Hand Print Reindeer Craft: Fun Use for Toilet Paper Rolls!

I love Christmas time with the children.  Since they are homeschooled they still believe in Santa.  Besides Christmas the month of December is also the children's birthday.  So I want to fill the month of December with all the fun I can!  Today they children were so good!  They helped me clean the house and do laundry with little complaint.  Since they were so good I wanted to do some sort of craft with them.


I found the picture of my craft project from Pinterest.  It looked like fun and fairly simple.  We started with toilet paper rolls.  I also found some Trader Joe's shopping bags, black card stock paper, silver pen, and some oil pastels.  We also needed scissors and glue.

• First we took the toilet paper rolls and I decided to cover them.  You could have pointed them or left them alone.  I cut one paper bag up and glued the print side of the bag to the cylinder.  This left me a  nice blank side to work with for decoration.  You can see on Margaret's reindeer I put the paper on backwards.  Whoops!  Mom had applied glue to the wrong side!
• After we let the glue dry for a bit we took the oil pastels and drew on the eyes and nose.  I let the children pick the eye color.  Some of the colors were too light to see so I went back in and darkened in some of the eyes.  You could use small bits of paper or whatever you have handy. 
• Next I sat with each child and traced each of their hands onto the black card stock paper.  Then I cut the hand prints out.  Since the children have poor fine motor skills  and the paper was a heavier weight I knew they would struggle.  I didn't want craft time to turn into a frustrating experience so I cut the shapes out but I left time for each of the children to practice on what was left of the paper bag.  
• Finally I took the handprints and arranged them in a way so they resembled antlers.  I'm sure there are at least a dozen ways to attach the antlers to the reindeer but I used tape.  It seemed to be the easiest way to go about it.  

As an after though I had an idea to seal off the bottom of the toilet paper roll so I could have filled it with some dry beans or rice.  This would have been nice to help weigh things down since the antlers can topple the reindeer over. Next time I will know!

Now maybe you can make your own reindeer!  Have fun!

Kid Craft Ideas for Thanksgiving

http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/11/05/turkey-lunch-sack/

Thanksgiving is coming and I have been thinking about craft ideas to do with the children.  Having children with multiple difficulties (ADHD, intellectual delay, sensory processing problems, and autism) craft time can be interesting!  Here was a picture I came across on the internet and I thought the children and I could manage this craft activity.  I will trace out the shapes and then let them practice cutting.  Then with some help I think we can get all the pieces glued onto the bag without too much mess!  LOL

http://www.messforless.net/2011/11/paper-roll-turkey.html

I have been saving up toilet paper rolls for awhile now and I have been waiting for a good craft idea.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  Toilet paper roll turkeys.  Again, with a little work in advance I think I could have a fun craft project for all the children and not frustrate anyone.  Often James is too impatient for crafts.  Margaret likes the idea of crafts but can't pay attention or stay still long enough to complete something. Joseph enjoys doing crafts but he is really slow.  Being intellectually delayed he will get it and I don't want to rush him so I think you can see why we have problems with craft time...  everyone operates at a VERY different pace!

Here is the last idea I found on Pinterest.  Sorry but there is only an image and no instructions.  I think by the image we get the idea of what to do.  Another variation and something I have been wanting to try is salt dough.  By clicking here you will be taken to a recipe for salt dough.  I know the recipe says its for ornaments but I think it would work well taking a handprint.  You can also google salt dough recipes and find lots of options!  I think this craft could come out SO cute!  It would be me doing most of the work so I don't think this is really a craft for the kids but it looks fun and they would love helping to make the dough!






Hopefully we will get around to making at least one or two of these crafts.  If we do I will post pictures on how it turned out!   If any one tries one of the crafts please send pictures!  I would love to see how they turn out!