Fun Kid Crafts

MYFOXNY.COM - Mom Blogger and Event Planner Cathy Riva has some few fun, easy activities to do at home with the kids.

Each activity is geared toward a certain age group.

ACTIVITY #1- FOR AGES 3-5

Indoor Picnic Puppet Theatre

Items needed:
Picnic blanket, old sheet or large towel

Puppet Show:
Socks
Paper bags
Construction paper
Yarn
Googley eyes
Glue
Scissors

ACTIVITY #2- FOR AGES 6-8

Make your own indoors hot chocolate stand

Paint the shoebox desired color, and let dry.
Measure and trace a blue piece of cardstock paper to fit the sides,
Cut letters to spell cash register from magazines and glue to these letters next to the opening of the shoebox
Use crayons to draw dollar signs on the top center of the shoebox.
Give kids a chance to learn about the exchange of goods and services and money amounts.

ACTIVITY #3- FOR AS 9-12

Science experiment--LED Flowers

Items needed (found at hardware store)
High intensity LEDs (one per project)
6-8 fiber plastic cable (mimcs fiber optics) shrink tubed to each LED
Colored cellophane sheets
Scotch tape &3V battery holder and connector
Wire strippers and wire cutters & Pipe cleaners (preferably green)
Scissors & Plastic cups with precut hole in center of bottom base
Electrical tape

Begin project by having kids choose which color flowers they'd like to make. Cut 8x 10 sheet in half-length wise into 4x5 sheets. Fold 4x5 sheets in 4 and snip the corner edge to reveal a hole in the center when the cellophane is unfolded. Children may also opt to add leave on the base using the same process with green cellophane.
Explain the structure of the LED/ fiber optic assembly. LEDs are an energy efficient and "green" light source lasting infinitely longer than incandescent light and requiring far less energy to power. Electricity in an LED flows from the anode (positive end) to the cathode (negative end)- the longer leg of the LED is usually the anode making the shorter leg the cathode. You can use this configuration to connect the power source accurately. Red wire is anode while black is cathode.
Have kids carefully slip LEDs into the hole at the base of the cup. LED leads should be positioned straight down neatly so as to slide easily into the hole. Put the cup aside.
Have kids take a wire stripper to strip the battery connector wires and wind them around the appropriate legs of the LED. Before wrapping ensure the LED leads are spread far apart from each other and that the battery wires are not touching- or the circuit may short and burn out the LED. Make sure kids work neatly and carefully here as the LED leads can snap off easily if they are bent back and forth too frequently.
Give each kid 2 AA batteries and have them insert them into the battery holder. Be sure they follow the indications for positive and negative terminal placement.
Connect the battery holder to the LED to see if it works and the light turns on. If there are issues- check to make sure the connection is correct and that the wires are making good contact with the LED leads. Sometimes the wires are marked incorrectly on the battery connectors so try switching the connections. Other issues may be that the batteries are dead or improperly placed in holder. Also damage may have occurred to the LED leads or the LED itself may have shorted or malfunctioned.
Once the LED is connected and lit properly- tape the battery holder with the connector side facing down to the inside of the cup using electrical tape. Cover the base of the cup with a piece of cardboard or poster board cut in a circle and tape to the sides of the cup.
After the base is properly positioned you may want to wind a piece of pipe cleaner around the base to keep the fiber optics from falling over. Tape can also be used in place of pipe cleaners. If leaves are desired thread them through the top of the fiber optic cables to the base and then wind pipe cleaners around to hold them in place.
Now to make the flowers- choose two fiber optic threads and slip the cellophane pieces over to the desired spot. Have some scotch tape strips ready and tape the base of the cellophane to the fiber optics. Cellophane can be folded any way desired. Repeat for all fiber optic cables using 2 per flower.
The final step is to clip the ends of the fiber optics per flower. One suggestion is to make them varying lengths. Kids can also take their scissors and gently press the cables in varying spots (without fully cutting them) to allow light to pass. In essence this is "damaging" the cable allowing light to escape before it reaches the tip. TIP: When cutting tips of cable- try to create a clean flat cut (no angles) so light passes through easily.