Some Crafts to keep your little ones busy Part 1

By angel_jenny, 11th Nov 2011 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/1tfqnlpk/
Posted in Wikinut>Guides>Crafts>Paper Crafts

I am a nanny and the little girl I currently look after enjoys non-stop crafts it's just one thing after the other. I find myself coming up with ideas extra to the craft kits you can pick up in shops such as Wilkinson s or Tesco s so thought maybe I could share just a few. Enjoy x

Baking and decorating
Spinners
Cards
Door hangers
Plantpots

Baking and decorating

biscuit decorating

whether it's with mum, dad, gran or whoever, it appears children love to bake! Find a simple cake or biscuit recipe and let the child help with the measuring and counting of ingredients. The most enjoyable bit for them is to probably lick the spoon then later decorate what they have baked, so have lots of decorating items such as icing, sprinkles and chocolate.

If you really haven't time to bake as well as decorate then why not buy pre-baked cakes or biscuits, as they will be just as fun to decorate. I usually would suggest something like Digestives or Rich teas as they are flat, plain, tasty, and can be bought cheaply.

Spinners

paper spinners

The photo shows a very basic spinner (as making it a spinner was an after thought). Paper plates are useful for this sort of craft as they are already circular but it doesn't really need to be as big as the plate I used.

Have the children decorate a cardboard circle, the brighter the better. Once finished put your pencil through the centre. This one has a Winter theme but can be however you choose. The pencil should have a point to it and works better if the plate is about an inch higher than the point. The top of the pencil works as the holding stick, then give it a spin and watch all the colours whirl into one.

Tip: You may wish to put paper underneath to stop marks getting on surfaces.

Cards

Cards can be made any time of year. Whether it's Christmas, Easter, Mothers day, Fathers day, Birthdays, Thank you, Get Well Soon, it is a simple and adaptable craft.

The photo shows store bought 'colour in your own' cards that came in 2 designs ready for Christmas. In the craft aisle of many stores you will find things like sequins, pom poms, glitter and texture papers that will be a useful start for your card making box.
I find that 'Boyes' stores have a great selection including plain, assorted colour and sized card and envelopes which I even recently used for wedding invites.

For a Birthday, Mothers day or Get Well soon card you may want to make a flower card. I have made these before using crumpled tissue paper as the centre of the flower and petal shaped tissue for the petals with a green pipe cleaner as the flowers stem as they are good to shape and add in a leaf if wanted.

These are just how I've done it but I'm sure if you pick up a craft magazine you could get a lot more inspiration.

Door hangers

Older children may like to think their rooms are private and may enjoy making a door hanger with a slogan such as 'KEEP OUT' or 'PLEASE KNOCK'. Younger children may like things added like 'PLEASE GO QUIETLY - PRINCESS SLEEPING' or 'CAREFUL OF THE MESS'. The fun thing about crafts is that not one has to be alike, everyone can choose their own design so it can be as simple or complex as you wish.

Plantpots

Want to grow something with quick visual progress? why not try growing cress in your own little plant pots.
You will need a couple of plastic cups, cotton wool, cress seeds, water, tape, paper and pens.

Simply cut a piece of paper that will fit around the plastic cup. Have the child draw and decorate the piece of paper then fix it around the cup with a piece of tape.

Next soak the cotton wool in water and squeeze out. Drop this into cup and pat it down. ( repeat if needed so whole inside bottom is covered.) sprinkle some cress seeds onto cotton wool then place 'plant pot' by a window and watch it grow in a few days.

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