Let’s celebrate Cherry Blossom season!

Supplies:

• Pink, red, white tissue paper
• Glue

Instructions:

1. Print the Kraftykid tree branch template.
2. Tear the pink, red, white tissue paper into small squares about 1 ½ inch square.
3. Scrunch the paper together to form a small ball.
4. Glue to the empty branch.

Supplies:

• Kraftykid Rubber Ducky Door Knob Hanger template
• Scissors
• Glue
• Markers
• Glitter pens or glitter (if desired)

Instructions:

1. Print the Kraftykid Rubber Ducky Door Knob Hanger template
2. Cut out the hanger.
3. Have children write their names on the door knob hanger and decorate as desired.

Today, Cinco de Mayo continues to be celebrated with parades, dancing and specialty foods and is a fun holiday to celebrate with children to help teach diversity. We think these musical shakers are a great choice to tie in with this holiday while at the same time using a craft to help play music! The kids love to play music during their parade around the room.

You can make these shakers using and decorating empty toilet paper rolls, filling them with beans or macaroni, and shaking them to create music for your Cinco de Mayo classroom parade.

Supplies:

• Kraftykid Cinco De Mayo Pictures
• Empty toilet tissue roll
• Red, green, and yellow paint.
• Beans or macaroni
• White craft glue
• Scissors
• Tape or stapler

Instructions:

1. Paint the empty toilet paper roll using the red, green, and yellow paint.
2. Let dry.
3. Print the Kraftykid Cinco De Mayo Pictures for the musical shaker.
4. Cut out the pieces and glue to the painted toilet tissue roll.
5. Fill with beans or macaroni.
6. Tape or staple the ends of the roll.

We added some brown yarn for the mane and tail and some small pompoms for the antenna and nose.  We also found some great zebra printed paper to use for the background to create a cute, safari theme.  You could also try adding some green leaves along the side of the paper to make it look like he’s having his lunch.

Kids really like to see how different items can be used for painting and then watching the results and bubble printing is a technique that kids are sure to like. Next, try making a rainbow using a sponge, painting with a comb to make wavy lines, sponge painting, and symmetical painting using napkins and markers.  All of these techniques teach children that art is fun and opens their minds to different possibilities.

This is a fun and easy craft to make for a safari-themed party or to make for school class when studying animals from Africa.

Supplies:

• Kraftykid bubbleprint giraffe template

• Googley eyes

• Scissors

• Glue

• Brown paint

• Bubble wrap

• Construction paper

• Brown yarn

Instructions:

1. Print the Kraftykid bubbleprint giraffe template and cut out.

2. Dip the bubble wrap into brown paint and gently press on the giraffe to create spots.

3. Let dry.

4. Cut brown yarn into 1 inch pieces and glue to the giraffe’s neck and tail.

5. Glue the tail to the giraffe.

6. Glue googley eyes to the giraffe’s face.

7. Draw a mouth and nose.

8. Glue the giraffe to the construction paper.

Supplies:

• Kraftykid little chick necklace template

• Scissors

• Hole puncher

• String or plastic cord

• Straws

Instructions:

1. Print out the Kraftykid little chick necklace template.

2. Cut out the birds.

3. Punch holes using the hole puncher about 1 inch down from where the head meets the body.

4. Cut the straws into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces.

5. Thread one piece of the straw onto the cord and tie into a knot to keep the string secure and the pieces don’t fall off.

6. Complete the necklace by threading, a bird, a piece of straw, a bird, straw, ect. until you complete the necklace.

7. Tie securely when finished. Cute, right?

Materials:

• Kraftykid Outer Space Drawing template

• Scissors

• Glue

• White Construction paper

• Sponge

• Gray paint

• Bold colorful paints, markers or crayons

• Black permanent marker

• 3-D dots

Instructions:

1. Print out the Kraftykid Outer Space Drawing template and cut out the pieces.

2. Have children color the images with their bold paints, marker, or crayons. Or alternatively, have children make and draw their own rockets, planets, and stars.

3. With gray paint, sponge the white construction paper to give a mottled effect for the sky.

4. Glue the decorated pieces onto the ‘sky’ using 3-d dots to give them a multi-dimensional effect.

Materials:

• Kraftykid weather mobile template

• Yarn

• Scissors

• Wire clothes hanger

• Cardboard paper towel roll

• Paper hole punch

• Paints

• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Print the free, downloadable Kraftykid weather mobile template, 2 per child.

2. Cut out all of the shapes. You will have two of each picture.

3. Cut a long slit all the way down the cardboard roll and punch holes about 1inch deep from the edge, spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart so that you have six holes.

4. Paint the roll and let dry.

5. Cut 6 pieces of yarn in varied lengths.

6. Knot each piece of yarn several times so that the knot is bigger than the punched hole.

7. Pull each piece of yarn through a hole in the roll so that the knot keeps the yarn in place.

8. Slide the roll onto the clotheshanger and twist it so the holes are at the bottom.

9. Glue the piece of yarn between the two matching pictures.

Materials:

• Kraftykid’s free, downloadable Shark template

• White envelope (business or legal size)

• Gray and black oil pastels

• Tape

Instructions:

1. Print the Kraftykid’s free, downloadable Shark template.

2. Cut the shark pieces (teeth, and small fin).

3. Color the envelope with gray pastel or crayon. Hint: If you can find gray legal envelopes you can have the kids skip this step.

4. Cut a triangle from one of the short edges to make the mouth.

5. Tape the triangle to the top as the fin.

6. Glue the teeth inside of the shark’s mouth.

7. Glue the small fin to the side of the shark.

8. Use the black pastel to draw an eye, eyebrow, and details for the fin.

9. Trim off the edge of the envelope opposite of the mouth, making an opening for your hand.

10. Put your hand in the puppet to make your shark move (watch your fingers of course. It is a shark after all ).

No Seder is complete without a special plate highlighting all of the Passover symbols:

Charoset, a delicious mixture of apples, walnuts, red wine, cinnamon and sugar, symbolizing the mortar used to build Pyramids in ancient Egypt Bitter herbs, usually horseradish, reminding us of the difficulties endured by our ancestors Greens (can be parsley, lettuce or celery), representing spring and a time of new beginnings an Egg, symbolizing the circle of life a Shankbone or neck of poultry, reminding us of the mighty arm of God.

Supplies:

seder-plate-craft

• One round plastic or sturdy paper plate
• Five paper muffin cups
• Craft glue
• Glitter and stickers if desired

Instructions:

1. Print the Kraftykid Seder template and cut out the circles to be used inside your muffins cups: Charoset, Bitter herbs, Greens, Egg and Shankbone.
2. Glue the five cups around the perimeter of your plate using a small dab of white craft glue.
3. Once the glue has set and the cups are securely fastened to the plate, glue your five circles inside the cups.
4. Use glitter and stickers for decoration, if desired.

Tips:

• If your plate is small, glue the cups onto the rim of the plate to spread things out and leave you more surface to decorate.
• When you’re done with the glitter, shake the excess directly into the garbage can to avoid a big, sparkly mess

This little yellow Easter chick handprint craft is just too cute!  And movable too! We love handprint crafts so much that we try to include one each month.  Parents and grandparents love to receive them as gifts and they make great keepsake gifts. The fact that this craft is movable, makes it great fun to play with too.

Supplies:

• handprint-chick-craft
• 2 sheets of yellow construction paper
• 2 paper fasteners
• 2 large wiggley eyes
• White craft glue
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Trace child’s hands onto yellow construction paper and cut out.
2. Print the Kraftykid Easter chick template and cut out the pieces.
3. Position the wings (children’s handprints) on the oval with the fingers facing away from the body.
4. Attach the wings to the body by pushing the fasteners through the construction paper.  Hint:  Poke a hole through the paper with a sharp pencil.
5. Fold the diamond in half to create the beak and glue one side of the diamond to the oval so that the beak is three dimensional and can open and close.
6. Glue wiggley eyes above the beak.
7. Position the legs under the oval. When you have them where you want them, glue them in place.
8. Glue the feet onto the legs.