Fun with Straws

Another Kitchen Craft idea: Straw Beading

All you need is straws, scissors, masking or packing tape and string. I use the tape to stiffen the ends of the yarn. You can use skinny ribbon, shoelaces, yarn, twine, etc. If your wee ones are too young for scissors, cut up the straws yourself. I got this nifty pack at the dollar store. Have a container of cut straws ready and your kidlets will always have something to do even if only for a minute or two!

String up one strand for a necklace or shake toy for a little brother or sister. String up a series and make a beaded curtain for the doorway or window or maybe even a kitchen table fort. Toss in some pasta, holey cereal and beads and who knows what your kidlets will create.

Have Fun!

Paint with what?

Paint with curlers! Who knew there were so many kinds of curlers out there? Not only that, they are out there at the dollar store so if you somehow threw away all those pink spongy curlers you used to roll your hair in, you can pick up a small multi-pack for a buck!

What you need:
*curlers of any style, the more the merrier
*tempera or acrylic paint
*paper
*paper plate or plastic tray or cookie sheet to squirt paint on

scrumdilly-do it:

Squirt two or more colors of paint onto your paper plate or tray. Set out curlers and let the fun begin!

Have your wee ones roll or smoosh or dab their curler into the paint.

Roll, dab or smoosh paint sodden curler across paper.

Ta-da! That's it! It is super simple and super fun. The more variety of curlers you have, the more interesting textures your wee ones will produce. Dialogue with your kidlets as they go along. Ask them questions about the curlers. What do they think will happen? What kind of marks will the curler make? The best part about this type of painting is getting a feel for how your kidlets think, how they analyze cause and effect, and just how amazing their imaginations are!

Dollar Store Painting...

and some gift wrap for Father's Day!

I can't really help ya on what to make for the Dads out there but I can help ya with how to wrap it all up! Have your kidlet(s) make a sheet of driven gift wrap*!

What you need:
*toy cars, the more the merrier
*brightly colored paint
*large sheet of paper, the back side of a sheet of griftwrap or paper bag
*splat mat/large work space

scrumdilly-do it:

Squirt a bunch of colors three or four is nice. Any more and you may end up with brown paint from all the mixing. Have your wee ones "drive" their car(s) through the paint.


Next, all they have to do is play cars on the paper, re-dipping as they see fit. Set aside to dry and wrap, wrap, wrap away!

Using different sized cars and different types of wheels will add an interesting pattern to the paper. Driving the cars through the paint and then onto the paper helps build small motor skills and fosters creativity. Open up the dialogue with your kidlet as she or he paints. If you use different types of cars with different wheels, see if they can match which car did which line and so on. Most of all, have fun!

*Painting with cars isn't just for dads and some dads may prefer it if ya painted with something else. Is your father a chef? Paint with a potato masher. Is he a florist? Paint with flowers and plants. Does your dad like to dance? Paint your feet and dance on the paper! The possibilities are truly endless!

Dollar Store Art Fun: Paintbrushes

You can build a creative traveling art kit for your kidlets easily from the dollar store. The best part is that you can do it for under $20! That is a nifty thing. I recommend putting together a dollar store art kit for your kidlets so that they have an opportunity to enjoy the process of creating art. You are more than encouraged to purchase professional level supplies for your kidlets of any age, especially those that exhibit a true love of art. Putting together a dollar store kit will seem new and fresh and if you change out the supplies every few days the freshness just keeps coming!

Most dollar stores will carry crayons, markers, colored pencils and paintbrushes. They should also have construction paper, glue, tape, scissors and glue sticks.

Kidlets can go through a lot of brushes and a multi-pack is perfect for all their creative ideas!

As an alternative to brushes, you can pick up a multitude of household instruments that are great at moonlighting as art supplies. A large pack of sponges can be found at most any dollar store. Kidlets can paint with them as is or you can cut out different shapes and they can use them as stamps. You can also go wild with the scissors and chop up a few into little itty bits and those pieces would be great for collage work!

Other alternative brushes are toothbrushes, toy cars and trucks, hair combs, curlers and funky household cleaning implements.



These are just a few ideas and I am sure there are many, many more! Set aside a couple of bucks for your next dollar store trip and see what you can put together! I would love to hear about what you think and do....drop me a google line at scrumdillydo.

More dollar store art tomorow!