Simple Rubber Band Gun and Ammo Pouch

I made these simple wooden rubber band guns with Mr 6 today. It was declared to be "epic" so many times I thought I'd share. I made a second one when Miss 4 came home, and the whole process (including "helping" took about 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
26mm diameter dowel stick. 7cm long*
1cm square stick. 18.5cm long*
1 wooden peg
2 nails
*note: all the measurements are approximate, done by eye, and measured later. We used scraps we had handy.

You also need:
wood glue
sandpaper
hand saw
hot melt glue

1. Sand all edges
2. Saw a small groove horizontally across the end of the square stick (for the rubber band to sit in)
3. Wood glue and nail the other end of the square stick to the round dowel.
4. Hot glue gun the peg to the top of the square stick
5. Test it out and paint it.

For the target, we made holes in the side of a cubby house box, and I taped plastic bags to the back of the holes to catch the rubber bands. It made it easier to see which hole the rubber band had gone through, and easier to get it back.

I also made an "ammo pouch", which consisted of a simple rectangle of fabric sewn into a tiny bag (sew sides and a triangle across the bottom corners). I sewed a pipe cleaner in the top hem, which gives it a stiff feel, so the pouch can be pinched shut or kept open.

Good quiet fun that's not going to actually injure someone when the rubber band hits (unlike the wooden sword which was Mr 5's first suggestion for a wood work project). And all done before the kids lost interest. Definitely a great thing to make on a quiet or rainy day.

Kaleidescope Tutorial

Cheap, easy and quick; making your own kaleidoscope is a great activity to do with the kids. It took us about 20 minutes to gather the materials together and make 2 kaleidoscopes and the kids were very impressed with them.

Hammering Out Flower and Leaf Prints

I saw this idea on Build/Make/Craft/Bake, and had to give it a go. I mean seriously, it's using a hammer to squash the colour out of natural things. How much fun could that be?

Water Colour Pencils and Raindrops

Before

After

This is the perfect activity for yet another rainy afternoon. The technique is easy, colour in a page using water colour pencils, take it out and hold it in the rain until you've collected enough raindrops on your picture.

Balloon painting

I'd never seen balloon painting before (I've since seen a beautiful caterpiller on Pinterest using balloon painting). Anyway I thought I'd share Miss 4 and my experiences with it.

Paint and Pastel Self Portrait

This is a portrait Miss 4 did a while back (when she was 3) using the beautiful tutorial at Deep Space Sparkle. Such simple technique but I really love the results. We used poster paints instead of tempera paints (not sure if/what the difference is there) but it seemed to give us the right results.

The best things about this technique were: starting with a U shape (rather than an oval), using 3 circles for eyes, mixing the skin colour and then testing it by putting it on Miss 3's skin, and the look on her face when she'd finished.

Nature Rainbow Tree

A simple nice art activity. First we had a play outside and collected things of all the colours of the rainbow, plus some twigs.

I had thought we would just make a rainbow, but Miss 4 was quite determined it would be a tree. Just as determined as she was about the order of the rainbow; Red and yellow, pink and green, purple and orange and blue. I can sing a rainbow... I drew some lines to glue between and she did the rest.

But regardless of our differences in taste, it was a lovely art activity to do together and she was proud to show the results to Mr Crafty when he got home.

Personalised coffee cups

I first saw this on 2 Craft and 2 Create and thought it was a good idea, and so put the thought aside for a time when we wanted to create a birthday present for a grandparent.

At first I bought a bunch of multi-coloured permanent marker sharpies. The kids drew up some beautiful pictures. I cooked them, and then easily wiped them off with a wet cloth. Not happy. Moral of the story:

Don't use colours!

Second attempt in black and white and some even better pictures, a little baking (20 minutes on 180 C or 350 F), and we had our finished products. Personalised coffee cups, fit for any Mothers day, Fathers day or Grandparent's birthday.

Bejewelled Candle Holder

A lovely little activity. Use air-dry clay to make a candle holder and then stick jewels on using PVA glue. 

We use a candle to encourage the kids to eat well at dinner (eat their vegies, use good manners etc.). Those who eat well get a turn to blow the candle out.

Cotton Bud Tree Painting

 

Just a little painting fun. A few different ways to paint a cherry blossom tree or Jacaranda tree using only Q-tips (cotton buds). I'm sure the same could be done for an Autumn or Spring tree, if the colours are right.

Miss 3 thought it was great fun too.

And the usual way that Miss 3 finishes any painting time: some hand painting (followed by making some paint gloves for herself).

Toilet Roll Art

Rainbow fun with a white toilet roll.

Kaleidocycle

Anyone searching for a great rainy day boredom buster for the kids, I have to recommend making a kaleidocycle folding paper toy (MiniEco has ever so kindly posted a free printable, instructions and a little movie of how it works). It's absolutely mesmerising, and so easy to make, Mr 5 and Miss 3 had a great time colouring in their own versions.

Weaving

I was looking for some ideas to use for craft at Playgroup. It had to be mess free due to our venue for the week. I melded a couple of ideas, and came up with this:

It's very easy. Cut a circle in a paper plate. Punch holes around the edge of the circle. Tie a length of wool to one hole. Put some sticky tape around the other end of the wool (makes it stiffer and easier to thread). Colour around the edge of the plate. Thread the wool through the holes.

The by product is the circle cut from the middle of the plate. That can also be used  for some more threading and drawing as Miss 3 showed here:

At playgroup the kids (ages 1 to 4) all seemed to enjoy it. Some only wanted to colour, others only wanted to weave. Some even turned their masterpiece into a kite (tied a string onto it).

Home Made Weather Station

This was a super activity to start the school holidays with. Mr 5 is doing lots of weather at school, and loving it, and so they were both very keen to make their own weather station . We got the free printables from Mr Printables, I laminated them (with the thought they'd be up for a while and probably revisited when Miss 3 does weather at school), and then I did most of the cutting out and assemblng while the kids ran around the house imagining all sorts of wild weather.

The chart leaves you with a pile of cards for the "Today is" section. The kids have been keen to learn how to use my sewing machine, so they both sewed super simple bags for the extra cards, and then stapled the bag to the chart.

Thaumatrope

Making a Thaumatrope is a fun little activity perfect for a rainy day or holiday. All you need is some paper, sticks (I used kitchen skewers) and a bit of imagination. 

The classic picture is a bird and a cage. Draw the bird on one piece of paper, a bird cage on another and stick them together around a stick. When you spin the stick, the two pictures seem to merge together and the bird appears to be in the cage.

I tried a few more, a face and some face paint, and a tree and it's leaves. Miss 3 concentrated on her passions: butterflies and rainbows.

Nature Prints in Air Dry Clay

I had some air dry clay left over from another project and wanted to give some nature prints a go. I remember seeing them previously here. Now that I look at them and compare them again, I see that my edges are more rustic. But they were definitely fun to make, and should work nicely for a Christmas tree ornament or piece of jewelry. Next time I'd like to try this recipe for home-made air dry clay. Just as soon as I figure out what school glue is, and where to buy it.

Miss 3 also enjoyed this craft and had great fun making her own circles and impressions. We rolled a small ball of clay in our hands, and then pressed it flat using a milk bottle top. We put the leaf on the clay and again pushed it in using the milk bottle top. We poked a hole using a toothpick and then left them to dry.

Once dry they could be painted. They could also be used to make some interesting rubbing drawings.

Homemade Playdoh

So it's just home-made play dough, but I love how the colours turned out. At first I tried a jelly crystals recipe, but then I realised I was making something that was full of sugar, and so I started again using gelatin crystals instead (same idea but without sugar and flavour).

Paper Houses and Paddlepop Stick People

These were inspired by the finger puppets from Teawagontales and the free print out house pattern from Inner Child Fun (both via Crafty Crow). Our versions don't look as elegant, but were heaps of fun to make!

Scissors, Paper, Holepunch.

I thought I'd share this one, not because it's a work of art. Far from it, just because it's some inspiration for a bit of happy crafting.

The idea is to cut paper into strips, punch holes in the strips, and then glue them to another piece of paper. I'm pretty sure I first saw something like this on Mr Maker. We used patterned scissors/pinking shears. And seriously, with scissors, hole punching and glue, how can you go wrong!

As you can see Miss 3 thought the thing needed to be finished off with a pile of sequins. Later she also added some alfoil, just for extra sparkle. She was obviously very pleased with her work as it was the first thing she showed to Mr Crafty when he came home.

Homemade Puff Paint

We've been a little light on the sharable kinds of craft here recently. I've been very busy making things for a fundraiser market, and the kids have been doing little side projects with whatever I've been using. But today I was searching for something to do at playgroup craft next week, and stumbled across this one, which I just had to have a go at. It's no good for our playgroup as we don't have a microwave there, but perfect for a quiet afternoon at home.

We made our own home made puff paint, using SR flour, salt and food colouring, according to the recipe from One Crafty Mumma. We made it into a sludgy paste, and painted on ordinary paper. We then put the painting in the microwave on high for 20 to 30 seconds. Magic! Dry, puffy paintings. The thicker you apply the paint, the more puff.

It even was interesting enough that it enticed Mr 5 to do not one but two paintings.