Sticks, Stones and Pipe Cleaners

We brought some crafting outdoors today with this sticks, stones and pipe cleaners activity.  First we collected some sticks and rocks.  We added google eyes and pipe cleaners and the kids just started creating (me too!).  It was fun and somewhat relaxing to wind the pipe cleaners around the sticks.  There was no expectation for this craft just create.   

Here is her magic wand or pretend roasted marshmallow.

Here we added some dandelions to the pipe cleaner sticks.

Our collection of creations are above.  But my all time favorite is below... the selfie stick!  Get it - haha!  That was the first thing she made.  Cracks me up every time, I look at this picture #therealselfiestick.

10 Crazy Artwork Ideas

Are your kids getting tired of the same old artwork or craft ideas?  Give them a challenge - what is the strangest way to create artwork besides the usual drawing with a pencil or painting with a paintbrush?  Warning:  this may get a little messy! 

Here are some suggestions to get their creative juices going:

1.  Head outdoors and paint with a tree branch.
2.  Catapult paint with plastic spoons onto a big piece of paper.
3.  Roll up tinfoil into a ball and paint with it.
4.  Drawing a picture with your non dominant hand and eyes closed.
5.  Sidewalk chalk on trees inside of the driveway.
6.  Kickbox painting
7.  Melt crayons on hot rocks and leave them along a hiking trail.
8.  Sculpt with fabric
9.  Mixed Medium - add glitter, dried beans, paint, sand, sticks or whatever you find around the house to create a work of art.
10.  Vegetable Sculptures - this is a yearly contest at our county fair.  Always interesting to see what the children create.

What can your kids come up with?  Still bored?  Open up The Crayon Cafe to serve up new doodles daily!

Crayon Fingers

After seeing this blog post about finger painting with melted crayons,  I remembered how much I used to love sticking my finger tips in the cooling wax of a candle as a child.  I had to do this with my children.  We melted some old broken crayons in disposable cupcake holders.  It only took a few minutes in a low temperature oven.  Once melted, we let them cool briefly and then I tested it.  Making sure it was not too hot for them, they started dipping the tips of their fingers in the melted crayons. 

They all dipped their fingertips in and enjoyed the process.  Some tried writing with them but that was not nearly as fun as peeling it off or moving the tips of your fingers to try and crack the melted wax. 

The kids asked to repeat this process several times.  The melted wax cools quickly so I would just pop it back in the oven for less than one minute, check the temperature again and let them start dipping. 

Fun activity for sure. 

Obviously, the wax can get very hot so supervise very closely!