Arts & Crafts for Kids to Prevent Boredom During Long Winter Days
Crafts for kids is a great way for kids to have fun and with daylight short during winter months, it’s always a bright idea to create an uplifting, easy to assemble craft project. We have put together three winter themed arts and crafts for kids that are sure to be lots of indoors fun!
Snowflake luminaire
Creating Snowflake luminaire crafts for kids, is easy and a fun way to enjoy a snowy scene whether a real one exists or not outside.
Supplies & Materials: - Empty Gallon Wine Jug, without label, clean and dry - 25 White Tissue or paper Snowflakes , 3”-4” in size (store bought or hand cut) - Ordinary Paper Glue - Pale Blue or Grey Tissue Paper - 1/2” Craft Paint brush - Disposable bowl or tray - 15’ LED Battery operated light string
Prepare a shallow disposable bowl or tray with 1 part water to 2 parts glue. Layout paper snowflakes on tabletop. Brush one side of each snowflake with glue and affix to the glass jug. Create your desired coverage over the jug with more or less snowflakes. Rip pieces of tissue paper into 12-15 5-6” pieces.
You may use a scissor for straight edges; jagged edges look more natural. Brush glue on top of the snowflakes, working in 5-6” sections at a time Affix the tissue paper pieces on top of the snowflakes, working section-by-section, over lapping pieces of tissue paper by 1/2-1”. You can cover the neck of the bottle with tissue paper or leave empty. Once dry, feed the entire LED light string into the jug, leaving the battery housing or electric plug to hang over the top.
Plug in / turn on and test in a dark or dim room to see the glow of snowflakes!
Optional: Before the glue is dry you can sprinkle minimal amounts of silver glitter on the outside of the bottle.
After “snowflake season” is over you can wrap the jug in a dishcloth or towel to protect it and store away until next winter!
Pinecone Bird Feeders
Some people say that winter is their favorite time to attract, observe and enjoy backyard birds. With trees bare it’s easy to spot their almost constant motion. Winter months create a challenge for birds to find enough food since insects die off or are dormant. Feeders are important to provide them with energy and endurance through the cold months. Many young children are fascinated and excited by watching birds and doing so can instill a lifetime of interest and respect for nature. Nurturing these small creatures with a good food source can be a simple but very rewarding experience. Here’s an easy project that helps the birds withstand winter and allows for observing them in a relatively quiet environment.
Total Time: 30-45 minutes
Makes 12 Feeders
Materials
12 pinecones, lose and opened
4 yards of thick hemp-like craft string
1.5 cups of Peanut Butter
Small Bag of Store Bought Birdseed Mix
or Suet, Oats, Cornmeal, Sunflower Seeds, Crushed Nuts for Mixing
Small Mixing Bowl
Shallow Pie Dish for mixing
Butter Knife
Teaspoon
Large Cookie Tray
(Hot chocolate or cider for observing after the project is finished is optional!)
Notes:
- Tight Pinecones can be placed on a tray in the oven at 300 degree for 15 minutes, or until they open. Let cool for 5 minutes before using.
- Store-bought wild bird seed is fine, but a mixture of seeds, suet, oats, cornmeal, sunflower seeds, crushed nuts are better because it will create more protein and more energy for the birds!
Process
- 1 Cut 12 pieces of string 12” in length and put them aside
- Place 1.5 cups of peanut butter in small mixing bowl
- Place 1.5 cup of Store-bought birdseed or your own mixture in shallow pie dish
- Wrap a piece of strain around one end of a pinecone and tie tightly making a knot. Place on tray. Repeat for all pinecones
- Using a spoon or butter knife, liberally spread peanut butter inside the cavities of each of the pinecones and place back on the tray.
The more peanut butter that coats the pinecone, the better for coating with seeds.
- Roll each pinecone in the birdseed pressing down to coat entirely. Place on tray.
- Tie Pinecones to each other at desired lengths or leave separate and tie knots and bows at the end to hang on hooks or branches.
- Place feeders in areas where birds can see potential predators.
Your feeders may attract woodpeckers, wrens, chickadees and other birds. Enjoy watching them flutter and feed.
Replenish with peanut butter and seed as needed.
Rustic Twig Heart Wreath
Since the month of February welcomes Valentine’s Day, there is no more appropriate time to decorate with hearts! This project combines rustic nature, with passionate color and leaves a lot of room for fun and creativity – all while adding some lively decoration to your space in the process.
Materials
12” woven grapevine heart wreath
or
Grapevine bundles you can shape into your own form
Red or colorful ribbon
Wire cutters
Craft wire
6-10 stems of silk flowers, various types and color, based on your preference.
Pinecones, glitter, embellishments, etc.
Process
1- Place the heart vine flat on a table. Layout your design of flowers around the heart frame.
2 – Cut 8-10” pieces of wire, one piece for each flower stem.
3 – Wrap wire around each flower stem and twist in the back to secure it to the wreath.
4 – Repeat with each flower stem.
5 – Nestle the flowers against each other and repeat wiring each stem to the twig, varying with your color choices to create depth and dimensions
6 – Cut a piece of ribbon longer than what you think you will need.
7 – Lay the ribbon under the point where the two ends meet at the top of the wreath and tie a bow.
8 – The bow should be where the curves meet at the top of the wreath.
9 – Secure the ribbon to the wreath with a piece of wire –twist a few inches of wire onto the back of the wreath
to form a circle shape to use to hang the wreath.
10 – Be creative and embellish with additional items like pinecones, small hearts, charms, glitter, etc.
To Make The Heart Shape from Scratch, Using Grapevine Bundles
If you can harvest vines from your own backyard, that’s fantastic! You can soak lengths of vine in a tub of water for a few hours so you can
form shapes more easily. When they are pliable after soaking, form your shape and secure with wire at various points to keep the shape together.*see below. Once you wire pieces together, the form will dry out nicely on its own when situated in the sun or in a warm area. You can continue with the instructions above to decorate, even if the grapevine isn’t dry. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a supply of vines in your backyard, you can purchase long straight bundles of grapevine at a craft store. *Twist several together until you have the desired thickness. Bring the two ends together and push down a little bit in the center. Wrap additional pieces of grapevine around where the ends meet to hold them together. You can use wire to hold it together and keep its shape. You can form the size and exact shape you want.
