Easy Kids Crafts: Paper Crafts

You do not need a lot of elaborate craft supplies to do fun craft projects with kids; there are many great kids' arts and crafts you can do with paper and a few other simple materials.

Basic craft supplies

While you can do a lot of kids' arts and crafts with plain white printer paper, you have more options if you invest in a few other supplies. Try keeping the following supplies on hand for rainy craft days:

• Construction paper
• Cardstock or poster board
• Safety scissors
• Washable glue stick
• Crayons
• Markers

With these basics, you can make all of the kid-friendly crafts outlined here.

Paper Dolls

It is easy to make your own paper dolls. You can draw your own, purchase a paper doll stencil kit or download a printable paper doll to get you started. Simply cut out a full body for the doll and attach it to a cardstock backing to make it sturdier. Design and cut out clothing items and accessories for the doll, adding tabs that you can use to fold the clothes around the edges of the doll.

For an extra twist, make personalized paper dolls. Use a digital camera to take pictures of your child in different outfits. Cut out the full body photo and attach it to the cardstock, then cut out the different outfits. Then, design your own extras like hats, wigs, boots and other clothing and accessories to supplement the "real" wardrobe. You can make paper dolls of your whole family--even your pets--this way.

Try using the following printable patterns for your kids paper crafts or create your own.

• Printable Paper Doll

• Printable Teddy Bear Paper Doll

• Printable Paper Doll Clothes

Handprint Wreath Craft for Kids

Make a simple decorative wreath out of cut-outs of your child's hand. Even preschoolers can this craft with a little help. Trace around your child's hand on construction paper or card stock. Cut out the hand shape and trace around it to make several more hands; cut out all of them. To make a full wreath, you will probably need between 10 and 12 hands.

Then, on a washable work surface (or a table covered with butcher paper), lay out the hands in a circle, so that they each overlap slightly. Once they are arranged in a way you like, pick one up at a time and use the glue stick to attach it to the one next to it.

You can use markers and crayons to decorate your wreath. Try making your wreath with several colors of paper. You can customize these wreaths for individual holidays. For example, to make this a Christmas craft use green construction paper for the hands and add other holiday ornaments. Use pastel hands at Easter and add eggs and flowers.

Stand-up Animal Craft for Kids

Make paper stand-ups of animals to create a zoo or farm play set or to give as cards. Fold a piece of paper in half and draw an animal shape using the fold of the paper as the top of the animal. Make a flat edge at the bottom so that the animal will stand upright on its two bottom edges once you cut it out.

For an animal with small feet, such as this penguin pattern, you will need to allow extra paper at the bottom so that the animal will stand.

Printable Penguin Paper Kids Craft

Use markers, crayons, stickers or other paper cutouts to decorate your animals any way you like. For more long lasting animals, make sure to use heavyweight paper.

This style of stand-up animals also makes great table decorations for parties or holiday events, too.

Collages

Kids love glue, they especially love projects where they can glue items onto paper. Don't discard old odds and ends without asking yourself if they can be used for a project. Items such as buttons, beads, macaroni, bits of yarn and ribbon can be used to make a collage. For many of these items, a glue stick isn't enough. White glue, such as Elmer's works best. Simply cut off one egg section of an egg carton, squirt in some glue, and let your child dip and stick to his heart's content.

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