crafts with kids – NaturalKids Team

Posted on April 4, 2013

Natural Easter Egg Dying

Easter egg dying is a fun Easter tradition! The weeks leading up to Easter are pretty hectic around our home with getting Armadillo Dreams orders shipped in time for Easter delivery. We always make sure we still have time to enjoy some fun activities with our kids on Easter weekend. This past weekend we did some egg dying and had a great time!

We really wanted our egg dying to be a little more natural and safe this year. We were excited when we found Eco-Eggs egg dying kits! They are made using natural plant, fruit and vegetable extracts. The kit comes with three dyes that can be mixed to achieve 6 different colors, a color/time chart, a wire egg dipper and a piece of wax. The kit is also packaged in super cute and recyclable packaging.

Knowing that the eggs would be safe to eat even if any dye seeped in through the pores in the eggs was a great feeling. Did you know that a single egg shell is covered with as many as 17,000 microscopic pores? Egg shells are a “semipermeable membrane”, which means that air and moisture can pass through its pores.

First we hard boiled 2 dozen eggs. Then we put the dyes into three cups filled with just enough water to fully submerge an egg. Next we used the piece of wax that was included in the kit to write/draw some fun things on the eggs. Next we dyed all of the eggs six different colors. To get the different colors some eggs had to be in the cups for up to fifteen minutes, some for just a few seconds. A few of the colors required putting an egg in one cup and then a second cup to mix the colors. The eggs turned out really neat and looked a lot more earthy than a lot of the very brightly colored eggs I remembered as a kid. They looked a lot more appetizing since they weren’t all screaming in neon! The wax writing on the eggs really showed well.

Lucy and Lincoln had a lot of fun hunting for the Eggs…

We hope everyone had a great Easter! We had a wonderful Easter and we will be doing natural egg dying again next year for sure! Has anyone else ever used natural egg dyes before? We would love to hear about your experiences with them!

– The Cowell Family (Dustin, Amanda, Lucy and Lincoln)

You can also read more about our family on our blog, Wild Armadillos.

Posted on January 20, 2013

Using a Peg Loom

Growing up, my parents always gave my brother and I a craft to do for Christmas. My husband and I have taken on that tradition ourselves and this year we got our family a peg loom.

Peg looms are a very simple loom design that are often seen in Waldorf kindergartens. Comprised of a solid base with holes for removable pegs and pegs with a hole in the bottom for the warp to go through, the design really is very simple to make. The great thing about peg looms is that you only put in as many pegs as you want the width of your project to be.

We got a large loom but started off on our first project with only a few pegs. Putting the warp thread through the bottom you only have to weave in and out of the pegs back and forth.

When you are done the length you wish, you pull the pegs out slowly and pull the warp thread through carefully. Then when all the warp threads are through the weft, you tie off their ends and you have your project. We then felted our project by throwing it in our regular wash and drier and made it in to a doll pillow.

Because it is so simple to use, you can make a project in no time. My daughter, who is three, made this project in 15 minutes with minimal guidance by herself. You can make chair cushions out of roving, rugs, and coasters. We love ours and are looking forward to more creative projects to come.

Posted on December 14, 2012

December Traditions: Pagan Yule part II

A new thing we have is a little collection of holiday books. They are to be saved until the first day of snow, when I take them out and read one of them. How the kids are thrilled when we take them out of the box!

Our main solstice tradition is to have a great meal together. A cipaille, potatoe candies, candy cane bark and other delightful things!

A cipaille is a slowy cook dish composed of various meats; originally woodland hunted animals such as moose, white-tailed dear, perdrix and hare, it is now more commonly made with beef, porc, calf and chicken. You would need a lot of potatoes too! As much as many different kinds of meats as you have. And a good broth of chicken or beef. Cut everything in cubes and throw into a big deep dish and add the broth with some allspice and thyme, let your meat and potato marinate in it for a while. Get it out of the fridge and cover with your favorite crust recipe. Put it oven and let it cook slowly for around 6h. My mom used to start it before going to bed and let it cook over night. We’d wake up to the wonderful smell and have some for breakfast!

(Image source)

The other thing we like to do on solstice night is take a walk in the brisk air. I remember walking with my mother once. It has been warm that day and actually rained, which never happens in Québec in December, and it froze in the night. The trees, all departed of their leaves, were covered in icecles and illuminated by the street lamps. It was gorgeous!

I also do a personal ritual; a very simple one. I reflect on what happened to me and my family since the Summer Solstice, how and what changed, what did not. Then I think about the half of year to come. What I’d like to achieve until Summer Solstice, little goals I set to myself. I can also write a wish on a paper and burn it to send my message to the universe.

This is a time where we will be moving a lot; we are renting and planning to buy a house to sell it some years later and move back to our original region. That much to say that I didn’t want to be bothered moving the huge plastic pine someone kindly gave to us along with us every move. I told myself I’d find something good enough for a Yule tree that is not time consuming and ecological. I came up with a construction paper evergreen that my daughter helped me with; She cut all the fringes while I was doing the gluing. Her brother was doing the “I mess around with any other craft supply on hand” part of the project. It’s way too small to put on any handmade ornaments we have… But it fit that salt dough moon that purposefully watches over the cedar bed.

I hope you like this little intrusion in our family’s custom! Please stay in tune to read what other families are doing in December!

Posted on November 27, 2012

Tutorial: Making Simple Felt Tea Bags With Your Child

Southern England is really starting to cool down now. It rains most days, and when it isn’t raining it looks like it might. There is a lot of tea brewing in our house. So much so that our daughter makes make-believe tea more than anything else on her play stove. We were given two beautiful tins of tea years ago when visiting my family in Canada and I haven’t been able to throw them away. I decided that it was time to hand them over to the playroom but first, a craft that my three year old daughter could do with me. Make some tea bags. I am sure there are many more sophisticated ways to do the following but that wasn’t the point of this craft. We were sewing, cutting and using up some of mama’s scrap felt pieces.

What you will need:

Scissors

Embroidery Thread

Darning needle (very blunt round tip needle)

Scraps of fabric or felt

Cut a square of felt the size of a tea bag

Cut another square of felt the size of the tag

Measure and cut a piece of embroidery thread

Help guide your child to pull the thread all the way through the bag a few times then tie off

Repeat for the tag!

Brew

(please pardon our duct taped tea pot)

Posted on November 20, 2012

Dyeing Wool with Kids

In our family we love rainbows, and once in a while we wish for rainbow colored wool. While pure wool yarn is not difficult to obtain here in Kenya, the colored part is the challenge, unless you are into some DIY and crafting with kids. . .

A few years back I learned that it is rather easy to dye your own wool with food color of all things. Food color easily dies protein fibers (e.g. wool and silk), but not others like cotton and man-made fibers. This makes it a great craft project to undertake with your kids as most spills in clothes will easily wash out again.

What you need for this project:

Wool yarn
Food coloring
Vinegar
Plastic gloves (food dye can stain your hands for a day or two)
Cling wrap and/or old towel
A microwave (alternatively use a steaming pot or the sun)

First, in the event that your wool is in a ball, unwind it and create a skein. It’s easy to use the back of a chair to do this. Tie the skein loosely in a couple of places with some left over wool, or another string.

Soak the skein for an hour or longer in a solution of half vinegar and half water. This vinegar bath is the mordant for the dyeing process and it is important to ensure the bath is completed before starting this craft with your kids.

Select the colors in which you want to dye your wool and mix them with some water to the desired shade. The amount of ‘dye’ depends on the number of colors and amount of wool you want to dye. I used five colors and each color was less than half a glass of fluid.

Cover your work surface with cling wrap, or if you are eliminating the use of plastic an old towel will also work well. Take the skein out of the mordant and squeeze excess fluid gently out of the wool. Place the skein on the work surface and carefully spoon the dye onto the wool. Gently squeeze the dye into the wool, ensuring that it gets absorbed well. Work color for color and be aware that the colors might blend.

Then carefully transfer the wool to a microwave safe dish or plate and cover it loosely with cling wrap. Microwave the wool for 5 minutes, check on the progress and then microwave it on high for another 3 minutes. This cooking of the wool will help set the color.

If you do not have a microwave you can also steam the wool in steamer pot, or have the wool covered with the cling wrap steam in the sun. Do an internet search for the timing and instructions for these steaming methods.

Place the wool in an area where it can dry, but make sure it is not in the direct sunlight.

Once the wool has dried, you can wind it into a ball and it is ready to use.

A fun project to undertake with kids, and there is more fun to be had in deciding together on a new project in which to use the yarn!

Happy dyeing!

Andrea

Posted on September 18, 2012

Make a Jacaranda Seedpod Gnome

It’s the time of the year where the Jacaranda tree is starting to get its summer blossoms here in the Southern Hemisphere and the seedpods are starting to fall. The Jacaranda Tree is a beautiful subtropical tree with gorgeous purple flowers that bloom two times in a year, in early spring before the leaves return, and then again in summer after the leaves have grown.

The seedpods are perfect to craft with and create cute little gnome ornaments. They are perfect for the Nature Table, Christmas tree, or just as a playful ornament around the house. Here’s a brief tutorial for a craft you can do together with your kids.

Items needed: jacaranda tree seedpods (remove the seeds if the pod is opened up) that have some of the stem still attached, wooden beads (14/15mm), felt, thread/embroidery floss, needle, scissors, craft knife and craft glue.

First, select a seedpod that you want to work with and check if the bead fits over the little stem. Shave some of the stem off with the craft knife in case that the joint is to think (be careful though!).

Cut a piece of felt in shape of a triangle that will be the gnome hat. We made a long pointy hat, but you can shape it as you want. Thread a needle with embroidery floss or a few strands of thread and sew the hat. We used the blanket stitch to do this.

Put some craft glue on the stem of the seed and slide the bead on it. Let it dry.

Take another piece of thread – this will be the loop from the head on which the gnome hangs – and thread the needle. From the inside of the hat, find the top and stick the needle through, pull the thread through and then stick the needle back into the top of the hat again – a loop had formed on the top of the hat. Take the two ends on the ‘inside’ of the hat and knot them securely together a few times so that the knot is large enough to not slip through the top of the hat.

Put some craft glue on the top of the bead and place the hat on it, let it dry thoroughly and you are ready.

In case you have no Jacaranda Seedpods available, you can also find the ready made gnomes in the ziezo shop

Posted on August 13, 2012

Tutorial: Bubble Wands

One of summer’s biggest outdoor fun is to blow bubbles. But when you have little ones around, loosing the tiny plastic bubble wands is a very easy thing to do! Plus, they only make tiny bubbles. I decided I would try my hand at making wire ones like I saw around on the internet and I was pleased at how easy they are to make! Let me show you how we (me and my 4 year old) did!

You will need:

Cooper wire, like the one we use in jewelry
Wood dowel, or found sticks. We used drift wood like in the Solstice wand tutorial
Cookie cutters of various shapes
Cutting tools (jewelry ones works great)

Wrap wire around chosen cookie cutter. Take care to leave some loose so the wire overlaps itself.

This the excess around itself, and leave a good length of the other end before cutting. Wrap your shape around your stick.

That quick, that simple! and you have an awesome magical bubble wand! Now you only need to mix one part dish soap with one part water and pour the mix in a plate. Dip your wand in it and blow, or wave you hand!

You can let your creativity go from the basic shape, and even choose not to use cookie cutter as a guide. Kids like them so much better then the little plastic ones. Go try to make one, but I warn you, it’s addictive and soon you’ll have tons in stock- perfect for summer birthdays!

Posted on April 16, 2012

Butterfly Feelers Tutorial

Did you participate in the give away of the Silk Rainbow Butterfly Wings on this blog on Friday (ends 4.19.2012)? If you already did, you might want to take the next step to make a set of feelers to complete your kids butterfly or other insect costume in a few easy steps. If not, there is still a chance to do so by leaving a comment, and then get working on this tutorial. This is an easy craft that you can do for or with your children.

Materials needed:

– Simple plastic hairband

– 1 pipe cleaner (I used dark green here)

– About 50cm/19” of narrow satin ribbon

– Craft Glue

1) Find the middle of the pipe cleaner and the hairband, and fold the pipe cleaner along the hairband to measure

2) Put glue along the hair band and press the pipe cleaner onto the glue

3) Put a dot of glue onto the pipe cleaner and start winding the ribbon tightly around the ribbon and hair band from one side to the other. Secure the final end with another dot of glue (secure and put pressure on it with a laundry peg)

4) Bend both end of the pipe cleaner up and roll the ends around a pencil or wooden dowel

5) Once the glue has dried thoroughly, put the hair band on your (child’s) head:

Enjoy the play!

Posted on April 9, 2012

Stick Streamer Tutorial

We recently had my son’s fourth birthday and I wanted to do an activity that was easy for a group of children to do: we painted a stick streamer and had lots of running fun with it later during the party.

While I prepared the stick streamers in advance for our party, one can also make them with children. Here are the directions of how I made them.

Materials needed:

– A wooden dowel of approximately 25 cm/10”

– A small eye screw

– A key ring or curtain ring

– An eyelet

– Satin ribbon – I used 1.5 mtrs/60” of 2.5cm/1” wide

Tools needed:

– Scissors

– Hole Punch

– Eyelet punch

1) Screw the eye screw into one end of the dowel and put it aside

2) Fold over the two corners of one end of the ribbon into a triangle and then fold over again

3) Take the hole punch and punch a hole in the triangle

4) Insert the eyelet and punch it in with the eyelet punch

5) Connect the ribbon and stick together by hooking the key ring/curtain ring

Ready for play, or if desired, ready to paint the ribbon with water colours. . .

For painting or material inspiration, also visit MamaMoonTime

Happy Playing!

Posted on April 5, 2012

little spring places

while Spring arrives quickly to other places …. we find ourselves looking at even the littlest greening things to know that she will be returning just as always ….

here is some of what we find as the land starts to green from its shade of brown …

and some other little things we found as well …

and here is what we do …

in tiny cups and glasses ….

and jars that still have no purpose ….

we make little green worlds while we wait for Spring …

hello, I am Pamela of prettydreamer. I am mama to a lovely prettydreamer of my own. I am still in love with toys, storybooks and fairy tales of all kind. I love trees, rocks, maps and unknown places and stumbling upon ideas turned upside-down, folk hands and honest traditions that run deep. and all the other friendly playful things that function or are simply made to bring joy