Rainbow Collage Craft

I have vented my frustration with this winter, and I am now ready to move on to spring! Here is a recent project that we did that looks very cheerful hanging in my now winter craft-free home. I am hoping that this will at least brighten my outlook on things since it doesn't appear that spring will actually arrive for a bit yet.

Materials:

• construction paper (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple)
• paper trimmer (optional)
• scissors
• glue stick
• box board (side of cereal box)
• large bowl, pan, or lid (for tracing)
• pen/pencil

{Rainbow by Mia, Age 7}

Directions:

1. Cut one inch strips of colored paper. Trim each strip into smaller squares, about one inch in diameter. (Note: Older kids can also use this for scissor skills practice and cut their own. I chose to have materials ready in case my little dude also wanted to make a rainbow.)
2. Cut away one side from a cereal box. Using a large bowl, pan, or lid, trace around it to make an arch, starting from one end and going to the other. Using one side as the base, you will end up with a semi-circle. Cut out the semi-circle. (If desired, you can do some additional cutting to the center section to make it into a true arch. Mia wanted it as-is, so I didn't do that.)
3. Give child the box board semi-circle (or arch), paper squares, and a glue stick and let her create a rainbow. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Mia did it very carefully, laying out the red partway, and then starting each other color, until she knew how it would look. She discovered that she had to overlap some tiles to work with the curves. I was really impressed at how she handled this with so much skill and dexterity! (Optional note: You can first draw lines to make the rainbow into sections. This may be helpful to younger children.) Tip: Another fun addition would be to add cotton ball clouds. Regular school glue or tacky glue works best for that. 

   

   {Mia was systematic about laying the collage tiles.}

4. Once the glue is dry, display the rainbow collage -- perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any rainy day!

Easy Flower Printing Project

This idea isn't exactly original. In fact, there are plenty of variations floating around the internet already. Anyway, Mia gave me a Mother's Day card she made at school using this stamping method, and it is super-simple to replicate at home with very few supplies. (The hallmark of a good kids' craft project, in my opinion!) So, on a rainy day awhile back, when she wanted a craft to do, this is what I pulled out.

We don't buy a lot of things that come in single-serve plastic bottles, so I have been saving these for a bit. Mia got the water bottles at school and from a birthday party. These worked okay for making flowers. The Sierra Mist was purchased to enjoy mixed with our Bacardi that we brought back from Puerto Rico. If you want the prints that most resemble flowers, these bottles make adorable five-petal daisies. The Powerade bottles are the only ones that we normally have on hand since Brett likes to drink it after long runs, however, these were not the best for producing "flower" prints. They really just made a circle, which can certainly be used for print-making, but it just takes a little creativity to make them look like flowers. My kids ended up using the bottle caps as well, so that could be the centers of the flowers, if desired.

This printmaking project is a craft that is simple enough to be done with any age of children from toddlers on up. I think it was especially nice for Mia's kindergarten class, but I think it would work well, for preschool, too. P.S. Don't be surprised if this turns into a finger painting project. This tends to happen at my house, anyway, and it did with this craft, as well!

{Finished Prints by Mia, 6, and Logan, 3}

Materials:

• tempera paint
• empty plastic bottles (water, pop, Powerade, etc.)
• Styrofoam trays
• paper (heavier paper is recommended, but any will work)
• paint brushes (optional)
• cereal box liners (to protect work surface, optional)
• old clothes/paint smocks (optional)

Directions:

1. Old clothes are suggested for this. My kids each wear an old t-shirt of mine for paint projects. Logan's is quite large around the neck so I secure it in the back with a clothespin. You might also want to protect your work surface. I like using the liners from cereal boxes, but you can also use newspaper or a vinyl table cloth that you are not worried about messing up. Tip: If you have more than one child, set up a paint station for each kid. This makes things a lot easier when they each have their own space and materials to work with!
2. Pour some tempera paint onto a Styrofoam tray. We used powdered tempera paints that I mixed up before getting started, but ready-made paints would work, too. Tip: Styrofoam trays can be sterilized in your dishwasher so you don't have to worry about germs from meat! Tip: If you don't have any Styrofoam trays, use a plate. I don't suggest bowls, because you need a flatter surface to make this easy for kids. Tip: Unless you enjoy mud colored paintings, limit the number of paint colors that each child uses. I let my kids pick up to 3 colors for their tray. You can also choose colors that go with your decor if you think these will end up in frames. I let mine use yellow, red, and purple, knowing that they would mix the red and yellow together to get orange.
3. Let kids dip their bottles into the paint and then press it onto paper. We used construction paper and white card stock, and the card stock was my preference for this project. It produced clearer, more vibrant colors, and the heavier weight withstood the wetness of the paint, which got applied quite heavily in some places. Tip: Paint brushes are optional. You might want them if you would like your flowers to have stems, for example. Or you can use the brushes to apply the paint to the bottles if dipping them into the paint isn't getting the desired coverage. 
4. Allow paint to dry completely before displaying the prints. Or, you can use it to make a card like Mia did for Mother's Day. Tip: I like to let paintings dry on the cereal box liners, which can easily be moved from one location to another, if for example, you need to use your table or counter for meals. Tip: Keep a black Sharpie on hand, and once kids have finished their prints, label them with name and age or date that they were created. This is much easier to remember right after doing the project and it looks nice in a frame, or relatives always appreciate this sort of thing, if you are running out of room for keeping your kids' artwork.

{Clever kids made use of both sides of the bottle.}

Color Hunt Activity and Color Wheel Craft

Okay, even though I am labeling this "rainy day fun" it has not actually been raining here. Instead, it's just been so hot that it feels like the flesh is melting off of my bones whenever I set foot outdoors. No joke! Heat index of 102 degrees today! Ugh... Anyway, that means that I we have been cooped up inside (God bless whoever invented central air, am I right?) pretty much all week except for when we were running errands (and a 9:00 am park play date today -- glad we didn't start that one any later). Only problem is the cabin fever aspect of things. Fortunately, this mommy keeps all sorts of lists of possible things to do.

One activity we did yesterday afternoon was a color hunt around the house. This was nice because the kids worked together instead of, you know, trying to kill each other and driving me insane in the process. Ah, reprieve! I gave them the muffin tin that I had added colored inserts to for this color sorting activity and told them to find small toys and what-nots that would be lightweight enough to glue onto paper and that they wouldn't miss after the items were glued to the paper. (Note: This ended up being a great way to have them herd up all those things that I get sick of finding everywhere like plastic ring toppers from holiday cupcakes and little goodie bag items from birthday parties.) After they found all the little toys and other odds and ends from their bedrooms, I suggested we look at the craft bins where they found plenty of sequins, beads, buttons, pom poms, foam letters, bottle caps, and the Styrofoam tiles left over from this craft. By the time they had filled up the 6 cup muffin tin, I felt that we had enough colorful finds to create our color wheel, inspired by this blog (and found on Pinterest).

{From Color Hunt...}

{To Color Wheel}

Materials for Color Wheel:

• 1/2 piece of white poster board (with grid lines, if possible)
• pencil or pen
• black Sharpie (optional)
• large frying pan (or whatever you have that's big and round)
• ruler
• scissors
• acrylic paint (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) OR markers
• something to hold paint (I used a Styrofoam tray.)
• foam paint brushes (1 per color)
• something to protect work surface (cereal box liner, vinyl table cloth, newspaper)
• hot glue gun

Directions for Color Wheel:

1. Using a pen or pencil, trace a large round object (I used my biggest frying pan) onto a half piece of white poster board. Tip: If your poster board has grid lines, I recommend keeping them visible.
2. Cut out the circle.
3. Find the center of the circle and make a dot. I used black Sharpie for this. (This is very easy to do if your poster board has grid lines. If not, you will probably want to use your ruler to help.)
4. Using a ruler, draw 3 lines across the circle. You should now have 6 pie wedges of approximately the same size. Tip: I first did this with a pencil, and then followed with a black Sharpie, correcting the placement as I went. It does not need to be perfect, but I was glad to have used pencil the first go round. I didn't bother erasing my stray pencil marks because I knew I would be painting on top of them anyway.
5. Once my circle was divided into 6 segments, I used acrylic paints to fill them in. I started my primary colors: first red, then I skipped a wedge, filled in the next with yellow, skipped a wedge, and then filled in the final part with blue. I had hoped that this would dry fast enough that the paint wouldn't touch the next corresponding part of my color wheel. (This would have worked better, though, if I hadn't immediately started painting the rest of the segments.) I finished up with secondary colors: orange (in between red and yellow), green (in between yellow and blue), and purple (in between blue and red). Make sure paint is dry before continuing to the next step. This shouldn't take more than 20 minutes or so. Tip: Protect clothing and work surface before using acrylic paints. I wore an old shirt and covered my table with a cereal box liner, which I use in place of wax paper for craft projects. Tip: I only used one coat of paint, and I didn't worry about streaks or uneven coverage at all. I knew it would get covered well enough to not matter, so save yourself some time by not trying to make it perfect. Tip: If you would like your child to fill in the color wheel, I suggest using washable markers in place of acrylic paints.
6. Using a pre-heated glue gun (adults only!) start adhering the colorful items to the corresponding sections of your color wheel until it is as full as you would like. You can have your child tell you where to place things, if desired. Tip: Self-adhesive craft foams shapes and letters will save you some glue, if those happen to be among the items your kids have scrounged up! Tip: Start with the largest items and work your way down to the smallest items, that way you can squeeze them in as needed. Tip: If you want to be sure things will fit, lay them out prior to gluing. Allow hot glue to dry completely before moving the color wheel.

DIY: Air-Dry Clay

Since we have enjoyed making oven bake clay, it made sense that we would like this recipe, too. When I saw it on Pinterest labeled as a "Model Magic" type clay I was intrigued. I have always wanted us to try out the Model Magic, but I had never wanted to pay for it. So, as you can imagine, I was pretty happy to find out how easily it can be made at home. Plus, I am always looking for more fun things to do with food coloring. You can also paint this clay after it hardens, I am told, but I have not tried that since I wanted to experiment with the food coloring.

We made this batch of air-dry clay back at the end of March, so it easily will last you 2 weeks if kept in an airtight container. I made some final beads with the last of this clay 3 weeks after mixing it up, and decided to bake it, which had mixed results. The pink came out very well after I sprinkled a small amount of corn starch onto a cereal box liner and started rolling it out. The purple, however, was very moist, and several additions of corn starch did not seem to remedy this. Undeterred, I made beads with both colors because I truly wanted to know how long this stuff would keep.

I also decided to try baking the beads since I realized the recipe was very similar to this one for Bright White Clay Dough (same ingredients, different proportions), which I had also seen on Pinterest. So, I baked my last few beads on a parchment-lined cookie sheet at 175 degrees for 2 hours, flipping half-way through the baking time. Then, I let them cool in the oven. The pink beads turned out great, and as expected, the purple beads did not. Although they firmed up and were functional, the color had turned a putrid shade of brown, so in the end, I tossed them out.

So, my final conclusions are that a) This recipe definitely works for making an air-dry clay cheaply and easily at home! b) You can also bake this clay, if you prefer not to give up counter space for a couple of days while it hardens. c) Food coloring will work for this clay. Colors fade after they dry/are baked, but that is to be expected. d) Clay will keep for 2-3 weeks in an air-tight container.

{Mia's sculptures + some purple beads, BEFORE drying}

Materials:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup corn starch
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• food coloring (optional)
• large pot
• spoon
• bowls (1 per color, if making more than one color)
• damp dish towel (1 per bowl) 
• optional clay tools: rolling pin, cookie cutters, straws, knife, rubber stamps
• container to keep clay (if not planning to use it all right away)

Directions for Making Air-Dry Clay:

1. Combine baking soda, corn starch, and water in a large pot. If desired, add food coloring. (Note: I actually divided this into 2 half batches in 2 different pots and added neon pink food coloring to one and neon purple food coloring to the other, 5 drops per batch.)
2. Cook on medium heat, stirring almost constantly until the mixture forms a mashed potatoes-like consistency.
3. Place clay into a bowl (I used 2 since I had 2 colors) and cover with a damp dish towel. Allow clay to cool.
4. Knead the clay until it is smooth. If damp, add a little corn starch. Tip: We did this on top of a cereal box liner (free "wax paper") and it worked very well to keep the counter clean. Plus, the clay didn't stick to the surface.
5. Make things with the clay. You can make free-form sculptures like Mia did. (Note: Parts of her sculptures did start to fall off and I don't know if that is because of the material or because of how she made things.) I chose to make beads. Another option that we didn't try this time around is making ornaments/tags by cutting with cookie cutters, using rubber stamps for designs, and punching a hole for hanging using a straw. How To Make Beads: 1) Roll clay into coils. 2) Slice segments with a knife. 3) Use a straw to punch a hole all the way through the clay.
6. Set aside to dry in a safe location. I found that this takes about 48 hours. 
7. Store extra clay in an air-tight container. I used old Cool Whip tubs, not at all fancy, but perfectly functional. As I mentioned, this clay still worked fine after 2 weeks, but only some of it turned out after 3 weeks, so that gives you an idea of how long it will last.

{Here are the oven-baked beads: 1 purple and 3 pink}

DIY Colored "Sand Art" Jars

I had originally found this idea online while searching for rainbow crafts to possibly do for Mia's Care Bears party. I decided it wasn't a good activity to try with a large group of kids in my small dining room, but it was a perfect spring break activity for my own two kiddos. These turned out really pretty, and you would never know that they aren't even made of actual sand, but rather, colored salt. The most notable benefit to using salt instead of sand is that it is way, way cheaper. The cost was the only thing that had prevented us from making colored sand art jars in the past. Making your own faux "colored sand" is not difficult to do at home, but it is kind of messy. I think the process was fun, and the end results are beautiful, so it is totally worth a small amount of spilled salt, in my opinion.

One thing I did learn is that craft is better suited to school age kids rather than preschoolers, especially if you are using somewhat large jars as we did. Mia, at age six, had more patience for this than her little brother did. That's really a no-brainer, but I was hopeful that Logan would be able to fill his jar. He only managed 3 layers before he started being kind of naughty and salt was flying all over the place, and I decided to cut him off. Then, I packaged up Logan's left over "colored sand" in baggies in case he decides to try again tomorrow. Mia, on the other hand, ended up with 6 layers. Maybe the rule of thumb is that kids can make one layer per year of age? Okay, I'm not sure that is true, but that is how it turned out at our house.

As usual, they had different ideas for how to do things. Logan produced 3 layers in 3 distinctly separate colors, and Mia made her six layers alternating just two colors: pink and purple. However, she didn't make the layers all look the same. She colored for different lengths of time to produce different intensities of pigmentation so there is a gradation of color from darker to lighter as she went. I don't know if this was intentional or if it was the product of getting tired with the process and trying to speed things along. Either way, she was pleased with her finished "sand art" jar.

{"Sand Art" Jars by Mia, Age 6 and Logan, Age 3}

Materials:

• colored chalk
• paper
• salt
• glass containers with lids or corks
• cookie sheets (optional)
• Super Glue/hot glue (optional)

Directions:

1. Pour some salt onto the center of a piece of paper. We used black construction paper, which will later be re-used for chalk drawings, but any paper will work for this. Tip: To contain the mess, we first laid our papers on cookie sheets. I highly recommend using cookie sheets. The rim helps keep the salt from ending up all over the table and floor. (It's not perfect, but it helps quite a bit.)
2. Rub colored chalk back and forth over the salt until it is the color you want. We used sidewalk chalk for this, but you could use the smaller chalk that is intended for use on chalk boards. Tip: Show younger kids how to color with the sides of the chalk to make this process go a bit faster. Tip: You may want to re-center the salt occasionally during the coloring process since it tends to spread outward. To do this, just slightly fold up the edges of the paper until the salt slides back to the center. Then, add more color as desired.
3. Once the chalk is the color saturation you are looking for, carefully roll the paper into a funnel, and slowly pour the colored salt into your glass container. Older kids may be able to do this on their own, but adults should help little ones. Tip: We used these fun square glass bottles with cork stoppers that I found at the Salvation Army for 99 cents apiece. I had searched high and low for my old set of glass spice jars because I thought they would be perfect for this, but I have yet to come across them. You could also use baby food jars or small canning jars or any other glass container that has some sort of lid. Tip: If you want, you can turn and twist your container as you pour for different layered effects. Mia did this while I poured each layer.
4. Turn the paper over for the next color, and repeat steps 1 through 3. Do this as many times as needed to fill your jar or bottle. Tip: While filling, make sure not to shake the container or you may end up with a muddy brown mixture instead of vibrant rainbow colors.
5. Once your container is filled, place your lid on top and make sure that it is secure. Tip: Since we were using corks, I added a small ring of Super Glue to them before inserting them. You could also add Super Glue even if your container has a screw-on lid if it gives you peace of mind. Hot glue would work as an alternative if you do not have Super Glue.
6. Find a nice place to display your colored "sand art" jars. Ours look lovely on the sunny kitchen windowsill.

{Demonstrating the "proper technique"...}

{And here's Little Man's method. I love how her look seems to say, "You are sooo doing that the wrong way! He did switch after seeing a demonstration of "proper technique."}

A Busy Bag Activity

Recently, I put together these "busy bag" sticks so that the kids would have something to do while we are waiting at places like restaurants or doctor's offices or just because it's spring break and I have heard "I'm bored" more often than I should. This was another brilliantly simple idea that I saw on Pinterest. These were easy to put together one evening while watching "The Voice" at the same time. I bought a package of colored craft sticks at Michaels, the large size that resemble tongue depressors, which cost me about $2. I used some round Velcro stick-on tabs that I had at home, plus a new package of square ones from Wal-mart, which cost about $3.80. So, in total, I spent less than $6.00 and I made over 50 of these activity sticks. That is enough for both kids to play with and both kids have enjoyed these! We did lose a handful of the sticky tabs, but it has not made much of a difference in the entertainment factor. Anything that both a three-year-old and a six-year-old agree on is all right by me.

Materials:

• large craft sticks
• scissors
• self-adhesive Velcro tabs
• bag or bin to contain craft sticks

Directions:

1. If using circle Velcro tabs, cut them in half to get more bang for your buck. If using square tabs (I believe mine were 1" squares, but I don't know for sure.), cut them into quarters. I cut mine diagonally to make 4 triangles. If you prefer not to cut the tabs, this will save you time, but you won't be able to make nearly as many activity sticks.
2. Peel the Velcro tabs off of their backing and adhere them to the ends of the craft sticks. The way I did this was to put on "hook" tab on one end of the craft stick and the "loop" tab on the other end. Then, I flipped them over and did the same thing on the other side, only I reversed the positions of the tabs. My belief was that they would be able to do more different types of building activities this way, but who knows, I may just be anal retentive.
3. That's it! Your busy bag is now ready for action. We store ours in a ziplock bag, but you could also use a pencil pouch, pencil box, aluminum can, or whatever else you have that is handy.

{Some building fun!}

When DIY May Not be a Good Idea: Homemade Cloud Dough

I am sharing this because I want everyone to know that contrary to what people may believe, I am not some kind of Super Mom. Although I often try to come up with fun things to do with my kids, they don't always go well as I hope. I love homemade craft materials, so today we today we made Cloud Dough. (Mia informed me that they made this at preschool and called it "Moon Sand.") This turned out to be a perfect example of something that should be filed under "What Was I Thinking?!"

To be clear, Mia and Logan had a blast with this stuff, so that wasn't the problem. It is neat to play with since it is soft and flows through your fingers, but it can also be molded. Both kids enjoyed making "sand castles" on the dining room table. It was just insanely messy, and caused me more stress than I would have liked. I don't know if I didn't mix it long enough or if I really just should have let them play with it in a larger container. My kids poured it out of the plastic container I used to mix up the Cloud Dough, and it was everywhere by the time they were done. (The good news is that this kept them entertained for at least half an hour, maybe more like an hour.)

Instead of using 8 cups of flour and 1 cup of baby oil, I used 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of baby oil to make our batch of Cloud Dough. (I only had so much baby oil. It was left over from when I used to make my own baby wipes solution. If you are interested in another craft you can make using baby oil, try this wave bottle.) Let's just say that I am glad I halved the recipe, and it was good that I needed to vacuum, anyway. If after reading this, you still want to make your own cloud dough, (I know it's making the rounds on Pinterest, which is where I first heard of it), consider having it be an outside activity, or at the very least, plan on doing some serious vacuuming and/or sweeping afterward.

{Before}

{After}

{You can use cookie cutters, rolling pins, or any other tools you would normally use with play dough.}

{Of course, you can just use your hands, too.}

{See, it can be molded, which is cool, right?}

{The end result, while less than ideal, does show how much fun these two had!}

Beaded "Sun Catchers"

Here is a project Mia and I recently did on a rainy day. The goal was to create "sun catchers," but since our beads were more opaque than translucent, we just ended up with decorative ornaments. I found this idea here. The original directions said to bake for 20 minutes, but I found that ours took a bit longer, more like 30 minutes. I suppose this depends on the size of the beads you use.

{Make a single layer of cheap plastic beads inside an oven-safe dish. I think ours were from Walmart. We used ceramic ramekins, but muffins tins, cake pans, mugs, or glass dishes would all likely work. Note: I first lined ours with parchment paper to protect the ceramic in case this didn't work; I didn't want plastic melted to something I use for food.}

{Once the dishes are filled, bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, checking every so often. Note: This may be slightly smelly while the plastic melts, so I turned on the fan.

{Remove from the oven and allow to cool. This does not take very long. Once the plastic is cool, overturn the dish and the sun catcher should pop right out. Peel off and discard the parchment paper if you used it to line your dish.}

{Thread fishing line through the finished project to display. For the top one, I found a pin hole already there, but the bottom one required that I use a cordless drill and make one.}

Egg Yolk Painting

This home-made paint was something fun to try on a rainy day. It's quick to make, inexpensive, and not too messy. Plus, it uses items you probably already have in your kitchen, which is always a plus. We made two paint colors, one using 3 drops of neon blue food coloring, and the other using 3 drops of neon green food coloring. The finished product is glossy and the colors are quite pretty. Mia said, "Mom, it shows up really nice," although she thought the egg yolk made the green a bit too yellow. I wouldn't say it is ideal for keepsake painting, though, since the egg is bound to get yucky sooner rather than later. It's definitely more about the process than the product, much like corn syrup painting or raised salt painting. Egg yolk painting is something I would like to try again, however, as a decoration the next time we make sugar cookies. We will just need to use food-safe brushes to paint the cookies before baking them. I found the directions for making this paint here.

Materials:

• eggs (1 per color)
• bowls (1 per color)
• 1/2 teaspoon water
• spoons (1 per color)
• food coloring
• paint brushes
• paper
• sugar cookies (optional)
• newspaper (optional, to protect work surface)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, separate the yolk from the egg white. (I suppose you could use the egg whites for cooking or baking, but I wasn't thinking ahead, and just ended up discarding ours.)
2. Add water and a few drops of food coloring. Mix with a spoon.
3. Repeat for each color desired.
4. Protect work surface with newspaper if desired. (You might also wish to cover kids' clothing or have them wear old clothes.)
5. Paint onto paper (or sugar cookies). Let dry (or bake, as usual).

{"Our House" by Mia, Age 5}

Dish Soap Painting

Spending a rainy afternoon indoors led to some new painting techniques being tried out. We have tried out quite a few home-made paint recipes lately, and this one is definitely a winner. Mia was skeptical when she first saw the paint, and said, "We already made this..." She thought it was corn syrup paint, which does looks similar, but is not nearly as nice to work with. After she tried it out, she quickly changed her mind. Right away she exclaimed, "I like it! Please make me more colors." It's really hard not to like this paint. There are only 2 ingredients, so it is quick, simple, and very inexpensive to make. It also has a nice consistency, thicker than watercolors, but not as gloppy or opaque as tempera paints. And the best part of all is that it cleans up really well. I had a slight moment of panic when Logan dropped his paintbrush and got neon pink food coloring on the beige carpet in our dining room, but as soon as I scrubbed gently with a damp cloth, it came right out. This paint was hands down the easiest to clean out of brushes and bowls of any paint we have ever used, store-bought or home-made. I found the recipe for dish soap paint here. We will definitely make it again.

Materials:

• liquid dish soap 
• food coloring
• bowls (one per color)
• spoons (one per color)
• paper
• paintbrushes
• newspaper (to protect work surface)

Directions:

{By Logan, Age 2}

1. In a small bowl, mix dish soap and a few drops of food coloring. Stir with a spoon.
2. Repeat for each color as desired. 
3. Protect work surface with newspaper (and kids' clothing if desired).
4. Have fun painting. Another nice thing about this paint is that it dries fairly quickly compared to other types of paint we have used.

{By Mia, Age 5}

Notes:

• I made small batches using 2 teaspoons of dish soap and 4 drops of food coloring for each color. 
• This worked fine for most colors, except for yellow. Since we had blue Dawn dish soap, it was more green than yellow once the two were mixed together. However, doubling the number of drops of food coloring solved this problem well enough. (Using a colored dish soap may prevent the colors from being true. This will vary depending on how much food coloring you use, and which colors you choose. Clear dish soap was recommended by the site where I found the directions.)
• The website where I found the recipe suggests that you can also use powdered tempera paints in place of food coloring. We don't have powdered tempera paints, so I stuck with the food coloring, but that is always an option for a different time.

DIY: Oven Bake Clay

We have made play dough a few different ways, but never before made clay, although they turned out to be similar in terms of ingredients. The main difference is that the clay is a bit drier. The recipe we used came from this website.

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups flour
• 1 Cup salt
• 1 Cup hot water
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil (This was optional for a smoother texture, so we used it.) 
• food coloring (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Add hot water and oil if desired.
3. Allow clay to cool before kneading. (If desired, add food coloring.)
4. Knead until pliable.
5. Have fun making clay creations.
6. If you want your sculptures to be permanent, bake clay or allow to air dry. (You can also paint your sculptures after they are dry.)

After we made our clay, we divided it into 4 parts and added a different neon food coloring to each. Mia and I made beads by rolling out "snakes" and then cutting them with a knife, punching out a hole with a plastic straw, and then re-shaping as needed. We also used a rolling pin to flatten the clay, cut out shapes (I stuck with a circle cookie cutter; Mia did more free-hand cutting), and pressing rubber stamps into them for decoration. We used the straws again to punch holes so that we can hang the finished clay pieces as ornaments or tags. I put the leftover clay in a plastic container and put it in the refrigerator. We played with it the following day and it still seemed to be a good consistency, so I think it will keep for awhile if you don't want to bake it and just keep it for modeling clay.

{Before kneading food coloring into the clay}

{After kneading in food coloring}

{After Baking}

{Before Baking}

I put our clay pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet and then baked them for 50 minutes at 250 degrees since this was the suggested way for the clay to not get a "golden-brown" look, and I figured we didn't want to dull our neon colors. I am not sure if this would have mattered or not since the colors are noticeably less vibrant now that the clay has been baked. The clay came out dry on top but not fully hardened on the underside. I left them to air dry for a day or so before flipping them over. They have been air drying for another day and a half, and are still not completely dry. The website said they would take about 5 days to dry, which is quite awhile for little ones to wait. Plus, I am supposed to be rotating the pieces twice a day, and I haven't been doing this, because, really, who has time for that? I think it is safe to say that the clay will eventually be hard, but I wonder if I could have put it back in the oven for a longer amount of time and sped up the process? I hope the beads are ready for Mia to string before she has given up on them entirely.

DIY Puffy Paint

Thank goodness for Pinterest. I needed an idea of something to do with the kiddos on this rainy day, and here it is. I didn't have a full cup of salt (You may have the same issue if you frequently make play dough, too.), so I figured it really was just using equal amounts of the ingredients that mattered. I used 1/2 cup each of flour, water, salt, and this was enough to fill the bottles each about 1/3 full. I think they are 4 ounce bottles if you want an idea of how much we made. The kids each made one painting and we have plenty left over for a few more uses. Note: Even though this is made from items in the pantry, it is not edible. And I don't recommend calling your dog to lick up the teeny bit you might spill on the kitchen floor because, oh, about 2 minutes later, you will be cleaning up puke, and unless you are some sort of sadist, this is never fun.

Materials:

• flour
• salt
• water
• food coloring
• bowl 
• spoon
• squeeze bottles
• paper

Directions:

1. Mix equal parts flour, water, and salt in a bowl. Spoon or pour into plastic squeeze bottles. (Ours are reused from a tie dye kit that we bought over the summer.)
2. Add a few drops of food coloring to each bottle. Make sure caps are on tightly and shake to mix the colors.
3. Protect kids' clothing (I have no idea if this washes out or not.) and have fun painting. Allow paint to dry.

Shaving Cream Rainbow Paintings

{Shaving Cream Rainbow Painting by Mia, Age 5}

I associate rainbows with St. Patrick's Day, so I decided this would be a good craft for the month of March. After we finished making these yesterday, we saw a rainbow in the sky, which was fitting. When my dad saw the paintings, he asked, "Where's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?" Feel free to add a pot of gold if you want to, but I decided the rainbow itself was enough for my kids.

{Shaving Cream Rainbow Painting by Logan, Age 2 1/2}

Materials:

• cereal box
• pencil
• scissors
• newspaper
• Styrofoam tray
• shaving cream
• paint in rainbow colors
• paintbrushes (or Q-tips)
• bowl for tracing (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut a cereal box apart into separate panels. You will need one large side panel per rainbow. Save the narrow side panels for this fun craft.
2. Draw a rainbow onto the cardboard. I started my arc by tracing part of a bowl, and then just added lines onto it until I had six sections, one for each color of the rainbow. I then drew clouds below. Cut out your rainbow shape (and clouds if you are adding those).
3. Protect work surface with newspaper. Have kids wear old clothing or protect clothes with a paint smock or old shirt. (I have mine wear my old t-shirts with a clothespin at the back of the neck to make it fit more snugly.) Pour rainbow paints into a Styrofoam tray (ours is re-used from meat packaging; a bowl, plate, or plastic microwave dinner tray will also work). Add a squirt of shaving cream.
4. Let kids mix paints with shaving cream using paintbrush, fingers, or Q-tips, and then paint the rainbow as desired. (Mia's doesn't look the way I imagined it, but that is okay. It's her project so I let her do it her way. Of course, I was thinking of a rainbow being in the order of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. I had also envisioned white shaving cream clouds, but she mixed in red paint and was so excited to discover it made pink. This just goes to show how limited adult thinking can be.)
5. Allow paint/shaving cream mixture to dry completely before moving it and hanging it up. This takes awhile -- up to 24 hours. The final result will not be as puffy, but it will still have texture to it. You can display your rainbows along with some shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day.

It's Raining Cats and Dogs! Craft

{"It's Raining Cats and Dogs!" by Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• scissors
• glue
• tape
• paper
• paper cupcake liners
• drinking straws
• scalloped scissors (optional)
• crayons/markers/colored pencils (optional)
• cat and dog stickers (or magazine cutouts)

Directions:

1. Fold a cupcake liner in half and cut it apart with scissors OR trim along the straight edge with scalloped scissors. (One cupcake liner makes two umbrellas.)
2. If desired, decorate the umbrellas with crayons, markers, or colored pencils.
3. Cut a flexible drinking straw in half. The bendy part will become the umbrella's handle. Save the other half for another craft.
4. Tape the straw to the back side of the cupcake liner.
5. Glue the cupcake liner and straw to the paper. (Repeat steps 1-5 as many times as desired.)
6. Add dog and cat stickers to the paper.
7. Once the glue is dry, display your project.

Paper Plate Umbrella Craft

Materials:

• paper plate
• crayons or markers
• scissors
• circular punch (optional)
• flexible drinking straw
• tape
• stapler
• newspaper (optional)

Directions:

{Umbrella by Mia, Age 4}

1. Fold a paper plate in half and cut with scissors OR use a circular punch to make a scalloped border along the straight edge, leaving you with two identical pieces.
2. Color the back (non-eating) side of each half using crayons or markers.
3. Cut about 1 inch off of the bendy end of a flexible drinking straw. Save both pieces.
4. Tape the longer part of the straw inside of one half of the plate and then bend bottom part of the straw to form the umbrella's handle.
5. Tape the shorter part of the straw to the top part of the inside of the paper plate half.
6. Staple the two paper plate halves together to make the umbrella. (If you want more fullness, crumple a bit of newspaper and stuff it inside before stapling.)

Extension Ideas:

• Add raindrops cut from blue construction paper. (You can also buy a teardrop shaped hole punch at use that in place of scissors). Next, use a small hole punch to make a hole in each raindrop and attach them to the bottom of the umbrella by tying on various lengths of fishing line (or blue string or yarn).
• "It's raining cats and dogs!" Affix cat and dog stickers to construction paper, cut around them leaving about 1/8" to 1/4" border. Use a hole punch and fishing line to hang the stickers from the umbrella. If you don't have cat and dog stickers, you could cut out pictures from magazines and glue them to the construction paper.
• Use any left over parts of bendy straw as beads and make some jewelry. 

April Showers Bring May Flowers Sun Catchers

I've been on a sun catcher kick lately so these umbrella and flower sun catchers were the perfect craft for this dreary day. Mia enjoyed them too, and she asked if we could make some more. Their bright colors look cheerful in the window even if there isn't any sun, so she may have the right idea! It seems like spring is never going to arrive...

{Sun Catchers by Mia, Age 4}

Materials:

• construction paper (any color)
• scissors
• clear contact paper
• tissue paper (any color)
• pencil 
• clear tape
• paper trimmer (optional)
• hole punch (optional)
• yarn, string, ribbon, etc. for hanging (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut tissue paper into small squares. Older kids can do this themselves. We used approximately 1/2 inch squares, but you could make yours bigger. 
2. Fold a piece of construction paper in half like a hamburger (or use two pieces of construction paper if you would like to make a larger sun catcher).
3. Draw a flower or umbrella shape (or trace around a cookie cutter or a picture from the Internet) onto one half (or one piece) of the paper, and cut out the flower or umbrella shape. Do not draw your design too close to the edges of the paper. Cut paper in half along the fold. You should now have two pieces of paper with identical fish cut-outs.  Tip: If you are using two pieces of paper, you will need to make sure they stay together so that you get identical flowers or umbrellas.
4. Cut two pieces of clear contact paper (I used both a paper trimmer and scissors for this.) so that they are 1/4 inch larger than the construction paper all the way around. Tip: Do not remove backing from contact paper until you are ready to use it.
5. Adhere one piece of paper to the clear contact paper so that there is a border of 1/4 inch all around the paper. Tip: Slowly peel the contact paper away from the backing as you smooth the construction paper down onto the contact paper. This way you don't end up with "bubbles."
6. Have your child stick tissue paper squares onto the contact paper flower or umbrella shape until it is filled. (Mia chose pink and purple for the flower petals and green for the leaves and stem, and she decided that the umbrella should have rainbow colors. She came up with her own technique for filling in smaller spaces like the umbrella handle: crumple the tissue paper into balls. This makes it a bit bulkier, but it still works, and it gives it some visual interest.)
7. Layer the second piece of construction paper on top of the first, making sure that the flower or umbrella shapes line up.
8. Add the second piece of contact paper over the top, smoothing it down as you go. Trim away excess if desired, but don't trim too much or the sun catcher will not stay together. 
9. You can display your sun catcher in a window using clear tape. Another option is to use a hole punch to make two holes near the top, thread some ribbon or yarn through the holes, tie it off, and then hang your sun catcher.

Paintin' in the Rain

I don't remember where I found this idea originally, but I know I saw it somewhere last spring and we're just now getting around to it. Also, it's a bit more of a "wintry mix" today than a "spring shower" but I think it works about the same.

{Abstract Painting by Mia, Logan, and myself}

Materials:

• paper
• markers

Directions:

1. Color a piece of paper with markers. It seems to look best if you fill the paper. I preferred the painting we did with abstract designs over the ones that were supposed to look like something realistic.
2. Place paper outside while it's raining. (Weight paper down with rocks if necessary.)
3. Wait a few minutes for colors to run and then bring paper back inside.
4. Allow paper to dry (I used a hair dryer to speed things along.) and then display your "watercolor painting."

{Mia's Drawing Before}

1. 

   {Mia's Drawing After}

{My Drawing (with help from Logan) Before}

{My Drawing (with help from Logan) After}