Posts Tagged ‘kids’

15 Fun and Easy Sewing Projects for Kids

August 18, 2016| Crafts & DIY, Kids Fun

15 Fun and Easy Sewing Projects for Kids

We’re on the home stretch of summer now and you may be trying to find things to keep your kid’s minds (and fingers) busy. Have you considered sewing?

Kids are never too young when it comes to learning crafts, especially sewing. Sewing can not only bring hours of joy, it’s also a practical life skill. These fun sewing ideas will help kids learn and develop dexterity and coordination. I’ve been on the lookout for some cute things they can start off with and the projects I’ve gathered here range in difficulty from toddlers to teens.

Once kids learn any one of these fun sewing projects, who knows these might even spark their imagination to come up with their own creations. So go find a kid and get your sewing on!

1. Fried Egg Felt Zipper Pouch

In the ranks of cute foods, fried eggs are at the top of the list – so here they are, fried eggs in all their felty goodness. The DIY Fried Egg Felt Zipper Pouch is in full effect.
Via Damask love

2. Fabric Scrap Key Chain

Finally, you can get rid of your fabric scraps and teach your young ones to be crafty and resourceful, too.
Via Craftiness is not Optional

3. Book corner bookmark

This lovely bookmark is for the older kids who might want to put a little spin on their own creations.
Via kr creations

4. Emoji Keyrings

Have you seen the hundreds of emoji pillows and products in the stores these days? Once your child makes one of these keyrings, they’ll want to make one for everyone in the neighborhood.
Via crafternoon cabaret club

5. Scented sachets

These scented sachets will not only give your child something to do, these can also keep drawers and closets smell loads better.
Via Martha Stewart

6. Fish Laundry Bags

Cute… check! Useful… check! Easy… check! These adorable Fish Laundry Bags will be the envy of all the other kids at camp.
Via she can sew

7. Pleated headband

Kids will surely enjoy making their own combinations of fabric, buttons, and charms to make these lovely headbands.
Via Craftiness is not Optional

8. I Heart Coffee Cozy

Having a fabric cozy to take with me to get a hot beverage helps to keep the cardboard ones out of the dumpsters. Plus, it is super cute!
Via simply notable

9. Keychain chapstick holder

For kids/teens who can’t live without their chapstick – these will keep them from losing them.
Via Crazy Little Projects

10. Felt forest friends keychains

Kids can make their own little forest friend, hand sew and use on their bags.
Via Repeat Crafter Me

11. Handsewn Beady Eyeglass Case

These would be perfect for kids to make for their grandparents, friends or themselves.
Via How To Sew.com

12. Glove monsters

These cute glove monsters will surely be a hit for kids, they can make them as funny or scary as they like.
Via Craftaholics Anonymous

13. Felt iPod Case

Even young kids have smartphones now, so why not teach them how to better take care of their things by learning how to create a case.
Via Diary of a Quilter

14. Carefree Cat from Scraps

When you start combining pieces of fabric and sewing them together, the toy starts to create its own character…just like this super carefree cat made from fabric scraps.
Via Sew Toy

15. Button Sewing

Button sewing is the easiest thing to teach young kids – just use a blunt needle and burlap.
Via Mama.Papa.Bubba

I hope these sewing ideas for kids will give parents the chance to widen their kids’ horizons and teach them a skill or two. If you have other fun and easy sewing ideas that you would like to share with us, please do so in the comments.

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Word Rocks

November 11, 2015| Crafts & DIY, Kids Fun, Outdoors

Paint several of rocks with inspirational words and leave them at random places for people to find.

Word Rocks – This summer we had a really neat experience being introduced to word rocks. We were staying at the lake when my friend texted us early in the morning to come for a walk. My daughter had a very late night the night before so I really didn’t want to wake her up. About an hour or so later my persistent friend texted me again saying “it’s so amazing, come for a walk.” It was a foggy, drizzly morning so I assumed she meant that the forest looked quite beautiful that morning, again, nothing I was interested in waking up my daughter for and I couldn’t leave her unattended. Eventually my daughter slowly popped her head out of bed and I was thrilled she’d had a nice long sleep. Later I made my way onto Facebook and saw that my friend had posted a collection of amazing photos of kids holding these beautiful rocks with messages written on them. She had stumbled on a treasure trail of rocks that had been decorated and adorned with lovely, inspiring messages – they were everywhere in the forest, dozens of them. Later in the day Noelle and her friend went for a walk and found tons of these little beauties. On the back of each rock was written #wordrocks. I popped on the internet and found the origins of the word rock story here. A simple and sweet project started by a mother and her son in San Diego, California.

There is so much I love about this little project. I’m a big fan of random acts of kindness and the look on the kids faces when they found the rocks was priceless. It gave them a chance to make some big decisions too…leave the rocks for others to find or keep them for themselves. We also had an opportunity to talk about what all the messages meant in depth and what that meant personally to each child. In the end, each child kept one rock that they identified most with and then took the other rocks back to hide again for others to find. It was all the kids talked about for days.

Summer has now (sadly) passed but the joy and excitement that came with finding these word rocks remains. After continually talking about it, Noelle and I decided it was time to make our own word rocks and find a place to hide them for others to receive as much fun as we did finding them the first time. We collected rocks, painted and decorated them. One afternoon while Noelle had her friend Griffyn over we decided it was time to hide our word rocks. We are blessed to live on the side of a beautiful hill called Christmas Hill in Victoria, BC. We made our way through the trails and up towards the top of the hill, hiding rocks along the way. The girls had so much fun and I really felt like they were reflecting on what they were doing. I highly recommend this fun activity to everyone. It’s fun for kids and adults alike. You never know, someone could find one of your word rocks on a day that they were really struggling and needed a little bit of kindness in their lives. Positive messages have the ability to inspire, brighten your day and enact change. Here’s a local news story from this summer about word rocks here.

How to make word rocks

Supplies:

rocks
acrylic paint
paint brush
sharpie
decorative pens

Directions:

Wash all your rocks so that they are free of dirt and debris. Allow to dry.
Apply a layer of paint to one side of your rock. Allow paint to dry.
Decorate rock using more paint, sharpies and decorative pens.

Are you looking for some ideas for words and phrases to use on your word rocks? I assembled this great list of 200 positive words and sayings. Download the list here.

List of 200 positive words and phrases.

Hand painted word rocks – hide and leave them for people to randomly find.

21 Comments

Printable Secret Decoder Wheel

October 13, 2015| Kids Fun, Printables

Use this FREE DIY printable decoder wheel to send & receive secret messages without anyone being the wiser. A great resource for teachers and homeschoolers for spelling practice, math, writing activities, word work, etc. Also makes a wonderful addition to spy theme parties.

Printable secret decoder wheel.

Printable Secret Decoder Wheel – Attention all secret agents! Your secret decoder wheel has arrived and your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to send and receive secret messages to your friends without anyone being the wiser. No one will be able to decode your messages unless they have the secret key.

This is a super fun play activity for kids but also a useful resource for teachers, homeschoolers and parents. The secret decoder wheels could easily be used for math skills, spelling practice, writing activities, word work and more. They are also great for secret agent spy birthday theme parties or a secret treasure hunt. Think of all the possibilities!

Printable Secret Decoder Wheel Instructions

HOW TO MAKE THE DECODER WHEEL:

Cut out the circles below and stack in order from the number 1 wheel on the bottom, then number 2 wheel and finally number 3 wheel on the top.
Attach the three discs by carefully poking a round brad fastener (or thumb tack with an eraser behind) through the middle of all three wheels.

HOW TO USE DECODER WHEEL:

Pick a letter on the outer wheel and a number in the inner circle – this is your key (ex. M21). Turn the inner wheel so that the number (21 in our example) lines up with the out wheel letter (M in our example). On our wheel 21 also corresponds with R in the shaded section. Don’t move the wheels now, keep them in place.
First, write your message. No numbers (write them out), and no punctuation.
For each letter of your message, find that character on the outer wheel, and write down the letter that is exactly beneath it on the inner wheel until your message is complete.
To read the encrypted message get the key from the message sender and align the wheel – keep the wheel in this position. For each letter of your message, find that character on the inner wheel, and write down the letter that is exactly above it on the outer wheel.

Download your printable secret decoder wheel with instructions here.

Looking for more crafty stuff for kids: Mandala Coloring Page, Rainbow Loom Perler Bead Bracelets, Blank Faces Coloring Page, Jellyfish Friendship Bracelets, 10-Minute Superhero Costume, Printable Robot Coloring Page , Family Movie Night Tickets

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Owl Coloring Page

February 25, 2015| Kids Fun, Printables

Owls Coloring Page

Owl Coloring Page – Here’s a great question for you…did you know that a group of owls is called a parliament? I totally would have failed that question on an exam. It’s been a while now since I’ve made a coloring page so I decided to draw a “parliament” of owls for all of our owl fans out there. We love to draw and color in our home – even my husband, who’s main artistic skill is drawing stick men, enjoys getting in on a little coloring action. I often send a variety of coloring pages home with Noelle’s friends when they visit – always a hit. I’ve had a number of mom friends tell me that the coloring pages have saved their sanity while traveling, at weddings, on ferries, camping or when mom just needs a moment of peace and quiet. Some of my teacher friends use these pages in their classes when their kids have finished all their work or to leave for substitute teachers. I’m so happy that people make such great use of these coloring pages. If you have any theme requests for future coloring pages, please let me know.

Download or print your free owl coloring page here.

Looking for more crafty stuff for kids: Mandala Coloring Page, Hearts Coloring Page, Rainbow Loom Perler Bead Bracelets, Blank Faces Coloring Page, Jellyfish Friendship Bracelets, 10-Minute Superhero Costume, Printable Robot Coloring Page , Family Movie Night Tickets

Free owl coloring page

Thanks for reading! ~ Jamey

Copyright © 2015 by Jamey Ekins and http://www.dabblesandbabbles.com. The photos and documents are property of Jamey Ekins. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be distributed, sold or reused for financial gain or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jamey Ekins.

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