Friday 1 April 2011

Easter Craft Projects Hand Felted Chicks & Eggs


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. 




Last year my Easter children's workshops were Hand Felted Easter Bunny Glove Puppets. 

And of course my Magic Ball Mini-Beasts are also popular at all times of the year.




4 comments:

Jo Kidd said...

Those parties looked so much fun... you always manage to fit felting with any age, gender and ability! I really hope the felting parties are a huge success for you as word gets round at just how good you are!

AllSensesArt said...

Thanks Jo. The party on Saturday was especially busy. But just look at these smiles...says it all.

Elliot Keller said...

Thanks for a greeat read

Elliot Keller said...

Very creative postt