Child Crafts For Those Cold Winter Days

Living in the Midwest cold harsh winter days are just around the corner. With that in mind I've already started bringing out all of our art and craft supplies. Art is a favorite lazy day activity in our house and the children love to sit at the table and create different crafts for hours. These great craft ideas are perfect for family time and can be altered to fit each of your children's ages.

Tired of the mess and smell of traditional play dough? Why not try making your own. This website provides a variety of different recipes to fit your needs or preferences. http://www.playdoughrecipe.com/

Personally I like the edible play dough, we all know children are known for putting everything in their mouths. Edible play dough allows the kids to eat it without the harm of traditional play dough. Another plus to this fun project is that you can create the play dough in less than ten minutes and in addition you can pick the colors due to the ingredients in this particular recipe.

Edible Play dough recipe:

Ingredients:
~3 teaspoons of Cream of Tartar
~1 cup of flour
~1 cup of water
~1 package of Kool-Aid Mix (any flavor of unsweetened)
~1 tablespoon of cooking oil
~1/2 cup of salt

Mix dry ingredients in a large/medium pan. Add water and oil. Stir over medium heat until it looks like dough. The color of Kool-Aid used should be the color of your play dough. This takes about 8 minutes.

We love our Young Living essential oils in this house, and because of that we will occasionally add a few drops of oil to our finished product. I love using lime or pepperment for green play dough and lavender for purple. Not only do the oils make my house smell good, they also create a relaxing atmosphere.

A family favorite at our house are homemade bird feeders. We prefer to use bagels over pine cones, because spreading peanut butter and seeds is much easier to do on a flat soft surface. Bagel's are also easier to hang, making them perfect for younger children.

Whether using bagels or pine cones this craft is simple and easy. For an extra touch we like to use berry bagels over the plain giving that extra touch of flavor to our feathery friends. You could also add nuts or fruits to add an extra energy boost for the birds to help them through the winter months.

Not only is this a great family fun activity, but your children will enjoy the end results of this craft while the birds are enjoying it too.

Items needed:

--Peanut Butter

--Bird Seed

--String

--Pine Cones or Bagels

If desired: Dried fruit, nuts, or even cracked corn can be added to these feeders to attract a variety of birds.

After gathering the items needed for this craft cover the pine cones or bagels with peanut butter and cover them with the bird seeds. Tie a string to them and hang them out in the trees and enjoy watching the birds come and eat.

*Note: If you or your children are having a hard time covering the pine cones with peanut butter you can try mixing melted peanut butter with corn or peanut oil which will make the mixture easier to pour onto the pine cones. This then allows every nook and cranny to be filled with seed.

Older children will enjoy making this craft with it's unlimited capabilities. This craft is not only fun to make but can be enjoyed for years to come. Homemade crafts on Christmas trees are a tradition with most families and the options available with this craft make it a great addition to any family Christmas tree.

The snow globe ornaments may require more supplies and money than the previous crafts however, it provides older children with something that is fun and can be enjoyed for more than twenty minutes.

Supplies Needed:

• Clear punch cups
• Ribbon, string, pipe cleaners (to hang the snow globe)
• Photos or colored paper
• Markers, crayons, & glitter
• Small trinkets
• Hot glue gun
• Fake snow (cotton balls, glitter, white beads)

First let the children decide exactly how they want to craft their ornament. I love this project because no one ornament is going to look the same. This project allows children to use their imagination to create their own pieces of art.

Once it has been decided let the children decorate their punch cups, photos, or paper. After they have created everything they want to put inside their snow globe, flip the punch cups right side up. Fill the cup with the snow of their choice and use the hot glue gun to run a thin line of glue around the lip of the cup. Carefully take a piece of paper and secure it to the glue (I like to have pieces all traced and cut out before glueing).

If you are choosing to use trinkets I suggest glueing them down to the bottom piece of paper. If you need something more sturdy scrapbook paper works well for this, or even decorative cardboard. Glueing the "snow" in place prior to assembling the snow globe can help keep the contents of the snow glob intact and make sealing the globe easier.

The long winter months can cause children to be bored and get into trouble. With fun and easy crafts children can have hours of enjoyment without breaking the bank. Family time especially time that allows children to use their imagination and create things, helps children develop skills they will continue to use for many years to come.

These crafts are designed not only to help children create, play, and imagine, but they are excellent resources for teaching children of all ages about various different subjects.