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wind

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Make the comforting sound of wind chimes in this easy and fun musical craft!

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Save those soup cans! We saved and washed out three soup cans (one big and two small ones) for this project. I told my daughter we were going to make wind chimes as a gift for Grandma!

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She had fun decorating them with her finger paints, but you could decorate them with regular paint or even markers!

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Once my kiddo was happy with the results, we laid them on paper towels to dry. Then I turned them over and gently used a screwdriver and tapped the handle with a hammer to make a hole in each one. 

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Next, we practiced our knot tying and tied knots in a piece of string to hold the cans in place, making sure to overlap them a little so they made noise. My daughter took them outside and sure enough... they worked! P.S. Grandma loved them too!

tin cans

paint

string

hammer

screwdriver

Tin Can Wind Chimes

experiment

easy experiment

Try this easy outdoor experiment to see what you can catch flying in the wind!

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Punch a hole in the card and tie onto a tree branch or gate with the twine. We decided to hang three cards to see if we got different results in different locations.

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Smear the petroleum jelly over one side of the card, and leave out in the wind. If you like, make a prediction of how much you think you'll catch in each location.

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Return in an hour or two and see what was blowing in the wind!  Write up a chart and use it to help compare what you predicted with what actually happened.  Writing down predictions is always a good lead-in to discussions about the things you got wrong and why!

cardboard

twine

petroleum jelly

Blowing in the Wind Experiment

printable

motion

flight

outdoor activities

outdoor game

science project

art-science projects

art project

outdoor project

summer

summer fun

What better way to celebrate spring than to go outside and fly a kite? Try making your own paper kite with this easy-to-do DIY! <br><br>Download the printable <a href="http://images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/KiwiCo-Stained-Glass-Paper-Kite.pdf">here</a>.  

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Cut out all of the little squares on the printable. You may need a grownup assistant to help you. 

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On the creased side that doesn’t have squares cut out, mark the paper with a pencil 2 ½ inches (6.4 cm)&nbsp;and 3 inches (7.6 cm) from the short side.

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Punch a hole at the 3-inch (7.6 cm)&nbsp;mark about a half-inch away from the edge. 

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Unfold the paper and turn it over. Then, cut out pieces of tissue paper and use tape to secure it to the back of the kite with tape. Get creative! You’re making your own stained glass window panel, so use as many colors as you want and/or try to make a repeating pattern. 

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Make your kite wings! On the open side, take the bottom corners and bend them back over to the 2 ½ -inch mark. 

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Go outside and try to fly your kite on a windy day! 

Tissue Paper

Scissors

Tape

hole punch

stapler

pencil

Ruler

Stained Glass Paper Kite

learning activity

physics

Can wind travel around an obstacle? Follow along&nbsp;and find out! 

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Set the candle at a height so your mouth is at the same level as the flame. Use a sturdy pillar candle, or stick a birthday candle in a piece of playdough so it won't fall over.

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Set the square vase between you and the candle. With your mouth very close to the vase, blow hard. The vase blocks the wind, and the candle doesn't go out.

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Now try the round glass. The candle should be a few inches behind the glass, and your mouth should be quite close to the glass.

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Blow hard at the glass - the wind will travel around the glass and put out the candle!

candle

match

tall object (like a vase)

all round object (like a drinking glass)

Candle in the Wind Experiment

summer crafts

handmade

toy design

homemade craft

useful craft project

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If you don't have a very light, plastic ribbon, cut up pieces of plastic garbage bags for the tail.
We used light copy paper, too, instead of construction paper.

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The first thing we had to do was to fold the paper in half.

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Then, with the fold on the left, we folded one side over like this, leaving about an inch at each corner (notice we did not go "around" the bottom corner).

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We flipped over the paper and folded the other side to match the first.

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We flipped it back over and put a long piece of tape all along the spine of the kite.

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Next goes on the skewer - we measured, corner to corner...

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We needed to make sure the rudder was straight, so we folded (creased) it back and forth until it stood up straight.


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Maddie punched a hole about 1/3 of the way from the nose of the kite, for tying on the string.

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She put reinforcers on so that the kite might last longer before tearing.

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She finished decorating (puppies, puppy prints, and dog bones), tied on the kite string, and taped on the kite tail.

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Out we went, into the world!
In the backyard.  In the neighborhood.  Through the park... held securely to her scooter.  
So fun!!

Paper

surveyor's tape or plastic (for the tail)

plastic (scotch) tape

skewers

paper reinforcers (optional)

Kites

playdate activities

Colorful paper pinwheels whirl with just the slightest breeze (or puff!). They are fun to play with indoors or out, and even more fun to make! Create a DIY pinwheel, or two, for fun or to add a little flair to your next family gathering. If it's a birthday, match your paper pinwheel to the party decor. If you have a Memorial Day barbecue, try red, white, and blue for your DIY pinwheel.

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Gather the materials for your paper pinwheels. 

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Cut your paper into a 6-by-6-inch (15.2-by-15.2 cm)&nbsp;squares. Then, using markers, decorate your paper with shapes, flowers, letters, rainbows... the sky is the limit!

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When you are done decorating your paper, use scissors to make a small cut at every corner. Make the cut about 3 inches long toward the center of the paper.

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If you want to reinforce the strength of the paper, cut a small circle out of the scraps and poke a pin into the center of it.

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Beginning at one corner and alternating at every corner, bend the paper up and carefully poke the pin through underside. (You may need grownup help with this.) 

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When four corners are tucked in the pin, poke the end of the pin through
 the center of the pinwheel and into the eraser of a pencil.

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Now run with it! And jump with it! And swing it from side to side! Or watch the smallest breeze of air turn it swiftly and easily. Isn't it beautiful!?

straight pins

Markers

Paper Pinwheels

shells

decorations

Fourth of July

With a few simple materials, you can create this lovely wind chime from your beach memories.  It will serve as a reminder of the fun time you had.

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Start off by gathering your supplies.  V picked up some of these shells at the beach. Then we added some more pieces, including the sea-glass, from the shell shop at the beach to make this craft.  We grabbed the sticks outside from one of our nightly walks.

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V then began by picking the order of the shells for the wind chime--this was a very meticulous process for V, who is three.  She was very intent on what needed to come next in the process.  We then wrapped the shells with twine and knotted them.

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We did this for all the shells and sea-glass.  We tied twine around them and sealed them with a knot, using various lengths of string for each shell.  We then created a long string on the top to hang it, approximately 24 inches (61 cm).

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Next, we tied the twine wrapped shells to each stick, spacing them apart, in various lengths.  We used a longer stick on top and a smaller one on the bottom.  We then connected the two sticks with two same-size pieces of string on each end.

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Then, as the sun was setting we got to hang our wind chime up on the porch and watch it in the sun.

shells and sea-glass

driftwood or branches (2) (one about 12" and the other about 6")

twine (or string)

Beach Memento Wind Chime

indoor project

at-home learning

backyard science

math

Decorate your room with this eye-catching geometric mobile! We spent the afternoon learning about geometric shapes, and recreating them with straws and yarn. The project takes a little bit of patience and experimentation with balancing, but we were super impressed with the result! We hung it outside to see it move in the wind, but the project can easily be displayed in an indoor setting as well.

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Gather the materials for your geometric mobile!

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We were inspired by the simple shapes of tetrahedrons and octahedrons, but you can build any shape you want. Cut your straws into 2.5-inch pieces. You'll need 6 pieces for each tetrahedron, and 12 pieces for each octahedron. Let's start out by making a tetrahedron! A tetrahedron is made up of four (tetra) triangle faces. Cut 2-3 feet of yarn to start with, and thread it through the embroidery needle. String on 3 pieces of straw

Panda Crate

Sprout: Koala Crate

Labs: Kiwi Crate

World: Atlas Crate

Studio: Doodle Crate

Labs: Tinker Crate

Studio: Maker Crate

Labs: Eureka Crate

8 at-home wind projects for kids

Screen-free fun!