Craft Ideas

Here are a few simple craft ideas for things that you can make with your children, that will provide them with a lot of fun. All the materials are used are easy to find.

Pom Poms

These are great fun and very easy to make.

You will need:

• Card
• Balls of wool
• Scissors

How to Make Them

• Get two pieces of card and cut them into two identical donut shapes (see above). You can use a compass, or you can draw around appropriately shaped glasses. You can make them any size you like but as a rule of thumb I would make the inner circle half the diameter of the outer circle.
• Put the two pieces of card together, and wrap your wool around them. Keep going until the gap in the centre is filled with wool.
• Cut the loops around the edges of the wool (between the pieces of card) with a pair of scissors. You may not be able to cut through all the wool in one go and you may need to cut it layer by layer.
• Separate the pieces of card a little more and tie wool tightly around the centre of the threads to secure them.
• You can now completely remove the pieces of card - you can cut them off if this is easier, but if you do this, you won't be able to reuse them.
• Tidy up any uneven strands to make your pom-pom look neat.

Pebble Animals

You will need some smooth pebbles of different sizes. The ideal place to find these is on a beach, so remember to collect some when you're next on holiday or by the coast.

You will also need:

• Felt tip pens
• Adhesive
• Paint (oil or acrylic based paints are best)
• Craft varnish
• Bits of felt (felt is easily obtainable in squares from a craft shop)
• Wool or other bits and pieces

Use your imagination to decide what animal you are going to make.

Eg. to make a pebble mouse:

1. Wash the pebble and dry it thoroughly.
2. Paint it the colour of your choice (not too dark)
3. Draw on the eyes, nose and a few whiskers with a felt tip pen.
4. Varnish the stone
5. Make the ears from small felt triangles and glue them into place.
6. Glue a piece of wool into place for the tail.

If you find a large pebble, you could turn it into a rat. Now that would be really cool!

A Felt Dice

I made one of these when I was about 10 at school. They're great.

What you need:

• Six pieces of felt in the same colour, measuring about 15cm square.
• Some felt in a contrasting colour to make the dots on the dice.
• Some stuffing (kapok, old tights or polystyrene beads)

How to make it

1. Sew the squares together into a cube shape, leaving a gap for the stuffing.
2. Stuff the cube and sew it up.
3. Cut out 42 circles of felt from the other contrasting felt (use a 2p piece as a template)
4. Stick the circles of felt onto the appropriate places on the cube - opposite sides should add up to seven - use an ordinary dice as a guide if you're not sure.