Countdown Ring Craft

Hi, guys!

This week Alex and I made a "countdown ring" craft. The rings count down the days until Sunday which is not only Easter, but also Alex's 10th birthday!

For this craft, as you will see in the picture below, Alex and I used any arts and craft supplies we had including: construction paper, markers, crayons, scissors, glue, stickers, and a stapler. Once we had our craft box out, we  cut out strips of paper about 3in wide, 8in long. These will serve as the rings. We each decorated a few rings. He chose to color on his, I decided to glue on paper cut outs. Both of our decorations followed the themes of Easter and birthdays. Some examples of these decorations are Easter eggs and birthday balloons. Once all of our rings were decorated (we only had five since Sunday was five days away at the time) we linked the paper rings together and stapled them into ring shape.

Check out these photos:

This is a great idea for any exciting upcoming holiday or events. Alex and I do this every year for Christmas and he loves it. Normally, we make a chain on December 1st so it's much longer and takes more time. I definitely suggest it to you guys because the one thing Alex looks forward to every morning is pulling a link off the chain, it reminds him of his special day and gets him very excited!

Egg Dying Tips

Hey, guys,

I just wanted to share a couple of egg dying tips with you. The first one is to use kool aid packets in lieu of egg dye. It's easy, cheaper, and the colors seem to come out brighter. Just make the kool aid as directed, pour the colors into separate bowls, then, dip away! Another idea is to use a wisk to dip your eggs in the dye. All you have to do is place the egg inside of a wire wisk and dip it straight into the bowl of dye. I know how hard it is to clean egg dye off of your hands, so I personally love this idea! Have fun egg dying!

Gold Hunt!

Alright, you have one more day to work on a St. Patty's day craft! I found two really cute ideas that I wanted to share with everybody.

So, the first activity is explained in the link posted below. It shows you how to make leprechaun's gold. All you need for this activity is rocks (FREE!), gold paint, and black or green paint.

http://www.parentmap.com/article/17-st-patricks-day-crafts-for-kids?page=2

The other activity I found is how to make a leprechaun's hat. For this you will need a clear solo cup, green glitter, black and yellow felt, glue, and a piece of ribbon. 

http://kidfriendlythingstodo.com/2013/03/making-a-leprechaun-hat-for-st-patricks-day-a-fun-craft/

So while I was thinking about these two crafts I came up with a great idea. Why not have a "gold hunt!?" Let your child invite his or her friends over, and while you go in the backyard and hide the gold, have them work on making the leprechaun hats. Once they're done, give all of the little leprechauns plastic baggies and send them out to find as much gold as they can. Trust me, they will have so much fun with this, especially if they're 10 years or younger! It may even be fun to have some prizes for the top three "gold hunters." And, if you're planning to go to the parade tomorrow with a big group, this is something you could do earlier in the morning to release some of the kids energy and excitement!

Leprechaun Trap

So, I was over my friend's house last week and her six year old son came home from first grade with an assignment to make a "leprechaun trap." This is a project we never did when I was in grade school, but i've been hearing about it a lot lately so, I told my friend I wanted to help them make the trap.

I guess the story is that little leprechauns come out on the night of St. Patrick's day searching for pots of gold. The purpose of the trap is to lure the leprechauns in and trap them until the following morning when the child wakes up. So, what we decided to do was make a trap that replicas a giant leprechaun hat, which turned out awesome! The project was so much fun for all of us involved. AJ, my friends son had so many good ideas and truly believes he will catch at least one leprechaun this weekend! I guess the question now is how do we find a leprechaun to put in this trap!?


Look below for pictures of our "leprechaun trap" and directions on how we made it.

What you will need:
1 plastic plate
1 roll of paper towels
4 large pieces of green felt
1 piece of black felt
Elmer's glue
super glue
various pieces of rainbow colored tissue paper
any decorations (we used gold coins, popsicle sticks, pots of gold figurines, etc.)


1. Cover the plastic plate and paper towel roll entirely with green felt. Assemble with Elmer's glue.
2. Using the super glue, glue the bottom of the roll of paper towels to the bottom of the plastic plate.
3. Cut out a strip of black felt about 1.5in thick.
4. Glue the black felt strip to the bottom half of the paper towel roll.
5. Apply decorations and tissue paper anywhere you'd like.


You can really make this craft anyway you'd like; there's tons of room for creativity. We wanted to lure the leprechaun in by attracting him with a rainbow (made of tissue paper) on top of the hat, which leads to a pot of gold. Once he reaches the gold, the idea is he will fall into the hole in the center of the paper towel roll. But, like I said, when you're doing this with your child, let him discover his own ways of how to lure the leprechaun in, you'll be surprised with the fun ideas they will come up with!

Have fun!

St. Patrick's Day Craft

Alright guys, St. Patrick's Day is coming up this weekend, which means this week is the perfect time for a leprechaun craft! So, check this site out, this blogger has ideas for all ages.


http://7onashoestring.com/2012/03/st-patricks-day-crafts-for-kids.html

My favorite craft from this site is the leprechaun replica made entirely of paint, a paper plate, and construction paper. This craft requires a lot of cutting so it's perfect for kids ages eight and up. I think anyone around this age will be able to do this craft almost entirely on their own, allowing their parents some free time.

Something else I  really want to share is this "rainbow water." This is so simple to make and will really spark a kid's interest, especially younger kids. All you need to do is add some food coloring to the water in an ice cube tray! How simple is that?

Googly Eyes Craft

Hey, guys!

Check out this craft idea.

All you have to do is glue some eyes onto a piece of paper to get the child's imagination going. It will be fun to see what they come up with. Maybe, they'll use the eyes to make people, or animals, or monsters, who knows? It would even be a cool idea to do this activity with the child. I bet their pictures will come out a lot more imaginative than yours, haha!