Arts & Craft Ideas 3

Fast Friends Puppet

Materials:

* Construction paper or cardboard
* Crayons, markers
* Goodly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners or other face decorating materials
* Scissors
* Rubber band
* Glue

Directions:
Cut a strip of construction paper about 12" long. Strip should be the width of the child's hand. Fold the strip in half. Next, fold the strip in quarters (fold the half in half). Open out the ends so that the fold goes into the child's had and the flaps go up and down so that they flap together when the child squeezes the fold. Have the children caret a face using the end flaps. The face could be a replica of their face, or an animal face. Place the rubber band along the fold so the child can slip his fingers in and make the face talk by moving it up and down.

Batic Butterflies

Materials:

* Heavy paper towel
* Food colouring
* Eye dropper or cotton swab
* Scissors

Directions:
Cut out butterfly shapes from heavy paper towel. Let the children use eye droppers or a cotton swab to apply a mixture of food colouring and water to the towel to decorate their butterfly. Provide at least three colours so that the children can experiment with making different colours.

Mini Terrarium

Materials:

* 2 clear plastic cups
* Potting soil
* Large bucket or bowl
* Small garden trawl or scoop
* Transparent tape
* Radish or grass seed

Directions:
Place the soil in a large bucket and have the children pour a little bit of water on the soil to make it moist. Next, have the children scoop enough soil from the bucket to fill one half of one of the cups. Sprinkle the seeds lightly on top of the soil. Invert the remaining cup over the top of the seeded cup and tape the seams. Place in a warm, sunny spot and wait for the seeds to sprout. This makes a great little science project where the children can keep a journal of how their seeds grew each day. And, it's a great way to teach children about how a terrarium is like a world of it's own. The moisture from the soil is trapped inside the container and recycles itself constantly as it evaporates then dribbles back down the sides of the terrarium.

Milk Carton Bird Feeder

Materials:

* Wax milk carton
* Bird feed
* String
* Hole punch

Directions:
Stand carton upright and cut a window low enough on the carton
for the birds to reach the food (i.e.: leaving a one inch lip at the bottom). Punch a hole on each side of the
top of the container where it folds closed. Attach a string to both holes. Hang the bird feeder in a quiet place where the children can watch the bird enjoy their treat. Have the children help you replenish the bird feed as need be. This is a great opportunity to teach the children about the different kinds of birds who visit the feeder or fly about their backyard.