It’s almost Easter and so with this extra long Easter Holiday there’s even more time for creative craft projects with your children.
Last weekend I was pretty busy with, not one, but two parties for Staffordshire’s Children’s Disability Service for their G8way Project.
G8way certainly know how to get a party atmosphere going with a disco, games, stories, food and of course face painting. But they realise that children love to be creative too so I was invited to lead the art activity.
Although I love to work with all sorts of materials I really am passionate about the magic of felt making so I do try to make my sessions involve merino wool, soap and of course water.
This can be a bit tricky when some children have only a few minutes to spare between party games!
This is how I did it.
Starting by making a felted ball the children could then add wings to transform it into a really cute Easter Chick.
Leo was really happy with his (and rightly so!)
Here's a chick with wings and tail made from colourful feathers.
This really proud Easter Chick Creator cut his wings from pre-felt. (I always take scraps of handmade pre-felt along. They come in so handy.) This did require a small amount of sewing.
Some children just love to get a needle and thread in their hands!
Here’s Holly and her friend. They chose to make a felted Easter Egg.
This was a great option for children who had a very short attention span as they were able to make hand felted Easter eggs in record time.
To get the egg shape we felted over a polystyrene egg shape. If you are a traditional feltmaker you might see this as a slight cheat but if you are working with children with varying abilities and short attention spans then it is perfect.
Even though we were in a room full of partying children and chatting adults it was still possible to soak up the calming effect of rolling a felted ball.
I really prefer not to use googly eyes but if manual dexterity and time just don’t allow for beads buttons and a needle and thread then googly eyes are perfect.
At long last I have found a glue which is able to stick these on to a still damp felted ball. (A big thanks to Jo at Berkhamsted Arts and Crafts for this.)
Just a few of the cute little Easter Chicks and hand felted Easter Eggs that were made by children at the Staffordshire G8way Spring parties.
I know that these are the sort of Easter decorations which will be treasured for years to come.
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