crafts in the school holidays

I am minding a couple of boys next week - age 4 and 6.
Any suggestions of easy crafts that are not too expensive for me to do with them?

Junk modelling! Boxes, tubes, paper,etc glue,sticky tape then!! [:0]**********, paint, scissors etc. Big table lots of space and let them get on with it! Then they take their creations home and you have an empty recycling box!!

How about getting them to make their own Xmas cards for their family/friends. Not expensive to do if you have some card, glue, cut outs (or last years cards) and I few other odds & ends. If you have a $2 shoppe near you they have amazing pkts of things to make cards, etc. with.

Masks.. can be simple - cut out a mask shape from heavy cardboard and get them to decorate.. or elaborate - made out of paper machee (spelling???)

making recycled paper from shredded paper

build a fort and decorate it

mobiles from what ever they can find on your property or go to the beach and find beach stuff

home made play dough is always great.. make the stuff that you cook.. it has a better texture.. careful with the colouring .. some can stain.. especially red

sand saucers... these could actually grow to quite large constuctions which you may be stuck with but they are fun... don't forget to take some photos to send home - especially if they are really huge.

flax weaving.. perhaps not so easy for the little one but there are some simple designs that could be achieved.. there is a lovely angel fish one that is simple and if you make enough can make a fabulous mobile

if you get desparate.. give them a bucket of water and two paintbrushes (only works on sunny days) and get them to paint the drive/deck/side of the house/garage... keeps them busy for ages.

good luck...

Bird feeders - pinecones, peanut butter and bird seed

scrap bits of wood and a few nails, hammer, bottlecaps and paint and a box of bandaids:)

A bug hunt, they find a bug, bring it to you, you tell them what it is and then they can put it back where they found it.

Cut pictures out of magazines and make a picture out of them. ie, a house, a car, animals, people, trees, a playground, a farm. They can draw in the background and bits they want and create a sort of decoupage/drawing. I did it with my cousins kids, found a picture of a train, found some pictures of animals glued them onto a bit of paper and drew a tunnel and some tracks, I added a fenceline in front of the animals. Only costs you some glue and a few bits of paper to glue onto. Or make up people, cut out eyes, mouth, nose etc from different pictures, then glue them onto the paper to make a person, or an animal.

Hide and seek, (you may need to set up boundries or they'll be off down the back of the farm.

A walk to somewhere on the farm with a back pack each to carry food and drink and have a picnic.

Ooh and that thing we did in school using a shoe box, any small box would do though. Make up a little scene inside the box and cut out little people or/and animals attach a longer bit of card or icecrean stick to each side of the figure and a slit through the side of the box, on each side. Cut a small hole in the top of the box and at one end and close it up. The light goes in through the little hole at the top and you look through the little hole at the end and move the figures back and forth with the sticks. The inside of the box is painted up like a stage setting. Could be anything, moon scape with astronauts or a farm.... up to their imagination.

Yakut

Thanks folks - I will get a few bits together over the weekend ready for the boys next week.

I was sent this to amuse me, thought I would pass it on.....

http://www.tamponcrafts.com/halloween.html

**Disclaimer, this is purely for amusement purposes and is in no way intended to offend**

Painting!

Great to frame in cheap frames from the cheap shops, for xmas pressies. We have a spare room with E's paintings in them, nice to see the progress over the years with the formations etc.

LOL! CK, that is a great site!! But maybe not for kiddies [}]

Well today we made mosaic pictures out of tile on rocks we stole ( i've started the boys in a life of crime) from the local reserve. Tomorrow we will grout them. I think the most exciting part was being stuck in the garage while the hale pelted down and made a hell of a racket!