Craft (Or Popsicle) Stick Crafts

In honor of an especially rainy day here in New Hampshire, I give you some rainy day craft ideas...

Here are some craft ideas we’ve been doing with our day campers. They are all very easy and can take up a good amount of time if you want to draw it out for an hour or so, or they can be done in as little as fifteen minutes. They all use a very limited amount of inexpensive supplies, the main supply being craft sticks. You can buy craft sticks at Michael's, JoAnn's and other craft stores for as little as $5.00/1000. If you prefer something a little more carbon-copyish, you can also buy little kits here. Usually craft sticks glue together just fine with Elmer's School Glue, but Glue All works a bit better, and Tacky glue works really well. If you use Tacky glue, it's easier for little ones or big groups if you pour some into a paper bowl/cup and allow them to paint the glue on with a simple, cheap paintbrush.

About Magnets: We glued magnets to the back of the picture frame and the cat. You can buy magnetic tape for about $3-$4, but it often doesn't work very well. A better deal are these types of magnets that are much stronger, but need to be glued on with hot glue. They cost about $5-6 for 50! And they are very good, although I always have to make sure I glue the right side down...

Picture Frame: Lay seven popsicle sticks or JUMBO craft sticks (which are much better for Pre-K kids) flat on newsprint and glue together by gluing along the sides and pushing together. Then lay four more to make a square, or picture frame. For more color, the sticks can be colored or painted before gluing. Last, glue some decorations around the sides such as foam shapes, small puzzle pieces, shells, sequins, etc. See samples here and here. I do mine a little differently than these samples because I like my picture frame to have a back on it. I'll try to post a picture later.

Cat Magnet: Decorate a large craft stick for the body, and four small popsicle sticks as legs and glue together. Cut out an oval from card stock for the cat’s head and triangles for ears. Twist two 3 inch chenille stems together and attach to body using Tacky Glue or a hot glue gun. See sample and more complex instructions here. Of course, this little cat could be easily made into any cat in the cat family (tiger, lion) or many other creatures, such as a bear, dog, giraffe...

Tic-Tac-Toe (Camper Favorite!): Use a 6x6in. square of card stock or cardboard and decorate with stamps, stickers, crayons, markers, etc. Gather four popsicle sticks and decorate with crayons, markers or paint. Glue the craft sticks onto card stock as a tic-tac-toe board. Then, paint rocks two different colors to use as Xs and Os, or paint Xs and Os on the rocks. One could also use shells, foam shapes, cut paper, pom-poms or seasonal items such as card stock cut into egg shapes for Easter, stars for Christmas, and so on. All pieces can fit in a Ziploc bag as a fun travel game, occupying the kids for even longer. See more instructions and a sample here.