Easy Kids Crafts | Paper Cup Terrarium

Help your child discover his green thumb with this easy-to-make paper cup terrarium. His eyes will be wide with wonder as he watches his plant grow bigger every day.

Make it: Use markers to decorate a paper cup. Fill the cup with soil and place a small green plant inside. Give the plant a companion by adding a toy insect, a butterfly, or even a dinosaur on top of the soil. Cover the plant with a clear plastic cup and tape the two cups together. Place your new terrarium near a sunny window, add a little TLC, and track its growth together.

Paper Plate Banjo

Indulge your kids' musical fantasies with this simple banjo made from paper plates and a few well-tuned rubber bands. Making music was never this much fun!

Make it: Stack two thick-weight paper plates and staple them together for durability. Let your kids paint the stacked plates their favorite colors and decorate them with stickers. Attach a paint stick to the back of the stacked plates and glue beads to the end as the pegs. Finally, add strings by stretching rubber bands around the stacked plates.

Printable Valentines

Here is a free printable Valentine if you need something quick and easy. I am going to have my little girl make these for her class———-I am sure the next ones will have a generous helping of glitter for embellishment!

Download Butterfly Valentine ,print on colored card-stock, cut out, make slits for sucker, add some decorations (cut out shapes of paper, stickers, glitter, etc.), insert sucker and then add some wiggly eyes to the top of the sucker. Add a piece of tape to the back to keep the sucker securely in place.

Fun Stick Puppets | Kids Craft

Supplies and Tools
* Bucket of sticky-back craft foam shapes
* Colored craft sticks
* Tacky glue
* Scissors

Directions
1. Carefully cut away paper on back of foam shapes only where craft stick will be placed. Note: Adult supervision may be needed to cut paper from back of sticker.

2. Glue craft stick to foam shape.

3. If desired, two sticks can be glued together for a longer puppet handle.

Skill Level: No experience necessary

Approximate Crafting Time: 30 minutes

Pretty Pencil Pinwheel | Kids Crafts

This cute little buggy mobile is a time consuming project, but the results are well worth the time invested! You can shorten the time of this craft by making it a group project. Let each child make one bug to hang on the mobile and it’ll come together in no time.

What you'll need:

* Colored card stock or construction paper
* Thumbtack or stick pin
* Pencil with new eraser
* White craft glue
* Scissors
* Sequins
* Pattern

How to make it:

1. Print the pattern onto plain copy or printer paper.
2. Cut the square pattern out, cutting on the solid lines.
3. Lay pattern on top of colored paper and trace the square. Cut out the square from the colored paper.
4. Keep the pattern square on top of the colored square. Either hold it in place with your fingers or tape it down lightly on two of the sides.
5. Cut through the pattern and the colored paper along the dotted lines but do not cut in to the center circle.
6. Use a thumbtack or stick pin to poke out the holes in every other corner as indicated on the pattern. Set the pattern piece aside.
7. Take one corner (one with a hole) and fold it toward the center of the square. Fold the next corner that has a hole and fold it toward the center on top of the first holed corner. Repeat with the other two corners with holes until all four are folded into the center. Glue the folds to each other and to the center. Hold together until dry.
8. Push the thumbtack through the center of the pinwheel and into the eraser of the pencil. Make sure the pinwheel isn’t touching the eraser or it won’t spin.
9. Glue some sequins to the flaps of the pinwheel and let dry.

Tips:

* You can use plain white paper and have children color with crayons or markers to decorate before cutting out the pinwheel pattern.
* Decorate with lightweight items such as sequins and stickers or glitter glue. Items like buttons and craft jewels are too heavy.
* If the pinwheel isn’t turning properly, try using a longer stick pin rather than a thumbtack to allow more room between the pinwheel and the eraser.