Kids Craft Weekly - Issue 72 - Paper plate crafts

ISSUE 72 • 20 MAY 2009

1. Editorial
2. Paper plate flying saucers
3. Paper plate dinosaurs
4. Paper plate dirty dogs
5. Paper plate flower wheels
6. April photo comp winner
7. Featured subscriber blog

1. Editorial

Hello and welcome to the latest issue of Kids Craft Weekly! Thanks for the nice comments about the simple card issue – thanks also for those of you who wrote in or sent photos of your own simple card ideas. I hope to share these in a future issue of Kids Craft Weekly so stay tuned.

For this issue's editorial I'm thrilled to share with you this wonderful 'recipe' told to me by one of my oldest and dearest friends who read it on the inside of a vintage cooking tin.

Recipe for Preserving Children

Ingredients
• 1 grassy field
• 1 half-dozen children (or more)
• Several dogs (and puppies, if available)
• 1 brook
• Pebbles

Method
1. Into field pour children and dogs, allowing to mix well.
2. Pour brook over pebbles till slightly frothy.
3. When children are nicely brown cool in warm bath.
4. When dry, serve with milk and fresh baked gingerbread.

Isn't that wonderful? For a bit of variation I'd consider adding some paint to that mix, or maybe even some paper plates! Now go and have fun preserving those children.

Happy crafting and I'll see you next time!

Amber Carvan
editor@kidscraftweekly.com

2. Paper plate flying saucers

The hardest part about making this simple flying saucer was trying to explain to my kids what a flying saucer is! Aside from that, the experience was a very simple and successful one that even saw some cooperative crafting between siblings which is quite unusual around these parts.

You will need

• two paper plates, preferably deep ones
• a plastic 'frappuccino' lid
• stapler
• white glue
• aluminium foil
• colourful beads

Directions

1. Glue on the plastic lid to the bottom of one of the paper plates and allow it to dry overnight. Then staple together the two plates.

2. Decorate as desired. We used scrunched up balls of aluminium foil and lots of beads.

3. Not bad for a couple of paper plates. I think these UFOs would look great decorated with glow in the dark stickers and suspended from the ceiling!

3. Paper plate dinosaurs

You'll never look at a paper plate in quite the same way after you've done this activity. This stegosaurus and brontosaurus are great fun to make and involve remarkably little fuss – I know that we'll definitely be making these guys again.

You will need

• paper plates (one plate makes one dinosaur)
• split pins
• acrylic paint and brush
• hole punch

for the stegosaurus

• mini foil chocolate cases or cupcake cases
• stapler

for the brontosaurus

• foam spots and glue or stickers

Directions

1. Paint the plate and let it dry.

2. Cut out the pieces to construct your dinosaur. Start by cutting the plate in half, then put one half aside (this will be the body) and cut legs, tail and head from the other half. Here is how I cut up our plates for this activity.

For the stegosaurus:

For the brontosaurus:

3. Punch holes in appropriate places and attach head, legs and tail to the body using split pins.

4. Apply finishing touches.

For the brontosaurus, we glued on foam spots for a bit of fun. You could use any kind of embellishment that you wanted.

For the stegosaurus, flatten foil cases and staple them along the top ridge of the dinosaur, starting from the head and finishing at the tail.

4. Paper plate dirty dogs

No self respecting working dog would endure a day without a good roll in the dust – this cute cut-out farm dog is no exception.

You will need

• a paper plate or piece of cardboard
• a pencil
• scissors
• white glue
• marker pen
• tape
• coloured paper or felt for ears
• dirt

Directions

1. Fold your paper plate (or piece of cardboard) in half. Then draw on a dog outline. Make sure that the fold in the plate aligns with the dog's back and tail.

2. Cut out the dog.

3. Use a small piece of tape to join together the dog's head and nose. Then draw on some eyes and a nose and glue on some ears made from felt or coloured paper.

4. Dip one of your fingertips in white glue and make some gluey splodges on the dog. Then place the gluey side in some dirt.

5. Remove from dirt and voila! Lovable dirty dogs, ready for a day of hard work on the farm.

5. Paper plate flower wheels

The wild enthusiasm and raptures that greeted this craft came as something of a surprise to me, which just confirms my belief that no matter how well you think you know them, your kids will always take you by surprise. Due to their popularity we ended up making these flower wheels until there was not a scrap of crepe paper left in the house.

The under three's will enjoy sticking the crepe paper on anywhere. Older children will get a kick out of custom designing and then creating their own flower wheel.

You will need

• paper plates
• white glue
• scissors
• different colours of crepe paper
• pen or marker

Directions

1. Cut crepe paper into pieces. We used pieces that were roughly two by two inches but there is no need to be precise.

2. Draw a simple geometric design onto a paper plate.

3. Pour some white glue onto a spare paper plate. Then scrunch up a piece of crepe paper, dip it in the glue and stick to the plate.

4. Continue with different colours until you have created a fabulous flower wheel.

6. April photo comp winner

There were so many wonderful photos submitted in April so it very hard to pick a winner. In the end I simply couldn't go past the soft focus of this gorgeous Easter craft image. Congrats to the winner – please get in touch and let me know which book you'd like as your prize.

Remember to add your photos to the pool for the chance to win a copy of the book of your choice from my Amazon favourites list. I give away a book every month – I'll be doing a May round-up in the next issue.

The kitty for the book competition is still running very low. If you do shop at Amazon at any time please take the time to click through from Kids Craft Weekly. Every purchase, no matter how small, helps to fund the monthly book giveaway for this crafty community.

7. Featured subscriber blog

Mozi Esme - The day-to-day adventures of a 2-year-old American bebe girl growing up who knows where...

Subscriber blogs are featured on a first-in first-served basis. To have your blog included in this section just send in your web address and I'll add you to the list.

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