Kitchen Crafts To Do With Your Kids (Slideshow)
Paper Plate Animal Masks
All you need to create these masks is a stack of paper plates, a pair of scissors, and some craft paint. Set out palettes of paint so that your kids can create their own designs or paint their favorite animals. After a couple of hours of drying, the plates will be ready for playtime. Click here for detailed instructions.
Egg Carton Garland
If your kid is itching for a bedroom upgrade, help him or her turn an egg carton or two into an easy garland. Cut the cartons into "flowers" and then use craft paint (or spray paint for a more even finish) to dress up the cardboard. Then simply poke holes in the bases of the flowers and string them together with kitchen twine. Click here for a how-to.
Homemade Play-Doh
Transform a couple of ingredients you already have in your pantry into colorful homemade Play-Doh. It only takes a few minutes to mix up — and it's so easy that your kids can help. Then bring out the cookie cutters and let your kids go to town. Click here for the recipe.
Egg Carton Animal Noses
Create a menagerie's worth of animal noses with this easily customizable craft. Use cut-up egg cartons as the bases, and then help your kids paint them, and then add details like teeth and whiskers so that they to look like various snouts and muzzles. We especially like the fox and crocodile noses. Click here for the how-to.
Cork Stamps
Repurpose your wine bottle cork collection into a tool your kids will happily use in their crafts. Use an X-Acto knife to carefully cut out shapes and letters, and then hand the corks-turned-stamps to your kids. Click here for detailed instructions.
Egg Carton Seed Starter
Recycle an egg carton as a planter and you'll not only teach your children about how plants grow, but you'll also get some herbs as a bonus. Fill each cup with a bit of potting soil, place a couple of seeds in each indentation, water, and place in a sunny windowsill. Chart the seedlings' progress with your kids. Click here to learn how to do it.
Apple Stamps
This tried-and-true fall craft doesn't go out of style. Take a few halved apples, brush them with or dip them in craft paint, and help little hands stamp them onto paper for an autumnal block print. Experiment with other fruits and vegetables for varied shapes. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
Dyed Pasta
This pasta necklace doesn't involve craft paint, so you needn't worry about a little one gnawing on the colored pasta. And the colors are so bright that you might even want to slip on a kid-made strand or two. Click here to learn how to dye the pasta.
Egg Carton Bird Mask
An egg carton, a Popsicle stick, a pair of scissors, and a bit of craft glue are all you need to help your flock transform into birds. Click here for detailed instructions on how to make these fun masks.
Cookie-Cutter Place Cards
Let your kids help with holiday prep by enlisting them to make sweet animal place cards. Simply have them roll out a sheet of air-hardening modeling clay or cinnamon dough (click here for the recipe) and then use cookie cutters to create animal shapes. Once they're dry, you can use a pen to touch up the shapes with details like eyes and whiskers. Click here for the how-to.