Things to Make and Do, Crafts and Activities for Kids - The Crafty Crow

Felt Ball Bugs

Find out how to make felt ball bugs in the third
installment of the Beginners Guide to Felting
at Curly Birds!

Mini Melty Bead Spinning Tops

Find out how to make these cute spinning tops
from melty beads (Hama, Perler) at Badut. They
would make great party favors!

Make Your Own Liquid Watercolors

Save those dried out markers and make
your own liquid watercolors with this
tutorial at Crafting A Green World.

Perler Bead Decorated Boxes

I think these hama (Perler) bead decorated
matchboxes would make such great gifts - either
as a matchbox for adults or treasure boxes for kids.
Get the details on how they're made at Pysselbolaget.

Gilded Clay Leaves

Artteajannell shares these lovely gilded clay
fall leaves. Such a great keepsake to
bring out and display every year.

Side By Side Giveaway, Excerpt & Review!

Side by Side is a new kids' craft book by Tsia Carson,
author of the popular craft book, Craftivity. The theme 
of this book is that crafting alongside, and with, your
child is a wonderful way to enjoy each other's
company as well as get a glimpse into how
each other's minds work.

    
The book is organized into three sections:
Collaborators, Companions, and Family Field Trips.


The Collaborator section features crafts to do together
like Hand-Stamped Bookmarks and Stationery,
Pom-Pom Garland, and Child-Drawn Stuffed Monster.


The Companions section has separate projects for
the adult and child to do alongside each other but
the projects are similar in character. Some of these
crafts include handmade pillows, embroidery
and succulent gardens.


The last section, Family Field Trips, shares four craft
ideas that can be done outside, like an autumn leaf
crown, willow teepee, and Seed Self-Portraits.

The photography is gorgeous (!) and really makes you
want to do all the projects and Tsia's voice reads like
a good friend sharing great craft ideas and tips.

Glitter Glue Monoprints
(excerpted with permission from the publisher)

This is one of my favorite projects from
the Collaborators section!




(click the photo to view larger)

Giveaway Information!

So, do you want your own copy of Side By Side?
The publisher, Roost Books, is giving away
two copies to Crafty Crow readers!

To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment on this
post by midnight P.S.T on Saturday, October 6th.
The two winners will be announced here
on Monday, October 8th.

If you are reading this on Twitter, Facebook,
Google+ or in your email you will need to visit
this post on The Crafty Crow blog to enter your
comment for eligibility. Winners will be chosen
using the Random Number Generator.
This giveaway is available in the USA only.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spam so don't
worry if your comment doesn't show up immediately.



Disclosure:
I received a free copy of the book for review purposes but
all opinons are my own. This post includes affiliate links.

Autumn Garland With Dried Fruit

Find out how to make a beautiful autumn garland
featuring dried fruit at Szymczaks in Seattle.

Felted Autumn Tree

That Artist Woman has a great step-by-step
tutorial showing how to make this beautiful
autumn tree using wet felting!

Show Me A Story Review, Excerpt & Giveaway!

Show Me a Story is a new book by Emily K. Neuburger
featuring 40 different ideas for children to use their
imagination and develop their storytelling skills!  You may
recognize Emily from her blog, Red Bird Crafts. I featured
her story stones back in 2009 and I'm so happy to see
her expand this storytelling theme into a whole book!

Emily is a crafter and teacher and combines elements of
both into her book. Emily's crafting sense makes these
projects easy to do, accessible, and fun. Components like
group activities, storytelling prompts, and writing
exercises make this book perfect for educational settings.

Many projects caught my attention, such as the Story
Map where you make a map of an imaginary land and
create stories about the residents and the Storytelling
Walk where you visually collect items from a walk and
then draw and paint the items to tell their story. One of
my favorites was the Story Blocks and I am
sharing that with you today!

Following the excerpt you can read the
giveaway details - two winners will receive
their own copy of Show Me a Story!

Story Blocks

Excerpted from Show Me a Story (c) Emily K. Neuburger.
Used with permission of Storey Publishing.


Photograph (c) Buff Strickland

Turn plain wooden blocks into movable storytelling
prompts. Line up the blocks in a certain order and use
them to tell a story. Take turns, and the next person
can rearrange the blocks and tell a different story.
It’s a natural way to develop a story
— just line ’em up and begin.

There is something very satisfying about the heft of these
blocks. When your children add new characters to their
stories, they feel the weight of the characters in their
hands as they place them in the storytelling lineup. These
blocks give children a chance to use their bodies and their
brains. Educators and therapists who work with young
children will appreciate this balanced combination of
gross-motor and cognitive skills.

Time: To make: 2 hands-on hours

Ages: To make: 5+, To use: 3+

Players: 1+

Materials

wooden blocks, used or new

sandpaper

acrylic paint and brushes

stain (optional)

pictures from catalogs, magazines, maps, personal
drawings

colored pencils or pens (optional)

pencil

scissors

Mod Podge

foam brush

How to Make

1. Depending on the finish on the blocks, you may need
to rough them up with a bit of sandpaper. Select pleasing,
inviting colors for the blocks. You can paint them in a
variety of colors, all the same color, or different shades of
one color, as you wish. Paint three sides of the blocks,
and stand them up on the unpainted side to dry.

2. Once they’re dry, paint the unpainted side and set
aside to dry. Repeat this process until all the blocks are
well coated in paint. Do you want to leave the blocks in
their natural state? Go for it! Or use a stain rather than
opaque paint, so that the wood grain shows through. The
more the blocks are tailored to your individual
taste, the better.

3. Sort through images and choose ones that seem
interesting, creative, funny, or just darn cute. You can
use drawn images as well.

4. Given that the blocks are most likely of different sizes
and shapes, take care to match each one individually
with a picture. Choose a block and then look through
the magazines for an image that would fit on it nicely.
Use the pencil and a block to lightly trace an outline
around the image, but cut out the image a bit smaller
than the outline. Don’t fret about imperfection while
you cut: a little bit of uneven cutting will add character
and life to your Story Blocks.

5. With a foam brush, coat the front of a block with a thin
layer of Mod Podge and firmly press the picture onto it.
Carefully press out any air bubbles and wrinkles, then
coat with another layer of Mod Podge. Set on a cloth to
dry. Once the blocks are dry, you may need to give them
all another coat of Mod Podge to ensure their longevity.

Teaching Tip:
During creative writing lessons, teachers can put
the blocks on display and encourage students to
choose some for their writing tables.

Greg Nesbit Photography

Other Neat Ideas:
Set a few Story Blocks on a windowsill, dresser, or shelf
for a bit of story art, and change them from time to time
to keep things interesting. With little ones, encourage
creative building, rearranging, and stacking. Add a few
Story Blocks with words to your child’s collection. This will
add depth to the storytelling possibilities.



Now for the giveaway!

To enter this giveaway for a copy of
Show Me A Story, please leave a comment on this
post by midnight P.S.T on Saturday, September 29th.
The two winners will be announced here
on Monday, October 1st.

If you are reading this on Twitter, Facebook,
Google+ or in your email you will need to visit
this post on The Crafty Crow blog to enter your
comment for eligibility. Winners will be chosen
using the Random Number Generator.
This giveaway is available in the USA only.

*Comments are moderated to prevent spam so don't
worry if your comment doesn't show up immediately.

For another chance to win a copy of
Show Me A Story just visit the publisher's blog
and enter your comment there! You'll also find a
list of all the other blogs offering a giveaway :)

Disclosure:
I received a free copy of the book for review but
all opinons are my own. This post includes affiliate links.

Sticky Contact Paper & Plastic Lids

Love this combination of contact paper sticky-side-out
and plastic lids! See more inspiring pictures and get the
details at Inspiration Surrounds... Creativity Abounds.

Alphabet Glue Guest Post: How To Make Comic Books or Graphic Novels!

Guest posting today is Annie, the creator
of Alphabet Glue! Learn how to make comic
books, or graphic novels, with this excerpt
from Volume Eight!

DIY Comic Books from Alphabet Glue



Ever since discovering a love for her father’s childhood
collection of Calvin and Hobbes books last winter, my little
girl has been all about the comics.  From Garfield to
Peanuts, she seems to find endless enjoyment in reading
and rereading the humorous misadventures of her
favorite cartoon characters.  So what better activity for a
slow summer afternoon (or a rainy early fall one, really)
than sketching up a homemade comic of her very own?
After some amount of debate about the details, we
decided that making these draw-your-own comic books
feel authentic meant that they should have boldly printed
panels to contain the action and that the binding should
be no fancier than plain old staples.  The plus side of my
daughter’s insistence on keeping it real is that this is one
bookmaking project that is super easy and almost
entirely focused on content. 

Download the PDF (below) to find instructions for putting
together the simplest of books to house one-of-a-kind
comic panels drawn by you and yours.  And, just for fun
and the sake of simplicity, you’ll also find pages outfitted
with comic panel templates that can be easily printed if
the idea is just to get busy drawing and not to fuss
with things like rulers and making straight lines. So
grab a pencil and let’s get going!

PDF Download for DIY Comic Books

Thank you, Annie!!


Alphabet Glue: Activities and inspiration for
kids who love books and their grown-ups!

Coffee Filter Fall Leaves

Boy Mama Teacher Mama shows how they
made fall leaves using coffee filters!