Kids Corner
Fun things to make for kids ....

Paper Plate Parrot

This adorable parrot craft uses a printable template and a paper plate to make a parrot plate or mask.

Materials:

• red, green or blue paint and paintbrush (we used red)
   
• paper plate
   
• something to colour with (or colour printer)
   
• scissors,
   
• glue,

Instructions:

Paint the bottom of the paper plate red (if it isn't already).

Print out the template of choice.

Colour (where appropriate) and cut out the template pieces. Most of the pieces are simple enough shapes for young children to cut out, but if needed, an adult can help with some of the harder pieces (the hair).

Glue the pieces to the plate to make a parrot face.

Glue the hair onto the centre top of the head.

Glue the eyes onto the face under the hair (or cut out holes for eyes in a mask).

Glue the eyebrows above the eyes.

The beak comes in two pieces. The smaller piece is the bottom of the beak and should be glued on first, toward the very bottom of the paper plate. The larger piece of the beak should slightly overlap the smaller piece. You can position them to make the parrot's mouth look more open or closed.

OPTIONAL: If making a mask, use masking tape or duct tape to attach a thin strip of wood

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)

Toilet Roll Dog

This is a simple three dimensional dog that is fun for kids to make and play with.

Materials:

• toilet paper roll

• printer,

• something to colour with,

• scissors,

• glue, and

• paper

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.

• Colour (where appropriate) and cut out the template pieces.

• Glue the large rectangular piece on first to cover the tube.

• Glue on the head, arms and chest.

• Fold the feet tabs and glue to the inside, bottom of the toilet roll.

• Fold the tail in half and glue so it looks coloured on each side then fold tab and glue to the toilet roll.

• Glue the bone into one of the hands.

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)

Paper Bag Cat

Materials Needed:

You can make a grey cat like the one in the picture or use different colors for an orange, brown, tan or black cat.
a paper lunch bag
two sheets of construction paper or paint in the color you're making your kitty

• a printer,

• some crayons,

• scissors,

• glue

• OPTIONAL: big wiggly eyes!

Print the template:

• You can either print just template 1 or both template 1 & 2.

• Colour (as required) and cut out the template pieces.

GET FAMILIAR WITH YOUR PAPER BAG!:

• I'm going to walk through this slowly. Look at your paper bag.

• It should be closed and flat like a piece of paper. Just like when they are brand new.

• On one side, it's all smooth. This will be the BACK of your puppet

      - It's important that you get the back and front straight at the beginning!

• On the other side there's a flippy tab (which is typically the bottom of the bag.)

      - This flippy tab will be the HEAD

• Lift the flippy tab up a bit. Underneath of the tab will be the mouth,

      - When finished you'll be able to put your hand in the bag to make the puppet talk!

• Look at the rest of the front of the bag. (The 3/4 or so of the bag below the part with the flippy tab) This will be the BODY.

• Look at the sides of the bag. There should be a FLAP of paper.

      - We'll be slipping the arms (template 2) into this flap.

• OK, now that we're comfy with our bags, let's begin!

TEMPLATE 1:

• Cover the paper bag with construction paper (just glue it on and trim) or paint the paper bag and let dry.

• Glue the muzzle onto the HEAD. It should overlap the body a bit.

• Glue the nose onto the HEAD. It should overlap the muzzle a bit.

• Glue the eyes onto the HEAD above the nose. If you like, you can use wiggly eyes instead of the paper template pieces.

• Glue the ears onto the sides of the HEAD

• Glue the tongue underneath the flippy tab so you can see part of the circle sticking out from under the muzzle.

• Glue three whiskers (long, thin rectangle pieces) onto either side of the muzzle.

• Glue the tummy onto the body.

TEMPLATE 2:

• Glue the arms into the FLAP.

• Glue the tail onto the BACK.

Print the Template/s:

Template 1: (colour) or (B&W)

Template 2: (colour) or (B&W)

Egg Carton Chick

Two egg carton cups, some paint and a few scraps of construction paper are all you need to make this cute little yellow chick craft.

Materials:

• 2 egg carton cups

• yellow poster or acrylic paint

• orange and yellow paper scraps

• OPTIONAL: two small wiggly eyes

• glue

• scissors

• tape

• paintbrush

Instructions:

• cut two cups from an egg carton and trim to smooth out the tops

• paint the cups yellow on the outside... you can paint the inside too ~ then let dry

• tape the two cups together, using one piece of tape on the inside of the cups to make a "ball shape" from the egg cartons that opens and shuts -- I find this to be the toughest step. It may require adult supervision.

• cut out a couple of orange paper triangle shapes and tape them to the openings to make a beak

use wiggly eyes or a black marker to add eyes.

• add yellow paper wings and orange paper feet (glue them on)

• you can put a little treasure inside the chick (jellybeans or chocolate eggs work well).
   

Paper Hamster

This hamster is a simple cut and paste paper craft that is fun for young children to make.

Materials:

• something to colour with if using the B&W template

• scissors

• glue and paper

• You can use brass tacks instead of glue to attach the head, tail or arms if you want them to be moveable.

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.

• Colour (where appropriate).

• Cut out the template pieces -- parents can help cut out some of the more difficult pieces like the sunflower seed while children work on the easier pieces like the body and legs.

• Glue the hamster together in the following order:

      ~ glue the feet behind the body

      ~ glue the arms onto the body

      ~ glue the seed into one of the hands

      ~ glue the head onto the body

      ~ glue the ears onto the head

      ~ glue the tail onto the back of the body

• See picture on the template for further help

Print the Templates:

Template 1 (colour) or (B&W)

Template 2 (colour) or (B&W)

Egg Carton Snake

This snake turned out better than we first imagined. We used wool to tie the cups together and the snake actually slithers when you drag it along.
You can paint your snake whatever colour you like.
We used wiggly eyes for our snake but you could draw them on or make your own.

Materials:

• cardboard egg carton - you need five cups

• scissors

• green and brown poster or acrylic paint (or any other colours you want for your snake)

• paint brush

• string, wool or pipe cleaners to assemble your snake

• sharp pencil

• red paper for the tongue

• wiggly eyes and glue or black marker or red paper for the eyes

Instructions:

• Cut 5 cups from the cardboard egg carton and trim to smooth out the tops (see picture)

• Paint each of the cups green first and let dry. At least one cup should be painted inside and out. This will be the cup for the head.

• Paint a brown stripe over the middle of 4 of the cups. (The cup without the stripe is the one for the head.)

• Arrange the painted cups in a line the way you want your snake to look. (See picture below.) The cup that is the head should be standing vertically.

• An adult should take care of poking holes in the cups with a sharp pencil.

• Tie each egg carton to the next using wool. This will allow your snake to wiggle and slither.

      ~ TIP: if you have trouble putting the wool through the hole tie a foot long piece of wool to a 3 inch piece of pipecleaner and use that as a "needle and thread"

      ~ NOTE: Remember, the head is different from the other pieces. Stand it up and poke a hole through the top. Tie a large knot in the wool to hold the head on (or if you have a large hole, tie a small bead or button to the wool so that the head doesn't slip off).

  

  Tongue:

• Cut a tongue shape from red construction paper.

• Glue the tongue into the head of the snake

  Eyes:

• Glue on wiggly eyes or draw eyes on with a marker

• or cut eyes out of red construction paper and draw an eye slit in the middle of each with a black marker

Paper Hen

This is a simple cut and paste paper fun to make project.

You can turn it into a handprint craft by replacing the wings with handprints traced onto a piece of paper.

Materials:

• something to colour with if using the B&W version

scissors

• glue and paper.

• You can use brass tacks instead of glue to attach the wings if you want them to be moveable.

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.

• Colour (where appropriate) and cut out the template pieces.

• Glue the hen together in the following order:

      ~ glue the feet onto the egg shaped body

      ~ glue the eyes onto the body

      ~glue the wattle under the beak

      ~glue the beak onto the body

      ~ glue the comb onto the top of the head

      ~ glue the wings onto the body

• Make the wings - use the template piece or trace a hand onto a piece of paper and use that as the wing

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)

Egg Carton Ant

The egg carton ant is fairly accurate from an anatomic standpoint ~ three body parts (head, thorax and abdomen), 6 legs and 2 antennae!

Materials:

• cardboard egg carton - you need three cups attached

• scissors

• yellow, brown, red or black poster or acrylic paint (or another colour if you want to make a creative ant!)

• paint brush

• 4 pipe cleaners (chenille) ~ three for legs and one for the antenna

• sharp pencil

• wiggly eyes (or try 2 cheerios or 2 fruit loops)

• black marker

• glue

Instructions:

• cut a strip of cups (3 cups) from the egg carton -- adults can do this before craft time.

• paint the cups and let dry.

• using a sharp pencil, poke two holes in the top of the first cup -- adults can do this step before craft time.

• from inside the cup, poke both ends of the pipe cleaner through the pencil holes (one end through each hole) to make antennae.

• using a sharp pencil, poke one hole on each side of each cup (6 holes in total) ~ again, adults can help with this step.

• Push a pipecleaner through the holes in the first cup.

      ~ Make the same amount of pipecleaner stick out the sides -- these are two legs -- you can bend little feet into the ends of the pipecleaner if you like.

      ~ Repeat with the second cup and third cup

      ~ You should end up with 6 legs when you're through

• glue the wiggly eyes onto the head (you could substitute with 2 cheerios or 2 fruit loops)

• OPTIONAL: draw on a mouth with black marker

Toilet Roll Bunny

This little guy has been searching for carrots (and has been quite successful, I might add)! This is a simple 3-D rabbit that is fun for kids to make and play with.

Materials:

• toilet paper roll

• printer

• something to colour with

• scissors

• glue

Instructions:

• Print out the template of choice.

• Colour (where appropriate) and cut out the template pieces. Younger kids may need help with this.

• Glue the large rectangular piece on first to cover the tube.

• Glue on the head, arms, legs and tail.

• Glue the carrot onto one of the hands.

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)

Paper Plate Peacock

Materials:

• paper plate

• markers (blues, greens, purples)

• blue, green, dark purple, orange and/or gold poster or acrylic paint

• something to colour with

• scissors

• glue

• stapler

Directions:

• On a paper plate, draw lines with blue, green and purple shades of markers, the lines should all cross in the centre of the plate.

• Dip your index finger into a dark colour of paint (use blue, purple or green) and make fingerprints here and there on the plate.

• Now dip your pinkie finger into a lighter colour of paint (use orange, yellow or gold) and make a pinkie fingerprint in the centre of each index fingerprint you made in the previous step

• Set the plates aside to dry.
  
  WHILE THAT'S DRYING, make the body:

• Print out the template and colour if using the B&W option.

• Cut out the template pieces.

• Assemble the body:

      ~ the body is the largest piece -- it looks a bit like a peanut... the head is the narrow part

      ~ glue the top feathers behind the head. Cut slits about 1/4 inch apart to fringe this piece

      ~ glue on the eyes and beak (you could substitute wiggly eyes for the template ones or just use a black marker to draw on eyes)

• Staple the body to the bottom of the plate and you're done your peacock!

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)

Penguin Hat

This is a simple sewing project. The seams don't need to be hemmed, but you do need to sew one edge to make a "tube". It just takes a needle and thread, not a sewing machine.
NOTE: You could also use a bought black hat and add the felt penguin face for an even quicker project.

Materials:

• black polar fleece (16" x 20" piece for age 12 thru adult, 12" x 15" for younger children) or a bought black beany

• white felt (one piece)

• pink felt (small scrap)

• orange felt (small scrap)

• two black buttons

• needle and thread (we used white thread for the entire project as it's easier for children to sew with a contrasting colour)

• scissors

• 20" piece of black wool (any colour would work if you don't have black)

• paper and printer (though you could free hand the templates)

Instructions - Make the hat:

• Put the fabric around the head of the person wearing it if you want to check the measurement. Polar fleece stretches so you don't need it to be exact.

• Fold with right sides together (again, polar fleece doesn't really have a right side so don't worry too much) and sew a seam up the 16" side to give you a tube.

• Use a blanket stitch but a running stitch works fine too (don't be fussy, just have fun and sew!).

      ~ This is a great first sewing project for children about age 8 and up.

      ~ Use a contrasting thread colour if you're new to sewing... it's easier if you can see your thread! We used white.

• Optional: roll the brim of the hat up a couple times and put a number of single stitches in it to help it stay in place

      ~ Don't sew a long running stitch on the brim... when your hat stretches on your head your thread will break and unravel.

      ~ Instead, sew a single stitch and tie it off. Move about 3" along the brim and sew a second single stitch and tie it off.

      ~ Repeat until you have about 8 single stitches tied off all the way around the brim.

• Put the hat on the head (right now it's open on top!) and tie a piece of wool around the top to close it off:

      ~ tie it nice and tight and it won't slip but if you're worried, you can use a darning needle to stitch a long running stitch around the top and then pull that tight (this is a job for a more experienced sewer).

      ~ Use a pair of scissors to cut the top scrunched up left over material down to the tie about every inch to make a fringe. This will make the top left over material look like a cute pom pom on top of the hat.

Instruction - Add the Penguin:

• Cut a heart shape from white felt and chop the bottom point off

• Cut two small circles from pink felt as cheeks

• Cut beak (triangle) from orange felt

• Position the white heart shape just above the brim of the hat and pin

• Use a single stitch to sew on the beak and pink felt cheeks

• Sew on two black buttons as eyes

• You can add a few more single stitches with white thread to attach the penguin to the hat

Print the Template:

Template (pattern)

Paper Plate Woollie Lamb

This cute little lamb is a great spring project.

Materials:

Depending on what option you use... you'll will need:

• printer & paper

• glue

• scissors

• something to colour with (optional)

& either

• paper plate (whatever size) OR

• cardboard cut into a circle

either

• white cotton batting (the kind you use for pillow stuffing) OR

• cotton wool balls

OPTIONAL: a bow to decorate

Instructions:

• Spread glue all over your plate and glue on pieces of cotton wool balls. Try ripping the cotton balls in half before gluing them on as the lamb is "fluffier" that way.

MAKE THE FACE

• Print out the template of choice. Colour (where appropriate) and cut out the template pieces. (Younger children may require assistance with the cutting.)

• Draw a mouth with black marker or paint or glue bits of black construction paper in a mouth shape.

Print the Template:

Template (colour) or (B&W)