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.

Make your own Hand-Felted Bunny Glove Puppet & Easter Chick to have even more fun this Easter!

Easter is a lovely time to celebrate and definitely a time to let out your creativity.
This cute hand-felted chick was made by my son Dominic.
We really enjoy rolling our Easter Eggs. I grew up in Scotland and so this is a tradition that I have always done. Last year we were visiting my sister in Edinburgh and so went up Arthur’s Seat to roll our eggs.

My sister Sandra got really excited when she realised that we had a little helper with us. Here she is giving Bunny (one of my hand-felted bunny glove puppets) a chance to roll the eggs.

One of the cool things about felting is that you can make a seamless item like a felted handbag, a felted jacket or a glove puppet with absolutely no sewing! Here you can see me laying out the fluffy Merino wool fibres. To make seamless felt you use a resist. This stops the front of the puppet felting to the back of the puppet. I like to use this grey builders’ plastic which I buy from my local builders merchants in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

Here’s Louise and her mum with the felted puppets that they made at one of my workshops at Bilston Craft Gallery last Easter.

There are so many colours of Merino wool fibres. I was pleased that the children didn’t feel that they had to stick to “bunny colours”.
This bright pink felted bunny will have fun hiding chocolate eggs this Easter!

You can see what cute faces the children at the workshop managed to give their hand-made puppets. All these details are made using the wet felting process. That means that by carefully laying out different wool coloured fibres you can "paint" the details; shading for nose and ears and other stripes and patterns.

You can make one of these puppets yourself.
I will be running an Easter Bunny Glove Puppet session

on Thursday 8th April 2010 10.30am-12.30pm
at Walsall Museum, Lichfield Street, Walsall, West Midlands, S1 1TR.
To book phone the museum on 01922 653116

Visit the What's On in Walsall website for more details.

If you can't make it over to Walsall on 8th April you could book your very own Children's Felting Craft Party. Invite some friends to your own house and could come and teach you how to make your own Hand-Felted Easter Bunny Glove Puppet.
£95 for a two hour session for 6 children aged 8 and up. Materials included.

For more information vsit my AllSensesArt Childrens Craft Parties page on my website.

Have fun this Easter. Make your own felted Bunny Glove puppet.
Even make a cute felted chick!