After over 15 years of living in or near the city of San Diego, we recently moved to the suburbs! It was a very busy and stressful few months, but things have started to settle down and we are finally getting back to enjoying art! My new little neighborhood is amazing and has decided to do a community egg hunt and I offered to do some crafts. Here is one that I think will be fun and easy for kids of any age! It's a large egg on a stick and can be made completely with scraps of cardboard and a little paint!
When we think of crafts oftentimes we think of the ready made packaged ones you can get at Michaels. I like to stay clear of these for a few reasons. One, because they only allow for children to make it a certain way, and two they add to the excess of plastics and other non-recyclable and unnecessary materials in the world. Alternatively this project can be done with scraps and recyclable materials.
Materials Needed: Cardboard egg cut out, small wooden dowels (or even better sticks found in nature), hot glue gun (or tape), paint, white glue, ribbons and other craft scraps.
Start saving large shipping boxes. Make one large egg, then trace it to make the rest of the eggs. Try to make the egg shape a little skinnier at the top and wider at the bottom. This is also the general shape of a head, only upside down. So you could alternatively turn this project into faces on a stick if it's not Easter!
Use a hot glue gun to attach a stick to the bottom, wider part of the egg. I purchased these small dowels at Michaels, but if I had had more time we would have hunted for sticks in nature!
Use a piece of torn paper from a paper shopping bag to reinforce the attached stick with hot glue. Alternatively white glue could work if you have plenty of time to let it dry.
Give your kiddos some paint and let them get to work! This is the fun part, where it's all about the process. I like to limit young children's colors to magenta (red), yellow, turquoise(blue) and white. These are the primary colors and will encourage mixing. Let them experiment with mixing and applying the paint, remember it is all about the process! Feel free to comment on their work "Oooh I like that swirly line," but try not to make suggestions!
I always save egg cartons, they make a handy paint tray!
Kids are done painting when they say they are done! Leave the eggs outside to dry in the sun for a bit.
Add more decorations. This is where you can let kids use up loose pieces of ribbons, buttons, stickers, fabric, or whatever you have laying around. Use white glue to attach the pieces.
Let it dry before putting it in the ground in front of your home and maybe the Easter Bunny will hide a real egg behind it on Sunday! Have a safe and happy Easter everyone!
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