Nine Easy Craft Ideas

Try these fun recipes to add variety to your Spring and Summer outside activities.

Soapy Finger Paint - Whip 1 cup soap flakes with 1/2 cup of water. Tint with food coloring or dry tempera. Paint on white shelf paper or waxed paper.

Colorful Creative Salt - Add 5-6 drops food coloring to 1/2 cup household salt. Stir well. Cook in microwave for 1-2 minutes or spread on waxed paper and let air dry. Store in an airtight container. Use as you would glitter.

Homemade Paint - Mix 1 teaspoon water and 1 teaspoon dish washing liquid with 1/2 teaspoon of food coloring to make vivid colored paint. Make sure your future Rembrandt wears an apron or play clothes to do this project.

Homemade Finger Paint - Mix 2 cups flour with 2 teaspoon salt. Add 2 1/2 cups cold water. Stir until smooth. Gradually add this mixture to 2 cups boiling water. Boil until smooth and thick. Add food coloring, then stir until smooth.

Paint Roller - Pry the top off a roll-on deodorant bottle. Fill it with tempera paint and snap the top back on the bottle. Now you have a giant paint pen.

Disappearing Paint - Mix 1/8 teaspoon Mrs. Stewart's Liquid Bluing with 2 cups water and let the kids paint the patio. It disappears!

Bubble Soap - Mix 1 cup Joy dish washing liquid, 10 cups water and 1/4 cup glycerin (available at your drugstore, for longer lasting bubbles) Make bubble blowers from a straw, a kitchen funnel, or a thin wire shaped in creative forms.

Bathtub Crayons - 1 cup. grated ivory soap, 1¼ cup warm water, Food coloring, Cookie cutters, soap molds, etc.  Mix the ingredients together and mix till it starts to get a little hard. Spoon the mix into molds or cookie cutters. Put in the freezer to help them get hard. You need to let these dry a day or two after popping them out of the mold.

Colored Sand or Salt – salt, food coloring, zip lock baggies. This is a simple way to make colored sand. . Just add salt into the baggie and a couple drops of food coloring (the darker you want the more drops). Then close the baggie and start mixing with your fingers. Shake the sand around to make all the sand gets colored.

Scratch and Sniff Paint - watercolor paints, craft glue, fruit flavor jello, paper, paintbrush. Draw a picture of fruit or flowers. You could use trace a picture from a coloring book. paint it with watercolors. Let it dry.  After your picture is dry spread craft clue a little at a time over the colored parts of your picture. Sprinkle fruit flavored Jell-O over the wet glue.  Let your picture dry. The craft glue dries clear and you will be left with a sweet smelling picture.