Paper Crafts for Children

I love that this craft has a useful purpose as well as looking great in the kiddies rooms, and you get to do some recycling too.

You need a sturdy shoebox, 2 or 3 empty card rolls, newspaper torn into small strips, glue and paint.

Cut the card rolls into thirds and place on your shoe box lid in two lines. If your box is smaller you may think two rows of three looks better.

Secure the toilet rolls to the lid using some of the strips of newspaper dipped in glue. Use long thin pieces to cover the top of the toilet rolls making sure you smooth them down well. Continue to cover the rest of the lid with the strips of newspaper until you have three layers over the entire lid. I don’t wait for each layer to dry as I am too impatient. I think of this as a basic form of papier mache.

Make sure you don’t fold the paper under the rim of the lid as you will make it smaller and it won’t fit on the box.

Leave to dry thoroughly.

Paint the box and lid with a good craft paint (if you are going to use a light coloured paint, you may like to use white paper on your last layer of papier mache so the words won’t show through). Leave to dry. To make it even hardier, and also if you have used a cheaper poster paint, you might also want to seal it with a craft varnish.

This colorful character is a hoot!

You will need an empty toilet roll or roll of card, some colored paper in a variety of colours, a small piece of black card and a small piece of white paper.

Cover the toilet roll with a piece of colored paper. To make great owl ears, cut a half moon shape from the front and back of the top of the toilet roll so they meet at a peak at each side. Cut strips from colored paper long enough to circle the toilet roll. Make lots of cuts along the strips making sure you don’t cut right through. These will be the feathers of the owl. Carefully run the ‘feathers’ along the edge of a pair of scissors to make them curl. Be gentle as it is easy to pull them off. Glue each feather strip around the toilet roll leaving a gap in the front with the two top strips. For the tummy cut out an oval from colored paper and draw small ‘v’ shapes for feathers. Wait till you have made the eyes before gluing in place so you can work out the best place to put the tummy. Use the black card to cut out a pair of eyes. Using this as a template cut out another pair of eyes using the white paper and then cut them a little smaller. Draw in some pupils. Cut out a small triangle from orange and glue to the back of the eyes to form the beak.

This is a quite beautiful picture created from some very simple materials

Draw a tree branch on some long white paper. It is the shape of the paper that helps to make this so effective.

Flatten the toilet rolls and then cut into quarters. Make sure your cuts are fairly even as you want the edge to glue evenly to the paper.

Color the toilet rolls – green or autumn colors – remember to color the top edge that will be seen.

Dip the toilet rolls into the PVA glue. I used a plastic lid and put a blob of glue into it but you can paint it on if you wish. Press the toilet rolls into place on the branch and leave to dry thoroughly. Press the leaves down a couple of times whilst they are drying to make sure they adher evenly all round.

Some of my favorite cards for children to craft for Mothers Day and of course Grandmothers Day too.

	Mothers Day Tea Bag Card From all the hits this craft gets, it must be one of the most popular on my site. Have a look and see why everyone likes it so much.
	Fold Out Card A bit of a fancy card, but ever so easy to make.
	Secret Message Card This very clever card is much easier to make than it looks – have a go!
	Seeded Paper for Gift Cards A perfect card and gift combo paper craft.
	Accordion Pop-up Card The front of this card says ‘Thanks …’ and when it opens a whole bunch of flowers pop up and the message is ‘… a bunch’. Much easier to make than it looks.
	Concertina Gift Card What I love about this one is that it combines a card with a gift – and the gift can be little promise notes or special messages. Did I mention that this is also easier than it looks??
	Pop-up Garland Card This card combines two very easy techniques, a simple pop-up card and a paper garland. The flowers from the garland are used on the inside of the card as pictures here, and also on the front of the card and an envelope.
	Easy Pop-up Card Just like the others in this list, this is a great card craft for children to learn. The pop-up section is a separate piece that is glued on.

Such a great idea for a gift! This is perfect for turning a childs drawing into a gift – even a toddlers scribble designs would make a much appreciated present for something like Mothers Day.

The example from Pippi Pipecleaners below uses a very cute design that you can make from craft paper or from left over artwork.

Simple to make, you just need to cut out two identical shapes.

Layer up the shapes and glue some ribbon to the inside of one of the pieces. Glue the two pieces together leaving an opening.

Dab a small amount of scented oil onto a cotton wool ball – if you put too much it will ooze through the paper and may mark clothing. To make sure it will be OK, unroll another ball or two and roll it around the scented one.

Glue the closing shut and it is ready to be given and enjoyed. Just in time for Mothers Day!

The Easter celebration is another great excuse to do some paper craft with your children!

A very cute craft that is great for Easter treats. Paper Plate Easter Bunny Basket
Something very cool for older children to craft up for Easter. Translucent Tissue Paper Easter Egg
A simple idea that can be decorated in any way you like. Paper Plate Easter Basket
Super simple paper craft for Easter – super handy too! Paper Cup Easter Baskets
Is it an Easter bag or an Easter bunny? Easter Bunny Paper Bag
Make a perfectly Easter sized Papier Mache Easter Egg with this method. Papier Mache Easter Egg
Hop to it and make this super cute bunny for Easter Brown Paper Bag Bunny
Take a simple tube and make a happy hoppy family. Paper Tube Easter Bunny Family
Soo cute, perfect for helping entertain little fingers at Easter Scrunched Tissue Paper Bunny
Use some concertina folds to make an Easter basket. Easter Bunny Basket
The moving parts on this happy chick will be a hit. Happy Flappy Easter Chick
My daughter taught me this very cool Easter Egg Card Craft. Simple Easter Egg Card
A classic craft for a classic holiday – Paper Collage Easter Eggs
A great paper craft for dads! Try an egg version of the paper tumbler for Easter.
These are easy to make and we will be making them in our family for the morning Easter gifts. See the tutorial – Starbox Tutorial or Worksheet – How to make a Starbox PDF.
This pop-up card technique is easy for children and can be used for any topic. See the tutorial – Tutorial or the PDF worksheet – Worksheet – Pop-up Cards PDF
A handy dandy box useful for all sorts of things, including chocolate bunnies! Find out how to make one at the Fold-up Box Tutorial or download the free PDF Worksheet – Fold-up Box
Easter bunny will have lots of help with these very cute and easy to make origami bunnies. See the Origami Bunny Tutorial or download the free PDF Worksheet – Origami Bunny.
A papier mache egg to hide treats in. Made in two halves with layers of newspaper and finished with tissue paper and a ribbon to close it. See the Papier Mache Egg Tutorial, or the PDF Worksheet – Papier Mache Egg.
This can be a super quick activity if you are using already decorated card like this photo of one egg from all sides. Or it can be a lengthy art activity if you start with white card and decorate it. To find out how to make it please see Stand-up Egg. Check out the Tutorial – Stand-up Shape or print out the PDF Worksheet – Stand-up Shape for step by step instructions.