Kindergarten Nation

Creative Crafts And Educational Activities

Ideas for Parents

Magazine Collage Ideas – Upcycle Magazines to Create Works of Art

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Do you have magazines just laying around? It’s time to put them to use! Today we will create works of art out of old magazines!

If you don’t have any already, you can find inexpensive magazines to upcycle at thrift stores and yard sales. You can also check your local recycling center to see if they have any used magazines for your projects that they would be willing to donate!

For this craft, you will also need construction paper, gluesticks, and scissors.

Select magazines with high-quality and relevant images.

While gathering magazines for your collage, think about the big picture of the work you plan to create.  Do you want to create a serene nature scene or make a powerful statement?

National Geographic is a great magazine for many types of collages, with gorgeous high-quality photographs of interesting people and animals!  The colorful pictures in National Geographic can be used for magazine collages, dream boards, and so many other art projects!

Once you have collected the magazines, you are ready to begin!

Magazine Collage Craft

Directions

1.  Cut shapes and pictures that interest you out of old magazines and arrange them on a piece of construction paper. Add the largest images first.

2.  Add smaller pieces to cover up rough edges and fill in any empty spots.

3. Try to cover up the entire piece of construction paper with magazine images.  The more images you use, the more intricate and interesting your collage will be!  

More Ideas

Dream Board Magazine Collage

Use magazine cut-outs to create a dream-board.  Instead of using a piece of construction paper as your background, use a canvas and glue the cut-out magazine pictures down with rubber cement.  Paint the rubber cement over the finished collage to keep everything in place. Here is a tutorial for creating the dream board magazine collage shown in the picture above (also called a vision board):  http://nicolewolf.com/create-your-vision-for-this-year/    

100 ways to creatively reuse old magazines!

Stained-Glass Star Ornaments

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These “Stained-Glass” Star Ornaments are the perfect craft to send home during the holidays!

star stained glass craft
The sunlight shining through creates a nice stained-glass effect.

popsicle stick star craft

Star of David Craft Materials:

Assemble The Star Frames 

Create the star frames by gluing three popsicle sticks together to make an equilateral triangle. Make two triangles for each ornament.

Let the triangles dry separately for about 10-15 minutes. Once they are dry, place the triangles on top of one another facing opposite directions to see where they will connect. Add a few dots of glue and press the triangles together until they stick on their own. Set the star frame(s) aside to dry.

Place the tissue paper pieces in a bowl and set out on tables along with the star frames.

In another bowl, add some water and a small amount of glue. You only need a little bit of glue and mostly water to make the tissue paper stick to the star frame.

For The Craft:

Lay pieces of tissue paper over the popsicle sticks and paint the glue mixture on, starting where the paper touches the popsicle sticks. The glue mixture will soak through the tissue paper and, when it dries, all the tissue paper pieces will be permanently attached to the star frame!

The Final Steps

Use a paintbrush dipped in the water/glue solution and smooth out the edges of the tissue paper pieces. Fill in any gaps with a little extra tissue paper and touch them up a little bit.

Place the completed Star of David ornaments aside and let them dry for 30 minutes to an hour.  Some kids may go overboard with the glue water so those may take a little bit longer to dry!

Once the tissue paper is dry,  you can write each student’s name and the year on the ornament with a Sharpie.

Poke a little hole through the tissue paper near the inside of the top point on the star using a well-sharpened pencil.

Thread a piece of ribbon or string through the hole and tie it in a loop so it can hang in a window, or anywhere the sunlight can shine through!

Did You Know?

The Star of David is a six-pointed figure consisting of two interlaced equilateral triangles. It is used as a Jewish and Israeli symbol and appears on the flag of Israel.

Books About Hanukkah for Kids

Here are a few books, available on Amazon, that you can use to help teach your students about  Hanukkah, and the common symbols and traditions associated with this holiday.


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Construction Paper Worm Craft

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This construction paper worm craft includes a moveable pebble that hides in the grass!

construction paper worm craft

Here is what you’ll need:

  • glue sticks
  • scissors
  • construction paper
  • markers

Directions:

  1. First, draw an outline of the worm on a piece of pink construction paper. You can use the picture above as a guide if you want. Cut out the worm’s body.
  2. On another piece of pink construction paper, draw an outline of the neck. This piece makes it look more worm-like, and less like a snake. Cut out the neck piece and glue it onto the worm’s body. Set the worm aside.
  3. On the brown construction paper for the background. Draw dots and speckles on the brown construction paper with a marker to make it look like dirt.
  4. Cut a 3-inch strip of blue construction paper for the sky and glue it to the top of your paper.
  5. Next cut a 1.5-inch strip of green paper and snip it along the side to make grass.  Line it up and glue the bottom of the grass to where the brown construction paper meets the blue construction paper.
  6. Glue the worm over the dirt area.
  7. Cut out small gray ovals and glue them onto the brown background to make pebbles. Draw dots and lines to make them look more realistic.  Make a bigger pebble and tuck it into the grass – no need to glue it down, and it’s fun to move around!

Printable Cat Template – Cute, Fat, and Rolly

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This cat craft is super easy to make and is a fun cutting and gluing activity for kids in pre-school and kindergarten. Just download and print the free printable cat template. Then color, cut and paste!

Materials:

Instructions:

1. Download and print the Cat Craft Template PDF. 

Cat Craft Template

 2. Cut out the different shapes.

3. Color the pieces with markers or crayons.

3. Glue the pieces together to finish their unique and awesome fat cat! Every student will put their cat template together differently.  I love doing this activity with my students because its so easy, and at the same time it reinforces cutting skills!

 After we are done, I display each child’s work around the classroom. You can attach a straw or a popsicle stick to the back of the cat with tape to make a cute cat puppet that kids will love!

You might also like:

Black Cat Craft – A 3D paper cat that can be a puppet or hang on the wall.

Cat Puppet – An easy printable cat template craft.  Just print out, cut, and color, then add a straw or popsicle stick to make a puppet.

Cat House Drawing – An easy drawing of a house filled with cats! 

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