Ok, folks, I'm resorting to desperate measures....I need simple craft ideas to entertain my kids while this rainy, dreary weather continues. If there was real snow in the forecast, I wouldn't be so desperate, but the warm winter weather forecasts are starting to cause me to, well, PANIC!!!!



So, I'm asking for any ideas that could be made from things commonly found in a house with younger kids (i.e. broken crayons, empty egg cartons, paper towel/toilet paper rolls, etc.). I have already had the kids make homemade cards for their teachers, grandparents, etc. We've also just about depleted my supply of stickers, blank paper and masking tape (they make various inventions).



Every single idea is welcomed....I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel here on my own.

My kids made "stained glass windows" with broken crayons. Sandwich the crayons between two sheets of wax paper, iron, and then make a construction paper frame and hang up.

My kids never had any difficulty keeping motivated and active. I never understand how kids today need so much direction. Coloring books, crayons, kid scissors, safe glue, colored paper, magazines, puzzle books from the dollar tree or grocery store, shoe boxes to make into doll houses or barns [or office complexes in this day and age, perhaps], the egg cartons can be made into tossing or sorting games. I always have a basket filled with poker chips [Longaberger baskets have many uses]. Put all your ideas on slips of paper. Put the ideas into a jar and let the children pick an idea out of the jar at intervals. Sometimes the novelty of drawing things "out of a hat" makes the activity more fun. I bought up old jewelry at yard sales and bought beads at a discount buying club. Depending on the age of the child, the size of the beads can be used for many different projects, including making [how novel]...new necklaces. My kids were allowed to spend a whole day making paper chains which we hung on the Christmas Tree. If you don't need a designer tree, kids will string small pretzels, popcorn, candies and those little foam shapes you can buy at the dollar store...for hours. If you would prefer a separate tree, look out at yard sales with next Winter in mind. Let the kids have their own tree with their own decorations on it. My daughter allowed her kids to make all the decorations a few years ago on a "snow day". It was cute.

Make finger print pictures. Get the recipe for "play dough clay" from the Internet and make lots of fun things.

Let them be "bored" for a while. They will soon think of something to do. Give them chores to do around the house when they are not busy. Soon you will find they come up with all kinds of ideas. Somehow, housework helps to unlock the creative play centers of our children. It's uncanny!

Here is a cute site:

http://www.nanaellen.com/kidzdo.htm

I found that site after I recommended finding the recipe for play dough clay. Look up "things for kids to do on a rainy day" in a search engine. That is how I found this site.
EDIT:

Crayola has a great site too with LOTS of ideas:

http://www.crayola.com/

Thanks, Twinmom! That's one of the ideas I just could not remember how to do. There's another one where I think you color the paper first, somehow coat it with black crayon, then use something to scratch a design in the black to reveal the colors underneath. I just don't recall how this works without removing both colors (the black on top and the color underneath).



WW, thanks for the links and the suggestions. I wouldn't have thought to use the egg cartons for tossing games...I think I have some buttons in a tin upstairs they could use. I did think of the paper chain idea after I started the thread, but I think we're out of staples and, well, after being creative with paper and tape, I'm pretty darn low on tape! I have a shopping list for Walmart tomorrow.



I also thought about getting some generic Cheerios-type cereal to let them string for the outside trees for the birds, but obviously, I'd like them to do that when it's not raining and the birds have a shot at eating the stuff. Somehow, I don't think soggy Cheerios would be a big hit!



We're not magazine readers, but I've used the sale ads and coupon flyers from the paper to let them cut things out. One of the kids is just not into that, however, so this is where I run into some issues. It doesn't help that they've essentially had colds for the last month or so and haven't been outside much to play because of that. These horrible coughs at night that stick around for weeks drive me nuts -- especially now that the FDa says that giving certain medicines to children under 12 is not helpful and even dangerous in some cases. The darn humidifier and Vicks just can't knock those coughs out.



If anyone else has ideas, throw 'em out here, too! Every single one is welcomed.

I think you completely cover the paper with an assortment of colors then heavily color overtop with a black crayon, then scratch it off with a coin or some such thing. The first crayon sticks to the paper, the second just coats the first.



I just tried it as I was typing, with a purple crayon instead of black and the edge of a binder clip and it worked.



The homemade playdoh is a good idea, but if you're going to be mixing in the kitchen I'd just as soon make the cookies!



My kids are always content with a bucket of crayons and a stack of paper and if you really want to keep them entertained - give them permanent markers! (just kidding, I don't advise that, but they really love it when they find them.)



They also like to clean windows and sweep. These are things they don't do, so they think it's fun when they are allowed. Granted, they don't do such a hot job, but the dogs will smear up the windows and shed on the floor shortly anyway.



The teachers suggested a fun way to learn spelling words, shaving cream on a cookie sheet. Then the kids draw out the words. I haven't tried that one yet.



If you have paper grocery bags, they could make their own monster costumes.



And if all else fails, like wonderwoman said, if I threaten with cleaning their rooms it's amazing what they can find to entertain!

Thanks for the tips, Twinmom, and most of all, for the directions on how to do the crayon thing. I think this is tomorrow's first craft!



We're hard pressed for paper bags in our house right now. They don't seem to have them at the supermarkets I frequent lately, and I haven't had the chance to get to Weaver's in over a month (love that store, too!). We do have commercial playdough and I'd rather them use that since we had a bad experience with the homemade stuff (long story, but damage was done to furniture). I found a paper mache idea on the website from WW, so that might be a project, too. If the sniffles subside, I have a gingerbread house kit I'd like to do with them, too.



I'm starting to think I might make it to Christmas with my mind intact!

I just thought of another. The kids made "lava lights" in preschool one year. They used baby food jars, food coloring, cooking oil and water. That was a big hit. In fact, they decided it would be a great idea to do again on their own (I think I was taking nap or outside at the time.) That time they put beads and glitter in the bottles. I don't think they used the oil though, but they sure did enjoy making them and then shaking them up. After I had discovered the project and secured the lid of course.



Maybe we will get some snow this weekend and you can send them outside!

That is another good idea -- thanks!



If you ever feel like you need some ideas, I'd highly recommend the Crayola site WW posted the link to. I found some great ideas there, too -- some of which lend themselves to other ideas (i.e. might not be Christmas-related in their example but could be altered to be). They have craft ideas of various difficulties, too.



C'mon snow!!!!

And.... not to be missed:

www.notmartha.org

For the rest of the 'craftily challenged'

Love that site, Harv! I've never seen it before, but I quickly found the "make your own party cracker" page. That's something I've always wanted to do for a party!!!!

Another idea that we did when we were kids was that my dad would make a pizza with us. He used Appian Way box mix and it was very easy. Probably doesn't exist anymore. But baking the pizza with my dad was a lot of fun and we got to eat pizza too!

In this day and age of delivered or DiGiorno, it's a lot of fun to make pizza and you can get some pretty simple recipes online. I think that most kids love to bake.

Also this time of year you can buy those tubes of Christmas cookies and then the craft could be decorating them for the holidays. That's always fun and even the littlest one can slather on icing. And of course, they'll get to eat the product! Or even better, they could make them as Christmas gifts. I think it's important for children to learn to give at an early age. And you can count on the receivers to ooh and aaah and that's a great thing for kid's self esteem. None of that empty stuff... getting it from something concrete and generous. You could start a tradition for them. I always think it's nice when children give gifts that they actually made or purchased at the dollar store with their own earnings.

Excellent suggestions, Harv, but we're already doing some of those. Every other week, we get the pre-made pizza shells from ATV Bakery and let the kids top them with the cheese and sauce. The kids make their own cards for their teachers and grandparents and have signed all of their cards for their classmates (plus stickered the backs of the envelopes and taped candy canes to the fronts). I also got some foamie snowman-shaped gift bags for them to decorate (from Michael's) for their cousins that I'll put little things in from the kids.



Today, I picked up ribbon so the kids could make ornament garlands (I got this idea from the Chanukah star garland on the Crayola site). We had the glitter glue already, but I think it's not going to work so well (they gob it on ). If it fails because the glue never dries, I won't attach the circles to the ribbon and will just throw away the construction paper circles. We'll try again later once I get gel markers or something to decorate the circles with. I have very limited experience with glitter glue, so anything is possible at this point and I just can't sweat it as long as they're happy and busy!