SNAKE IN A CAN CRAFT:

Materials: Empty and cleaned small yogurt pot, coloured paper, glue stick, tape, coloured paper, child safe scissors.

Step 1: Have your child decide on the colour for the snake and cut for long strips out of coloured paper. Glue two strips together and another two to form two longer strips.

Step 2: Glue these two strips to make a large “L” shape.

Step 3: Have your child fold one strip over on top of the other and then the other end of the “L” over that one in a back and forth pattern to create an accordion of paper.

Step 4: Have your child decide what colour to make the yogurt pot and cut out some paper to wrap around it. Then glue the paper to the yogurt container and tape it to keep the paper wrapped around it. NOTE: My eldest wanted to keep the container as is and kept the top (cleaned) to glue back on top to trick his father.

Step 5: Have your child draw two eyes on one end of the accordion (or glue googly eyes) and then cut out a little red tongue and glue that on as well.

Step 6: Put a blob of glue inside the yogurt pot and stick the snake inside with the head end facing up.

Step 7: Cut out a paper top to glue one edge to the yogurt pot and have the snake stick its head out or glue the lid shut (as my son did by using the original top) so that you surprise someone who opens it!

HAPPY BOUQUET:

Materials: drinking straws, child safe scissors, an empty jar, yellow paper, black marker, a cup to trace for a perfect circle, pencil, tape.

Step 1: Trace around a cup to create many circles on a sheet of yellow paper and then have your child cut them out.

Step 2: Have your child draw happy faces on the circles.

Step 3: Tape the happy faces to drinking straws to create a bouquet of happiness. You may want to trim some straws to get different heights or tape some to bendy straws to bend out of the jar a bit.

Step 4: Display or give as a gift to brighten someone’s day!

GOOGLY EYED ANIMALS:

Materials: Old magazines that can be cut up, child safe scissors, coloured paper or plain paper, glue stick, damp cloth for sticky fingers, markers or crayons (Optional), white glue, googly eyes.

Step 1: Together with your child look through old magazines and cut out photographs of animals.

Step 2: Have your child glue the animal pictures to paper to create a scene. Encourage creativity. Perhaps the animals could be doing something silly like driving a car, or having a party.

Step 3: (Optional) Have your child add any embellishments with markers or crayons.

Step 4: Have your child use white glue to attach googly eyes to the animal pictures.

Crafts

FUNNY FACES MAGAZINE COLLAGE:

Materials: Old magazines that can be cut up, child safe scissors, coloured paper or plain paper, glue stick, damp cloth for sticky fingers.

Step 1: Together with your child look through old magazines and cut out eyes, ears, lips, noses, hair, etc.. Sort these into piles. (You could also be searching for animals for the craft below).

Step 2: Now the fun and creativity can begin. Have your child create his/her own funny face by gluing various body parts to the paper.

Joke Theme Day/ April Fools' Day

KNOCK KNOCK DOOR CRAFT:

Materials: Coloured paper, child safe scissors, glue stick, pencil, markers

NOTE: Ask your child what his/her favourite knock knock jokes are and have him/her write them down to remember them. Likewise, if your child cannot think of any jokes read through some joke books form the library to find some or check out this website: http://www.ahajokes.com/knock_knock_jokes.html

Step 1: Have your child choose one colour of paper for the doors and one colour for the background.

Step 2: Help your child draw doors of various sizes making sure there are two of each size.

Step 3: Help your child cut out the doors leaving a tab to fold over and glue to the paper.

Step 4: Fold the tabs over and glue them to a sheet of paper making sure to overlap two “doors” so that when you open one door another appears.

Step 5: On the first set of doors have your child write “KNOCK KNOCK Who’s there?” and draw a door handle.

Step 6: Bed the door open and on the backside from the words or name like “Nobel” and then on the front of the next door (the one that was under the first) have your child write “Nobel who?” or whatever (to go with the joke).

Step 7: Open that second door and now have your child write the final answer: “Nobel here, that’s why I knocked!”