Mancala Game of Oware

An egg carton makes the perfect vessel for a homemade mancala game oware.  Marie pastiche shares not just the craft but detailed instructions for how to play the game.  She suggests using beans for the pieces.

Good for ages 5 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://mariespastiche.blogspot.ca/2014/03/west-african-game-how-to-make-and-play.html

Three Dimensional Paper Whale

A blue piece of paper turns in a nifty whale toy with krotak's easy to follow step-by-step tutorial.

Good for ages 8 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://krokotak.com/2013/03/blue-whale-paper-toy/

Lacing Card Monsters

Monsters make an appearance in the lacing card world with a free printable from so here's my life.

Good for ages 2 and up.

Get the template here:
http://www.soheresmylife.com/2014/04/printable-monster-lacing-cards.html

Plastic Egg Fish Wind Chimes

Plastic eggs turn into a fish shaped wind chime with morenas corner.  To make the tail she covers a cut up plastic bottle with matching color clay.

Good for ages 6 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.morenascorner.com/2014/04/kids-craft-make-wind-chime-out-of.html

Flower Crowns

A great use for dandelions and great fun for kids is to make crowns with pink stripey socks.

Good for ages 4 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.pinkstripeysocks.com/2014/04/diy-dandelion-crown.html

Momtastic uses lots of different types of flowers as well as colorful ribbons and leaves.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.momtastic.com/diy/168071-diy-summer-flower-crown/

Paper Plate Butterfly

A colored paper plate, pompoms and a pipe cleaner make a cute butterfly craft for kids.  How stuff works shares the details.

Good for ages 4 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/crafts/animal-crafts/butterfly-crafts9.htm

 About family crafts uses a toilet paper roll for her butterfly body.

Get the instructions here:
http://aboutfamilycrafts.com/paper-plate-toilet-paper-roll-butterfly/

Cool Ocean Sensory Box

The imagination tree has a fantastic sensory bin for summer featuring frozen colored blue rice, blue water beads and plastic fish.

Good for ages 1 and up.

Get the instructions here:
http://theimaginationtree.com/2013/07/ocean-sensory-tray-with-frozen-rice.html

Learning 4 kids uses ice in her version so it really is cool.

Get the instructions here:
http://www.learning4kids.net/2012/10/14/sensory-play-for-toddlers-kids-ice-world/

Water beads and fish tank gravel make the basis for this bin from brooks childcare.  She then adds squishy ocean themed bath toys including a stingray, turtle, octopus, starfish and blowfish and some plastic coral. 

This site is no longer available.