Tag Archives: paper craft for kids

Make: Doughnut Discs

Posted in Stuff to make by 
Time to celebrate! My picture book, Flip! How the Frisbee Took Flight, will be published next month, and it will be spring. I'm feeling a sense of hope and possibility I haven't felt in a while. So for my first Frisbee-based maker activity, I combined two of the best possible things: flying discs AND doughnuts. Doughnut discs are super easy to make and can even be tossed inside the house on a rainy day without major damage to home or humans. Here's what you need:

Materials
Paper plates 
Scissors
Glue stick
Markers, paint, construction paper
Recommended: Eating real doughnuts while working 

First, trace and cut a circle in the middle of the paper plate to create the Doughnut disc hole. To decorate, use markers, paint or paper to design your doughnut on the back side of the plate. What is your favorite flavor? Do you like chocolate covered, blueberry swirl, lemon burst or strawberry glazed? 

I cut concentric circles of paper to create a dough base with a frosted top and then paper-punched and cut out paper sprinkles in rainbow colors to glue on top. You could also sprinkle with mini pom-poms, sequins or stickers. Glue stick seemed to work well for adhering the paper layers to each other and to the plate. That's it. You're ready to give your Doughnut disc a flick and watch it fly!
Check out www.margaretmuirhead.com for more information about Flip! You can pre-order your copy at Indiebound, Target, Barnes & Noble, Amazon or at your favorite neighborhood book shop.

Paper Rollercosters

Posted in Boston, Kids, Paper, Stuff to make, Things to see by

This paper craft for kids comes straight from one of my favorite museums: the Peabody Essex in Salem, Mass. Yes, it has an amazing Asian art and Maritime art collection (including a room-size model of the S.S. Queen Elizabeth, which never fails to impress us). But sometimes we go just to hang out in the sunny atrium designed by architect Moshe Safdie, admire the sky, and pretend it’s not 4 degrees outside.

The paper rollercoaster craft (offered as part of the PEM’s “Eye Spy, Playing with Perception” exhibit through May) had the qualities of a good kids’ project: simple enough for little guys to enjoy and interesting enough to engage bigger kids. Plus you probably have all the stuff you need right in your house: glue sticks, strips of colored paper, and a piece of paper for a base.

Dab one end of a paper strip and press to the base. Twist, bend, or loop–then glue the other end and press. 

    My 10-year-old made his rollercoaster a continuous circuit. My five-year-old’s design defied the laws of physics, but he thought it looked really cool.

 

 On the way home, we drove by the Salem harbor,

 and it was winter again.