Hot Weather Fun: Kids Summer Crafts

Hot Weather Fun: Kids Summer Crafts

When boredom looms and the weather's hot, get everyone involved in kids summer crafts. Kids are always excited to be free from the school routine when they are let out for summer break, but it isn't long until they start wondering what to do. Kids' summer crafts will keep them occupied and maybe even teach them a thing or two.

1. Use found objects:

In summer, crafts for kids can involve found objects, like seed pods, grasses, and similar objects. Let kids create nature collection collages by gluing these items to a stiff piece of cardboard.

Help them spray paint some of the findings with silver or gold paint. Alternatively, they might like to glue glitter to some of the findings. Perhaps they would also enjoy collecting wild flower seed heads and creating dried flower arrangements. Arrange the bouquet in a homemade vase.

2. Make a vase using a tin:

A vase for summer bouquets, fresh or dried, is another craft that naturally fits into the kids summer crafts category. A simple vase can be made from a tin can. Soup cans work particularly well because they are smooth on the outside and rather narrow.

Be sure to file off any sharp spurs on the inside opening. Start the work of art by cutting a piece of construction paper or other colored paper to fit around the sides of the can. This will be glued to the outside of the can, but first it needs to be decorated.

The vase cover can be decorated in many ways. The child can draw a summer scene on the paper and then decorate it with glued on glitter or small stickers of summer things.

Another idea is for the child to write their name in large letters, and glue beans, seeds, or glitter to the letters. Let all glue dry before attaching the paper to the outside of the can. Add water and fresh flowers or leave dry for dry flowers.

You can also use the can for a trinket container or a place to put pens, pencils, and markers. To make them real summer crafts for kids, glue grass seed heads and found seed pods to the paper in a decorative way.

Make a vase using a jar:

Jar vases make good summer crafts for kids, too. Canning jars make particularly cute vases, but any cast off mayonnaise, pickle, or other jar, even plastic ones, can work, too.

To make a jar into a vase it first needs to be sparkling clean. Kids love getting wet in the summer, so let them roll up their sleeves (or put on a bathing suit!) and have fun splashing at the sink while "washing dishes."

This whole "washing dishes" can really keep them busy for quite a while. Make sure you cover the floor because a lot of water will land on the floor!

My granddaughter loved "helping" with the dishes when she was little. We could keep her busy for hours this way!

When the jar is clean and dry, tie an attractive ribbon around the opening. If desired, decorate the outside of the jar with glued on beads and buttons.

Kids summer crafts will provide some cute decorations around the home and keep the kids from being bored. This summer, crafts for kids should be at the top of every parent's To Do list!

To make things easy for you, have a look at 101 Kids Summer Activities. You will find lots of crafts and activities in it to keep the kids busy this summer.

101 Kid Summer Activities

Kid Tested Activities to keep them Happy, Engaged, and Entertained

Just take a look at some of the great benefits:

• 101 separate and distinct activities means that you always have something fun to do with your kids
• Most activities are based on objects you already have at home
• Active and engaged children are too busy to look for trouble
• Inspirational and imaginative activities get the kids off the couch and away from the T.V.
• Active kids are less likely to have weight problems, develop into more active adults, and learn to lead healthier lives
• Less time in front of the television lets kids use their imaginations, gives them the capacity to think creatively, and helps them develop better problem solving abilities
• Simple activities require little, if any, preparation so you can pick an activity and do it on the spur of the moment
• Activities that easily adjust to virtually any age or ability means you can use this resource for years to come!
• Instant access -- you can begin using these activities right now!

Go to 101 Kid Summer Activities now, you will not be sorry!

Fun Kids Crafts: Litle Hands Crqafts

Kids Crafts Ideas

The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book: Creative Fun for 2-To 6-Year-Olds

If you are looking for a kids crafts book that has over 75 simple arts and crafts activities for children ages two to six years of age, The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book is the one you should have in your home library.

Priced at $10.36, you can purchase this book from Amazon.com

With 144 pages, the reading level is ages 4-8. More importantly, however, is the fact that the activities are related to holidays, school, occupations, travel, nature, home, and friendship.

Consumers give this book a very high rating and their reviews are no exception. For those children new to crafts, this book offers an exciting adventure into craft-making. All of the kid's crafts are easy, straightforward and fun. The illustrations can assist any kid in understanding what they have and offers them the opportunity to figure things out for themselves.

The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book has been very helpful in providing fast easy crafts ideas for children. The pictures help the children a great deal and the notes that often accompany each project give a little more insight into each project. This book is especially wonderful for the holidays when you are constantly looking for kid's crafts.

One ten-year-old who bought this book raved about it. She enjoyed cutting and pasting and found she could learn how to make Christmas stuff, iron-on tote bags, necklaces, and other really fun stuff.

Another consumer used the ideas from The Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book and with her son they created many colorful artworks, together, including an aquarium, mail pouch, masks, flags, and scrapbooks. Her son especially loved the cutting, pasting, and coloring part of the process and had a great time.

Whether you have a son, a daughter, or both; the Little Hands Big Fun Craft Book will provide hours of enjoyment for you and your kids. Kid's crafts are one of the best ways to keep the little ones busy during the summer

If you are looking for more kids crafts you can visit our site Fun Kids Crafts and you can also have a look at the E-Book Fun Kids Crafts

Crafts For Kids: How to Come up With a Craft Idea for Kid Programs

Crafts For Kids: How to Come up With a Craft Idea for Kid Programs

Did your search for Crafts for Kids get you to this blog? Are you looking for crafts ideas for kid's enrichment? Maybe you feel like you are just not the creative type, and you struggle with coming up with craft projects. It is true that some people just have a knack for finding or even inventing craft ideas, but your creativity can be improved. There are ways to make it easier to find a craft idea for kid needs.

I think one of the best ways are to get a really good kids crafts e-book. If you are a Sunday school teacher you will fin excellent Bible crafts on page 8 of the e-book Fun Kids Crafts E-Book. For moms and teacher you will also find very good Easy Kids on page 86. Fun Kids Crafts has crafts for every occasion and every stage. Go and Have a Look at Fun Kids Crafts E-Book.

Tips for finding kids crafts:

1. Lay aside any perfectionism

Locking yourself into thinking there is only one right way to do something makes every decision harder. Regardless of the kid program you are helping with, there are always many suitable craft ideas out there. Don't worry about picking the wrong one! If you've taken into consideration the age and skill levels of the kids involved, your choice will be adequate.

2. Consider your budget

When choosing a craft idea for kid programs, you need to be aware that some of them are expensive. Prepackaged kits to make a fun foam picture frame or a craft stick cross are affordable for a few kids, but if you are needing to do a craft with a lot of kids, these kits might cost too much. It's often easy to do almost exactly the same project by just looking at the craft kit components and buying the same materials in bulk at the discount store. You may have to do some preparation, like cutting out shapes ahead of time, or at least making cardboard patterns for the kids to use in cutting out their own. The savings will be worth it, however.

3. Different crafts for boys and girls

In spite of years of indoctrination from women's libbers, the fact remains that boys and girls like different sorts of crafts! If the craft seems a little girly, don't use it at boys' camp. Stick with lace-up leather billfolds, Indian artifacts, dinosaur art, and similar projects. Girls will like beads and anything that's pink or purple. For a craft idea for kid camp where there are kids of both sexes, keep it on the boyish side and provide some pink materials to keep the girls happy.

4. Let ideas spring from examples

An aspect of creativity that the non-creative types don't realize is that ideas spring from other ideas. That is, if you look over a book or website of craft ideas, maybe none of them will appeal to you, but if you let them, they will spark an idea for a similar project. Use what you can and change what you must in the craft directions. For instance, the craft may have a slogan to be written across the front. If you need to change the slogan to fit your own needs, it's perfectly OK. For instance, the pictured project might say "Girls rock!" You can change that to "He is the Rock!" if that meets your VBS needs better.

5. Follow the instruction if you find it easier

A final suggestion is to realize that you don't have to change the instructions or create something new to have a good craft idea for kid use. Feel free to follow the instructions to the letter if that works better for you. The kids will have a great time either way. Just pick a craft idea, for kid creativity beats adult creativity every time! The kids will make it creative, even if you have doubts about your own ability in this area.

For lots of free kid's crafts and kids Bible story crafts, visit the website Fun Kids Crafts.

Kids Summer Crafts - Decorating Flower Pots Craft

This is one of our really fun kid's summer crafts. It can also be used as a spring craft and then you can plant some plant in it that needs to be planted in spring. Doing kids summer crafts is a way to get outdoors with the kids and have fun in the sun.

What you need for this crafts:

• Terra-Cotta flower pots
• Acrylic paint
• Paintbrushes
• Thick white crafts glue
• Paint markers
• Pencil
• Clear fat glass marbles (you should get these at a crafts shop)
• Potting soil
• A suitable seedling for the pot
• Watering can with water

How to do this craft:

In this craft we are going to decorate our flower pots with different slithery snakes and some bugs.

1. Let's start with a snake to coil around the pot
2. Take the marbles and draw eyes with paint on the flat side of the marbles. If you do not want to do this you can of course get colored marbles and use as is.
3. Let the easy dry.
4. With your pencil draw a snake's head and the snake's body curling around your pot and ending at the bottom.
5. Using your paint, color in your snake. Leave spaces spread over the body of your snake so you can use another color and paint spots and stripes for your snake.
6. Let the one color dry and then do the spots.
7. Use the paint markers to draw the outlines of your snake.
8. Now ask an adult to paint your thumbs with paint.
9. Press your thumb on any of the empty spaces between your curling snake to make the bodies of ladybirds.
10. Draw the detail of the ladybird's spots etc. with your paint marker.
11. Stick the snake's eyes on with the clue and let it dry.
12. Fill your pot with potting soil and plant your seedling.
13. Water your plant.

For more fun kids crafts visit:

Bible Crafts For Kids

Fun Kid Crafts

Fun Kids Crafts

Crafts for kids

Kids Crafts Ideas

Food Crafts For Kids: Baking Tasty Bread Rolls

This is one of our food crafts for kids that can serve as a science lesson as well. You can explain to the kids how the yeast grows on the flour and sugar to produce carbon dioxide and that it is the bubbles of carbon dioxide trapped in the dough that gives the bread its lovely soft texture.

As this craft use heat, it must be done with adult supervision. I also do not think the kids will mange the kneading on their own. Make sure you use oven mitts when you take the rolls out of the oven.

What you need for this craft:

• 1 lb Strong white bread flour
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• 2 Teaspoons easy-blend instant yeast
• 2 Teaspoons sugar
• 1 Cup of boiled cooled water (you may need a little more depending on the strength of the flour)
• 2 Tablespoons of oil
• Milk for brushing
• A food brush
• A greased baking tray
• A large glass bowl
• A wooden spoon
• Sesame seeds
• Oven mitts
• Wire rack

How to do this craft:

1. Sift the flour and the salt into a glass bowl.
2. Add the sugar and yeast and stir it in.
3. Pour the warm water and the oil into this mixture and stir it in with the wooden spoon to make a soft dough (the water must only be warm and not too hot or it will kill the yeast and your bread rolls will not rise.)
4. Now you have to dust a clean work surface with flour.
5. Place the dough onto this surface and gently knead it until soft and elastic.
6. Keep on kneading, folding the dough and kneading again for about 10 minutes (you and mom will have to take turns!)
7. Place the dough back into your bowl and cover it with plastic cling wrap.
8. Leave the dough in a warm place to rise until it has doubled in size. This should take about 1 ½ hours.
9. Going back to your work surface, sprinkle it with flour again and knead it for about a minute to squeeze out any large air bubbles.
10. Now you break the dough into 12 even pieces.
11. Roll each piece into a ball and place it on your baking tray.
12. Cover the rolls with cling wrap and let them rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size (about 40 minutes)
13. Preheat the oven to 425⁰ F or gas mark 7.
14. Brush the rolls with a little milk and sprinkle it with the sesame seeds.
15. Bake the rolls in the oven for 12-15 minutes until done (to test if they are done knock on them lightly and they should sound hollow, remember to use oven mitts!)
16. Take the rolls out of the oven and leave them to cool in the baking tray for two minutes.
17. Place them on a wire rack to cool.

You may be wondering why the rolls stop rising once in the oven. It is because the heat of the oven kills the yeast and it stops growing. So, in this food craft for kids we have learned about yeast and how it works in the baking process. This is an example of food crafts for kids that can be very helpful in homeschooling.

As summer is coming you may be looking for summer crafts, you can get really fun summer crafts at Fun Kids Craft And on the same site you can get Bible Crafts to turn any bible story lesson into a fun activity. If you are looking for even more crafts you will find lots of crafts at Fun Kid Crafts and Bible Crafts for kids.

Kids Crafts Ideas: Making Peanut Clusters

When you are thinking of kid's crafts ideas, you must not make the mistake of overlooking the easy crafts. Kids love doing crafts that gives them results fast and if the result is edible, even the better. Making peanut clusters fall into this very easy kids crafts category, it is quick and the end result is very tasty.

Note: because the chocolate needs to be melt over hot water, this craft must be done under adult supervision.

What you need for this craft:

• 8oz Plain milk chocolate (any chocolate will do it does not have to be cooking chocolate; I often use ordinary plain milk chocolate)
• 2 Tablespoon smooth peanut butter
• 1 Cup peanuts
• A small pot or saucepan
• Water
• A glass bowl that fits onto your pot or saucepan without touching the water in it
• Spoon for stirring
• Teaspoon
• Baking tray sprayed with non-stick spray

How to do this craft:

1. Half fill your pot with water and bring it to the boil.
2. Remove from the heat.
3. Break the milk chocolate up into pieces and place them in the glass bowl.
4. Place the bowl over the hot water and stir until melted.
5. Add the peanut butter and peanuts and stir through until all the peanuts are well covered with chocolate and the peanut butter is mixed through well.
6. Spoon teaspoons full of the mixture and allow the chocolate to set.
7. Your clusters are now ready to eat.

For more fun and easy kids crafts, visit Fun Kids Crafts. You can also get fun summer crafts at Fun Kids Crafts. For Bible crafts visit Bible Crafts For Kids. You can also get more Fun Kid Crafts HERE.

Feed Shark

Kid's Summer Crafts: Make A Bird Cake Summer Crafts

This is one of our Kid's Summer Crafts that can be responsible for hour of pleasure and learning for the kids. Making the bird cake is great fun and afterwards, watching the birds feed and noting which birds are attracted by the cake, is even more fun. Show the kids to keep a safe distance and to be completely still so as not to scare the birds away.

Because the fat is going to be melted on the stove, this craft has to be done with adult supervision.

What you need for this easy kid's summer craft:

• A bowl
• Hard white cooking fat (in South Africa we will use Holsum)
• Breadcrumbs
• A variety of chopped nuts
• Some mixed bird seed
• Oatmeal
• A plastic cup
• A spoon
• A small saucepan
• A piece of string
• A pair of scissors
• A nut shell with a hole in it

This is how you do this craft:

1. Cut a long piece of string.
2. Thread it through the hole in the nut shell and make a really big not at the bottom where the string goes through the shell. This should prevent the string from pulling out of the shell.
3. Take your cup and measure a little of all the nuts, bird seed, breadcrumbs and oatmeal to be enough to almost fill your cup.
4. Place this mixture into the bowl.
5. Heat some of your fat in the saucepan until it is melted. Let an adult help you.
6. Pour this melted fat on top of your seed mixture in the bowl.
7. Using a spoon mix this thoroughly so that all the food is well covered with the fat and can easily stick together.
8. Place your sting with the shell and knot side at the bottom in the cup.
9. Spoon your cake mixture into the cup pressing down well so that it fits in tight.
10. Make sure that you keep the string in the middle so that the end of the string comes out of the middle of your cake. This will ensure that your cake will hang better on the tree.
11. Allow the cake to cool down completely until the fat has set and is hard.
12. When your mixture is set, pull the cake out of the cup carefully, with the string.
13. Now your bird cake is ready for you to hang it outside on a branch and to start your bird watching.

As you can see, this is one of our kid's summer crafts that is a craft and a biology lesson all in one. This makes the craft very suitable for homeschoolers. Use the opportunity to draw the kids' attention to all the different birds visiting your cake and what it is they eat. Making the cake is fun but, once the cake is finished, you can simply put out some left over food such as bread crumbs, leftover rice, cheese fruit etc. and watch the birds feasting.

If you are looking for more Kids Summer Crafts you can go to Fun Kids Crafts.
You can also get very good bible crafts at Bible Crafts For Kids.
For last minute mother's day crafts you can get those on Fun Kids Crafts as well.