It is summer t
me and if you are
like me you n
ed some activities to fill the in b
tween days at the pool. whether it is a r
iny day or you can't take
nother day in
the scorching heat, craft cl
bs can offer great summer fun. f
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What is a craft
club? Craft cl
bs can be for all ages. It can be a gr
at girls night out for
the overworked m
ms or it can be a gr
at time for kids to bond and m
ke
something cool at the same time. f
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The first st
p is to
get a group of fr
ends together. It can be your ch
ld’s playgroup, friends from
church, friends from a sp
rts team, etc. Make sure you p
ck a location that has
a lot of r
om to spread out.
styl
="margin-left:0in"> Don’t feel
intimidated. You don’t h
ve to have this extravagant house or h
ge table. Kids
are just as happy c
rcling up on the floor to do cr
fts. Besides, you want an
area that can get a l
ttle messy.
Th
re are tons of
fun summer crafts and s
nce the kids are out of sch
ol-chances are they will be
excited to do s
me creative fun projects. It also k
eps their brain sharp for
when school d
es start back up.
styl
="margin-left:0in"> Here are a few
deas
of crafts for the summer months: f
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Make flip fl
ps
What kid d
esn’t
like to wear flip flops. This w
ll give them the opportunity to cr
ate their
own style and then show it off for all to see wh
n you do go back to the p
ol.
There are several different ways to d
corate. Be careful: hot glue does not
work on s
me of the flip flop types, but th
re are other alternatives. You can
use d
uble sided tape. You can decorate w
th ribbon, flowers, foam stickers,
shells, beads,
tc. You can also use fabric gl
tter and markers. The point is
to get the k
ds creating and talking.
styl
="margin-left:0in"> Grillin and Paintin
cl
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b
meeting and grill out hot dogs for the k
ds. Instead of having just ketchup and
mustard in th
se condiment bottles, fill them with p
int. Grab a long sheet or
butcher p
per and clip to a fence or s
de of the house. Give the k
ds a
condiment bottle and let them go to t
wn. Liguid watercolors work great for
this pr
ject. The kids will just like the sq
irting. Encourage the kids to
write their n
me with the bottle. The label it Cr
ft Club with the year. It
will be a gr
at souvenir of time spent together. The d
llar store sells the
condiment bottles at a ch
ap price.
B
ads
Beads are gr
at to
have during the summer. Making br
celets and necklaces is not just for g
rls
anymore. The craft stores sell all typ
s of beads from sports to b
llet to even
the old ones we gr
w up. My suggestion is to j
st buy a large variety and th
n
sit back and watch the kids cr
ate. Beading also gives them some gr
at hand eye
coordination skills.
styl
="margin-left:0in"> Foam
f
ce="Arial"> Have you been to a
craft st
re lately? There are endless foam
ctivities from beach hats to beach
bags. K
ds like foam because most of th
m allow you to just pull a b
cking off
and stick. Don’t forget the l
tters for them to spell names and phr
ses.
T-shirts f
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Who doesn’t l
ke
making t-shirts. This is actually a g
od activity for the first meeting. You
can m
ke a club t-shirt or art sm
ck to wear to club gatherings. Of c
urse, the
most known way to do th
s is by tye-dying the shirt. Th
re are other options. There
are some b
aded iron-ons in the craft section. Th
s, of course, would take
parent supervision. You can
lso have all the members of the cl
b put a
handprint on each shirt w
th their name. Have a mom wr
te Craft Club in the
center on all of the k
ds’ shirts. It makes a great cl
b shirt. Remember to use
fabric paint. f
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These are j
st a few
suggestions to get your cl
b started. Feel free to add
thers to the comments.
Have fun creating!
cl
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