Quick Crafts for Kids

Kids love to give gifts to friends and family and they also love to craft. Combine the two and not only will your kids have a blast they'll also impress the recipients of their beautiful handmade gifts. Many projects are very easy to do and require only a few things from a craft store. And, after they've done a few projects they usually have enough leftovers to make a couple more without spending additional money.

One cute craft that just about any child can make doesn't even require special items from a craft store. After eating a peach remove the pit and clean well. After the pit is dry let the child paint it black. Allow that to dry then dab white on the sides and back with a cotton ball. Glue the tip of an orange crayon to one end of the pit to serve as a bill and they've made a duck. Glue the peach pit to a small piece of wood, a mirror or even a painted bottle cap. Put a dot of paint on each side and slightly above the bill for eyes.

Make a similar craft by using walnut halves. Paint them red with black spots for a lady bug, white for a rabbit or gray for a mouse. Turn the shell half where the empty part is the bottom. Make whiskers for the bunny or the mouse by cutting some thread and gluing them in place at one end of the shell. Cut antenna for the ladybug. Cut ears from felt - gray on the outside and pink felt on the inside for mice, white on outside and pink on inside for bunny. Glue them to the head portion of the critter. Just for the rabbit cut a tiny rectangle of white felt and use a black marker to make a line down the center. Glue to the mouth region for rabbit teeth. Use a string for a mouse tail or cotton ball piece for bunny tail.

Glue a peanut onto a piece of wood or another base. Use yarn or thread to make hair and glue it on top. Or use a piece of felt to make a hat and eliminate the hair. Paint on eyes and a mouth or purchase silly craft eyes for the peanut person. Use pipe cleaners to form stick arms and legs. Make a whole family of them by posing them differently, giving one bushy eyebrows made from black pipe cleaners, and giving another one glasses formed from pipe cleaner.