Maize Noodles Snowflake Mobile

Maize noodles, a modelling material  for young children, can be used any time of year. We made a snowflake from noodles and hung from the ceiling to make a mobile -  a simple activity for preschool children. No glue needed (the noodles stick to each other when wetted)  Cutting was minimal.

From the pack, we chose to use blue and white maize noodles only. Snowflakes made from maize noodles could be any colour - mixed or colour coordinated.

 

Simple and light weight, hang with thread pushed through with a needle.

We loved the reflections it made when against the window in the evening

A Mini Christmas Tree from Cardboard

We made a Christmas tree from cardboard. This one happens to be a mini Christmas tree but it can be made on whatever scale you like.

A Christmas tree from cardboard can be made by children of any age. Here we have used a ruler to measure out the tree shape to make it symmetrical, but a younger child might like to draw free hand.

After making a template from paper, we cut out the tree from cardboard. To make the inner tree shape we used kitchen foil.




We decorated with white snowflake sequins and made a base from a strip of cardboard, formed into a triangle.

The lovely thing about working with cardboard is that it is strong and ridged but also can be manipulated.

To go one step further:
 Use hook and loop dots instead of snowflake sequins. Attach embellishments such as coloured pom poms, pony beads or buttons to the other half of the dots - great fun for a preschool child to decorate the cardboard tree ...over and over again

Favorite Christmas Craft Supplies for Children

Favourite Children's Craft Supplies for Christmas Activities

1. Tinsel Pom Poms 
2. Metallic Pipe Cleaners 
3. Metallic Pony Beads
4. Snowflake Sequins
5. Felt
6. Ribbons
7. Glitter glue
8. Glitter Stars
9. Polystyrene Balls
10. Star Stickers

Children can make so many decorations, cards, simple gifts from these few items. 

For our full range - Children's Christmas Craft Supplies

For ideas using these materials and more, we have a Pinterest board with all kinds of festive creations

Children's Christmas Craft Ideas

Craft Ideas Using Calendar Pads - Video

Craft ideas for children's calendar making using card, photos, craft embellishments, paint and calendar pads

Button Tree Collage Painting

Coloured buttons of different sizes, shapes and colours can provide hours of fun for a child.

Today we made a simple button tree picture with brown paint, white pva glue and buttons. Choosing the buttons, and in this case sorting into colours, I think was the most exciting part - enjoyed by all.

Rainbow Creations - Button Tree

Rainbow Creations are now supplying  bulk bags of buttons which are sufficient for several projects , even for a group of children.

 

Have you seen our Pinterest Button board? Lots of craft ideas for using buttons with children

Art and Craft using Buttons

Make Your Own Calendar - Kid's Craft Activity

Will you and the children be making calendars this year? Calendars are a simple gift children can give to their parents, grandparents, relatives and friends.  Using a calendar pad glued on to coloured A4 card, they can be hung with thread taped to the back or by punching holes and ribbon threaded through and knotted.

 Something to make as a personalised gift, children can be as creative as they like by decorating the card surrounding the calendar in several different ways. It can be as simple or elaborate as you wish.

Calendar ideas for children to make

A hand print calendar - have fun printing hand prints with paint, especially suitable for toddlers to do

It's me!

Im' going to be a drummer!

Weaving Calendar

Learn to photo edit

 

Sticker Calendar

 

Collage Calendar

Button Tree Calendar

Calendars are a great method of using children's artwork for a purpose. The child will enjoy the pleasure of making something for someone else and the pleasure of giving as a gift that has truly come from themselves.

Are You Creative?

For children to be given the chance to be creative they need space, opportunity, encouragement and assistance.
Some adults might shy away from offering this to the children in their care as they feel that they are not creative themselves.

 As Henri Matisse said Creativity Takes Courage

Rather than fear creativity, see it as a challenge -  a challenge which will benefit both adult and child.
If you are feeling

• I've never been good at making things
• I wouldn't know where to start
• I have no imagination
• I am useless with my hands.......

 Some points to think about

• You can learn together - good for emotional bonding
• It doesn't have to 'look 'right - there is no right and wrong
• Experiment - different materials, different approaches, even different moods
• It is just for fun - no pressure

Things you could do to inspire and build your confidence in your own creativity

• Examine art and design in the small world that you live - look in your home, in catalogues, on the internet. Everything once had a beginning.
• Try to work out how something was made
• Spend time alone, away from others, doing your own thing, with just your own thoughts, daydreaming.
• Anything you are about to throw away - think about it, could you make something with it? What could you turn it into?
• What have you got already that you could add to it to make it better, stronger, suitable
• Dont shy away from being messy and making a mess
• There doesn't always have to be an end result
• If you really do find things difficult, remember that the child might not - children often have vivid imaginations, don't always see things as adults do and might think of things you would never have imagined yourself. During an activity, your part is in encouraging the thought process by talking, asking questions and encouraging.

The more you do things, the more understanding you will have of properties, procedures, organisation, train of thought, possibilities and one day you might find you are not just  giving your child the chance to be creative but that you actually enjoyed it yourself.

Christmas Lolly Stick Puppets

What better time than Christmas for encouraging children to get busy with their arts and crafts.

Not only can children enjoy making their own Christmas presents to give to others, cards, gift tags, decorations for the tree and home, they can make puppets to inspire their imagination for story telling and puppet shows.

Based around Christmas characters, their favourite Christmas story book or the Nativity story, a group of children can have have great fun at Christmas time with lolly stick puppets.

 To make 

• Start with the head, adapting to suit the shape of the character's head  (drawing round a jar lid initially might help to get the circle shape, then modify as desired).

• Using plain foam craft sheets, cut out the shapes and glue together by laying each piece on top of another.

• Tip - draw and cut out the shapes from paper first, then draw round the paper onto the foam before cutting out the shapes in foam - it might be easier and less wasteful if shapes don't go quite right first time.

• Once designed, glue all the pieces on to a large lolly stick, add some googly eyes and maybe a small pom pom or button to finish off.

There is no right or wrong, the children can create their puppets just as they visualise. So long as there is a head with a face to begin with, you cannot go wrong. And how satisfying for the child that they made it, just as they like..

For basic shapes or ideas you can use these Christmas templates or get out your favourite book to look at faces and discuss shape, colour, expression.

By doing this, it is helping to teach children the steps they need to take on their own to persevere with design, discover if what they thought they could do is possible and, when mastered, it should result in a feeling of pride.

Now for the fun of the puppet show...
 

Printmaking for Children - Introducing the Brayer

Simple printmaking can be done at a very young age. Children can print with any objects that has a shape and a relatively flat surface.

• Potato printing is a traditional method of printing for young children, where by a shape is cut into the surface of half a potato. Other vegetables can be use for their difference in shape.

• Painting on half of a sheet of paper and then folding the paper over is another method of printing by mirroring the applied paint on the opposite side of the paper.

• Finger paintings also can be printed - a pool of paint on a slippery surface, such as a tray, can be swirled around and drawn in with the fingers then printed by placing paper over the top and rubbing firmly.

•  Household objects can be printed with or any thing which had an interesting texture, such as cotton reels, potato mashers, toy cards, cups etc.

•  Printing with sponge shapes

Printing sponges

Foam dabbers

Foam dabbers make wonderful prints which can be joined together to create a background, depth of colour applied by re-applying paint in certain areas and they can also be used make lines and shapes.

Sponge Rollers

The value of a brayer roller in printmaking with children

Brayer rollers

We have added brayer rollers to our children's art product range. Overall, there are so many uses, no child should be with out a brayer. We believe their use to be invaluable when it comes to art with children.

Brayers are used for lino printing. Strength is required to cut  lino and the tools are sharp. However, great results can be achieved once children are old enough to do it.

The brayer is loaded with ink or paint and rolled over the lino, once the design has been cut into the surface. Paper or fabric is placed on top and pressed.

This can be pressed by rolling with a clean brayer.

Large Paint Stampers

For younger children, a brayer can be used with stampers to roll the paint evenly onto the surface of the stamp.

Rainbow Ink Pad

Brayers can be used by rolling on an ink pad. Applying pressure to the paper with the roller will make a wonderful background which can be graduated in colour.

And last but not least, a brayer is an excellent tool for rolling on top of something that has been glued, while the glue is wet, to save lumps and bumps forming and spread the glue evenly underneath. Well worth the investment just for that!

Cabbage leaf printing

Printing with foam dabbers

Printing with string

Printed butterfly

Painting with Children.

Exploring paint and painting techniques with children - creative painting.

Paint Types for Children's Use

When choosing paint for the piece of art work intended, it is important to realise that the end result will be different, depending on your chosen paint

Water based paint, known as watercolour is available in many forms.Tempera powder paint, ready mixed paint, the liquid form, and block paints are all used with water as their base. Acrylic paint, being produced from acrylic, is generally thicker and more opaque than watercolour. It can also be diluted with water. Oil paint is not an ideal paint for children to use as it takes so long to dry.

Experimenting with Painting Techniques

The painting technique used will also give a different outcome. A paint brush does not always have to be used. To help foster creativity within children, encourage them to think of all possibilities of materials used and techniques.

Our Painting Session on Chinese Art

We researched examples of Chinese art and decided on painting Cherry Blossom.

We noted the delicacy of the painting by the Chinese and the quick accurate movements within their style of painting. Based on this we thought watercolour would be the best paint to use - it would flow easily and also leave a variation in intensity.
Initially we planned on using a paint brush to paint the branch but then decided blow painting might be more naturally spontaneous, even if difficult to control .
We needed to find something we could print the petals of the flowers with. We liked the idea of the circular protrusions from the base of a plastic bottle, but this would have been too big. However we did think, if painting on a large scale, this would be very effective.
We tried using our finger tips but still they were to big for the size of the branch. The answer was a pencil end dipped in the paint. We added a tiny red flecks of paint to the flowers once printed in pink paint.
Finally to create the signature we translated our names into Chinese writing and added at the side, as can be seen on many paintings of this type, though not sure it is quite right.

Chinese Cherry blossom

Maize Building Noodles

Maize building noodles - a good introduction to children's arts and crafts.

Maize noodles have been around for some time but will always new to young children. 

What are Maize Noodles?

Maize noodles are a mutipurpose modelling material for young children to build 2D and 3D models or sculptures.

A totally creative medium  - there is no right or wrong way to build.

Requires use of the child's imagination

A tactile experience.

The pieces measure approx. 5cm long and 1-2 cm in diameter - a good size for small hands to handle.

Clean to use and no gluing required for them to stick together, and yes they do stick together like magic.

Light and easy to use.

Safe, natural with no chemicals, which makes them ideal for children to use

They are biodegradable .

Nothing else is needed other than water.

How to use:

Maize noodles can be cut easily by the child themselves, squashed and twisted.

Use a wrung out sponge or cloth, soaked in water, to dampen the maize. Maize noodles will stick together quickly and easily.

Try not to to touch the damp part of the noodles as they will stick to fingers. That doesn't matter, but it doesn't make it very easy to work! A damp cloth to wipe hands on occasionally will put an end to frustration.

Maize noodles can be stuck to card. Preprinted cards are available but bear in mind this is not the only thing you can do with maize noodles.

We have not included any image here of finished models as we believe that to do so would inhibit creativity for you and your child, which would spoil some of the fun!

Making Peg Doll Angels

Increasing our Christmas range of children's' craft products we have introduced our peg doll angel kits.

These kits make a Christmas angel which can be hung on the Christmas tree or in a child's bedroom.

The whole pack is ideal for a group, such as Brownies, after school clubs or by teachers for their classes.

To make:

1. First make the face by placing the adhesive face sticker on the round end of the peg.
2. Fold the silver doiley in half and half again.Cut a small part off the triangle- enough to enable the peg to slip through. 
3. To make the dress - push the dolly peg through the hole and glue into place. Allow to dry.
4. Cut approx 10cm tinsel string and wrap round the top of the dress. Use a dab of glue to secure.
5. To make the hair - wrap the gold thread around a piece of card, roughly the length of the you require for the angels' hair. Using another small piece of cord secure all threads together by tying a knot. Then tie the two ends together - this forms the hanging cord. Cut the bottom of the threads and you have the hair.
6. Glue the threads to the peg doll's head
7. To make the wings - glue the sequins on to the shiny silver wings.  Stick on to the back of the angel with the sticky pad provided.

One finished Peg Doll Angel from Rainbow Creations

Colour Mixing Video using Poster Paint

Further to our image version of colour mixing with paint, (colour theory) we have now created a video.

This colour mixing video is aimed at children so they can learn the basics of mixing different colours of paint.

From an adult perspective, and maybe a child's, it is important to realise that many colours of children's paint are not necessary to buy - unless a large quantity is needed, in which case a uniform mix maybe required.

Making a Children's Craft Box

The best type of box to hold children's craft supplies is a container that is inexpensive.
The reason is, that as you collect craft materials for your child to use, you will find that the need for a bigger box comes quite quickly.

A large shoe box with a lid, covered with either wrapping paper or plain paper, such as brown paper or coloured paper, is a good size box to start off with. Your child could decorate or personalise their box, once covered. 
As you progress to a larger box, you could add handles, to carry with, made from thick cord - the type found on gift bags is suitable.

Contents
When filling a craft box for children, the best thing is to offer a range of craft supplies which can be used in different ways.

What to put in a children's craft box

Basic equipment you will need

Paper scissors, glue spreaders and glue

Materials to work with

The following craft supplies will provide your child with materials to work with. These are our suggestions.

From the products below, you will find a starting point. Children can experiment themselves as to how they choose to use them. Through experimenting they will come to learn about design, joining and the capabilities of each given product.

Coloured Pipe Cleaners for model making

Tissue paper for scrunching, covering models and collage

Lolly Sticks for building models or making stick puppets

Feathers for decorating, for headdresses or pictures

Foam shapes or sheets for cutting and arranging

Pom poms for gluing, sewing together or making fluffy creatures

And last, but not least, something a children's craft box should definitely not be without, is wiggly eyes. Sometimes known as google eyes, wiggle eyes, or joggle eyes. They can be glued on or some have a self adhesive backing. They come in a range of sizes and some are coloured, some are black and white.

                               Wiggly eyes for puppet making or card making

If you wanted, you could add a few sparkly bits such as sequins or gems.

Or some pony beads for threading, glitter for sprinkling

You could collect bits and pieces that you find in your home, such as sweet wrappers, milk carton tops, cord from unwanted bags, buttons from old clothes, anything that might come in use one day for something, so long as it's safe for children to use.

Part of the fun with craft for kids, is not knowing what it is that they are going to make. By looking at the contents of their craft box and using their imagination as their guide, they will be surprised at what they can make - a great sense of achievement.

Stuck for ideas, here you can find plenty of ideas for kids art and craft activities

Children will eventually develop their personal preferences as to what type of art or craft they like the best. Some children enjoy model making, some children don't. Others will enjoy sewing or decorating, some prefer painting and drawing... and from your own awareness of this you can provide your child with products and equipment to suit them personally.