As you may (or may not) know I take part in regular weekly craft hangouts organised by the lovely RedTedArt.
This week was slightly different and I was lucky enough to join some other craft bloggers in a craft hangout for Netmums organised by RedTedArt. The task was to take some items from a list of what would normally be household rubbish and create some fun craft projects for kids with them … perfect for the up coming Summer holidays. I chose the egg and shoe box.
Egg Boxes
I love egg boxes. There are so many things that you can do with them.
Take your time with an egg box. Get to know its shape, colour, natural curves and bends. Hold it in your hand and turn it. Feel it. Open it. Cut a few up. Look at the shapes you can make (depending on where the cut line is). Slot pieces together, stack them, hold them. It’s amazing what ideas will jump out at you whilst you or your children do this.
We’ve had loads of fun in this house making various things. My favourite are our egg box bird masks. So simple and also so easy to make. The dog head was a fantastic find and originally went on top of a crazy Scooby Doo model. Sadly all that is left is the head. And my new love are the egg box shoes (blog post to follow). These are for older children although parents can always make them first and allow younger children to have fun decorating them.
Boxes
Boxes, boxes, boxes. We put so many boxes in our recycle bin even though we also upcycle many of them. Boxes are great for kids. Give them a roll of masking tape and a sack of empty boxes and they can create the most amazing thing. You don’t even need to decorate them although that can extend the fun.
Cars are easy for kids to make. Just make sure you thread the axle through a straw so that the wheels move. Plastic lids, tubes, polystyrene balls etc all make great wheels.
Houses, robots and dogs (animal) are also great fun. You can make them as easy or as complicated as you like.
And then there’s my favourite. The diorama or story box as it’s often called. A wonderful way for kids to explore mixed media to make 3D representations of pictures, places, stories etc. Be imaginative. You can use paint, sand, shells pebbles, smaller boxes, pasta, grains, string … the list is endless.
Other house hold objects covered by the other lovely bloggers were.
Toilet Rolls – Red Ted Art > Loo Roll Zoo, Loo Roll Mini Beasts, Loo Roll Crowns, Loo Roll Mermaid, Loo Roll Kings, Loo Roll Giraffe, Loo Roll Dog
Paper Plates – Domestic Goddesque > A fabulous space porthole (similar to story boxes) and a rather beautiful Dream Catcher
Corks – Me and My Shadow > Super cute Cork Mini Beasts and an Easy Peasy Boat and her super cute Fairy Mushrooms
Tin Cans – Kids Chaos > Paint dipped Tin Cans and the cool game of Kick The Can free printable to cover your can with)
Tin Cans – Rosie Scribble
go Mama O
These are great! I’m going to link to this post on my blog, as I’ve done some cardboard craft projects too. Thanks for sharing!
go Mama O
These are great! I’m going to link to this post on my blog, as I’ve done some cardboard craft projects too. Thanks for sharing!