The Crafty Crow

Fairy House How-To

You'll find all the information you need to get started building your own fairy house at Snapshots!

Color Treasure Hunt

Brighten up a rainy day with a color treasure hunt!  Chasing Cheerios got a great deal on these little totes but you could just as easily use gift bags in the colors of your choosing. This would work well as a party game for the younger set too :)

Rainbow Cookies

Fun Majors created cute rainbow cookies to go with "R" week!  Another variation on the rainbow cookie is here :)

Camp Cooking

Thinking Outside The Recipe has some simple and delicious ideas for camp cooking.  If you don't have any plans for camping how about trying them over the grill or a backyard campfire?

Chore Sticks

I love this idea from And Everything Nice to help motivate kids to do their chores.  Heck, I think I'd even have more fun doing my chores if I had a visual aid like this! 

Flower Dissection

Playful Learning shows you how to do a flower dissection!  What a great way to learn about flowers and have fun
in the garden too :)

Dandelion Daisy Chain Tutorial

A flower chain can be made with any sturdy-stemmed flower.  I used dandelions because, unfortunately, my yard is filled with them.

Materials:  a pile of flowers
Tools:  fingernails

Step 1: Gather your flowers; stems need to be thick enough and strong enough to hold together after making a vertical cut within the stem.

Step 2: Make a small split in the stem with your fingernails.  It only needs to be big enough to slide in another flower stem.  The split pictured is about one inch below the flower head but you can vary this as you please. The closer the split to the flower head then the closer together the flowers will be on the garland and the further away from the flower head then the further away the flowers will be from each other on the garland. 

Step 3:  Slide the stem end of another flower through the split until it stops at the flower head.  You may trim off the first stem about 1/2" behind the split.

Step 4:  Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until your daisy chain is the length you want or you run out of flowers.

Step 5:  If you want to make a crown then slide the very last stem through the split of the very first flower and pull so the circle is complete.

Enjoy!

Straw Shapes Activity

Another great idea from Sycamore Stirrings... building with straws and chenille stems!  This is a wonderful take along activity for restaurants or traveling; just carry the pieces in a baggie and your guaranteed some quiet time!

Patriotic Jewelry

Seeing this pile of beads makes me want to dig right in and start making bracelets!  Pepper Paints shows how they made some patriotic jewelry for Fourth of July - another great idea for a kids craft table :)

Simple Sun Prints

Mountain Pulse has a wonderfully simple way to make sun prints (scroll down)!  A perfect camping activity and a nice memento too :)

Cool Jewels!

Perfect for a hot summer's day - ice necklaces!  MayaMade shows how they made these super cool jewels :)

Toddler Activity Bags

Chasing Cheerios has come up with a dozen activity bags for her toddler to use during a trip!  She gives all the details here.  As great as these are for traveling these would be wonderful to keep stashed somewhere and bring out whenever the need strikes :)

A color matching activity bag and...

her finger puppets activity bag.

Dandelion Dye and a Dandelion Shirt

Make a simple dandelion dye bath and then finish it with a hand drawn dandelion picture stenciled on with freezer paper!  Full Circle has all the directions :)

String Spider Webs

Treasure hunts are always fun and Pepper Paints has a different spin on it ;)  Larger than life spider webs lead the kids to their treasures!

Crazy Creatures

Kids bored? Whip out some index cards and set them to work making mixed up crazy creatures!  Scrumdilly Do gives you all the details for a fun afternoon :)

Shadow Tracing

Your kids will have plenty of fun with this - get some sidewalk chalk on a late afternoon and start tracing shadows!  Love this idea from Franny Kate's Creative State :)

Summertime = Bubbles!

Bitter Betty shows you how to make these pretty bubble wands that would make nice gifts too!

Sparkle Power (via Mom Advice) has the perfect homemade bubble mix,

and Zakka Life has created an almost spill-proof bubble container!

Ready, set, go!

Suitcase Surprise!

Mom Advice has the perfect solution for bad weather days when the kids don't know what to do with themselves - pull out a suitcase full of toys and activities that are set aside just for these special occasions! Get more tips and ideas here :)

The boys at Blue Yonder each have their own Go Box - another great idea and reuse of old suitcases :)

Sponge Balls

This looks just as much fun to make as it is to use!  Betz White shows how to make these fun sponge balls that are perfect for soaking with water and then turning the kids loose with them :)

Rubber Band Art

A Bit of This And A Bit of That shows how she made her own rubber band art  "wood thingy" ;)  How lucky to have a beautiful slice of wood like this to use!