Kidding Around: Spring Crafts

Spring is finally almost here. The weather here in Michigan has warmed up (for the moment) and flowers don't seem to be far behind.

In honor of this I figured I'd share some of the Spring themed crafts we did at a recent meeting of my K-2nd program: Kidding Around. Hopefully they come in handy as you plan any last minute Spring themed programs. They are all chosen based on being low cost and easy to prepare.

Craft 1: Bird's Nest

Materials needed:
Construction paper
Yarn
Crayons or pencils
Glue
Paper plates

Cost: None (all materials I had on hand)

This craft was based on one found at the site Buggy and Buddy. It involved gluing pieces of yarn to half a paper plate and decorating with construction paper birds. I cut the yarn and plates beforehand but the kids drew and cut out the birds themselves. They only addition I provided was the sticker eyes. I don't know about you but these birds ones remind me of Mo Willem's Pigeon.

Craft 2: Shredded Paper Sheep

Materials needed:
Shredded paper
Glue
Black construction paper

Cost: None (all materials I had on hand)

I found this sheep craft at Housing a Forest. The only preparation I had to do for this one was gather the shredded paper from the library shredder. The kids cut out the sheep's head, arms and legs themselves. I let them use our little glue cups as tracing templates for the heads.

Craft 3: Fruit Loop Flowers and Rainbows

Materials needed: 
Fruit Loops
Glue
Rainbow printout
Flower stem template

Cost: About $2 for the Fruit Loops

The Fruit Loop Flowers idea was found at Crafty Morning. I made my own template of stems and grass so that the kids didn't have to spend time drawing their own. To provide another craft option I also brought out an old rainbow printout I had used with my storytime kids.

Craft 4: Puffy Paint Peep

Materials needed:
Glue
Shaving Cream
Paint
Peep printout

Cost: About $2 for the shaving cream

With the Peep's Science program I did for the 3rd-6th graders I think I've had peeps on the brain. This idea for puffy paint peeps also came from Crafty Morning. I thought it would be a fun art/sensory activity to use at this program.

The kids had a great time doing these crafts. It was a fun and low key way to bring in Spring at the library. I'm always looking for craft ideas and would love to hear any you may have!