Creative Family Fun

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Crafts

Fun With Elephant & Piggie: Cardboard Tube Elephant

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Elephant and Piggie taught my oldest daughter how to read.

Seriously.

They lit that spark that made her love reading. And, that spark gave her the motivation she needed to keep at it.

Now, even though she’s far past their reading level, she still loves to pick one up and giggle along with her old friends.

So, of course, we had to make our own version of this lovable duo, starting with this cardboard tube Elephant craft.

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed:

Empty cardboard tube (a toilet paper roll is the perfect size)
Small piece of thin cardboard (from a cracker or cereal box)
Gray craft paint
White craft paint
Paintbrushes
Scissors
White glue
Black permanent marker

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

How to make your cardboard tube Elephant

To begin, draw 2 ears and a trunk on your thin cardboard.

Elephant’s ears are curved on top and straight across on the bottom. They look like simple arched windows.

For the trunk, make a simple curved L shape.

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

Next, grab your paint and paint your cardboard tube, ears, and trunk with the gray paint.

Let everything dry.

You can read a couple of Elephant and Piggie books to pass the time!

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

Once everything dries, cut out the ears and the trunk.

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

Glue the short side of your trunk shape to your cardboard tube. Glue it about 1/3 of the way down from the top.

Use your white paint to make two circles for Elephant’s glasses.

While your white paint dries, glue your ears to the back of the tube. You’ll want at least half of each ear to stick out from the sides.

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

After everything is glued and your white paint is dry, add your details with a permanent marker. (I love Sharpies for this step.)

Trace the white circles and connect them in the middle. Add lines going toward each ear. Put a dot in the middle of each and you’ve got your glasses.

Put two little comma shapes over each eye for the eyebrows and make a simple half moon under the trunk for the mouth.

Elephant is done! And, now you’ve got a reading buddy to help you read all of your favorite Elephant and Piggie books.

Or, use your cardboard tube Elephant (and Piggie) as puppets to act out the books. It’s a great way to make reading even more fun than it already is!

This cardboard tube Elephant craft inspired by the Elephant and Piggie books by Mo Willems is so much fun to make and to play with.

Kid-Made Bird Feeders for a Bird-Friendly Yard

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Birds certainly are fun to watch, aren’t they?

A house never quite feels like home to us unless we’ve got birds fluttering around.

We like to attract them to our yard with bird feeders that we keep filled all year long. Most of ours are store-bought, but it’s always fun to offer a kid-made bird feeder to our feathered friends.

Invite the birds to your yard with one of these kid-made bird feeders. DIY bird feeders are a great family craft and a fun way to learn about nature.

You can buy a bird feeder, make your own, or have a combination of the two if you want a bird-friendly yard.

Keep reading below for some fantastic ideas for kid-made bird feeders. They’ll all attract fun feathered friends to your yard.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Invite the birds to your yard with one of these kid-made bird feeders. DIY bird feeders are a great family craft and a fun way to learn about nature.

For the Little Kids

(pictured left to right)

A bird feeder doesn’t have to get more complicated than stringing bird-friendly food. This Cheerio Bird Feeder is super-easy to make and the birds love it.

Add some berries and you’ve got these great Cheerio and Berry Bird Feeders from Happy Hooligans. I love how you can make them into lots of different shapes.

One of my favorite simple bird feeders is a Toilet Paper Roll Bird Feeder. The Resourceful Mama shows you how to make this simple project.

Before throwing away fruit that’s past its prime, turn it into these “Clean Out the Cupboard” Bird Feeders from Happy Hooligans.

Turn a pine cone into a bird feeder. You can find the instructions for a Pine Cone Bird Feeder at Juggling With Kids.

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Invite the birds to your yard with one of these kid-made bird feeders. DIY bird feeders are a great family craft and a fun way to learn about nature.

For the Bigger Kids

(pictured left to right)

Turn a simple wooden frame from the craft store into a fun (and colorful) refillable bird feeder. You can find the instructions for Homemade Bird Feeders Using Frames at Buggy and Buddy.

Decorate your trees with pretty shaped bird feeders. Kitchen Counter Chronicles has the instructions for these simple Cookie Cutter Bird Feeders.

Clean out a lotion bottle and turn it into a bird feeder. Find out how to make this recycled bird feeder at Teach Beside Me.

Have you ever seen those beautiful bird feeder wreaths? Did you know that it’s a project you can do with your kids? Suger, Spice, & Glitter has all the instructions you need for creating a Kid-Made Bird Feeder Wreath. 

Turn a gourd or small pumpkin into a bird feeder. Check out Kitchen Counter Chronicles for this pretty project.

Don’t forget to keep track of all your feathered friends with a Bird Watching Journal!

Invite the birds to your yard with one of these kid-made bird feeders. DIY bird feeders are a great family craft and a fun way to learn about nature.

You may also like one of these fun bird activities:

Family Bird Watching Club

Bird Watching Journal

After School Fun – Hummingbird Suncatchers

All About Birds Scavenger Hunt at Inspiration Laboratories

Bird Watching Journal

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Whether you’ve started your own Family Bird Watching Club or you just enjoy observing your feathered friends while they flit around your yard, you’ll want a way to record the birds you see.

You need a Bird Watching Journal.

You can record your frequent visitors and make note of those times when you see a bird you don’t normally see. Or you can take it along on a trip and record the birds you find that are different than the ones you normally see at home.

There are so many ways to use a Bird Watching Journal.

Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds.

You can certainly use a plain notebook for your Bird Watching Journal. But, wouldn’t it be fun to have a fun, pretty, and personalized Bird Watching Journal?

Of course it would! Let’s get started.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds.

Supplies Needed:

2 Coloring Pages of your choice (I used this one)
Sharpies (or coloring tools of your choice)
Composition Notebook
Mod Podge
Paint Brush
Scissors
Small Piece of Cardstock


Pick a coloring page

You know what fun about this project? You get to start by coloring. Fun, right? Pick out 1 or 2 fun adult coloring pages for your notebook and spend a pleasant evening coloring. I found the one I used at this link.

If you really, really don’t want to color 2 different coloring pages. Pick your favorite and color it with bold colors. I used Sharpies on mine. Once you’re done, take it to a color copier and make a copy. (And, I’ll confess, that’s exactly what I did because I wanted the front and back of my composition notebook to be identical.) No matter what you choose, you need two coloring pages.

Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds.

Make your bird watching journal

Trim your pages a bit and position them on your composition notebook.

Position your coloring page so that it fits flush against the black binding and overlaps on the top and bottom and side.

Brush an even coat of Mod Podge with a paint brush over they entire front of your notebook. Carefully place your coloring page on top and smooth out your wrinkles. Mod Podge gives you a bit of time to tweak your cover so you have it covered correctly.

Let it dry a bit, then turn your notebook over and repeat the process on the back cover.

Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds.

Once everything has dried (I found it took a couple of hours on my notebook), trim the overlapped edges. I cut right up to the edge of my notebook.

If you find sections of your coloring page that did not stick, reapply some Mod Podge and let it dry.

Use your Mod Podge to glue your small piece of cardstock to the front of your notebook.

Once dry, label it however you wish. I went with the simple, yet effective “Bird Watching Journal.” Simple always works, right?

Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds.

Now that your Bird Watching Journal is ready, it’s time to start recording.

Use the journal to record date, time, location, and type of bird. Make a bucket list of birds you would like to see. Create a special list of birds that love your backyard.

I’m sure you’ll come up with tons of ways to use your Bird Watching Journal. Just have fun with it!Do you love watching birds? Record all the birds you see in this DIY bird watching journal. It's simple to make and a fun place to write about birds. #journal #CreativeFamilyFun

All About Tigers: Books, Crafts, and Activities

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Our art exploration of Bangladesh led us to thinking about tigers. About how big and fascinating and powerful they are. So, I jumped down the rabbit hole that is Pinterest to see what I could find.

I found fun art projects and cute crafts. Then, I hit the library to find the best nonfiction tiger books for your curious kids.

Keep reading for all the awesome tiger crafts and activities I found.

Learn all about tigers with these fun tiger crafts, activities, and books. You'll have so much fun learning along with your kids.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Tiger Crafts and Activities

(pictured left to right in the picture below)

Use marble painting to create this fun tiger craft from Craftulate. This one can be fun for all ages and easy enough for your toddler. Marble painting is a fun experience and I love how it creates the stripes on the tiger.

Turn a foam cup into the cutest tiger with this craft from Kids Activities Blog. This is another great craft choice for a mixed-aged group.

This cardboard tube tiger craft from Creative Kids is another cute option for mixed-age groups.

Learn all about tigers with these fun tiger crafts, activities, and books. You'll have so much fun learning along with your kids.

Use shaving cream marbling to create this fun tiger craft from Play Create Explore. This project is a great combination of sensory play and art. I love the cool effect!

Can you make a tiger from paper hearts? You bet you can! Crafty Morning shows you how.

You can also use paper plates to make a fun tiger mask. Check out our Paper Plate Tiger Masks here for the instructions.

Learn to draw a tiger. Art Projects for Kids has a great art project inspired by the paintings of Henri Rousseau.

Use tigers as your inspiration to make this cool 3-D Paper Weaving project. Check out our post here for this art project inspired by Bangladesh.

Turn an empty cardboard tube into a cute tiger craft. Find our Cardboard Tube Tiger here. (not pictured)

Learn all about tigers with these fun tiger crafts, activities, and books. You'll have so much fun learning along with your kids.

Tiger Books:

A Tiger Cub Grows Up by Joan Hewett: Meet Tara, a tiger cub born at Six Flags Marine Park in northern California. Follow from birth until she turns one with pictures and fun information about all the things she learned and all the changes that happened during the year. It’s easy to read and is a great book for beginning readers. (I found it in my daughter’s 1st grade classroom!)

National Geographic Kids: Tigers by Laura Marsh: The National Geographic Kids books are some of my favorite nonfiction choices for kids. They’ve got bright, beautiful pictures and are packed full of interesting facts. Tigers is no exception. Your kids will learn tons of fun facts and will try to stump you with the quiz in the back. This is my number one choice out of all the books on this list.

The Animals of Asia: Bengal Tigers by Willow Clark: This is another great nonfiction choice. It’s at a higher reading level than the previous two books and would work great as a read aloud choice.

Tiger Math: Learning to Graph From a Baby Tiger by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel: This book is a fun combination of math and science. Follow the story of T.J., a Siberian tiger cub born at the Denver Zoo, as he is raised by zookeepers after his mother dies. Along with the story, your child is introduced to the basics of graphing. You’ll see real-life data and real-life uses of graphs. The combination works so well. This is a great book choice to show kids a practical application of graphs.

Have fun learning with these tiger crafts, activities, and books.


Cardboard Tube Yeti Craft for Kids

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Have you ever had a pleasure of discovering a new children’s book that completely delights you?

I love children’s books and have many favorites. But, recently, Penguin Kids sent us a review copy of The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel, and the girls and I fell in love.

Because, the thing about yetis is that yetis are completely delightful.

So delightful that we were inspired to make our own cute yeti craft.

Create a cute cardboard tube yeti craft for kids inspired by the fun children's book The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel. Adorable!

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details. Penguin Kids sent us a free copy of this book to review, all opinions and craft ideas are my own. 

To say we were enchanted by The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel is an understatement.

We all know that yetis adore winter. Right? But that’s not all yetis delight in.

You’ve got to read to find out!

This book is perfect for your little ones and makes a great read aloud. We loved the whimsical pictures and by now we’ve read it about a million and a half times.

It’s fun, it’s sweet, and it’s not just for winter.

Create a cute cardboard tube yeti craft for kids inspired by the fun children's book The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel. Adorable!

To go along with the book, we couldn’t resist making our own yetis using supplies we already had at home. We modeled ours after the book, because that is the cutest yeti I’ve ever seen.

Supplies Needed

Cardboard tube
White paint
Glue
Cotton balls
Googly eyes
Red pipe cleaner
Bead
White paper

Create a cute cardboard tube yeti craft for kids inspired by the fun children's book The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel. Adorable!

 

How to make your yeti craft

Step 1: Paint your cardboard tube white. Let the paint dry a bit before continuing on to the next step.

Step 2: Pull apart your cotton balls and glue them all over the tube. We found that using a sponge to apply the glue helped it go on more evenly.

Step 3: Once your tube is completely fuzzy, add your googly eyes and the bead for a nose. Cut off a small piece of the red pipe cleaner to make your mouth.

Step 4: Draw two arms on your white paper. Cut them out and glue them to the sides of your tube.

Create a cute cardboard tube yeti craft for kids inspired by the fun children's book The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel. Adorable!

That’s all it takes to make your own cute yeti craft!

Decorate with them or use them for pretend play.

Because the thing about yetis is that yetis are quite adorable.

Create a cute cardboard tube yeti craft for kids inspired by the fun children's book The Thing About Yetis by Vin Vogel. Adorable!

You may also like one of these fun kids crafts:

Fun With Elephant & Piggie: Cardboard Tube Piggie Craft

Cardboard Tube Bear Craft

In the Tall, Tall Grass Book and Craft

Yarn Wrapped Snowflakes at What We Can Do with Paper & Glue