I Need Art & Craft Ideas

Hi I.,

Here is some links for inexpensive kid crafts. Hope they help...

http://www.mommytips.com/mt/Kids/Family_Fun/Kids_Crafts/

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=234

http://www.thefamilycorner.com/family/kids/crafts/9_music...

http://www.friendsacrossamerica.com/crafts.html

http://crafts.kaboose.com/

I.,

Have you searched the internet. The are tons of inexpensive craft ideas using paper bags and paper plates. Try enchanted learning.com

Try googling art ideas for Kindergarteners or go to Barnes and Noble - they have books on Storyybook art activities that tie in with stories you read and just tons of stuff - take notes while you are there so you don't have to buy books. Try the library - just ask librarian or visit you local school and ask a kinder teacher.
M. F. former kinder teacher and Nana

I am a SAHM who homeschools too! There are SO many things you can do. You can make all kinds of things out of paper plates, paper bags, egg cartons. you can find books on each one of these for ideas too. You can trace hands and make them into ? flowers, turkeys, wall deco, etc... Give him a bunch of junk that you would throw away and let him create. Give him some glue and scissors and watch him work. You can use food items too: pasta, beans, cheerios, rice, and other kitchen items like: toothpicks, popsicle sticks. These items can be made into necklaces or glued onto a paper. A letter of the week is a great way to incorporate crafts where they glue down items that represent the letter, b-buttons, bandaids r-rubberbands, rice, c-cotton, candy, etc.

Have fun!! I am sure he will!

Blessings,
M.
Mom to 5 Wonderful Kids, 4 boys and 1 sweet girl
www.4MyChildrenSake.com

I read the responses to your request, and they are excellent; however, I have one more. At our Special Needs center at school, we sometimes do visors. The plain plastic ones that you get at Dollar General or something will do. We glue shapes and letters and whatever on there. We purchase these leters and shapes in buckets very inexpensively. The kids do their own.

Hope you may enjoy this idea.

Buy a stack of good old-fashioned paper plates. You can make"

Masks - study different cultures that used masks
Shakers - staple two together and fill with beans and learn about rhythm.
Spiral windsock - Color plate, then starting at one point in the side of the plate, cut in spiral shape to the center. Put tape and a piece of string to hang it right in the center. Take it outside and watch it spiral away! Study China (chinese windsock) or physical sciences...wind, or weather.
Puppets - glue or tape wooden paint stir sticks (I think they are free at home depot) to plates after making characters. Study literature or theater. Help son write a story with beginning, middle and end and then put on puppet show.

Love those paper plates..oh, there is a website for paper plate crafts you can google...some may be the same as mine, but there are bound to be more. Good luck and have fun!

Make mud pies or animal shapes. Get dirt put in large bucket, add water to make thick mud. After you get the mud have the kids make any shape they would like. My kids have (girls) wedding cakes (decorating with leaves etc), dogs , vases. After they are made just put in sun and they will dry as hard as a rock. Best if you live where you have clay dirt, but will work with any dirt.

Take a big box from appliance store (a stove box works great), then parent cut out a door (only 3 sides cut so it will open). For a door knob we used an old sewing spool and a screw with bolt . Next, we cut out windows (we complete cut opening). If you have a girl, it’s a play house, if you have a boy it could be a fort by getting another box and making the top look like a fort. Or a castle for a girls. Anyway, my daughter and son both played with the stove box for about 3 years, it held up so good. And you they are finished with it pass it on to a child care center or friend of a little one. Oh, I forget the kids decorate the box anyway they want, get temper paint and let them be creative. They could even glue stuff on it.

Take colored paper like they use in kindergarten, by the larger pages. Cut length wise into 1" wide strips, do one whole page of one color this way. Next cut width wise in 1" strips of another color. Have the kids weave it in and out until they have a place mat. I buy a roll of see through vinyl that is adhesive on one side (buy it in the aisle that sells shelve lining paper) I use it for many things. Anyway, laminate one side with this see through vinyl. You could also make place mats from almost anything you have in the house.

From your Clorox bottles you can make a pig. From a liter drink bottle you can make a bird feeder. Go to the library and they most likely have a book on recycle crafts

Check out Oriental Tradng Company's website. Even if you don't buy anything it will give you some ideas. Also Family Fun magazine has a great website and they use things from around the house for their crafts. Good luck.

I bought a really cool book at Mardels, called "I made it", it's arts and crafts for pre-K thru 2nd grade kids. It is full of different painting techniques and projects. It wasn't expensive, and I already have all the supplies at home. We just bought lots of paint and paper, etc..

I homeschool my 6 and 3 year olds.

I like to go to thrift stores and find old craft books from the 1970s. So much of our trash can be treasure for kids and something as simple as a set of empty boxes can be painted and made into a building block set for your child. I have 4 boys 6 and under and they enjoy making collages from just about anything. Save magazines, cereal boxes, paper bags, yogurt containers. Let your imagination lead you and have fun!

I like the DLTK site. http://dltk-kids.com/

my grandaughter is i kindergarten this yearthey do some very basic thingc at first it was just to color the apple red the ball blue ect... then they started having them do it like a large puzzle 2 copys same picture one they cute in piece and glue to the other to make them match up ,then cole what they have glued on glue ramdem piecies of colored parer .of differt sizes on another ,lots of days thet judt cloer i'm sure it has to do with what threre learning that day.
L.

I.-

Before you throw anything in the garbage, think about ways it can be used for art projects. Empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls, styrofoam packing peanuts, shoe boxes, magazines, etc. all can be used to make a variety of things. Keep the plastic cups from pudding or jello for use when painting. Egg cartons are another great one to keep for making caterpillars or whatever your little one can think of. Also, take a nature walk outside and collect things to make a collage out of when you get home.

Good Luck,
K.

when I was in school our teacher took flour a little glue and water and the bottom of a milk carton and we made picture frame for our moms after it hardens you take it out paint it and put a picture on top of it and you have a picture of your child for life my mom still has mine my brother made a hand print the same way and painted it and on the back wrote the date on it and name she also still has this you can take newspaper and make a pinta the same mixture use a balloon you can paint it any way you want and after it hardens you take a pin pop the balloon inside and take any little stuff put inside and go outside and break it there is alot of fun with that hope that helps you alittle
S.

just saw a really cute idea on Nogin that i think i am going to do with my 5 and 3 year old.... carefully crack the top (most narrow) end of an egg away (use eggs for breakfast - no waste) wash the egg out and allow to dry. paint the egg a solid color the paint on eyes and a smile - again, allow to dry. next, take torn apart cotton balls and gently fill the egg almost to the top. put enough water to moisten the cotton balls. pick you favorite seed (in the video they used sprouts) to plant and when the seeds grow they become the "hair" of your egg person. - cute, huh?

Hi I.,

I'm a SAHM/homeschooling mom also. If you're interested, contact me offline and I can share with you different things we're doing. Maybe we can get the kids together.

Anyhow, I thought everyone has had great ideas. I also agree with Karen, keep things like paper towel and toilet paper rolls, empty cereal boxes, small plastic cups, pringle cans, egg cartons. We use those things for a variety of things. I've made rulers out of the cereal boxes so my daughter can go around measuring various things. We play bean toss with the egg cartons which works on hand-eye coordination; but also number recognition. Kids have really great imaginations and can create a number of things with commonly used things around the house. Highlights has some really great ideas as does the library. My favorites finds from the library are "365 days to a smarter preschooler" and "50 greatest kid concoctions". Both books use commonly found household items for their crafts. We loved them so much that we ended up purchasing them from amazon.com! Also, enchantedlearning.com is great. I know another responder mentioned that one. We use that site a lot. Making playdough and paper mache are good crafts too. Both use commonly found items and are inexpensive.

I hope this helps!
A. W.

Hi I.,
I do arts and crafts for an elementary school and always have to do cheap projects. There are some great ideas out there if you do a "google" search. Try "children's crafts", or "children's art projects". There are coloring pages, recycle art projects, calenders, & bookmarks. You can also check on your local museum's website. A bunch of them have children's art projects. I do 1000 projects each year.

These are two sites I use.
www.kidscolorpages.com/coloringpages2.htm
http://www.abcteach.com/index.html

The library is also an excellent resource for projects. Ask the librarian for the Dewey Decimal section to look it. Check the children's section and the adult section. My favorite is "Beautiful Junk". It is all recycle stuff.
M. in Spring
____@____.com

go to Google and type in Free Crafts for Kindergarten
there will be many sites
one of the things i do for my grandchildren (I use to work in a PreK class for 10 years)
get a paper bag and place a straw, styrofoam cup, pieces of foil, toothpicks, toilet paper tube, magazine pages.
have him/her create something from the bag.

take magazines and cut out the letter of the day.
B Day= cut out letters, things that begin with that letter

magazines- look at pictures and find shapes and mark with markers, example pictures of houses, windows are square, trees are rectangular,

use water apritzer and fill with watered down paint
use kitchen utensils for stamping, potato masher, fork, etc.
Use vegtables for stamps,

Have a sensory walk, use paint to walk in then walk on paper. ( outdoor activity)

Paper plates- make masks, tamborines (place beans inside then staple for thread with yarn.

make patterns on a string with Froot Loops cereal
Froot Loops can be sorted
Alpha Bits cereals use to make words

Try Orientaltrading.com they have lots of crafts in bulk and very cheap. There are so many things to choose from. And also, they have different themes and seasonal items too.

I have found by googling it you will stumble across many kid art project websites. You just have to be prepared to be on the internet for awhile and just research the varous sites. You could put in as many words in the google search. I.E inexpensive children art projects. I have always been able to find tons of ideas from crafts to studying techniques to birthday party games and ideas. GOOD LUCK! Here a just a few:

http://www.allfreecrafts.com/kids/index.shtml

http://www.bluebonnetvillage.com/kids.htm

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/540269/inexpensi...

All I did was google: inexpensive children art projects and it brought up MANY MANY useful websites. Again, good luck! :)

Do a Google on line for ideas. There are TONS of sites for teachers that have arts and craft ideas, and they are listed by age group. I am an art teacher, and it is an amazing resource.

My son does a lot of crafts in school (same age) and he seems to like gluing and painting the best. Maybe buy some dried beans or colored macaroni and construction paper. You could even trace a patter on the paper for him, like a tree or animal and have him glue the dried food to the right spots. Or let him paint with water colors on the construction paper. Very inexpensive, but it gives the child a way to be creative.

Try Kinderart.com if you have not already. They have some cute and cheap crafts for the kids. We use this to teach Kinder Art at my son's school.

One of the arts/crafts I've noticed my daughter does a TON of is dipping virtually anything you can think of in paint and painting with it. For example, they studied apples, had an apple tasting to decide what they liked then sliced the apples, dipped them in paint and painted with them. They've done the same thing with pastas, toy cars - rolling the wheels in paint and "driving" them on paper, etc. Good luck!

Hi I.. My son really had fun decorating a small wooden box, I got the boxes at Michaels and they have a mesh window on top. They are ideal for collecting bugs or cool rocks or whatever he finds when he is in the yard exploring. I bought some felt and/or rubber letters and things to glue on to it and let him use markers to draw on it too.

D.
San Antonio

I guess this doesn't count as a craft, but Legos are great for kids and can lead to great creativity. They are a bit of an investment but will last forever. As the child grows, more systems can be added to the collection.

Have you been to Michael's for craft sticks, glue, paints, etc? They usually have idea sheets also and from time to time, they offer free classes for kids. The colorful foam sheets... don't know what they call them..... can be cut into shapes. My grandson made cute refrigerator magnets with them. He cut out the shape of ice cream on a stick, cut a corner off like a bite taken out of it, glued it on a popsicle stick and put a piece of magnet strip on the back. He also made one like a hot dog. I am pretty sure his teacher drew the outline and he cut them out.

Modeling clay and the "plastic clay" Crayola makes are good, too. Scissors, glue, paper, markers, and crayons can be collected a little at a time, kept in a special place and his creativity will come forth. Also, large sheets of paper and water based paints are good. Plastic foam trays such meat comes in can be washed and used to make the "frame" for pictures made with crayons, or a mosaic design using different kinds of bean or different colors of rice, etc. the child can just color or glue right on the tray. I let my kids make chalk pictures on the sidewalk or driveway. Not everyone would want to do this but it washes off with a hose or rain shower. Could he use some of his craft time to plant a garden or seeds in pots?

If you have any interest in also teaching him Bible stories in hands-on, multi-sensory ways, check out

www.biblepreschool.com

For each story you can choose a small motor (often craft) activity or a large motor activity. Almost all the supplies are things that you would have at home. The projects are usually designed to emphasize the process/learning of the activity instead of the product-- if you know what I mean. I do these with my 2 and 5 year old and they love it. They also love doing "Bible Time" at a set time each day.

God Bless your time with your little one

This is a great time to learn about recycling. Find things others want to get rid of... if you have an old t shirt, buy paints to paint on the shirt...collect sticks and cut to hot glue a log cabin or if bigger branches then tie together for a bird house. Hang in the tree
outside a window and watch the birds enjoy.... let him collect pictures of things he enjoys from magazines and make a collage on a large poster board, could cut large letters out of the pictures to spell his name...go to a construction site and ask for scrap boards, sand and paint on the boards... you can take an old object and apply decopage in layers to freshen the object... just notice what is around and recyle, it is a great lesson...make gifts to give and things to share.

I use these sites as a resource:
http://chasingcheerios.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/

Good luck and have fun.