Here’s some great, fun and relatively simple paper craft ideas from Parents.Com. My 5-year-old daughter loved making a paper mobile with a monarch butterfly theme – we gathered sticks from our yard and printed out monarch butterflies on paper to cut and color! Now over her art table she has her butterflies overhead! The paper chain caterpillar is also great for counting down to a trip, birthday or any special event/date! My 5-year-old also liked making “fancy & pretty” fans out of thick stationary. So take a look and give these a try – they are relatively inexpensive and super fun!
Easy
Paper Crafts for Your Kids
Your kids will love tearing daily links from this adorable paper-chain caterpillar to count down the days until an exciting trip or event!
Make It: Trim a few sheets of colorful double-sided cardstock into strips. Staple or glue the edges together as you help your kids form the chain. Accent the caterpillar with cute pom-pom feet, googly eyes, and a heart-shape felt-sticker mouth. Finish this cute little guy by punching two small holes in the head and threading a short chenille stem through each to create curly antennae.
At last — a delicious-looking ice cream cone that won’t melt in the summer sun!
Make It: Roll textured brown cardstock into a cone shape and secure with a brown brad. Crumble a piece of tissue paper into a ball, and help your child tape strips of colorful patterned paper around it. Attach to the cone. Use red buttons and a little hemp string for a perfect cherry topper.
Your children can use their imaginations to create mosaic-style landscapes that look picture-perfect as place mats on your dining room table.
Make It: Select a large piece of cardstock or thin cardboard for the backdrop. Sketch rough outlines of a simple landscape or have your kids create their own. Let your kids tear colored paper to glue onto the cardboard. When the design is finished, take it to an office supply store for laminating.
Capture your child’s summer memories in this easy-to-make index-card book. Your child can choose people, places, and activities to add under each letter of the alphabet.
Make It: Help your child plan fun ideas for each letter; cut out corresponding pictures from magazines or take your own photos. Mat images with patterned paper and adhere to index cards.
To display a letter on each page, write the letter on a white circle and mat with patterned paper. Separate each page with plastic index-card dividers, and create a durable back cover by trimming the tab from an extra divider. Punch holes in the upper corners of the cards and dividers and insert a binder ring. Tie pretty ribbon on the ring. Decorate the cover with stickers to complete this unforgettable keepsake.
Cooling down on a hot day has never been sweeter! Let your children choose paper to fit their personalities.
Make It: For each fan, trim a 12×12-inch piece of heavyweight cardstock to 8×12 inches. Use a decorative border punch along a long edge of the sheet. To simplify the folding process, score at every inch with a scoring blade. Fold accordion-style. Gather at the bottom edge, punch a hole through all folds, and tie a decorative ribbon to complete a lovely fair-weather fan.
Watch your child’s artwork twist and twirl at even the slightest gusts when you hang paper clip art characters on this cute mobile.
Make It: Select royalty-free clip art to use for your mobile (we chose nature-theme images). You’ll need two versions: the standard icon and the icon flipped to be the mirror image (most image-processing software will allow you to do this; if you can’t, simply doodle on one side of the art before hanging it). Print the standard images. Turn the paper over in your printer and print the mirror image on the back. Have your child color both sides with markers or crayons. Cut out the images when he’s done, punching a hole in the top of each.
Cover two dowels with patterned paper and tie them together with ribbon to form an X shape. Attach string to the images and hang them from the ends of the dowels. Add string at the top to hang the mobile.
This adorable paper kite is made from an old map — perfect for inspiring all kinds of lofty adventures.
Make It: Tie two dowels (one dowel should be longer than the other) into a cross shape with twine. Cut a notch on the edge of each dowel and stretch a string around the kite frame. Open a map and lay the frame on top. Trim around the frame, leaving a few inches to fold over the edges. Adhere the paper around the frame. Tie a long string for the tail to the back of the kite. Embellish the tail with ribbons and decorate the kite with a white paper cloud and theme stickers.
Your child will love watching the summer sun shine right through this beautiful “stained-glass” wall hanging made from colorful tissue paper.
Make It: Paint an embroidery hoop in your child’s favorite color. Cut the outline of a butterfly — or any other shape — from cardstock, to fit inside the hoop. Place the butterfly onto a piece of clear contact paper, sticky side up. Let your child tear up colored tissue paper to stick onto the wings. When you’re done, place a sheet of tissue paper over the butterfly and add another layer of contact paper, sticky side down. Place inside the hoop and trim the edges. Hang with a ribbon near a sunny window.
Help your child keep her spare change ready for a shopping trip with this adorable papier-mache bowl.
Make It: Line the inside and rim of a small glass bowl with plastic wrap. Have your kids tear up colorful tissue paper and stick the pieces to the inside of the bowl using a simple mixture of white glue and water. After you’ve added a few layers, let it dry; remove the glass bowl and plastic wrap. Have your kids spell out “savings” in cute letter stickers. Add a little decoration by punching holes around the rim of the bowl and threading a pretty ribbon through.
Copyright & copy 2010 Meredith Corporation.
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