| All insects have a few things in common: an exoskeleton, which protects their internal organs; the skeleton has three parts (head, thorax and abdomen); three pairs of legs, a set of antennae, and many have wings. Watch for all of these "parts" and probably a few imaginary ones as kids create a swarm of "buggy" creatures. Projects include: Upright Insects - Offers a new technique using Styrofoam, tissue paper and a little glitter; Bug Bottle and Insect Cutouts - Kids create a natural habitat for collecting bugs complete with twigs, leaves and moss; Dragonflies - Kids paint a chipwood box with a dragonfly design; Butterflies and Spiders - We know that spiders are not true insects, but we couldn't resist adding an eight-legged bug using foam, tissue, and paper; Insects on the Move - Wood spools and Styrofoam help kids animate their insect creations; Hands On Project - Kids help kids by bringing craft and school supplies to those in homeless shelters. 07DR PI 30 min. |
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"Recommended. Colonial crafts receive 21st-century
twists. On screen supply lists, close-up camera angles, and easy-to-follow
directions make the projects especially accessible. Teachers, scout leaders,
and others who work with children will welcome the ideas." -Booklist "Recommended. Goes beyond the hands-on experience and offers a view into history, culture, and everyday home life. All the step-by-step instructions are clear, slow-paced, and illustrated clearly." -School Library Journal Many of the crafts we enjoy today were born out of the necessity of everyday living in Colonial times. Colonial life demanded that Colonists provide for themselves and their family. We may use slightly improved materials, but the techniques of today's crafts mirror those of the colonial era. Projects include: Soap on a Rope - Covers two essential colonial crafts, soap making and twisting rope; Crayon Candles - Uses all those bits and pieces of crayon to make molded candles (Note: requires adult supervision due to the use of a heat source for melting the crayons); The Tree of Life - A little different twist on quilting with a traditional pattern on a non-traditional surface - brown paper; also kids learn the running and blanket stitch in this paper quilt; Stenciling - Introduces stenciling on a small scale on a decorative coaster in the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch design; Williamsburg Apple Tree - Kids create a traditional apple tree centerpiece from paper and Styrofoam that looks good enough to eat!; Hands On Project - Sixth graders work on personalized letters as part of backpacks distributed to homeless shelters. 07DR PI 30 min. Associated Program: Colonial America 2: 1500 - 1776 |
| Books can take you to far away places, let you be anyone and travel anywhere, if only in your mind. Here different kinds of puppets bring characters from favorite books to life, helping you write stories, create characters and design sets. Projects include: On Stage - This puppet technique allows you to make the characters for your own story from the simplest of materials; Spoon Puppet - Wild and wacky spoon critters could be hiding in your kitchen! Add some paint, wiggle eyes and imagination to bring your critter to life; Cowboy Characters - Bread and glue make these great bread dough puppets from a popular story. Learn how to create faces and outfit your puppets; The Mouse and the Motorcycle - This Beverly Cleary book provides us with two fun projects: the main character and his favorite mode of transportation. See how paying attention to detail when you read will help you create puppets; Hands On Project - Learn about the projects done for Right to Read Week in an elementary school. We've stretched the definition of crafts to include making wacky costumes. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Looking at the stars at night or watching the sunrise over the horizon, our fascination with space begins and ends each day. This program covers both the realistic and imagined bodies we see in space. With fluorescent colors and tons of glitter you can create your own "place in space." Projects include: Comet Crazy - When you see a comet streak across the sky, did you ever imagine it was made out of ice and dirt? Make your own comet from plastic, Styrofoam and amazing glitter gels; Far Out Scenery - Create your own space scene with a really "far out" technique using crayons, paints and stencils; The "Real" Solar System - Get "real" with an accurate model of the solar system. Scale the planets to size and position them as they revolve around the sun; Double-Dip Constellations - Diagram two, well-known constellations using chalk, glitter, and a chalkboard; Planet Earth - Create a hanging model of our planet with a glue that creates the metallic surface on the planet. It takes a little extra drying time, but it's well worth the wait; Hands On Project - Learn about the "Crowning Glory Project" and how kids and adults have found a crafty way to help cancer victims. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Air is constantly on the move. The movement of air from a high-pressure area to a low-pressure area causes the wind to blow. Our Windy projects take advantage of air pressure to make them work. Projects include: Plastic Canvas Whirler - See the effects of wind when you hang this whirler outside on a breezy day; Wrapping Paper Kite - Make your own kites from wrapping paper and sticks. Kites are a great way to see wind direction and enjoy the effects of the wind; Cowboy Wind Chime - Feel and hear the wind as it blows! Create a fun wind chime with bandanas, glue, and old silverware; Sail Away - A sailboat is a perfect example of our dependence on the wind. Your sailboat has a 90’s twist, the entire surface, boat and sails, is tie-dyed with non-aerosol spray paint; Fish Windsock - Recycle a two-liter bottle with foam scales for a whimsical windsock. The hollow design will catch the wind and swim through the air; Hands On Project - Learn about a craft project designed by a 10-year-old girl to help defray the medical costs of a friend's family. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Many craft materials are found naturally, such as cork, rubber, and grapevine. Many others are derived from natural components like plastics from oil; some paints from milk, and dyes from plant materials. See how you can gather things right in your own backyard to create "natural" crafts. Projects include: How to Grow a Crayon - Learn the step-by-step process for making crayons from soybeans - what could be more natural? Seed Topiary - Gather seeds and beans to create a geometric design in a clay pot. Learn how to divide and measure a round object the easy way, using rubber bands; Nature Book - Create a personal journal for your thoughts and ideas. The cover design borrows plants and twigs from nature along with a fun foiling technique; Rock Zoo - Collect all sorts of rocks to make a whole zoo of animals. Paints, eyes, and trims complete these critters; Reflections of Nature - Sunglasses reflect your memories of a favorite outdoor place. Soybean crayons complete the natural theme; Hands On Project - How do you get ideas for craft projects that might help someone else? Take a few minutes to brainstorm on a project you might be able to try. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| The waters of the world are filled with fascinating creatures in colorful settings. Shallow coastal waters are home to beautiful coral reefs and millions of sea animals. The depths of the ocean hold exotic looking creatures, some with their own "fluorescent" lights. Projects include: Inside the Fishbowl - Decorate a fish bowl using waterproof paints to create a habitat for fish; Water-Colors - Paint an underwater water-color using specialty water-color techniques; Ribbon Fish - These delicate woven fish have the look of origami. You’ll want to make a whole school of different colored and patterned fish; Sea-Life Mobile - Choose sea creatures to adorn this ocean mobile, each illustrates a different technique with different materials from sand and glue, to beads and glitter, and paper and foam; Beach Box - The perfect project to use all of those shells you collected on your last vacation, a great shadow box from a pizza box; Hands On Project - Learn about "Kidsacks," a project to make and distribute warm sleeping bags to kids in shelters. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Patterns are all around us, from color and designs that are repeated in a specific way, to the chorus in a song, or even a pattern of light in a laser show. Patterns also exist in numbers and letters, where a particular sequence is followed. Projects include: Block Puzzles - Start with six blocks and six pictures, or six photos or six colors; you’ll end up with your own set of puzzle blocks to put together; Chenille Weaving - Using plastic canvas and chenille stems you will create a checkerboard pattern without even using a needle; Paint Roller Patterns - Decorate your own tote, towel and shirt. Learn how to create a design with wood and foam and then create a roller to make a continuous pattern; Paper Plate Patterns - Paper and glue are all you need to create patterned decorator plates; Rainbow Box - Create a repeating pattern with color, then measure and create a grid to provide a sequence to your pattern; Hands On Project - Learn about the Pennsylvania Vent Camp for kids that are ventilator dependant. Crafting is a big part of the camp's program. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Stamps, such as, Postage stamps, are the easy way to repeat the same design and have it look the same each time. Manufacturing plants often use other kinds of stamps to "stamp out" molds and "stamp on" designs. Here are new ways to stamp with various kinds of material. Projects include: Cookie Cutter Stamping - Start with a cookie cutter, add Styrofoam and acrylic paint and end up with great stamped bags, stationary and greeting cards; Sticker Stamps - These stamps make great decorations. Decorative edge scissors, labels, rubber stamps and washable markers are all you need; Stamped Memory Albums - Make your own scrapbook page, assembling one-of-a-kind pages to showcase your favorite photos; Personal Postage Stamps - What if you were asked to design the next postage stamp? This project shows you how using chalks, markers and various blending techniques; T - Riffic Stamps - Anything you can draw or trace can be turned into a stamp. Decorate a T-shirt with fabric paints and your very own stamp creation; Hands On Project - Learn about Camp Can Do, a summer camp for children with cancer, where crafts are a big part of every days activities. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Reduce: cutting down on waste and using products made to last rather than disposable. Reuse: even if you can’t use something again, someone else might. Recycle: collect like-materials and change them into something new. Here we use recycled materials as we "Rehash the trash." Projects include: Papermaking - New paper from junk mail, using Kleenex and glue, plus a little of "yesterdays news."; Recycled Stationary - Decorative scissors, markers, glue and "used" paper to make new stationary for letter writing; Milk Carton Birdhouse - An easy-to-make home for your feathered friends, all from recycled materials; Renuzit Clown - A used Renuzit container is the base for a fun clown. See how containers once used for something totally different make great crafts; Molded Paper - Papermaking is so much fun. Add brown paper bags and you’ve got a great book cover; Hands On Project - Recycling offers a lot of different ways to use crafts to help others. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| The Native American Culture is deeply rooted in tradition and a great place to understand the customs that are handed down from generation to generation. By studying the crafts, homes and symbols of Native Americans, we can learn more about their past and America's heritage. Projects include: Dream Catchers - Tradition says a dream catcher over your bed will catch the bad dreams in its net, good dreams pass through the center and back to you. You'll build yours using rings, cording, and beads; Rock Symbols - Duplicate ancient Native America symbols using acrylic paint on flat rocks and leave your own "message" to be found by future generations; Ceremonial Pipes - Commonly called peace pipes, ceremonial pipes is a more accurate term. Yours are made from plastic pipefittings and dowels; Faux Sandstone - Many examples of Native American art are carved into rocks and caves. Here you create your own faux rock with Styrofoam, sand and glue; then etch your own symbol; Sandpaper Teepees - The common Native American home is the teepee. Traditionally made of animal hides, tree trunks and decorated with symbols, your teepee uses sandpaper, chalk and crayons to duplicate the design; Hands On Project - Follow a high school class project to support "Warm Up America" by making afghans for the needy. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| Color can mean many things. We all have a favorite color that reflects something about our personality. We feel differently in certain colors, and the amount of light around us can also affect our mood. The theme here revolves around light and color and their interaction. Projects include: Color Wheel - Invented by Louis Prang, the color wheel is the beginning of any study on color. Make your own color palette to use in all of your future projects; Stained Glass - Glue and paper are all you need to create beautiful stick-on stained glass. Three different techniques create a different finish and texture for each; 3D Sun Catchers - Acrylic balls are a great surface for paint. Light passes through open areas creating a glowing effect of color; Make a Flashlight - Create your own flashlight, then make screens to create different shapes from light; Luminaries - Glass, tissue and glue are used to make a luminary. By making the paper translucent and cutting decorative shapes with scissors you’ll create different light patterns; Hands On Project - What exactly is a Hands-On Project? Here's how can you start your own with your friends. 07DR PI 30 min. |
| There's a whole world of design around made up of shapes and lines. Look closely to see how they make up the things around us. This program's focus is on measuring and building to make the lines and shapes that form designs. Your building blocks are wood, paint, thread and fabric. Projects include: What's In a Name? - See your own name, not as a word, but as a structural shape to be built upon. Lines and color patterns create the design; Wood Quilting - Positioning shapes in decorative patterns is what forms these beautiful wood-quilt designs. Before you add extras, it's the shapes that make the pattern; Punch Flag: Lines - Lines and triangles make up this punch design from fabric squares; Magic Yarn Ornaments - Learn the magic trick of wrapping yarn lines over interesting shapes that you create yourself with cardboard; Tape - T's - Tape creates the ground of lines and shapes that are the "resist" area of this shirt; Hands-On Project - Learn about the outcome of the very first Hands On Project. 07DR PI 30 min. |