Easy Xylophone Craft

It is summer, my kids would live in the pool or perched on a swing, with possible breaks for snacks, lemonade and some screen time if given the opportunity. While I am a firm believer in the importance of play, I am a firm believer in learning year round and brushing up on the things that kids already know too.

One afternoon we were talking about instruments and toying with a few drums, triangles, and maracas when I mentioned a xylophone. My son couldn't picture what I was explaining so I decided to make a quick craft with the kids to see if it would refresh his memory without grabbing the ipad to give him a visualization.

This craft took about 4 minutes for my speedy little boy. It would have taken half of that time had I not nudged him to color the sticks completely.

You will need
6 craft sticks
markers
glue



As you can see I placed 2 of the craft sticks at vertical slants almost mimicking a V

I had Roo color 4 of the sticks in whatever colors he liked


Next we placed the sticks horizontally on the vertical sticks, like rungs on a ladder, securing with 2 beads of white glue per stick

By the time we had placed 3 of the 4 sticks on the frame, Roo remembered what a xylophone was. This was easy to make and the kids had fun banging on the craft stick xylophone. I enjoyed that part too because it was quieter than the real deal.

This was also a great way to discuss colors, shapes, ladders and how one might use a ladder as well as how rungs are like steps in a trickier way. I loved that so much conversation happened around one simple project, involving 6 craft sticks!





Don't miss this fun paper sandwich craft for kids!

DIY Barbie Serving Tray

My daughter is really into all things Barbie. So I made her this cute little rustic serving tray for her Dreamhouse play sessions. It took me less than 5 minutes and is pretty cute and you can personalize it if you wish!

We have all but given up on Barbie accessories. My kids lose them, the dog chews them and it seems like a big waste of money. I won't buy any more, but I will DIY some!

 I made this Rustic Barbie Serving Tray happen in moments with 3 supplies. It is pretty cute and it cost me $0 to make.

Supplies

6 small craft sticks 

Scissors

Glue Gun

Directions

Glue 3 craft sticks together

Trim the rounded edges off of 3 craft sticks then glue 2 of them to the longest sides of the base.

Cut the remaining craft stick in half

Glue this to the other ends

 Now you have a rustic serving tray for Barbie and her friends. Can you believe how easy that was?

We are already planning to make a version of this with taller sides to flip over as a coffee table for Barbie. You can paint the serving tray, or cover it with washi tape for a unique look if your daughter isn't into Farmhouse style decor yet.

Find all of my craft stick projects here

Handprint Fish Puppets

Monster Handprint Puppets

Easy Gnome Christmas Ornaments

These easy Gnome Christmas ornaments are perfect for crafting with the kids this holiday season.

We love to make easy crafts with the items we already have on hand. Some of my best ideas and favorite projects have stemmed from the junk drawer and items destined for the trash. These Christmas gnome ornaments are a great example of what you can make with simple stuff you probably already have.

These are awesome because with a different pattern of paper, or bigger googly eyes, your gnome looks totally different. If you don't have the supplies in the junk drawer or your craft supplies, you can get all of these things from Dollar Tree or even better- improvise!

Supplies per 1 gnome:

2 googly craft eyes
3 craft sticks
cotton balls
Red Pom Pom
Glue
Brown Bag
Scrap Book Paper
Confetti
Sharpie
Ribbon

Directions:

With the 3 craft sticks glue them together to form a triangle.

Cut a triangle from the brown bag to fit in the craft stick frame.

Add a generous amount of glue to the craft sticks and place the bag on top of it.

Cut a smaller triangle from scrap book paper to form the hat of your gnome.

Add eyes, a pom pom nose and draw on a mouth with a sharpie.

Add a chunk of confetti or some type of adornment to the hat.
Add a row of cotton balls for the beard.

Flip the gnome over and glue a ribbon to the back.

Hang your cute and easy gnome Christmas ornaments from your tree or share them with friends and family!

You can make dozens of these and make them all unique by simply changing the paper of the hats and the size of the pom pom of the nose.

This is such a fun craft to make with the kids! We loved making and naming our gnome ornaments!

Find all of our DIY Christmas Ornaments here.

Mickey Mouse Jingle Bell Ornaments

Ribbon Tree Ornaments

DIY Photo Puzzle

My kids and I are really into crafting right now. On cold, rainy and yucky days like we have been having a lot of in Ohio, there is nothing better than digging into my craft cabinet and pulling out a few projects to entertain us when the weather is keeping us inside.

On one particular day, we ended up with a stack of duplicate photos and I knew that these should be put to good use instead of sitting in a photo box or ending up in the trash. After a few moments of careful consideration, I realized that a few craft sticks and some glue would take these double photos from miscellaneous junk into a treasure for the kids.

We came up with these DIY Photo Puzzles. We had so much fun gluing them together that we made a few to share with Grandparents and Daddy, as well as a stack for the kids to tinker with.

To make a DIY photo puzzle all you need is:

A photo
craft sticks
your favorite adhesive {we used glue sticks}
A utility knife

This project is so easy to make! All you need to do is:

Lay the picture side of the photo down and add glue to the back liberally.

Line up craft sticks across the back on the glued side of the picture.

Press firmly to allow the glue to bond to the craft sticks.

Flip the photo over

This step should be completed by an adult as utility knives are crazy sharp.

Carefully cut the photo between the sticks, continuing until the photo is cut into strips backed with a craft stick.

Allow the glue to dry.

Mix up the pieces and assemble the photo puzzle.

These are so much fun to give to people and they are a great challenge for my preschooler. My toddler finds them too difficult as of now, so we are going to make a few easier ones from cards we received over the 2015 holidays for her.

If you are looking for a last minute DIY gift idea or just a fun surprise for the kids, this one takes about 5 minutes tops to complete and is sure to bring a smile or two! Best of all, you likely have materials on hand to complete this project making it very frugal!

Story Time and a Jam Sandwich Craft

My kids are too stinking cute. I love their creativity and eagerness to dig into any project and give it their own unique touches. Several times a week Roo will ask to make a craft, similarly several times a week Harper will raid our craft closet and take off with anything she can reach... We now know they like to craft; if you add a good story into the mix it quickly turns from like to love.

A few weeks ago we checked out The Giant Jam Sandwich by John Vernon Lord. I thought this would be a fun book to check out, it also seemed like a good way to explain wasps to Harper and give Roo a reminder to avoid them!

I also hoped that a story about a giant jam sandwich and a cute craft would inspire my son to try something new. Something he has been adamant about not trying, jelly and jam!

                                                                  

In the story, 4000 wasps descend upon a town. They are quite a bother but the townspeople roll up their sleeves and get to work making one giant wasp trap jam sandwich!

The kids found the book entertaining. Roo was not sold on the idea of jam at all. He said "That's not good. That's sick." He was pretty determined that he wouldn't like jelly, nor jam. 

Up next we made Jam Sandwiches. My kids go CRAZY for paper food crafts. Like drop everything,  We are making a sandwich!? From paper?! Will there be glue sticks involved?

Getting ready, supplies needed

I cut 2 slices of bread shapes in off white paper

I cut 2 slightly larger slices of bread shapes in brown paper

I offered my kids red finger paint and paint brushes

Of course, glue sticks were needed.

Baby Wipes... You will want these!

Instructions

I gave each kid a brown slice of bread and a glue stick

They smeared glue around the brown paper and topped it with the off white paper

That was pretty satisfying to the kids. They really like to glue things!

They were thrilled to see the finger paint and paint brushes!

I told them to paint the jam on their toast. They agreed this was pretty great. Glue and paint after a story? It couldn't get much better!

This was a great activity for the kids. They always want to help me cook, so to create their own food craft was a hit. 

After the story and the craft, I made a peanut butter and jelly for Harper, Roo came in and watched me spreading the glob of jelly around. With a very serious face he told me "That is sick. Bleck. No jelly for me please. I will have honey."

I love that kid. He is definitely a guy who knows what he wants. 

You also might enjoy this Paper Cookie Craft idea for preschoolers.

Fine Motor Counting Activity

This activity is perfect for small hands. It combines counting and fine motor work for a fun, hands on approach to learning. This introduction to math is perfect for preschoolers. Best of all, you can get everything you need to set this up at Dollar Tree.

Little hands love pinching, so this activity is perfect for making math fun while engaging fine motor skills! My kids both loved this early introduction to counting when they were smaller, and I often pull this activity out when we have little guests in our house who need something to do. This is the ultimate boredom buster and will always have a place in my busy bag collection.

All you need to make this is some tiny clothespins from dollar trees craft section and a few craft sticks. Mark the numbers you are using on the craft sticks and hand the kids some clothespins. Encourage your child to count the clothespins and put them on the craft stick. 

This is one of those activities you will want to supervise, to keep the pins from mouths, noses and ears. 

If you enjoyed this easy activity for kids, you will want to check out some of my other preschool projects.

Play Doh Stamping 

Itsy Bitsy Spider Craft

Lemonade Craft for Preschoolers

This craft is perfect for a play time pause on a hot summer day. Your preschooler will have a lot of fun creating a craft to go with a glass of lemonade!

Summer is here! The kids are enjoying the chance to play at every park known to man, soak up the sun and splash in the pool! My husband and I are trying to savor these sweet and relaxed moments while they last. We know all too well that the hustle and bustle will begin soon enough as the kids head off to school and he resumes his post as the local school librarian.

Last week I squeezed lemons for our first fresh pitcher of lemonade of the summer. My kids were quite impressed with this. I love the magic of the early years! My toddler daughter thought it was "magic!" My kindergartner thought I was kidding when I told him the lemons would turn into his favorite drink.

After the fruit was squeezed and the lemonade was chilling in the fridge, I decided now was the perfect time to pull out a craft to go with a cold drink. I quickly gathered supplies and had this ready to assemble in under 5 minutes.

Supplies needed:
2 pieces of construction paper in the shape of a glass
1/2 a sheet of white copy paper, cut into cubes
2 strips of paper cut to look like a straw
One cupcake liner, yellow, cut in half
A glue stick

When I called the kids for their snack and lemonade, I had laid out the supplies needed at their place of seating. I asked them to take a long look at their lemonade glasses and notice how the drink looked in the glass.

Next I asked the kids to glue ice cubes on their glasses.
They both thought 3 ice cubes were the ideal amount.
Then I had the kids glue on the half cupcake liner for their lemon.
Novel. Lemons are food, so this had both of my mini foodies intrigued.
Finally, I instructed them to include their straw shaped paper.

This was such an easy craft for the kids. It kept them entertained for long enough to cool off for a moment before rushing back out to play and it gave them a chance to try freshly squeezed lemonade in a calm and relaxed setting. With growing a growing boy, it seems like he gulps and dashes without ever really tasting anything... {wink}. The kids also concentrated on what their beverage looked like so they could create their craft for thinking skills in early learners.

It was cute to see the kids interpretation of what a glass of lemonade looks like too.

You might also enjoy this Paper Cookie Craft.

Glow in the Dark Galaxy Slime

My kids have been begging to make slime for a while now. I finally caved and made a really pretty glow in the dark galaxy slime. This was easy and fun to make. My kids loved it in the daytime, and at night too!

We loved this slime because it can technically be made with stuff you already have. I happened to have glow in the dark powder at home, so I added it. Use whatever glitter or confetti you have to make this easy slime. 

I am including affiliate links below. If you make a purchase it helps to my site up and running via commission paid via advertisers.

Supplies:

1 cup of cornstarch

Blue glow in the dark powder

3/4 cup of water

Extra fine black glitter

Small silver star confetti

A craft stick

Directions:

Mix the glow in the dark powder with the cornstarch.

Slowly add the water to the blue cornstarch.

Add a generous amount of extra fine black glitter and silver star confetti.

Begin to mix the slime with the craft stick.

As it begins to clump together begin kneading by hand.

Your slime is ready when it is dry to touch but squishy!

If your slime is too runny add a pinch more cornstarch.

This will glow in the dark if left to 'charge' in the sun. You can also use a black light to really bring out the glow in the dark properties.

You can find all of my kid crafts here.
Reader favorites include:
Green Button Trees

Straw Necklaces

10+ Christmas Tree Ornaments to Make

I have been making a ton of ornaments this year. The kids think it is a lot of fun to get out the glue and the glitter and get creative! Well, let's be honest, I do too! My oldest has been making lots of cute things at school to bring home and share too!

To keep up with the fun of creating at Christmas, I have 10+ ideas to share with you from some of my favorite bloggers! All 10+ of these are easy and adorable! I hope you get a chance to try them, or any of the ornaments I have made live on the Quirky Momma facebook page.

Favorite craft ideas

Felted Wool Christmas Trees

Sparkly Sequin Ornaments

Essential Oil Diffuser Ornaments

Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments

Stacked Christmas Tree Ornaments

Craft Stick Trees

Pipe Cleaner Beaded Trees

Glitter Clay Trees

Easy Accordion Trees

Noodle Popsicle Stick Trees

Easy Button Tree Ornaments

Live Video Projects

Etched Glass Jars
Candy Cane Wreaths
Popsicle Stick Ornaments
Christmas Houses
Toilet Roll Snowflakes
Washi Tape Cards
Toddler Christmas Tree Crafts
Tree Ornaments

If you have an idea for a Christmas ornament, I hope you will share it in a comment!