Paper Plate Masks

These are ever so easy to make and the possibilities are endless!  Here's my friendly little giraffe.

What you need:

• A paper plate
• Paint and paint brush
• Scissors
• Thin coloured card
• Double sided tape
• Elastic

Paint your plate whatever colour your animal will be.

When dry add any markings the animal might have.

Cut out the eye holes and draw ears, nose, mane, trunk etc on separate pieces of card.  Cut out and colour/decorate and stick to the paper plate with double sided tape.

Make a hole at either side of the face, attach some elastic and that's that!

Balloon Animals

Almost any animal could be made using this method.  I've made a penguin because I'm feeling christmassy, but it could be a nice project to do near Easter making rabbits and chicks too.

You will need:

• A balloon, only half inflated.
• Newspaper
• PVA glue
• Strips of newspaper
• A brush
• White kitchen towel or toilet paper
• Rice or sand
• Paint
• Felts and coloured card
• Double sided tape
• Scissors
• Goggly eyes

Cover the balloon with strips of newspaper dipped in a 50/50 water/glue solution.  Once you have put 3 or 4 layers of newspaper on, finish with a couple of layers of white kitchen towel dipped in the glue solution.  This way it will be ready to paint when dry.

Once dry burst the balloon and pull it out. Poor enough rice or sand into the hole to weigh the balloon down and stand up securely.

 Seal the hole up with more newspaper and kitchen towel dipped into the glue solution.

Leave to dry again and then paint the balloon with your animal colours.

And lastly, when dry decorate with coloured cardboard and goggly eyes!

Little Monster Felt Hand Puppet

My very lovely assistant helped me with this one.  I was planning to make a chick or a rabbit but as you can see, it turned into a very cute baby monster instead!

You will need:

• Felt
• Scissors
• A plastic sewing needle
• Coloured embroidery thread 
• A fabric hole punch
• Googly eyes
• Any coloured card or fabric that you would like to cut out and stick on to decorate your creature, whatever it turns out to be!

First of all, cut two hand puppet shapes out of some felt.

Sew a big cross on them to keep them aligned - this will just make it easier for your child to sew them without the fabric slipping about.

Using a fabric hole puncher, punch holes all the way around the outside of the hand puppet, about 0.5cm from the edge.

At the first hole tie a knot to stop the thread from slipping.  Sew all the way round (and back if you want there to be a solid line of coloured thread).  Sew in and out of the last 2 holes a few times to stop the thread from unravelling.

And last of all, decorate!  

Hobby Horse Cereal Box Dragon

This is a lovely Cereal Box Dragon that I saw on a different blog (http://mylittle3andme.co.uk/dragon-hobby-horse/) and thought would be fun to make.  In fact, different animals could easily be made from the basic cardboard box shape so my son and I plan to have a go at making a unicorn over the weekend!

Here's what you need:

• A big cereal box (the kind you get Shreddies or Cheerios etc. in)
• A paint brush
• Gesso or white acrylic paint (optional)
• Poster paint
• Tissue paper and PVA glue (optional)
• Some yellow, orange and red paper 
• Felt pens
• White card
• A long cardboard tube (like the ones you find inside rolls of wrapping paper)
• A green recycling bag
• Cellotape
• Double sided sticky tape

Paint your box with gesso or white acrylic.  This isn't essential but it means the text from the cereal box won't show through the poster paint at all.

Next draw the dragon's snout on the front and the lines shown below on both sides of the box.  

Cut along these lines so that your box now looks like this.

Fold down the two flaps inwards (they might need a trim) and tape them into place.  Next stick down the loose side of the box to the top of the snout and tape over the edges for extra strength.

Paint the dragon your most dragony colour (I also covered mine with torn green tissue paper and PVA glue for a scaly texture, but this is not at all necessary, just paint would look great) and cut jagged shapes into the cardboard behind the head.

Draw nostrils, eyes and a pair of horns onto white card.  Cut them out and stick them into place.  Make a fiery tongue and stick it into a little slit you cut into the front of the snout.  Secure from the inside with tape.

Cut a hole in the base of your dragon.  Stick your cardboard tube up and secure with cellotape.

Cut the sealed bottom off a green recycling bag and stick to the inside of the dragon's head with double sided tape.  Cut jagged shapes into the bottom of the bag and there you have it - one dragon ready to be conquered by your knight!

Water Bottle Fish

And now for a hanging, swimming fish made out of an old plastic bottle.  A few of them all hung up together would look beautiful!

You will need:

• A water bottle
• Thin card
• Cellotape
• Tissue paper in 2 or 3 different colours torn into strips.
• PVA Glue
• Paint brush
• Glitter
• Glittery fabric pen
• Sequins
• Felt pens
• Needle and thread

First of all, take the lid off your bottle and cut out some fin shapes and a tail shape for your fish.  Stick the shapes to your bottle with cellotape.  

After taking the bottle lid off, paint the fish with PVA glue and cover with the different colours of tissue paper, painting on more PVA glue as you go.  Leave to dry.

This is the fun bit! Go crazy with glitter pens, felt pens, sequins and glitter to give your fish markings and scales.  Leave to dry.

Scrunch up a length of tissue paper and two tissue paper balls.  Dip the 'eyes' into the PVA and stick into position on the fish.  Dip the strip of tissue paper into the PVA glue and while twisting, glue around the bottle opening for its mouth.  Leave to dry.  

Draw some eyes onto some thin card using felt pen.  Cut them out and stick them onto the fish.

Thread some cotton through the top of the fin and tie a knot.  And there you go - you're ready to hang it up and let it swim around!

Toilet Roll Animals

I've made (another) owl and an octopus out of toilet rolls.  They're rather cute and very easy to make.

Here's what you need for the owl:

• Toilet Roll
• Gesso or white acrylic for undercoat (or paint 2 coats of poster paint for good coverage)
• Double sided sticky tape
• Paint brush
• Poster paint
• Felt pens
• Old wrapping paper/wall paper/origami paper/anything with a pattern

First of all undercoat the toilet roll in white acrylic paint or gesso.  This isn't essential, it just makes the colour you paint on next cleaner and brighter looking.

Next paint the tube in your preferred owlie colour.  Leave to dry.

Fold the top of the tube over as shown to give your owl her ears.

Draw eyes, a beak and some claws onto a piece of white paper and colour in.  Cut some wings out of fabric or patterned paper.

 Stick'em all on and there you have it!

Carboard Box Robot

Do you fancy making a lovely little Robot?  Here's what you need:

• Cardboard boxes for body and head
• Plastic packaging for control panel
• Cardboard tubes for arms and legs
• Milk bottle top for neck
• Tin foil
• 2 x Polystyrene balls 
• Gesso or white acrylic paint (optional)
• Poster paint
• Glitter
• Sequins
• Cardboard 
• PVA Glue or double sided tape
• Scissors
• Paint brush

First of all stick the boxes and tubes together to get your Robot shape.

Then undercoat the robot with white acrylic or gesso (this is just to cover up any writing on the boxes.  You could just give it a couple of coats of poster paint instead). 

To make the doolie boppers twist some tin foil into two 'stalks', poke a hole into each polystyrene ball, coat the tip of the 'stalk' in PVA glue, stick into the hole and wait to dry.

Make two small holes with the end of your scissors in the top of the 'head' box and push the doollie boppers in.  If possible bend the ends at right angles inside the 'head' box and fasten with cello-tape.   

Cover the whole robot in silver paint and wait to dry.

And then decorate to your heart's delight!  Go wild with sequins, glitter, tin foil, buttons, springs, nuts and bolts - anything you fancy to bring your Robot to life.