Making A Garden Roadway {Crafting With Little Kids}

As the parent of a four year old boy, my house has become overrun with tiny cars, anything Disney Cars related, and lots of trucks.  I find that my friends who are girl-mamas also have the assortment of wheeled vehicles.  We often turn our train table into a roadway, but being it’s summer, we are outside often and those little cars get lost in the sandbox.  Inspired by a project I saw on the Lowes’ website for building a backyard road, I thought I would give it a try.  My son was really excited about this project so I decided to and enlist his help in the whole thing.  It doesn’t look like what I originally intended, but it came out perfect for him. You can check out Lowe’s instructions for this project and read on to see how it worked out in real life for us!

Supplies:
Bricks, we used about 28 small ones and two large ones for “parking lots”
white and/or yellow paint
paint brush
rubber mulch (the recycled tire kind that is soft and squishy)
landscape adhesive and a caulk gun (optional)
toy cars and trucks

Depending on your space, this project can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. We have a play area in our yard that we have covered with rubber mulch. I used a small part of that for our road. I also decided that we would be attempting to create this project on as small of a budget as possible. I was able to use some bricks I found in our yard, along with purchasing the least expensive bricks I could find (at $.50 each) for the road. I also used acrylic paint that I already had. My son had fun helping me pick out and buy bricks. I let him decide on the layout of the road initially, then tweaked it a bit so that the road connected.

After laying out the road in the desired pattern, adjust the bricks so that they are lined up tight to each other and laying on a flat surface.  I raked the area we used first to level it a bit, since there was already mulch on the ground.  Initially I thought I would use the landscape adhesive to attach all of the bricks, but then it kept raining and the bricks were too wet to use the adhesive.  I still haven’t gone back to attach them and it hasn’t been a problem.  It may also be easier to break down the road in the future when my son is no longer interested in it. 

My son really wanted to help paint the lines on the road, as you can see in the photos.  The Martha Stewart in me was freaking out, but I kept that in my head and let him have fun with it, which he really did.  He wanted parking lots too, so he painted spaces on one big brick while I did the other.  He also wanted road signs, which is why one brick is painted red for a stop sign. 

After the paint was dry, I added two bags of rubber mulch to the area, inside and around the road.  I figured it would be a softer place to kneel or sit while playing there, as well as cover the sides of the bricks. 

This turned out to be a fun project that my son is proud of and enjoys using.  Let me know if you try it!

You can find more crafts and adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog, Knitting Zeal.

Making Garden Chimes {Crafting With Little Kids}

I was looking for a fun and easy craft project to make with my son that could be completed outside and with very little materials.  I had made this garden chimes project years ago with a bunch of pre-teens, but it’s simple enough to do with preschool aged children.  In the end we had a fun decoration for the yard and were able to enjoy spending time outside.

Materials:

• Three small terracotta plant pots, all the same size or in decreasing sizes. (We used pots that were 1.5 inches high and 2.5 inches high.)
• 36 inches of jute twine
• small bell (optional) 
• 2 or 3 plastic pony beads
• washable or acrylic paints
• paint brushes

Directions:
Cover your table with paper to protect the surface.  Give three plant pots to your child to paint.  (Note: washable paint does not turn out very bright, but is kid safe.  If you think your kids can handle regular acrylic paint, the results will be much more vibrant.  We stuck with washable paints!)

Once the pots are dry, cut a length of jute twine about 36 inches long.  A small bell can be tied to the end if desired, or just knot the end a few times around a plastic pony bead.  Then, holding the smallest pot upside down, thread the twine through the hole in the pot, then thread on another bead.  Hold up the next pot to the twine to see approximately where it would overlap the first pot slightly so that it will rattle against it and place a knot around the bead. Then thread the next pot onto the twine and repeat with the bead and knot for the final pot.  Knot the twine as close as possible to the top pot so that it stays put.  Tie a loop for hanging on the other end of the twine.

Experiment and add more pots to the chimes for a more dramatic effect or use increasingly larger pots to make a really big garden chime.  If there are several kids in a family, each one can paint one pot and then string them together to have a family-created chimes or to give as a gift.

Terracotta pots are fairly fragile, so it is recommended that kids are supervised when handling them.  Once the chimes are finished, hang them in a tree or on a porch out of reach if you are concerned that little ones might play roughly with them.  My son loved playing with my example ones, and despite being fairly rough, they did not break.  They will break easily if dropped, though.

You can find more crafts and adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog, Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with little kids: Mother’s Day stepping stone

This year for Mother’s Day my son and I decided to make garden stepping stones for the grandmothers.  This is a fun project that can be really easy, and you may have the materials on hand already.  We happened to already have two stepping stone kits that were received as gifts.  They each included an 8 inch plastic tray/mold, quick mix cement, and gems for decorating. I also purchases a cement refill kit at AC Moore to make two more stones using the molds we have, along with a bag of glass pebbles. A little research online led me to discover that a cardboard box, such as a cereal box or small pizza box, can be used as a mold instead of a purchased one. Also, if you happen to have a bag of quick dry cement on hand left over from a project, that would work great.  It is probably less costly to go to a local home DIY store to purchase a bag of cement than the craft store. For decorations in your stepping stone, besides glass pebbles, seashells, glitter, or even colored gravel would look great.  Whatever is used has to be waterproof.  A wooden stick can be used to carve details, such as a name, date or design. Supplies:For simplicity, a pre-assembled kit can be purchased at your local craft store.  Here is a list of things you need instead of a kit:

• Box or plastic mold, approximately 8 x 8 inches or an 8 inch round shape
• wood paint stirrer
• plastic bucket
• measuring cup
• water
• small wood stick, such as a Popsicle stick
• quick drying cement (approximately 4 pounds makes one 8 inch stone)
• glass pebbles, small pebbles/stones, seashells, glitter, gravel
• tray, such as an old cookie sheet with a rim
• paper towels

Directions:  for one 8 inch stone It is best to do this project outdoors.  The stepping stones need to set for at least 24 hours.  I used a rimmed cookie sheet to hold the mold so that I could bring it inside to cure because rain was in the forecast. It also helped with clean up. For an adult only:  In a bucket carefully pour the dry cement powder into the bottom.  Be careful to not inhale the cement dust, and wear a painters mask if possible.  Add one cup of water and using the paint stirrer, mix the water into the cement mix until completely blended and resembling brownie batter. Add one tablespoon of water at a time if needed to get the right consistency.

Pour the wet cement mixture into the mold and smooth the surface of the cement with the wood stirrer or a Spackle knife. Your child might like to help with this part! If you notice that water pools on the surface of your cement, lay paper towels on the surface to absorb the extra water before decorating.  We made two stones, one was fine, the other seemed really wet, so the paper towels really helped.

Decorate the stone:  If adding a hand print, do it first.  Have your child flatten out their hand and spread their fingers, sink their hand into the cement and then carefully pull it out straight up.  Wash hands under the garden hose.  Use a Popsicle stick to write names or add designs.  Then add pebbles or shells and be sure to sink them into the stone, about half way.  If they get a bit of extra cement on them, they can be cleaned off after about 12 hours, before the cement is completely cured. Add glitter, if desired. (Note: I noticed that the craft store, AC Moore, sold letter stamps for making stepping stones.  They would make it much easier to write a name or a message into the cement. They cost approximately $9, so if you think you might be making a number of stones, they might be worth the investment.  I sort of wish I bought them!) Leave the mold out undisturbed for at least 24 hours.  The cement dries based upon humidity, so give it more time if needed.  Once unmolded, the stone needs to continue to cure.  It will be ready to be stepped on after two weeks.  If you are giving it as a gift before two weeks is up, include a note with the date of when the recipient can add it to their garden! Happy Mother’s Day! You can find more adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog, Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with little kids: potato stampers

Kids seem to love painting and making a mess.  My kid also loves using rubber stamps.  To incorporate the two I recalled making stampers out of potatoes as a child, but they were tricky, as they were carved with a knife.  To make this a bit safer for a preschooler, I decided to use small cookie cutters to help with the design, and to save little fingers from injury.

 Supplies:

• Potatoes, plain old Idaho
• small plastic cookie cutters (I used Wilton ones)
• washable liquid paint, such as Crayola kids 
• small flat bottom dish or bowl for the paint
• paper or other surface for stamping
• small knife for adult to cut potato in half
• Optional: glitter for pizzazz

Directions:

•  Start by rinsing the dirt off your potatoes and the adult cutting each potato in half. 
• Child can select the cookie cutter shape they like and press it into the cut surface of the potato. Leave the cookie cutter in the potato and carefully cut a thin slice off the potato into the cookie cutter so that when the outside is removed, it will leave the raised impression of the shape. Then remove the cookie cutter.

•  My son wanted to use white and blue paint for his stampers.  We used the brown wrapping paper that had been used to protect frames we bought at Ikea.  His idea was to make wrapping paper with his stampers for his friends’ birthday party. I added paint to a small plastic dish and mixed in a few teaspoons of water to thin the pain slightly. I showed my son how to dip the potato stamper into the paint so that it was covered well.
• Stamping on paper takes a bit of experimentation to get the correct pressure and how to lift the stamp off the paper without smearing the image.  It helps to tell your child to lift the potato stamper off the paper by pulling it straight up in the air.  It doesn’t really matter if the images smear, it all looks great in the end.  

• My son wanted to add glitter to his stamped images to make them sparkle.  We tried sprinkling the glitter on the wet paint and then shaking off the excess.  When the paint dried, most of the glitter fell off.  I think if we had mixed the glitter into the paint before stamping, it would have worked better.  The other option would have been to add glitter glue to the dried paint. 

This was a fun craft for my son.  Clean up was easy and the potatoes were added to the compost bin when  finished.

You can find more crafts and other adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with Little Kids: decorative frames

With this mild winter we are having, creating snow-themed crafts seems somewhat inappropriate, but just in case it does snow, this is a fun craft to make. My son has his own kids’ camera and he enjoys taking photos. He has asked me to print some of his photos so he can decorate his room and even went as far as to ask to go to Ikea to buy frames for his photos. Decorating frames to use at home or to give as gifts (think Valentine’s Day gifts for parents, grandparents) is a fun and simple craft. We already had pompoms at home, but any kind of decorations, from buttons to stickers, could be used.

Sticking with a snowball theme, we used white pompoms to decorate some cheap blue frames purchased at Ikea. The frames are sold in a two pack, and come in different sizes and colors. We picked blue for winter, but a red frame with red and white pompoms would be fun for Valentine’s Day.

Supplies:
Pompoms, buttons, stickers, foam shapes
simple wood frame
glue dots

Directions:
Let your kids decide what materials they want to use, if there is a choice, and to do a basic layout of where they want their decorations to go. The glue dots are a safe alternative to a glue gun and there is no drying time. In place of glue dots, white glue can be used, just allow for drying time. The glue dots are very sticky and I found it was easier to apply them to the frame and then adhere the pompom. We added some foam stickers too.

This is a fast project, perfect for kids with short attention spans! For a more involved project, use unfinished frames and paint them first.

As a side note, Ikea is a great place to go with kids. A kids combo meal is about $2.50 and there is a great kids area for them to eat and play. On Tuesdays, kids eat free! It’s a great place to visit during lousy weather, as it’s a huge indoor place to run around, climb on kid-friendly furniture, or even to visit the kids play area. (No affiliation, just a mom who loves to visit there!)

You can find more crafts and other adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with Little Kids: Thankful Tree

It’s November and time to get ready for the next holiday, Thanksgiving.  I like to talk with my son about what the holiday means in a way he can understand and what the holiday means to me.  Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday as an adult since it involves no gifts, just sharing good food with family and friends.

One way we get ready for Thanksgiving is reading books about the holiday or about turkeys.  Check with your local library for some great seasonal books.  We also start talking about what we are thankful for and why we are thankful.  One way to discuss thankfulness is by creating a Thankful Tree.  This was a more involved project than usual for my son’s short attention span, so I broke it up into parts over the course of the day.  We did the drawing and tracing at one sitting, he played while I cut everything out, and then he came back later to add the thankful words and sayings.  I also decided to attach this tree to my refrigerator and made the hands magnetic and changeable.  Besides being able to add different thankful words on different days, my son loves to play with magnets on the fridge door.  You can skip the magnet part and just adhere the hands with tape to the tree.

Materials:

• large piece of cardboard, brown paper, or similar, approximately 11″ x 14″  (I used a piece of brown wrapping paper from Ikea, but cardboard would have been sturdier.)
• several sheets of construction paper or foam sheets in autumn colors
• roll of magnet tape (AC Moore sells this for aobut $.80)
• scissors
• pencil, markers
• glue, if you think you need it.  I found that the magnet tape was sticky enough
• tape

Directions:

1. I used a piece of brown wrapping paper and hand drew, poorly, an outline of a tree with branches.  A very basic tree, with fairly thick branches.  I then asked my son to color it as he liked.  He added some bark embellishments to the bottom. 
2. I then traced both of his hands on the colored foam sheets using a pencil, although construction paper would work as well.  He traced my hand and his dad’s hand too. 
3. Cut out the tree and hands.  The tree was a bit tricky for me since I used wrapping paper.  It would have been easier if it was cardboard.  I then used my son’s cut-out hands to trace and cut out more out of different colors.
4. Cut off approximately one inch pieces of the magnet tape and adhere it to the back of each hand. 
5. Tape the tree to your refrigerator or other magnetic surface.  If you prefer to not clutter up your refrigerator like mine, tape it to a door or wall and skip adding the magnet tape.  Just tape the hand/leaves to the tree.
6. Talk to your child about what he or she is thankful for and help them come up with words or short phrases that can be written on their hands.  On the brown hands I used a white paint marker so it would stand out.  On the others I used a sharpie pen, but a regular marker would work too.
7. Decorate the tree with it’s leaves!  We left a few blank so that throughout the month we can update what we are thankful for as Thanksgiving draws near.

Happy November!
You can read more about preschool crafts, activities and food on Diane’s blog, Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with Little Kids: Simple Puppets

Role playing with puppets is a great activity for little kids, especially on a rainy day. This project creates very simple “stick” puppets using recycled items in your home. Almost any shape puppet can be created, and a Google search could even reveal basic designs that you can print at home to use as a guide to trace. For fall, a pumpkin shape could even be made to have a pumpkin puppet show. *See the list below for some websites with outlines that can be printed.

Materials:

wood ice pop sticks

scotch tape

heavy weight paper or cardboard (use the inside of a cereal box)

markers, crayons, pencils

glitter, scraps of paper, feathers, ribbons

glue

scissors

Directions:

Decide on the shape of your puppet(s) and trace the outline onto paper or cardboard. We used a seahorse shape that we traced and then did a freehand drawing of an octopus. Carefully cut out the shape (or the adult helper can do the cutting.) Using your art supplies, decorate the shapes. We used crayons and scraps of shiny paper and glue. This is where kids can be very creative and add feathers, ribbons, glitter, etc. (Older kids can use buttons, sequins, stick-on eyes, etc.) If using glue, let the project dry before moving to the next step.

Once the design and artwork on the puppet is complete, flip it over and tape a wooden ice pop stick onto it, taping in at least two spots for support. The stick can be glued on, but then you will need to wait a while for it to dry.

Your puppet is ready for it’s first performance! Or, make it a friend!

*Resources:

Animal Coloring Pages

Alfy.com arts and crafts

National Geographic Coloring Book

ABC teach farm themes

You can find more craft ideas and other preschool adventures on Diane’s blog Knitting Zeal.

Crafting with Little Kids: Painting wood spools and beads

One of my favorite stores to roam through alone (without child!) is Tuesday Morning. It’s one of those places where I find the most unusual or unexpected items when I’m not looking for them. It was on one of my shop expeditions there when I found a great craft buy: packages of wood spools and beads for under $4! I bought two different shapes for variety, and later picked up a package of large blue shoelaces at Target. This became the inspiration for this craft activity, painting wood spools and beads to use for stringing.

You can find chunky wood beads and spools at craft stores or on Etsy.com under supplies, if you are unable to find them in the craft bin at your local Tuesday Morning store!

Supplies:

wood beads, spools, etc, with pre-drilled holes

washable acrylic paint

paint brushes, glass of water for washing brushes, paint palette (plate)

shoelaces

cookie sheet or tray covered in paper

smock or paint clothes

Directions:

1. Cover your work surface to protect it from wayward brushes. Cover your child with a smock or old clothes. Using a cookie sheet with edges or a tray makes clean up easy for this project, as once all of the painting is done, the tray can be moved out of the way until the wood pieces are dry.

2. Explain to your kids that they will be painting wood beads and spools and will use them to make necklaces or stringing them for decorations later.

3. Set out paints on a plate or palette, add brushes and a cup of water, and lay out the wood shapes. Let your kids decorate them away and have fun getting messy. It really is important to use washable paint! Paint some along with them!

4. Let the pieces dry for a few hours or overnight. If you want, you can spray a coat of clear acrylic on all of the pieces before giving them back to your kids, but this is not necessary. (I meant to do it, but didn’t get a chance before my son started playing with them.)

5. Once dry, give your kids the wood spools and beads, along with long shoelaces that have a knot on one end and let them string away. My son had so much fun with this that he has asked to do it again with the leftover beads. (We initially painted two packs of 15 wooden shapes each.) This is a great activity to help little kids develop hand-eye coordination and color recognition. Use a recloseable container, such as a recycled plastic jar or a zipper baggie, for storage. I also think this would be a fun birthday gift for a kid that loves crafting…put all the supplies into a cute container with directions!

You can find more crafts and other adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog Knitting Zeal.

Getting Crafty with Nicole – Handmade Doodle Paint

Believe it or not…this has been one of the most crazy-requested recipe how-to’s ever since I posted the picture of my Doodle Paint on the Twinery Facebook page!

Homemade Doodle Paint

This is such a fun craft to do with your kids! The doodle paint is made with ingredients that most of you already have in your cabinets…so what can be better than that?! The paint is super easy to make and my kids absolutely LOVED doodling with it! The paint dries with a glittery sheen and has a puffy, raised texture to it.

Here’s a list of everything you’ll need on hand to create this fun doodle paint:

– Squeeze bottles for the paint: I used 6oz. bottle from Wilton (you can get these in the chocolate making section of any craft store…I found mine at Jo Ann Fabrics they were about $2 for 2 bottles)
– Flour
– Salt
– Water
– Coloring: You can use tempera paint (wet or dry), food coloring or natural coloring agents such as beet juice, raspberry or blueberry juice reduction, etc. For mine, I used Wilton’s gel food coloring because they already come in almost any color imaginable (plus I already had them in my cabinets and I loved the concept of keeping everything non-toxic – or edible – too! You just never know…kids are crazy)!
– Glass/Plastic bowls
– Spoons/Whisks
– Funnel: optional…but it helps with getting the paints into the squeeze bottles

Here are the simple instructions:

Follow these instruction for each paint color you’d like to create!
In a bowl, mix equal parts: Flour, Water & Salt. I used 1/2 cup of each and it worked really well for the squeeze bottles I had. Mix this really well with a spoon or whisk…no clumps. You can add more or less water depending on the consistency of paint you’d like, but it seemed that an equal (or just barely less) amount of water worked the best. Once that mixture is blended well, add a smidgen of coloring…and by smidgen …I mean smidgen! The more coloring you add, the more vibrant your paints will be. Get creative here…you can create a light pink and a dark pink paint by using the same coloring…just add more or less of the color depending on the shades you want to create! You can even blend colors together to create unique colors or other colors you may not have on hand – this might require Kindergarten art theory 101 (red+blue=purple), but you can handle it! Once the paint is blended with the coloring, use your funnel to pour each paint color into it’s own squeeze bottle. The paint is then ready to be put into the hands of your little Picassos. I love the fact that this paint is non-toxic and it can be made at the drop of a hat on a rainy day!

Word to the wise…this paint works best if you use a thicker paper (or even posterboard) to doodle on – because of it’s water base, it might soak the paper if it’s in the hands of a wiley toddler!

Now go make some doodle paint and make your little ones smile!

You can make/print your own simple labels to use on your paint bottles. Just click “download” below and save the file as a PDF on your computer. You can print the labels out on full sheet sticker paper, then use a 2″ circle craft punch to cut them out. Viola! Pretty doodle paint bottles.

Lil Boo & Co. Doodle Paint Labels

These paints would also be a fabulous gift for any child! If you use all dry ingredients (flour, salt, powder tempura paints), you can put the ingredients minus the water into the squeeze bottles and package ’em up really pretty. Just include simple instructions to ‘just add water’!

ENJOY!

Crafting with Little Kids: Kool Aid Play Dough

There is something about playing with modeling clay or dough that everyone seems to enjoy. This craft idea for a homemade recipe for play dough scented with Kool Aid drink mix was given to me by a friend. She found that if kept in a sealed container, such as a zipper baggie or closed container, the dough kept for a remarkably long time retaining it’s scent.

A quick search on the internet revealed many different variations on the recipe, so I decided to start with the following recipe, adding more flour as needed:

2.5 cups flour
1/2 cup salt

2 (1/4 ounce) packs of Kool Aid, same color

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 cups boiling water

3 tablespoons of oil

In a mixing bowl with a silicon or rubber spatula, combine the dry ingredients. Slowly add the boiling water and the oil and mix well. I found that I needed to add a bit more than an extra cup to the cherry dough, whereas I only needed to add about a half a cup of flour to the blue dough to make it less sticky and easier to work with . The dough will be very hot. As it cools, it will solidify a bit more and will be easier to knead. I decided to make the dough without my child, since it was working with boiling water. An older child may be able to mix up this recipe on their own or as a helper.

I made this dough recipe for our family 4th of July get together, which is why I tried making blue and red dough. I gave the kids some plastic knives to use with the dough, but cookie cutters and a little rolling pin would be fun to use as well. This was a hit, especially with the littlest kids who lloved digging into the containers of play dough.

This was a fun summer time craft, as when played with outside the mess is minimal! Happy crafting!

You can find more crafting ideas and other adventures with a preschooler on Diane’s blog, Knitting Zeal!