Beach Crafts: Sand Candles Craft for Kids

Summer is really here and so are fun beach days with the kids. What do kids tend to bring home with them? SAND! In their shoes, beach bags or even in sand pails because they can’t bear to part with the beach. Here is a fun activity – sand candles – to make use of all of that extra sand and continue your kiddo’s fun on a hot summer day!

Tip: For extra fun add sea shells from the beach to the top of your candle mold to add a little “beachy” effect!

TOOLS NEEDED: 

• Large heat-proof mixing bowl
• Sand
• Empty 1-pound coffee can
• Paraffin or old candle stubs
• Candle wicking
• Thin wood dowel or stick

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Fill the bowl three quarters full with slightly damp sand and ask your child to dig a mold about the size of his fist.
2. Using your hands, bend one side of the coffee can rim to form a spout. Fill the can halfway with paraffin and set it in a saucepan that’s one fourth filled with water. (Never place the can directly on the burner.) Then melt the wax over very low heat; when it has melted, turn off the heat.
3. Cut the wicking to 6 to 8 inches longer than your mold is deep. Rest the dowel across the bowl’s top and tie one end of the wick around it. Press the other end into the bottom of the mold.
4. Now it’s the adult’s job to carefully pour the wax into the mold until it reaches about 1 inch from the top.
5. Once the candle is cool, remove it from the mold, brush off any excess sand, and trim the wick.

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Glitter Fireworks Paper Craft for Kids

Thanks to this uber-patriotic craft, you kiddos won’t have to wait until dark to see July Fourth fireworks! It’s fun and is sure to create a sparkle in your child’s eye. 🙂

TIME NEEDED:
30 minutes or less

MATERIALS:

• Dark Blue Paper
• Glitter (any color you want…red, white and blue?)
• White Elmer’s Glue

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Use white glue to draw firework bursts on a sheet of dark blue paper.
2. Pour glitter onto the wet glue, then tap any loose glitter onto a clean sheet of paper and return the excess to the jar.

TIPS: For multiple colors, draw and sprinkle each firework shape separately.

 

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Le Top Whales & Sails Nautical Striped Shirt & Canvas Board Shorts

Put some wind in his sails with this sweet nautical white and azure striped short sleeve tee and navy canvas pocketed board shorts that match swimmingly! Sailing ship appliqué with circular boat window vents keep him cool in warm weather. Soft rib neckline and elasticized waist for easy over-the-head and pull up dressing.

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Head Start on Valentine’s Day Projects!

It’s never too early to get a jump-start on the most heartfelt holiday of the year. Here is a super cute idea, easy and always stress-free because it takes no time at all for your kiddos’ Valentine’s Day at school! Snip candy hearts for an entire class in a snap.

What You’ll Need:

• Candy Dots (you can find at local drug store, candy store or even grocery store)
• Colored construction paper (you can find at a craft store, local drug store or Staples)
• Glue stick
• Scalloping scissors (you can find at an arts and crafts store like Michael’s)

How to:

1. Cut a heart from a strip of candy dots, and glue it to a piece of construction paper.
2. With scalloping scissors, cut construction paper to create a border around the heart.

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A Great Homemade Gift for Your Kid’s Teacher this Holiday Season!

Christmas vacation is quickly approaching and its usually customary for parents to send their kids with gifts for their teachers (it never hurts right?). I remember bringing See’s candy as a child to my teachers with a nice holiday card, but why not make your own homemade candy jar – its personal, cute and very festive! Plus your kids will enjoy putting it together! Here is how to do it (it is also cheap!)!

For teachers, neighbors, and baby-sitters, label jars of candy with a sweet illustration. Have your kids draw directly onto individual labels…

Materials Needed:

–        Mason Jars
–        Any kind of candy you want
–        White labels (you can get these at a local art store or even staples.com)
–        Red and Green markers
–        Glue and glitter (optional)

How to:

1. Fill the jar with candy
2. Take a white label and have your child address the teachers name (or you if your child is starting to write) and also color or put glitter on the label to make for a festive gift
3. Close the candy jar
4. Deliver to teacher!

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Crafts to Light Up Your Child’s Day During a Power Outage

No matter the weather, a summer thunderstorm can approach at any moment and knock out the power and plans of the day. While the storm may be depressing, there are still lots of things that can get accomplished and keep kids having fun even when they’re not in the sun. There are many things to do when the lights go out, with just a flashlight and some fresh batteries.

Here are a few ideas and activities that can help calm, occupy and entertain kids during a power outage:

Storytelling: Everyone loves a good story. So parents might want to recount the adventures of Little Red Riding Hood, or tell the love story of Cinderella and her Prince Charming.

Crafts: Before the stories, make puppets using scissors, colored paper, markers, glue and either Popsicle sticks or paper bags. Then the puppets can help tell the story. Crafts, no matter how simple, like coloring books and crayons, can always brighten a dark day.

Games: Hunker down for an evening of Monopoly or play the game of Life. With a flashlight, any board game can turn into hours of family fun. A power outage can provide for an evening of games and challenges. Also have a couple of decks of cards on hand to play Go Fish or War or to make up your own card game.

To take full advantage of the dark, you could also play flashlight tag, where, like in hide-and-seek, one person searches for the others. When they find a person, they can shine the flashlight on them and that person then becomes “it.” Shadow puppets are another great use of the flashlight.

With these activities – your fear or whining and tantrums should clear and know that it can be a fun day!

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Leaf Impressions

The winter chill has arrived and the leaves are changing colors. I took a walk through Central Park in New York City (my hometown) this past weekend and admired all of the leaves and how beautiful nature can be in the ‘big city.’ I was inspired by a childhood activity that is fun for kids and great for parents as a piece of art for the coveted refrigerator door. Preserve the beauty of fall leaves with leaf-rubbing (leaf impressions) art on paper! Read more to find out how this easy (and inexpensive idea) is fun for a winter day. Next time you are out walking ith your kids, collect leaves of different shapes and sizes. When you are choosing leaves to rub, pick leaves with raised veins or texture to ensure the rubbings will come out crisp and clear.

Need:

• Leaves
• White paper
• Crayons or soft-lead pencils

Steps:

• Rub a variety of leaves using white tissue paper and crayons or soft-lead pencils.
• Place the leaves under the paper and gently rub the impression on the tissue paper.
• Cut each leaf impression out and arrange them on a white piece of paper.
• Special step: Use a hold puncher and punch one hole in each leaf impression. Use thread or clear fishing line to tie the leaves together and string the line in a window as a decoration!
• Discard leaves in garbage

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Homemade Menorah Craft for Kids & Family

Add some twinkle to Hanukkah this season with your own homemade menorah! It is a fun craft for the family and makes your holiday even more personal and special.

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Peter, Peter Pumpkin Bird Feeder – For kids!

Fall is here and pumpkins are everywhere! With rain coming our way, what is a fun project – we love the idea of a pumpkin bird feeder.  Here is what you can do as a family that will make a nice outdoor decoration…

1. Go to any local grocery store or nursery and pick up a small pumpkin (3-5 lbs.)
2. Buy regular bird seeds/supplement at a local pet store
3. Cut a 3- to 5- pound pumpkin in half
4. Scoop out the seeds, but leave a ½-inch thick wall
5. Cut a ½-inch-deep groove in the rim for pumpkin seeds
6. For perches, poke holes and insert twigs from your yard
7. To hang, knot two lengths of twine together in the center; tack knot to feeder bottom
8. Fill with birdseed
9. Hang anywhere from your porch to a tree in your front yard and enjoy!

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Streamers in the Wind

Memorial Day weekend is only 1 day away!  Not only is it one of my favorite 3 day holiday weekends, it is always that first feeling of the “official” start of summer.  I am sure a lot of parents are wondering (other than BBQing) what they will do with their kids over the long weekend.  Below is a fun wind streamer craft that is patriotic and easy to do with the whole family!  Don’t worry – it doesn’t make noise (I personally get a headache from chimes!), and you cam make this craft with little more than an empty oatmeal container and colored paper.

You can also use this activity to teach younger children about the “wind” (like a science lesson) and illustrate the direction on wind and how it plays a part in the environment. Martha Stewart was my inspiration for this project. 

How to Make a Patriotic Paper Wind Streamer

Items Needed:

• Empty oatmeal container, or similar cylindrical container
• Blue craft paper
• White craft paper
• Star-shaped paper or you can cut stars out on white craft paper
• Craft glue (Elmer’s works fine!)
• Double-sided tape
• Waxed twine
• Red-and-white grosgrain flat ribbon
• Red ribbon
• White ribbon
• Paper punch

Instructions:

1. Remove the bottom of the cylindrical container.

2.  Measure and cut the blue craft paper to fit inside and outside the container. The paper should come right up to the top and bottom lip of the container.

3.  Lay the double-sided tape to the three edges of the paper on the wrong side, and stick it to the container’s interior.

4. Create stars from the white craft paper, and glue them onto the second piece of blue paper. Lay the double-sided tape to the three edges of the paper on the opposite side, and stick to the container’s exterior.

5.  With the fine paper punch, punch four holes at the north, south, east, and west points of the container’s top. Thread a piece of waxed twine through one hole and its opposite hole, and tie in place. Repeat for remaining holes.

6. Cut lengths of the red and white ribbon to create streamers, and glue them at the bottom edge of the container. Lay double-sided tape all the way around the top and bottom edges of the container, and adhere the red-and-white grosgrain ribbon.

Enjoy this colorful and patriotic craft!

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They Call Her the Pipe Cleaner Lady – Wendy

Discover Easy as 1-2-3- Steps to Making a Pipe Cleaner Cocktail Ring

This past Sunday I attended a Baby Naming celebration for a very special little girl named Ari.  The grandparents, Bobbie and Papi, decided they needed entertainment for all of the kids attending along with the 60 guests.  As I helped to greet guests upon their arrival, one colorful, cheery guest arrived with her humongous cart of pipe cleaner fun – Wendy the Pipe Cleaner Lady.  What a grand idea!  She was like a balloon artist who twists and ties pipe cleaners to create everything from rings to crowns to footballs to monkeys and more! 

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