crafts for kids – Page 4

Christmas Paper Chains

Everyone can add to this beautiful decorative chain! This post is a part of our special week series of Christmas/Winter crafts that you can use in the classroom. Stay tuned for more posts upcoming this week and the next!

Age: 5+

Duration: 15 minutes

You’ll Need:

• 15351 Cut & Fold Circles

• Scissors

• Glue

This craft is very similar to yesterday’s craft: you’ll need to fold the paper and make several cuts with scissors. The final step requires you to glue all the pieces together to make a decorative paper chain.

The Cut & Fold Circles pack comes in a variety of colors. Alternate colors or use all the colors of the rainbow!

Fold a Cut & Fold Circle in half 3 times.

You should be left with a pie-slice shape. Cut three lines from the fold line. Cut up to just below the edge on the other side of the pie-slice.

Repeat the same from the opposite fold line. Cut these three lines in between the first three lines, so you make a zig-zag lightning shape with the lines. Remember not to cut all the way through the pie-slice!

Unfold the pie-slice back into a circle. This is what your line cuts should look like.

To glue the circles together, first lay a circle with the colorful side facing down. Carefully dab the glue onto 4 points of the circle. Next, place a second circle, with the colorful side facing up on top of the first circle. Align the edges together so that the cuts exactly overlap each other. Put a bit of glue in the center of the colored circle and press the next circle (color side facing down) onto the previous circle.

Repeat these steps with all of the remaining circles.

Wait for the glue to dry!

Grab both ends of the paper chain and gently spread apart.

Now you can hang up the paper chain wherever you like! Time to decorate your classroom for the winter holidays.

Send us photos of your paper chains to subscriber@roylco.ca! We’d love to see your classroom decorations!

Special Feature this week:

We’ll be updating every day of this week and next week with fantastic holiday crafts you can use in your classroom!

Please note:

LittleFingersBigArt won’t be posting anything between December 18th, 2013 and January 6th, 2014! Have a wonderful winter vacation!

Posted on December 4, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Tot School uses our Rubbing Plates!

Tot School made an assortment of rubbing plate prints using our R5804 Flowers Rubbing Plates! Check out Sweet Pea’s review on how well the prints turned out!

The post, called “Rubbing Plates” was published on July 23rd 2010 and can be viewed at this link.

Sweet Pea’s technique for using the rubbing plates is a great start for early learners with developing fine motor muscles. Using the non-dominant hand to hold the rubbing plate and paper in place, rub crayon across the surface of the paper with the dominant hand. This helps to reinforce muscle control and encourages patience and timing while making rubbing plate prints.

And the flowers turned out lovely! Sweet Pea found that using block crayons helps to create an even image all throughout. If you are using regular crayons, be sure to use the side of the crayon rather than the point. The point will spread too much of the crayon over the paper and will blend the rubbing plate image in with the rest of the color.

Another important tip that Shannon wrote was that the images themselves could be used for botanical lessons: Use the provided identification sheet to connect the images to real existing flowers. Learn about flowers by name and match them to the rubbing plate images!

Thanks to Shannon for this post!

Images and original post © Tot School.

This post was not sponsored for a review. At LittleFingersBigArt, our mission is to present to our readers and viewers the newest and most creative craft ideas that fans of Roylco have made on their own. Our goal is to allow you and other educators and parents to reuse our products in fun ways so that children always get the best educational experience from them!

We’d love to see more ideas like this one! If you’ve got a brilliant craft idea or have made a version of one of our crafts that you would like to share with us, send an email to subscriber@roylco.ca with photos, descriptions or a link to your work. We will create a feature post and link back to you with full credit. We’d love to hear from you!

Posted on November 29, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Color Diffusing Paper Game Pad

Combine all your favorite classic board games and take them with you wherever you go! Perfect for those long car-rides or for group playtime sessions in the classroom.

Age: 6+

Duration: 20 minutes

You’ll Need:

• R15212 Color Diffusing Paper 12 x 18″ (30.5 x 46 cm)

• Assorted buttons: R2131 Bright Buttons or R2143 Really Big Buttons

• Paint

• Paint bowl

• Paint tray

• Hole punch

• Colorful ribbon

• Large wooden block (for stamping)

This game pad is convenient to carry anywhere! I’ll show you how to attach a ribbon to the game pad so that it’s easy to roll up and secure.

Lay out the paper on the tray. First, figure out which games you would like to include in the game board. If required, use a pencil to sketch out the game board before stamping out the various game spots.

The game boards I chose were Tic-Tac-Toe and Checkers, which is pretty simple to stamp out. I used a small clear block to make the perfect-sized spaces for both game boards.

To stamp out the spaces, I used the white of the paper as half of the spaces and simply connected the spaces by the corners. Dip the block into the bowl of paint and stamp the spaces onto the paper.

Leave the paint to dry. When dry, punch a hole on one end of the game board.

Cut a length of ribbon and tie one end to the hole punched side.

Now you can roll up the game pad and store it away for future use or take it with you on a long trip to play with friends!

Use the buttons as game pieces! Play Tic-Tac-Toe by trying to get three of the same buttons in a row or use your game pieces to capture your opponents’ in Checkers!

What kinds of game pads did your students make? Send us photos of some great game boards to subscriber@roylco.ca! We’d love to write a post about your students’ work!

Posted on November 6, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Remembrance Day Wreath

Use the poppies from our Remembrance Day Poppy kit to decorate your handmade Remembrance Day wreath! Everyone in your class can contribute to this activity using their hand-prints as leaves for the wreath!

Age: 5+

Duration: 30 minutes

You’ll Need:

• R42005 Remembrance Day Poppies

• Bristol paper

• Fingerpaint paper

• Green fingerpaint

• Glue

• Scissors

• Marker/pencil

To begin your Remembrance Day wreath, you’ll need to first make the wreath base. The wreath base can be made by folding a large sheet of card in half. Use white or green Bristol paper to get a stiff backing.

Cut a large half circle above the fold line. Cut a second smaller half circle in the center of the fold line. Unfold the cutout to reveal the wreath base.

This next step will be fun for a lot of students. Give each student a sheet of fingerpaint paper and a bowl of green paint. Tip: Provide lots of sanitizing wipes and paper towels to keep workstations and clothes clean! Instruct the students to fingerpaint the entire sheet of paper so that none of the white shows beneath.

Trace your hand-print onto the painted sheet. Students can trace and cut out several of their hand-prints.

You will need about 8-10 pairs of hand-prints to fill the wreath.

Rub a bit of glue onto the lower palm of each hand-print on the unpainted side. Paste each hand onto the wreath radiating outward from the circle. Note: You can add more fingerpainted hand-prints to the wreath to cover the white from the wreath base.

Next, assemble the poppies! Each Remembrance Day Poppies kit comes with enough die-cut tissue flowers for each student to make 2 poppies. First, spritz the tissue paper poppy with water and drape it over an upside-down cup. This will help the poppy form a flower-like shape. Note: Repeat these steps for two more poppy shapes. Once the poppies are dry, you can layer them to give them a dimensional look.

Once the poppy is dry, layer the two flower cutouts together and arrange so that the petals extend at various angles all around. Place the die-cut black circle in the center of the flower. Thread the green chenille stem through the hole in the center and twist the end to keep the layers intact.

Attach the poppies to the fingerpainted hand-print wreath with tape.

Ready to be displayed in your classroom!

Show us your Remembrance Day spirit by sending us photos of your classroom projects to subscriber@roylco.ca! We’d love to hear from you!

Posted on October 30, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Caution! Twins at Play! uses our Color Diffusing Paper Leaves!

Kristen from Caution! Twins at Play! posted photos of her twins Graham and Parker painting our R2442 Color Diffusing Paper Leaves! They used liquid watercolor to color the leaves and painted onto clear plates to keep the table surface clean.

This post, called “water color” was published on December 30, 2012. Kristen took many beautiful photos of her sons’ artworks. Check out the blog post for more images!

Here you can see twins Graham and Parker having a blast as the liquid watercolor seeps throughout the leaf cutouts.

It’s a good idea to make sure your work surfaces are covered before you start painting the leaves as the paint will inevitably seep through the bottom. Kristen mentioned that she would have liked to use this on her light panels but didn’t have the proper cover to protect it.

Look forward to our handy Light Table kits that we’re producing next year! We feature a variety of materials and resources that can assist with educational light table sessions.

Kristen is an advocate for using the light table for many educational subjects and she believes wholly in the value of presenting children with alternative learning ways. Light tables illuminate the objects that are placed on them and present a whole new perspective on objects’ appearances.

Thanks to Kristen for her post!

Posted on September 20, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Craft Spotlight: Bunting Flags

Welcome to our first Craft Spotlight post! These posts will be published every Monday to showcase our favorite craft projects developed and manufactured domestically by Roylco! This week’s feature craft is R22046 Bunting Flags!

Bunting Flags are cut from heavier paper and are great for painting on! Use regular tempera paint for coloring the flags. Welcome back your class with a fun decoration or get the entire class to work on one together!

We wrote the words “2013 Summer Art Camp” across our Bunting Flags during the Roylco Art Camp, and got some of our young crafters to paint all the letters of the alphabet.

Use the flags for making classroom decorations! Write one letter/number per Bunting Flag.

Some of our crafters even drew scenes and combined several colors together. This is a great way to explore new ways of displaying students’ artwork! All of your students’ art can be hung up along a single wall like a bunting flag line!

Show us your students’ artwork! Hang up your students’ painted Bunting Flag artwork and send us a photo of what it looks like in your classroom. We will publish a post on your work and show the rest of the arts and crafts education world! Send us an email to subscriber@roylco.ca!

Posted on September 9, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Judy’s Handmade Creations uses our Bright Buttons!

Judy from Judy’s Handmade Creations used our Bright Buttons to decorate lovely handmade cards! R2131 Bright Buttons are perfect for a variety of different projects, including scrapbooking and collage! The post, entitled “Summer Mini Album 2013!!” was posted on June 27, … Continue reading →

Posted on August 28, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Patt’sArt uses our Insect Rubbing Plates!

Patt from Patt’sArt uses our R5803 Insect Rubbing Plates to make beautiful textile prints. She rubs special fabric ink to bring the texture onto the textile piece. Check it out! Patt published her process in four posts. In each post, … Continue reading →

Posted on August 27, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman

Summer 2013 Art Camp!

Last month, we organized a summer art camp for kids ages 3-10. The art camp took place for three days in one week in July and lasted from 9 AM to 2 PM. Our art campers crafted, painted and created … Continue reading →

Posted on August 27, 2013February 12, 2020 by Raman