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

Potato Shrunken Heads!

I think these shrunken heads made from potatoes
at Chez Larsson are a perfect activity for older kids that
may not be as interested in typical Halloween crafting
and they would make a great food decoration too.

Leaf Sculptures

I love the metallic paint detail on these clay leaf
sculptures created by first graders at New City Arts.

Playdough and Toothpick Sculptures

I love these colorful playdough and toothpick
sculptures at Putti Prapancha!

Bead Sculpture

Pinta La Lluna shows you how to make
a fantastic bead and wire sculpture!
(there is an on-site translator)
via Kickcan & Conkers

Scrap Wood Sculpture

Making sculptures from scrap wood is a great
summer art experience! This is a good project to
set up outside in the shade and works for all different
ages. Get the details at Lilla A.

A Book & A Craft: "A Day With No Crayons" and Pounded Flower Bookmarks

My guest contributor today is Rachelle from
TinkerLab! Rachelle is sharing a book that is new to
me, A Day With No Crayons, and it sounds like wonderful
inspiration for exploring color in your world. You'll also
learn how to make bookmarks colored with flowers!


Book: A Day With No Crayons, by Elizabeth Rusch.

A Day With No Crayons follows a girl named Liza whose
crayons are taken away by her mother after she draws all
over her bedroom wall. Liza walks outside her home in a
state of colorless gloom, but perks up when she realizes
that she can make marks with bricks, paints by smudging
flowers on her pants, and drawings from pebbles and
flower petals. This book is a wonderful message in
resourcefulness and creativity, and reminds us that
we might just find what we're looking for
in unexpected places.

Pounded Flower Bookmark

Materials:

Watercolor paper
Collection of flowers, petals, and leaves
Rock or wooden hammer
Wax Paper
Scissors
Hole Puncher
Ribbon

 

After reading A Day With No Crayons, collect your colors and paints: flowers, petals, and leaves

 

Choose a flower (or a few) and place them on top of a
large piece of watercolor paper. Cover the flowers with with
a small piece of paper or wax paper and pound the
flower petals until they make a mark on your paper.

Continue pounding flowers and leaves onto the paper
until you create a composition that you like.

Cut the watercolor paper into a bookmark shape
(roughly 1 1/2" x 8")

Punch a hole at one end of the bookmark and tie
a piece of ribbon through it.

Make bookmarks for family and friends,
and save one for yourself to place inside your
copy of A Day With No Crayons!

Rachelle Doorley is an arts educator with experience
that ranges from costuming for Warner Brothers to
lecturing at Stanford, and on to exploring creative
thinking with her "muses", her two daughters. Rachelle
writes at TinkerLab where you will find experiments, art
explorations, and provocations designed to develop
creative and critical thinkers. If you'd like to see more
projects from TinkerLab, join her on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/tinkerlab

Thank you, Rachelle! To see the rest of the books and
crafts in this series click the button below!

"The Little Island" Craft

The Chocolate Muffin Tree shares a craft to go
with the wonderful book, The Little Island by
Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by
Leonard Weisgard.

Mother's Day Crafts for Kids

decorated clay dishes
Laugh Paint Create

 
pretty colored jar vases
Lilla A

tissue paper flowers and vase
Art Projects For Kids


watercolor beaded bracelets
Tiny Twist Creative


standing paper flowers
Made By Joel

Nature Egg

Ordinary Life Magic shares this amazing
project - a shadow box egg from clay!

Faux Stained Glass Sculpture

You'll be surprised at how easy it is to create
this faux stained glass sculpture with the
directions at Frugal Family Fun.

Wire Car Sculptures

Learn about working with wire while creating
these cool cars at Laugh Paint Create.

Colorful Candle Holders

Fem Manuals always has such unique craft
projects and I look forward to everything they
create. Take a look at these votive holders made for
La Candelaria and using stubs of old crayons.