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Christmas Craft Projects: Bust Boredom with Kid Crafts
By Gen Wright

Have you ever heard those familiar words, "I'm bored," coming from your child? Kid crafts are the answer. Provide the kids with craft materials and project ideas and boredom will be a thing of the past.

You need to have plenty of the basic essential on hand like paper, crayons, safe scissors, and glue. Paper can include construction paper, plain typing paper, cardstock of various colors, and other options. Start saving magazines and even junk mail to cut up. Crayons are nice for younger children, but stores are now filled with other options, such as washable dry-erase markers, watercolor pencils, and gel pens.

Other materials kids can craft with include recycled junk and found objects. Recycled junk is things lying around the house and empty packaging like plastic containers, and even tin cans. If you let kids craft with tin cans,you need to make sure the open edge of the can doesn't have any sharp edges. File these off or squeeze them flat with a pair of pliers.

Found objects include dry leaves, pebbles, feathers, and other natural items. You can also recycle old or damaged toys to make interesting gifts for the family. Even a colorful jigsaw that lost the box can be used for the pieces to be glued to a paper circle to make a decorative wreath for Christmas. Glue on some extra decorations or holly scraps and it will be a welcome gift.

One of the most fun kid crafts is making a collage. Kids can glue together all kinds of paper products and objects when making a collage. Use heavy paper for the background, and let the creativity begin! For an extra challenge, a collage can be built around a theme. Old magazines can be searched for the right pictures, which can be cut out and glued. Older kids can also cut out interesting words and headlines.

You can also use this idea to make your own jigsaws for toddlers. Glue an attractive picture from the magazine onto some firm cardboard, and then cut it into irregular large shapes.

Younger kid crafts can include collages made of glued down pasta, beans, Popsicle sticks, leaves, and many other materials. And make sure you remember the sparkles. Kids of all ages, particularly girls, really enjoy crafting artwork that includes *glitter*

Bead and Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

Christmas objects made from ordinary pipe cleaners and inexpensive acrylic beads are very pretty and easy to make. They look quite impressive but it only needs a basic level of skill for small children to make. This is one Christmas craft idea to use again and again. Older people will enjoy making this Christmas craft, too.

To make the bead and pipe cleaner ornaments, you need pipe cleaners in desired colors and acrylic beads. Two types of beads are effective when strung on pipe cleaners. One type are called sunburst beads, but are also known as paddlewheel beads, snowflake beads, or starburst beads. These beads have six faceted paddles spaced equally around a center that contains the hole for stringing. When several of these sunburst beads are strung consecutively, they fit against each other in an interlocking pattern.

The other type of bead that is also effective is called the tri bead or propeller bead. It has three rounded bumps arranged around the stringing hole. Like the sunburst beads, the tri beads interlock when strung consecutively. Get tri beads and/or sunburst beads in translucent colors of red, green, and clear. The tri beads can also be found in metallic gold and silver.

Pipe cleaners can be found in silver and gold tinsel as well as chenille of all colors. The best colors to use are the metallics and Christmas colors. The ends will need to be twisted together and made into hangers.

If you experiment with clear beads and silver pipe cleaners, you can make some very attractive snowflake or star ornaments. .

Bead and pipe cleaner ornaments are a Christmas craft you will find yourself using every year.

Craft Idea for a Group: Make a Mural

If you are minding the kids for the rest of the family on some of the key holiday, it is helpful to come up with group games and activities to suit the tastes of all involved. Sometimes you'd like to have a craft idea that works for a group of kids. Making a mural together is an idea. By working together, you are creating something to decorate a shared area.

This craft idea of making a group mural can be displayed for several weeks and will not become clutter in anyone's home.

The basic materials for a kids' group mural is freezer paper. Freezer paper is about 18 inches wide, and it is very tough. One side is plastic coated. That is the side that is designed to be placed against the food. You will have better luck drawing on and gluing things onto the other side.

You can mix up some finger paint and let the children make finger streaks on the paper. You can let them scour old cast-off magazines and color catalogs for pictures they like and let them cut the pictures out and glue them on. They can add scribbles, designs, signatures, slogans, or pictures using markers, crayons, or gel pens. They can attach stickers to the mural as well.

For making the mural, choose a theme that relates to the whole group.

Little preschoolers will like making a mural with an animal theme. You should probably find and cut out animal magazine pictures to start with, and then let the children choose the ones they like for gluing down.

The children can also use animal cookie cutters dipped in finger paint to stamp animals on the mural, too.

Again, the craft idea is to build group solidarity and not to highlight one artist's skills over another. When the mural is completed, it can be a group project to display it. It can be hung in a special central location or given to an appreciated family member.

Hot Kids Toys for Christmas 2009
By Tina Traver

Are you looking for the hottest kids toys for this Christmas? The holiday shopping season is in full swing and already the hot kid's toys for Christmas are sold out in the stores. Don't panic because the very same toys that you can't find in the stores are still readily available online. This will only be true though if you don't wait any longer and get your order in now.

So what toys are we actually talking about? The Fashionista Barbies were the first toy reported to be flying off the shelves. Fashionista's are adorable dolls that are very fashion conscious. Each doll has their own style and personality, which is displayed with their clothing and accessories. For example, the Sassy Doll is a very trendy rock and roller with pink streaks in her hair, short boots, and a rock and roll inspired outfit to match. Each doll comes with its own fashion accessory (like a purse). This is such a fun gift for girls that you won't want to pass it up.

The Zhu Zhu Hamster's are another one of the top kid's toys that are incredibly popular this year. They're just about impossible to find in the stores but this is something that you will want to track down because kids go crazy for them. Zhu Zhu's chatter, coo, and purr when you love them and pet them. They scoot and scamper all over the floor and will amuse everyone in the room. You can buy them their own little habitat to live in and teach the kids the responsibilities of pet ownership. Don't let your kids miss out on the fun!
In the game category, the Mattel Mindflex is an amazing game of mental concentration where the headset that you strap around your head monitors your brain waves. By mentally focusing, concentrating, and then relaxing your mind, you're able to move a foam ball through a pre-set obstacle course. This great game can be played by yourself or in groups. Test your accuracy and speed, or just try to get through a course. This is a tough game to get your hands on so don't wait much longer to order.

There are many great toys for sale this year. Even though some of the top kid's toys for Christmas are already sold out in the stores, there is still an opportunity for you to buy them online. Take advantage of the free shipping that's being offered now!

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