Make Fun Crafts with and for Your Kid with Project Kid

April 8, 2017 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I’m a sucker for craft idea books. I don’t always make projects directly out of them, but I think they’re a lot of fun to look at, and to have on hand for those days when the girl wants to do something crafty but doesn’t have any ideas of her own.

Project Kid: 100 Ingenious Crafts for Family Fun by Amanda Kingloff was inspired by upcycling, reusing and re-envisioning basic household items into something new.

The projects are divided into general categories:

animal kingdom
hold everything
home sweet home
playtime
ready to wear
the great outdoors
abstract expressions

Each project includes a detailed supply list and lots of step-by-step instructions. While the title of the book makes it seem like kids would be creating these projects themselves (at least to me), many of them will at least require supervision, if not just the adult doing it themselves.

That said, there are definitely projects here that I would love to make for or with my kid. To name a few: butterflies made out of joiner biscuits (in a shadowbox for extra cuteness), a pom-pom covered pull toy made from cardboard and old toy cars, tiny suitcases made out of mint tins, envelopes made out of book jackets, a super cute Melissa and Doug tray upgrade made with paint chips, woven paper cups used to decorate twinkle lights, a photo family tree made out of branches, a homemade memory game made with a kid’s drawings, a super cute hot air balloon made from a yogurt cup and a paper lantern, a pirate ship made out of newspaper, necklaces made from old T-shirts and a bird feeder made from a nut can.

These aren’t all completely original — what book is? — but there are some good ideas and basic techniques here that should get you and your crafty kiddos thinking about fun projects you can make together.

Learn more about the book (there’s a new one, too) and get more cute projects on the Project Kid website.

Next Plan Idea:

Activities and Ideas for the 100th Day of School

Have you read?

Turkey in Disguise Activities

Every year at my daughter’s school I think it’s the second or third graders do an activity where they have to disguise a turkey to keep it from being eaten at Thanksgiving. The kids draw the disguise and write a little bit about why they thing that would be an effective way for the turkey to hide. There were some really creative ideas, including one year one was dressed as an eraser for some reason?

If this is an activity you’d like to try with kids in the classroom or at home, check out these turkey in disguise printables to get you started.

If you want to keep it totally basic you can just print out a turkey in disguise coloring sheet like these from The Best Ideas for Kids. There are a few different options kids can use to decorate and they write in what their turkey is disguised as.

My Bored Toddler has a similar printable that just asks what the child will cover the turkey with to hide it. This one would be fun to use in a plastic sleeve or laminated, then you can use it with playdough, cover it with leaves or glass gems or draw on it and use it again.

Easy Peasy and Fun has a paper doll-inspired take on turkey disguises, with printable costumes you can take on and off to hide your turkey quickly. The disguise is attached to the regular turkey with a tab so you can flip it up and down to have a regular turkey or one disguised as a peacock, football player, astronaut and more. This one includes a writing activity so students can explain why they picked the disguise they did and why they think it will work.

Red Ted Art has a set of 12 disguises you can buy (or you can get six random costumes for free) that come in both color and black and white. Kids can just assemble the turkeys or they can color them and then put them together. The set includes a basketball player, pirate, chef, unicorn, mermaid, robot and more. It doesn’t include a writing activity but you could also have kids write about which character they picked and why.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

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