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5 Crafts for Little Kids

Too much unstructured time in the summer can make you feel like you’re falling into a black hole. When you just can’t think of another way to occupy your kids’ time, try one of these crafts kids love: Ice Sculptures. No, you don’t have to get out a carving knife and practice your swan sculpting – we have an easier way! Speaking of easy, this recipe for play dough works like a charm and doesn’t require any boiling or baking. Finally, we have a fun way for you to put all of those old crayons to use.

1. Ice sculpting…made easy

  1. Start your preparations for your ice sculpting at least 10 hours in advance.
  2. Fill plastic containers, ice trays, muffin trays or milk cartons with water and add a couple droplets of food coloring.
  3. Store them in the freezer and wait until the water is frozen solid.
  4. When you are ready to start building, take the objects outside and have your kids help remove the ice from the containers.
  5. Let your children try stacking, sorting and building with the ice.

2. Fun and easy Play Dough recipes

Here are three easy recipes that do not require any cooking or baking.

Recipe #1

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • A few drops of food coloring
  1. Measure out 1 cup of four, and pour it into a bowl.
  2. Measure out 1/2 cup of salt, and add that to the bowl.
  3. Add 1/2 cup of water to the above mixture.
  4. Mix until mushy.
  5. Add a few drops of food coloring, and then knead the dough. (Add more food coloring for more intense color.)

Recipe #2

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1 cup salt
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
  • A few drops of food coloring
  1. In a bowl, mix water, salt, oil, and food coloring to make a bright color.
  2. Gradually add flour and cornstarch until the mixture becomes doughy.

Recipe #3

  • 1½ cup flour
  • 1 cup salt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 2 tablespoon oil
  • A few drops of food coloring

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl.

3. Crazy crayon fun

In most homes crayons have a shelf-life of less than a month. Inevitably some will break, some will be lost and those that aren’t will lose the allure they once had. Lucky for you, crayons don’t have an expiration date.

4. Homemade crayons

  1. When you have accumulated a box full of broken crayons you can gather them up and evenly distribute them (without the wrapper) into a small muffin tin.
  2. Bake them in the oven at 200 degrees until the wax is fully melted.
  3. Remove the tray from the oven and set it in the freezer for half an hour.
  4. Once the wax hardens and cools, you should be able to easily remove little “crayon cookies” from the tin.

(If you would like, you can add some glitter to the mix before you bake them for a little more sparkle.)

5. Tie-dye candles

To create tie-dye candles, you can follow the same baking instructions above and use the melted crayon wax to dip small white candles in. You can find the candles in the ethnic food aisle of your local grocery store or at the dollar store. The wax creates a tie-dye effect and you can accentuate the waves by tracing them with glue and adding glitter or acrylic rhinestone jewels.

What craft are you excited about trying?

ASK YOUR CHILD...

Do you like art, music or PE the best at school? What makes it so fun?

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