| ISSUE 74 • 16 JULY 2009 | |
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Editorial – Holiday Lists Hello and welcome to another issue of Kids Craft Weekly. Where does time go? This issue has been practically ready to go for a fortnight but I've not found a moment to sit down and send it out. Apologies if you've been waiting on me. The theme for this edition was requested on the new KCW forum. Thanks Karina for the great idea and thanks to everyone who has come by and participated in the various discussions over the past few weeks. There have been some spam issues on the forum lately – please bear with me as I try to iron out the issues. We're in full holiday mode at the moment and have been putting together our fanciful list of things we'd like to get done in the break. Here's our wish list, keep in mind that it's mid-Winter here in Australia which could well explain why our holiday list looks so different to yours! • Make a scarecrow for the vegetable garden. • Light a campfire in the back yard and toast marshmallows on sticks. • Go tobogganing in the snow (NB. the snow is a good 6 hour drive away so wish me luck!) • Take the kid's ice-skating (We have a brand new outdoor ice-skating rink that has just opened up near us. We've never skated before so again, wish me luck!) • Spend a day putting together a terrarium. • Go on a day-long bush walk. • Visit the zoo. • Hold a weekly games night, invite friends? Then of course there's *my* list which is much longer and contains a host of painful and boring items, some of which (like 'sort out superannuation') have been carried over from previous holiday lists many times before. Sigh. Anyway, we'll see how we go. For more holiday list action you should check out Blair's awesome summer holiday rules and the inspiring summer holiday checklist over at Let's Explore. Do you have your own holiday list? How's it progressing? Please share your own list and update us with progress over at the forum. This issue is sponsored by Camp Curiosity which is a fantastic holiday program that you can do with your kids, at your own pace and from your own home. It's a great idea and I urge you to check it out. Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!  Amber Carvan editor@kidscraftweekly.com |
An oldie but a goodie – making these pretty lanterns is a great way for younger crafters to practice their cutting skills. You will need • colourful paper • sticky tape • scissors • pencil and ruler (optional) Directions 1. Take a piece of paper and cut off a strip from the short end. This will become the handle.  2. Fold the rest of the piece of paper in half lengthways. Make numerous cuts at even intervals starting from the fold and ending about a centimetre from the opposite side.  My son is still a beginner cutter so I used a ruler to draw faint lines as a guide for him to follow. He really enjoyed trying to cut along the line and stopping exactly where the line ended.  4. Unfold and sticky tape the two short ends of the paper together to form the lantern.  5. Finally, attach the handle using tape or a couple of split pins. 
Making these simple hairy heads will delight all age groups. I always know when a particular craft idea is a hit because we have to do it over and over and over! You will need • balls of wool • children's scissors • card • markers • glue Directions 1. Give your child a range of wool and yarn and let them snip it into pieces. For most children who can handle scissors this is a very enjoyable pursuit.  As your little one snips, collect the wool into little piles.  2. Draw a circle on a piece of card. Invite your little one to add eyes, a nose, mouth, ears etc, and praise them as they go.  3. Blob on some glue in the head region and encourage your little one to make it hairy with the snipped up wool scraps.  4. Add arms and legs if desired. Then, start work on the rest of the hairy head family! 
Make use of some of those large format paintings from kinder to make a long chain of colourful paper people. You will need • some old artwork • scissors • pen or pencil • white circular stickers (optional) Directions 1. Cut a strip of paper from an old piece of artwork. The longer the piece of paper, the longer your finished paper doll chain will be.  2. Concertina fold your length of paper. Keep in mind that it's easier to make nice looking cutouts when the paper is quite narrow.  3. Draw your cut out shape on the top piece of paper. For inspiration, check out the fun range of cut out ideas over at Kiddley. We stuck with the traditional person shape. Cut out...  4. ...and unfold!  5. We stuck white stickers on to the heads and my son had fun drawing faces onto them.  6. Here's the finished product! 
Be the first person to show a child how to make these beautiful stencils and they will think you must be magical! You will need • paper • scissors • tape • construction card • dish sponge • acrylic paint Directions 1. Take a square piece of paper and fold it in half, and then in half again so that you have a small square.  2. Fold the square in half diagonally to form a triangle, then take some scissors and cut notches into the sides of the triangle.  3. When you've finished cutting, unfold to reveal the beautiful patterns.  4. Tape your stencil onto a piece of card (magic tape works well as it peels off easily). Dab a sponge dipped in acrylic paint over the top of the stencil.  5. Carefully remove the stencil and ta-da!  |
| 6. Featured sponsor Camp Curiosity – the fun online camp for parents and kids
Created by Maria Murphy, a psychotherapist and mom, Camp Curiosity is the easy way for parents to have fun with their kids while guiding them toward a passion for learning. Six weeks, six different topics, lots of materials, activities, resources and easy to use parenting tips for success. At only $19.95 for the whole course, how can you lose? |
| 7.
May photo comp winner Thanks to everyone who cast their vote over on the forum for their favourote photo in the May photo comp. It's such a relief to hand the difficult job of choosing the winning picture over to you guys! I'm pleased to announce that the winner is Vicki with this great picture of her daughter holding up her paper plate dinosaur. Congrats Vicki! Please get in touch so that I can arrange to order your prize!  Every month I give away a copy of one of the books from my Amazon favourites list. To be in the running all you have to do is upload a photo to the Kids Craft Weekly photo pool on Flickr. The June finalists will be announced shortly so please stay tuned. Due to global finanicial pressures the kitty for the book competition is still running very low. If you do shop at Amazon at any time please take the time to click through from Kids Craft Weekly. Every purchase, no matter how small, helps to fund the monthly book giveaway for this crafty community. |
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