

• Brown sandpaper
• Scissors
• Markers, crayons, pom poms, glitter, buttons, etc. to decorate
• Hole punch (Optional)

What to Do:

1. Print out the template below and trace it on to the back side of the sandpaper. Cut it out (a grown up may have to do this for younger children).

2. Decorate the gingerbread man any way you desire.

We used glitter glue in the example, but here are some other suggestions:

• Color with crayons or markers
• Use pom poms or real buttons to make the man’s buttons and eyes
• Glue on pieces of cereal to make the features
• Glue on pieces of real candy
• Embellish with yarn or ribbon
• Use glitter or confetti to “shine” up the gingerbread man
• Glue on cotton ball hair

You get the idea.

3. Punch a hole and tie on a ribbon to make an ornament or to hang from the ceiling. Most sandpaper is stiff enough without having to glue it onto another piece of paper or cardboard.

The Template

Be sure to enlarge the template on a copier to make it larger if desired.

Post from: KidCraftsMagazine.com

Ginger Bread Man Craft

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