Recommended Age Group: 2.5 Years +

Materials Required:

• Plexiglas Pieces (2)
• Masking Tape
• Play Dough in Various Colors

Instructions:
To make an exciting new craft for the playroom or your home office, let your child have fun with play dough in an entirely new way. Gather the bits and pieces of leftover play dough around your house and bring your child into the craft area.

Put her to work making small balls of play dough out of various colors. Carefully place one piece of Plexiglas on the work surface. With your child’s help, arrange the balls of play dough into a picture of sorts.

The finished product will be abstract at best, but you can create basic shapes such as a caterpillar or flower – just be sure to put the balls rather far apart as they will spread when the other piece of Plexiglas is placed on top.

When you’re satisfied with the location of each play dough ball, carefully place the second sheet of Plexiglas on top of the first. The play dough caught between the two pieces will squash flat into circles and ovals making an unusual design and hopefully something resembling the picture you tried to create.

If you’re not satisfied with the picture, simply remove the top of layer of Plexiglas, scrape off the play dough and try again. You might need to wipe down the Plexiglas between tries to remove all residues.

When you’ve created a picture your child is satisfied with, run a layer of masking tape around the outside edges of the Plexiglas to seal and hold the two pieces in place. You can now put the picture in a frame, create a frame of your own, or just hang the play dough picture as is.

If you’re looking for a fun craft to use as a gift for a mother or grandmother this year, a construction paper mosaic collage is a great way to allow your child to use her creativity while creating something worthy of framing.

Start by selecting a design for your collage. A heart is an easy design, but older children can get more complicated and spell out messages or make more complex pictures. Lightly sketch the design onto a piece of construction paper. The pencil line is for guidance; it will not show up as part of the final product.

Pressing flowers is a way to create beautiful pictures for the wall or as part of other projects. Pressed flowers are preserved versions of flowers you pick, so they are excellent way to make a souvenir project of a nature trip or just a fun walk through the backyard.

The most authentic way to press flowers is between the pages of a heavy book. Pick fresh flowers at their prime and be sure there is no dew or moisture on the blossoms. Then put your flowers between two pieces of paper in the center of the book and squash. Leave the book closed over the flowers for up to two weeks before the blossoms are dried and ready for framing.