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puppets

A great bat craft for Halloween! This flapping bat puppet comes together quickly, so you can spend the rest of your time putting on spooky puppet shows.

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Gather your materials.&nbsp;

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Fold paper in half and draw bat shape.

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Cut out the bat.

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Add eyes and draw fangs.

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Glue a straw on the center of the bat.

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Fold a piece of string in half and thread it through the straw.

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Tape each end of the string to a wing.

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Pull down on the string.

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The bat’s wings flap!

Unlike birds or insects, bats fly using what are essentially super-stretched hands! Inside a bat’s wing are tiny, lightweight arm bones and four incredibly long finger bones, all covered by a thin, flexible skin membrane called the patagium. Because a bat has so many jointed fingers hidden inside its wings, it can bend and twist them in midair to instantly change shape and direction. That high-level flexibility gives bats incredible control, letting them dive, do tight flips, and scoop up bugs on the fly with agility that leaves most feathered birds in the dust.

black paper

scissors

white colored pencil

wiggly eyes

straw

glue

string

tape

Bat Puppet

arts & crafts

bird

animals

Do you think you could flap as fast as a hummingbird? Pay homage to one of nature’s coolest flyers with this easy hummingbird puppet! Whether you're more interested in art, biology, or puppeteering, this activity is sure to please.

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Gather your materials.

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Cut out the shape of a hummingbird body.

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Cut out wings, tail feathers, and belly feathers.

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Glue paper bird parts together.

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Cut a small split in a thin straw and cut a long split in a thicker star.

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Slot the thin straw on the hummingbird’s belly, under its wings, and tape each side.

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Slide the thick straw over the thin straw and push all the way up to the split.

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Tape each side of the split thick straw on a wing.

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Push the bottom of the thin straw up to flap the wings.

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Hummingbird Puppet

Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backward, upside down, and hover completely still in midair. Their trick comes down to a unique shoulder joint that lets their wings rotate in a full figure-eight motion. Instead of just flapping up and down like other birds, a hummingbird sweeps its wings back and forth, generating lift on both the forward and backward strokes! To stay airborne, their tiny wings beat up to 80 times per second, moving so fast that they create a high-pitched humming sound. All that constant flapping requires massive energy, which is why hummingbirds sip nectar almost continuously to keep their high-speed engines running.

Glue Stick

Scissors

Tape

colored paper

Straws (thick and thin)

Hummingbird Puppet

playdate activities

family activity

indoor game

indoor project

game

printable

I've always been inspired by the underlying messages of Dr. Seuss's books. I love that they encourage coloring outside of the lines, trying new things, and exploring creativity in unconventional ways. As a treat for our kid testers, we pulled together this quick game challenging them to explore creativity and get a little goofy! We loved seeing the creatures they dreamed up which were all a little wild and very silly.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/Kiwi_Make-A-Monster-Game.pdf">here</a>&nbsp;to download our printable game board to start playing!

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Download and print our printable game board that assigns a body part to each number of the die. If you like, you can also make up your own! With a marker and paper, have each kid start by drawing the body of their creature.

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Use the game board as a prompt. Have your child roll the dice and draw the body part that corresponds with the number rolled. If they roll a 5, they got the wild card and add anything they want to their drawing!

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Keep rolling until you feel like your monster is complete. Your creature might end up with 6 arms and 3 mouths, but that's all part of the fun!

paper

markers

Make-a-Monster Game

circuit

science project

electronics

battery

Can you complete an LED circuit using a graphite pencil? Learn about the conductive properties of graphite and draw your own design to see it light up!

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Use your graphite pencil and draw any design on your paper. Tip: Draw a simple image where all the lines are connected and make sure to create thick, bold lines with your pencil.

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In your drawing, leave at least a 1 cm gap on opposite ends of your drawing. Mark your positive and negative lines. 

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Once you're done with your design, place the battery on one of the gaps. Align the positive and negative ends with the graphite lines. 

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Take an LED and bend the bottom ends of the wires. 

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Tape the wire at the end of the lines across the other gap, aligning positive and negative wires. Make sure your LED stands upright. The wires should be in contact with the graphite lines. Tip: The longer side of the LED is the positive side.

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What's going on? Graphite is an electrical conductor, perfect for learning about circuits and electricity! Because graphite is low in conductivity, the success of a circuit will depend on the length, thickness, and amount of graphite on the paper. For example, the longer the graphite path is, the dimmer your light will be. It's time to experiment! Try drawing lines of different lengths. Does it make a difference to the LED? Try drawing lines of different thicknesses. Does that make a difference to the LED?

graphite pencil - make sure they are art pencils!

foil

9v battery

leds

Graphite Circuit

nature crafts

nature walk

nature

leaves

decorations

summer crafts

summer fun

homemade craft

Gather up some green leaves and use a roller or press to create natural stamp art. Follow these steps to stamp on canvas, or use the same technique to print lovely leafy cards.&nbsp;

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Gather the materials to make your DIY banner. 

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Start by collecting some of your favorite leaves. Look around your house or campsite to find some different shaped leaves. Remember not to pick them off of trees, only off the ground!

Don't pick the ones that are completely dried out as they will crumble as you try to paint them.

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Cut out several canvas squares, large enough to fit your leaves. You can also try different shapes, such as triangles or a flag shape like we did.

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You may want to cover your work surface for the next few steps. Squeeze some paint into your paint cups or paper plate. Using the spouncer, cover a leaf with an even layer of paint.

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Press the leaf, paint side down, onto the canvas. 

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Lay another piece of scrap canvas over the leaf and use the paint roller to roll over the leaf and transfer the paint. The extra layer of canvas helps to keep the leaf flat and in place as you roll over it.

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Carefully lift the canvas and the leaf. You should have a cool leaf imprint on the flag! If the imprint looks faint, you can experiment with adding a thicker layer of paint or pressing down harder with the roller. Getting the perfect imprint will take a couple tries.Repeat steps 4–6 until you finish all the flags for your banner.

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Once your paint is dry, use glue or tape to attach your flags onto a piece of ribbon. Now you can hang your leaf stamping art anywhere you and enjoy your nature-themed decoration! 

paint

canvas (or cloth)

ribbon

hot glue/hot glue gun (or fabric glue)

paint roller

paint cup (or paper plate)

spouncer

Leaf Stamping

books

painting

household craft

school supplies

Try some simple stamping techniques using yarn, bubble wrap, or other materials from home. Then dress up your textbooks with custom patterns that will stand out from the crowd.

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Start by covering your textbook! If you already know how to do this, skip to step 5. Start by cutting a piece of paper that is is an extra 2" larger than your book cover. Keep in mind that you need to include the thickness of the book!

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Wrap the side edge of the book by tucking in the extra paper. Make sure the book can close once the paper is tucked into the front and back covers.

When you wrap your book, push your book down, so the spine touches the kraft paper.

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There should be about 1-2" of excess paper on top and bottom of the book. Cut  2 slots that match the folded crease along the binding. Cut out the small tab. Tuck in the top and bottom edge of paper and use tape to secure it. (Make sure you don't tape onto the actual book!). Do the same for the other cover.

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To create your stamps, cut out some cardboard pieces. These will be the bases of your stamps. Use yarn or thick string and wrap the cardboard piece to create a striped pattern. Use tape to secure the yarn on the backside of your cardboard stamp.

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Use a paintbrush to carefully apply some paint onto your stamp. Test out your stamp on a scrap piece of paper before you stamp onto the book cover.

Cover your workspace since paint can get a little messy!

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Cover your text book in any pattern you want! We decided to try a gradient by mixing in more blue each time we stamped.

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Look around the house for other stamping materials! Bubble wrap creates a fun polka dot texture.

100 at-home art project projects for kids

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