Crafts

Arctic Fox Camouflage Craft

January 8, 2019 By Terri Thompson

We’ve been learning a lot about Arctic animals lately, and we decided to take a look at the Arctic fox. To show off what we learned, we came up with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft.

Learn all about the arctic fox and camouflage with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft and activity for kids. It's a fun way to learn!

It all started when my 4-year-old recently picked up a book about Arctic foxes at the library and requested we learn about them. Absolutely! (This tends to happen a lot, which is why my girls and I know many interesting tidbits about different animals.)

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The Arctic fox turned out to be much more fascinating than I first thought. One thing that stood out for all of us was how different the fox looked in winter and summer.

This simple observation turned into a fun lesson in camouflage and how animals adapt to their surroundings.

We also did an easy art project based on what we learned to provide a visual reminder of how the Arctic fox uses camouflage.

Supplies Needed:

Construction paper (blue, white, brown)
Ruler
Paint (white, brown, green)
Scissors
Glue
Black marker

Create your Arctic Fox Camouflage craft

Before beginning the project, I used a ruler to draw a line down the middle of our blue paper.

One half for the summer and the other half for the winter. We used our white paint to create a snowy landscape for our winter Arctic fox.

We then used our brown and green paint to create our summer landscape

The Arctic tundra is not lush and green in the summer. Instead, you will see more dirt and rocks with low-lying plants. (This picture from National Geographic is a good example of what you would see.)

Once our painted landscapes were complete, use cut simple fox figures from our construction paper.

We made the winter fox from white paper and the summer fox from brown paper. We then used our black marker to draw the details.

My preschooler observed that the Arctic fox was both brown and black in the summer, so she added some black stripes and patches with the marker.

Once the paint was dry, we glued our foxes onto the correct landscape.

We then used our marker to label the different scenes summer and winter.

Once we were done we had a great reminder of how the Arctic foxes uses camouflage and adapts to its surroundings with this fun Arctic Fox Camouflage craft.

Note: This post was first published on January 23, 2014. Updated and republished on January 5, 2019.

Read a Great Book About Arctic Foxes

You can find out so much about arctic foxes in a good book. Here are some great choices of nonfiction arctic fox books, plus one fun fiction choice!

Arctic Fox: A Day in the Life: Polar Animals by Katie Marsico

Elementary Explorers: Arctic Foxes by Victoria Blakemore

Arctic Foxes: Animals That Live in the Tundra by Maeve T. Sisk

Nora: The Arctic Fox Fairy (Rainbow Magic Fairies) by Daisy Meadows

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Cardboard Tube Penguin Craft

December 20, 2018 By Terri Thompson

There’s no better way to inspire my kids to do a craft project than to offer up something cute.

And, penguins are definitely as cute as it gets.

Have you ever met a person that didn’t think penguins were cute? I haven’t. They’re irresistible.

So, grab a few supplies and let’s get starting crafting. We’ll turn them into a cardboard tube penguin so cute you’ll want to make a whole colony.

Grab some recycled materials to make this cardboard tube penguin craft. They're so cute and so easy to make that you'll want a whole colony of penguins.

Supplies Needed for your Penguin Craft

Empty toilet paper roll tube (or paper towel tube cut into smaller pieces)
Pencil
Black craft paint
White craft paint
Glitter paint
Googly eyes
Scrap of yellow paper

How to make your cardboard tube penguin craft

Begin by drawing a large oval on one side of your cardboard tube.

Paint the inside of your oval white.

Next, paint the rest of your tube with the black paint.

Let it dry a bit before moving on to the next step.

Now, it’s time to add a little sparkle. We used some fun glitter paint to paint over our white oval. You could also use glitter glue to add sparkle.

After all your paint is dry – and it can take awhile, so go read a penguin book or two while you wait – it’s time to add your face.

Gather a couple of googly eyes and cut a small triangle out of your scrap of yellow paper. Glue both on the top half of your white oval to create your face.

Once the glue is dry, your penguin is done.

Create a Cardboard Tube Penguin or two or three or more to create your own colony of these cute birds.

They’re so cute, they’re irresistible!

My must-have kid’s craft resources:

Crafting with your kids is so much easier when you keep a few supplies on hand. I keep a supply of recycled materials, such as cardboard tubes, cardboard boxes, newspapers, paper scraps, etc. as well as supplies such as paint, construction paper, and glue that we use often. Here are some supplies you may want to keep on hand to make many of the crafts that we share here.

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Stained Glass Star Suncatcher

December 7, 2018 By Terri Thompson

We just love to make stained glass projects!

We’ve made them for almost every holiday and now for Christmas, it’s time for a Stained Glass Star Suncatcher.

Make a Stained Glass Star Suncatcher to decorate your windows for Christmas or any time of the year. This easy craft is perfect for kids of all ages.

The process to make this Stained Glass Star Suncatcher is easy and is perfect for toddlers, preschoolers, and even elementary-aged kids.

It’s not too messy and it’s a great quick craft for when you only have a small amount of time.

Disclosure: CraftProjectIdeas.com provided some the supplies for this post. All ideas are my own. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details.

Supplies Needed

Clear Contact Paper
Blue and yellow construction paper
Glitter in shaker bottles
Yellow tissue paper

How to make a Stained Glass Star Suncatcher

Use your blue and yellow construction paper to cut out star outlines.

I folded the paper in half before we drew the stars so we could get two stars from each piece of paper. Feel free to make these even bigger if you’d like!

Each girl made two stars, one yellow and one blue.

Cut 2 pieces of Contact Paper for each project, according to the size of your stars. Peel the backing off of one piece of Contact Paper and place it sticky side up on your table. Tape the corners down so that it doesn’t go sliding all over the place.

Place your star outlines on the Contact Paper. Try not to get too close to the edge, you’ll need a little bit of on overlap.

Use your glitter shakers to add a bit of sparkle to the inside of your stars. Use a little or a lot!

You’ll notice that we are working on top of an old sheet. I highly recommend this to help catch any extra glitter and make clean up easier.

After the stars are all glittered, Tear pieces of your tissue paper and layer it over the glitter. Try to keep all of the tissue paper inside the star outlines.

Add the second piece of Contact Paper over top, smoothing out all wrinkles as you go. I usually do this step myself because it can get tricky.

Cut out your stars leaving a bit of Contact Paper around the edge so that it doesn’t start unpeeling.

Hang your stained glass star in the window and let the sun shine through.

I love the final look! Don’t you?

It’s such a fun decoration on our big windows.

My Must-Have Christmas Activities Resource

If you’re anything like me, I know you’re looking for fun family activities to do this Christmas. But, not just anything. I’m not looking for elaborate and I’m definitely not looking for something that would require a million trips to the craft store.

That’s why I just love Countdown to Christmas – 24 Activities, Crafts, and Recipes to Countdown to Christmas by Cerys Parker from Rainy Day Mum. The activities are simple (you won’t find anything elaborate) and definitely fun. They’re perfect for families. And, they’re perfect for the advent season.

This fabulous resource for Christmas family fun can be purchased here. Take a peek, you’ll love it!

Are you looking for more kids activities?

Salt Dough Snowman Ornament

December 3, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Every year we like to make new ornaments for our Christmas tree. This year, we decided to make these fun Salt Dough Snowman ornaments.

These are so easy to make for kids of all ages. Plus salt dough ornaments are great choices because they pack away easily and look great year after year.

Are you ready to make some fun Christmas crafts? Grab some supplies and let’s get started creating!

This Salt Dough Snowman ornament will make a great addition to your Christmas tree. This fun kids craft makes a great holiday keepsake.