{Guest Post} 3 Natural Kids Crafts

Hiya Everyone! 

We all know summer is over for us, however, it's never too late a craft or two we could let our kids enjoy with even in the cooler days. So, Ryan is here with a guest post to share with us some crafts and activities our kiddos can enjoy and definitely learn from. 

With the weather finally cooling down, now is the time for outdoor activities.  With a little creativity, you and your child can turn a simple walk in the park or your own backyard into an amazing opportunity for natural crafting.    Keep reading to learn how to make unique picture frames to eternalize summertime memories, create all natural weaving art, or construct your very own dragon fly sculptures.

1. Rustic Picture Frames

With all of the extra time and nice weather, many families took advantage of the summer with camping trips, hiking, and other outdoor activities.  Along with these family adventures, of course, are plenty of photos.  To really emphasize the outdoorsy aspects of these activities, your child can easily give the photos a rustic picture frame decorated with natural objects.

The base of the frame can either be made out of sticks glued, nailed or tied together, or you can just use a store bought frame (go for the cheap ones, as they will hardly be visible when your child is finished).  Then, simply glue objects that are relevant to the picture around the frame.  For example, if the pictures are from a beach trip, you can glue some sand, seashells, and dried seaweed on a frame made out of driftwood sticks.  If you went camping in a forest, small pinecones and needles, acorns, bark, or even snakeskin could be a better option.

This can be a great way to make a fun and unique frame for any photo.  Whether the photo is from summer camp or just something silly, like all of your kids posing around the campfire in their favorite fun kids pajamas, getting together with your child to create an all natural frame can be a great activity.

2. Weaved Nature Sculptures

This activity is great because almost everything about it is flexible.  All you need are 4 strong sticks of approximately equal sizes, a spool of natural twine, and then everything else can be found in nature.  Depending on how much time and material you want to put into the project, you can make it as large or as small as you want too.

To get started, find four sticks of equal sizes.  They should each be at least 6 inches long to make the weaving simpler, but can be as large as you want. To build the weaving frame, lay the four sticks in a square, with their ends overlapping by about an inch.  Then, carefully and tightly tie each of the corners together.  When you have finished, the sticks should remain in a square, even if you shake them.

Next, cut strips of twine out so that they will be long enough to stretch across the square frame and tie to the sticks on both sides.  You should cut enough to cover the whole frame in half-inch increments between the strings.

Now is where the fun part begins.  You and your children can go outside to collect feathers, long leaves, blades of grass, flowers or even seaweed.  Then, weave the objects through the all-natural loom you have set up.  To do this, simply insert the object over one string, under the next, and keep repeating this pattern.  Once the loom is filled, your children will have a rustic keepsake that is made from many of the different natural elements surrounding you.

3. Dragon Flies from Maple Seeds and Twigs

If you live near a maple tree you’ve probably seen little seeds that fall off the tree then slowly fall while twirling like helicopters.  Although the seeds do this to be carried further by the wind, their aerodynamic shape also makes a great opportunity for some kids crafting.  To make a dragon fly out of the seeds, all you need is a twig of about 3 inches, 4 maple seeds and glue.

To build the dragonfly, simply glue the heavy ends of the maple seeds towards the front end of the twig to create two sets of wings.  To make it more realistic, you can color in the twig and the seeds, use a small rock as a head and put eyes on it, add small legs out of wire or stems, or even add glitter to the wings and body.  If you make several dragonflies, you can arrange them in scenes.  Some easy ideas are to mount them on small rocks or next to each other on a larger stick.

Fall is beginning, and if you live in a colder area, it may be your last chance to spend some time outside before everything is covered in snow.  You and your child may be able to make the most of the pleasant weather by constructing some natural crafts to remember the summer fun, photos, insects and more.

Cheers!
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