20 Best Tips

ABC Letter Crafts for Kids

If you’ve been around my blog for any amount of time, you may remember the many upper and lowercase letter crafts I worked on with our kids and preschool co-op classes. Finding ways for kids to visualize letter sounds is definitely something that we’ve seen make a difference in our home (and besides, the crafts were super cute!). 

Recently, a site I love began sharing some hands-on ABC crafts that I know your family will adore. Each week they are posting a new uppercase letter craft based on a different animal. Take a look at some of the ones they have shared so far: 

 

 

Click on any of the images above to go directly to those posts and learn more about the weekly alphabet crafts here. 

Yarn Owl Craft Tutorial

yarn owl craft tutorial from Homeschool Creations



We have owls of all sizes in the works at the moment, because this yarn owl craft is just too cute!! We started out with one size of owls, but quickly ended up trying a few different sizes as well, especially when the googly eyes, felt, and yarn were in abundance!

The girls initially made something similar while we were camping, but we tweaked it to make it easier – and cuter!

Yarn Owl Craft Tutorial

Want to make one (or four) as well? I promise these are so very cute and will make some great decorations around the house. Picture a little owl family nestled in the corner of a bookcase…

Yarn Owl Craft tutorial {%{% Homeschool Creations 2015

Supplies needed:

  • felt: yellow, orange, brown (white optional)
  • Elmer’s glue
  • dark brown yarn – we chose a multi-colored version)
  • googly eyes
  • 2.5” Styrofoam balls (we also have 2” and 1.5” that we’re trying out)
  • scissors

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Based on the size of your styrofoam ball, cut your felt to size: wings, feet, beak, and circles for around the eyes.

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Lay them out – and start picturing how cute this little owl is going to be.

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Use the scissors to shave a flat area onto the bottom part of the styrofoam ball (if you can figure out where the bottom is…). You’ll need this area to make the owl stand without rolling over.

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Use glue to stick the feet onto the flat area of the styrofoam ball. Wait a few minutes to let the glue dry.

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Apply a small circle of glue to the bottom area and being coiling the yarn in a circle.

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Continue coiling and secure with a little glue. When you get closer to the top of the feet, begin wrapping the yarn around the opposite side of the felt feet, so you can wrap the yarn around the remainder of the styrofoam ball.

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Secure with just a little bit more glue, but the styrofoam ball will hold the yarn well as you continue to wrap the yarn around the ball.

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As you get closer to the top part of the ball where it gets smaller in size, use a little bit of glue to begin securing the yarn again.

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Continue wrapping, watching for gaps in the yarn so you don’t see any of the styrofoam ball through the yarn.

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Wrap some more.

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Finish up the remainder of the coiling and wrapping, securing with glue until every area of the ball is covered.

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Stand your little owl buddy up and prepare him/her for finishing.

Yarn Owl Craft tutorial {%{% Homeschool Creations 2015-13

Add your owl’s eyes, beak, and wings. and then pull out the rest of your supplies – because you are going to want to make more of these little cuties!

yarn owl craft tutorial from Homeschool Creations

Simple Pumpkin Crafts and Activities

It’s been several years since we first started these crafts and activities, but they are ones that we love and have made repeatedly – so I’m sure you’ll love them too! One will have your house smelly absolutely wonderful as little hands (and big ones) dig in. The other craft will leave you with some cute little pumpkins to decorate your home.

Pumpkin Pie Playdough Recipe

Pumpkin Pie Playdough recipe

While it may not be the most attractive looking of all playdoughs, this recipe is guaranteed to have your house smelling absolutely yummy in no time at all! We pulled out our pumpkin cookie cutters and the kids had a great time playing with this soft and pumpkin~spiced playdough.

You’ll Need:

~ 2 cups of flour {I had whole wheat on hand}
~ 1 cup salt
~ 4 tsp. cream of tartar
~ 1/4 cup cinnamon
~ 2 Tbsp. cloves
~ 2 Tbsp. nutmeg
~ 2 tsp. ginger
~ 2 cups water
~ 2 Tbsp. oil

pumpkin pie playdough

To Make:

1. Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and spices together in a mixing bowl.

2. Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix together well.

3. Transfer mixture to a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.

4. The dough will begin to thicken and form. When it becomes difficult to stir and is more solid, remove from heat and carefully knead the dough. {Note: dough will be hot!}

5. When dough has cooled, have fun playing. Store in the fridge to help the dough last longer ~ this is great for the holidays!!

 

Paper Strip Pumpkin Craft

 
preschool pumpkin craft

 

These little pumpkins are so super-easy to make and all of our kids enjoy making them to hang around our house!

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Orange construction paper cut into 1" strips
  • 1" strip of brown construction paper
  • 2 leaves cut out of green construction paper
  • 2 brads
  • hole punch
preschool pumpkin craft

 

1. Stack the orange strips of paper together. Use a hole punch to put holes in the end of the strips. Depending on how many strips you are trying to punch through, you many need to do it a few pieces at a time.

2. Take one brad, poke it through the hole, and fasten the strips together.

 
preschool pumpkin craft

 

3. Fold the brown strip in half {for the stem} and use the hole punch to punch through the stem, leaves, and the strips on the opposite end. Push another brad through and fasten.

 
preschool pumpkin craft

 

4. Spread or ‘fluff’ out the paper strips until it forms a round pumpkin shape. Hang and enjoy!

preschool pumpkin craft

 

What are your favorite pumpkin crafts and activities? Leave a link and share!

DIY Paper Star Craft

The following post is a guest post from my daughter Laurianna. One of her writing assignments this year was to explain a process,  so her mother is taking full advantage and having her turn it into a blog post for extra credit. These paper stars have been showing up in one form or another over the last few months, so she is glad to have an excuse to make more!

How to Make a Paper Star Tutorial from homeschoolcreations.net

 

Paper stars are a simple craft activity that will add color to a room. It is also a great way to keep kids busy and use up any extra scrapbook paper you may have on hand.

Supplies for a Paper Star Craft:

The following supplies will be needed for each star that is made. To make a smaller size, adjust the paper size accordingly, keeping the paper size square. How to Make a Paper Star Tutorial from homeschoolcreations.net-1

How to Make a Paper Star

Paper Star Tutorial folding directions from homeschoolcreations.net

Pick out two pieces of 12” x 12” patterned paper, and set one aside. Fold the first piece horizontally with the patterned side facing in, both ways (see picture 1) and then unfold. Next fold the paper diagonally with the patterned side facing out and crease in both directions (see picture 2). Paper Star Tutorial Cutting Steps from homeschoolcreations.net

Cut the paper about 2.5” toward the center of the paper, following the horizontal creases (see picture 3). Then fold the corners into the diagonal creases (picture 4), making the edges touch. Repeat on all points until the paper resembles picture 5. If you accidentally cut too far toward the center, use scotch tape to fix it (see picture 6).

Paper Star Tutorial Gluing Instructions from homeschoolcreations.net

Apply the tacky glue in a triangular shape on the right flap of each point (picture 7). Overlap the left side onto the right side with the glue (picture 8)and hold together for about 30 seconds to allow the glue to set (picture 9). Grab the other sheet of 12” x 12” paper and repeat the above steps to make a second half star.

Paper Star Tutorial Threading from homeschoolcreations.net

In order to hang the star, tie the piece of string to a small pony bead (picture 10). Thread the opposite end of the string through the yarn needle (picture11) and push the needle through one of the points on the star (picture 12). 

Paper Star Tutorial final step from homeschoolcreations.net

The star is almost complete! Apply the tacky glue to the bottom corners of one half of the star (picture 13). Lay the other half of the star on top so the points alternate, and press firmly to allow the glue to set. Hang and enjoy your beautiful paper star!  

Disclaimer :: As a mom I am 100% milking this writing assignment for all it is worth. Some of the WriteShop Basic assignment was altered to make it a better fit as a blog post, but extra credit was given since it technically meant Laurianna had to rewrite parts of it. All enjoyment for working on crafts as part of a writing assignment is purely coincidental and results may vary in your home – grins.


How to Make a Resurrection Garden using Wheat Grass

Want to make a Resurrection Garden, but think you don’t have the time? Wheat grass sprouts overnight and you can have grass in just a few days!! The picture below shows our garden on the fifth day ~ it grows that quickly!

Resurrection Garden Tutorial 2

I know there are so many ideas floating around for Resurrection Gardens, and our kids have been so excited to put ours together this year.  The Resurrection Garden is a hands-on reminder of what Easter is really about ~ a visual reminder of the tomb and all that it signifies!

For our Resurrection Garden, we used wheat grass and the results were so much faster than using grass seed {only 2 days!!}. I first tried growing wheat grass {sprouted wheat berries, or grain that is used to make bread} last year, and it was so simple and more lush than standard grass seed! Thanks to a great Easter Grass tutorial from my friend Amanda, it seemed to be the way to go for our Resurrection Garden as well.

How to Make a Resurrection Garden

If you’d like to make your own Resurrection Garden using wheat grass, you’ll need to grab just a few supplies, several that can be found outside.

  • Potting soil
  • A large pot base {I picked up a clay base at Walmart}
  • a small pot {to use as a tomb}
  • wheat berries ~ can be found at many whole food stores {see tip below}
  • a rock to cover the mouth of the tomb
  • small stones/pebbles, if desired
  • spray bottle
  • sticks and string to make crosses {we’re adding ours on Good Friday}
  • large pot {optional}

Quick tip: We grind our own wheat, so I had wheat berries on hand to use. If you don’t have any, you should be able to find some at your local whole foods store ~ or bug a friend who grinds her own wheat! :)

Resurrection Garden-2

1. Soak the wheat berries in water for at least 4 hours or overnight. This will help the wheat berries to sprout quickly!

 

Resurrection Garden-1

2. Lay your small pot on its side and fill the large pot base with soil. Arrange the pieces of your Resurrection Garden as you would like ~ stones for a pathway and any other decorations you desire {moss, flowers, etc…}.

 

Resurrection Garden-3

3. Gently place the soaked wheat berries on top of the soil, where you would like the grass to grow. Using the spray bottle, spritz the wheat berries thoroughly!

 

Resurrection Garden-1-3

4. Once the wheat berries have been spritzed well, cover the tray to create a ‘greenhouse’ of sorts. I used a large pot as a dome to keep the moisture inside. Spritz every few hours {well, other than overnight!}.

 

Resurrection Garden-1-4

5. Watch for sprouts! We placed our wheat berries around 6pm at night and when we took the top off the next morning at 7am, they had already started sprouting! You can now remove the cover off and have your kids spritz it throughout the day ~ keep it moist!

Here’s a look at the fast progress of the wheat grass on the morning of Day 2:

Resurrection Garden-1-5

The morning of Day 3:

Resurrection Garden-2-2

This is the morning of Day 5:

photo

On Good Friday we’re going to add three crosses to the garden and roll the stone over the opening of the tomb {and perhaps have the kids find one that is a wee bit smaller!}.

The kids have really enjoyed putting the together and seeing the grass grow so quickly. It’s been a GREAT visual reminder as well for the Easter season.

image

We’re also reading Amon’s Adventure by Arnold Ytreeide, which is a daily story you can read together as a family in the days and weeks before Easter. Because we started late, we’re reading several chapters a day, but the kids have loved it, especially since it follows some of the characters in the books we read at Christmas in the Jotham’s Journey series.

Mini Campfire Craft

 

Campfire craft for kids

You’ll Need

  • cd-rom disk
  • small twigs
  • small rocks
  • red and yellow tissue paper
  • hot glue {and obviously parental supervision}

To Build Your Own Campfire

1. Hot glue the rocks around the edge of the disk.

2. Break the twigs into small pieces and glue them ‘campfire style’ inside the ring of rocks.

3. Crumple up small squares of the tissue paper and glue them in the sticks to look like fire.

4. Roast a mini marshmallow over your fire!

 

More Camping Fun

Camping printable pack for preschool and kindergarten

Extend the camping fun with this camping printable pack for preschool and kindergarten – a little something for all!