Our first leprechaun craft is great for older kids, so they can have their own leprechaun cup to place coins in, as if the leprechaun is protecting his pot of gold!  The second, simple craft places a pot-of-gold at the end of a rainbow as a door handle decoration and is probably best for your younger children, but even older ones might find it fun!

The Crafty Leprechaun

The Crafty Leprechaun

What You’ll Need:

• 12. oz paper cup (like those used for coffee)
• 2 Green and 2 orange pipe cleaners
• Green, peach, yellow, and black construction paper (one small sheet each)
• Green paint
• One pair of googly eyes
• A black pen, black marker, and red marker (or pen)
• Glue

Here’s what do do:

1. Paint the paper cup green and let it dry.
2. Cut out a circle from the peach construction paper. Make sure it’s big enough to hide the cup’s rim when looking at it straight on.
3. Cut out a hat from the green construction paper and make sure the brim is a little bit wider than the peach circle that will create the head.
4. Use a black marker to make a band on the hat, but leave room in the middle for a buckle!
5. Cut out 3 small squares from the yellow construction paper and then cut out their middles for the hat’s and shoes’ buckles!
6. Glue a buckle onto the center of the hat and then glue the hat onto the top third of the peach circle.
7. Glue the googly eyes a little under the brim of the hat.
8. Draw a nose in black pen and a mouth in red marker (or pen) and then set the face aside.
9. Coil an entire orange pipe cleaner around a pencil or pen and slip it off.
10. Glue the ends of the coil onto the peach circle, making a beard.
11. Cut two small, straight pieces from another orange pipe cleaner and glue these above the googly eyes for eyebrows.
12. Glue the head onto the cup to cover near a third of the cup in length.
13. Take one green pipe cleaner and make a small loop at one end (secure it by wrapping a small part around).  Make a loop in the pipe cleaner right next to the one you just made and twist it so it stays in place. It should now resemble a flower stem with leaves. Take the straight edge and make a third loop that meets the other two in the center, making a clover shape!
14. Repeat the previous step again for the other hand.
15. Attach one on each side of the cup using tape or glue.
16. Cut out two small shoe-shaped pieces from the black paper and glue one yellow buckle to each shoe before gluing them to the bottom of the cup.

The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

What You’ll Need

• Paper plate
• Scissors
• 1 sheet of yellow and 1 sheet of green construction paper
• Black marker
• Markers for each color of the rainbow
• Gold and green glitter (optional)
• Glue or tape

Here’s what to do

1. Cut a half-circle into the bottom of the plate.
2. Cut out two pie-shaped pieces on the edge of the plate where the half-circle’s corners line up.
3. Have your child color a rainbow that follows the arch of the half-circle
4. Color the rest of the plate with black marker and be sure to color in a pot rim at the corners of the half-circle
5. Take the yellow construction paper and cut out a shape that resembles a pile of coins, making it as long as the diameter of the half-circle.
6. Run a clear glue stick over the “pile of coins” and sprinkle gold glitter over the construction paper to make it look real!
7. Glue or tape this to the back of the paper plate with the glittery side facing frontward
8. Cut out the shape of a shamrock from the green construction paper and glue it to the center of the pot. Optionally glue green glitter to it.
9. Hang it on any door knob in the house!

Have fun making these crafts with your children! They are a pot-of-fun!

Share These Great St. Patrick’s Day Crafts with Friends!

Learn how to make a beautiful painting like this one!

This fun, easy art project is great for big kids (like all of us on the JumpStart Team) as well as young children who haven’t yet developed their fine motor skills. Just be sure to keep the marbles and paint away from young mouths.

You will need:

• Several different colors of paint
• A disposable (or easily washable) cup for each paint color
• A marble (or other small, round object you’re willing to get paint on) for each paint color
• Paper
• A shoebox or other box big enough to hold the paper

Start by assembling your materials

Get painting!

1. Place a piece of paper into the bottom of the box.

2. Squirt a dollop of your first color of paint into the first cup.

3. Drop a marble into the cup and roll it around to cover it in paint.

There goes the marble!

4. Drop the paint-colored marble into the box on top of the paper and roll it around to create lines and swirls.

Rockin' and rollin'

5. Repeat steps 1-4 with a few more colors of paint to create your masterpiece! Experiment with several marbles at once and see how they interact to create unique patterns. If you’re really adventurous, try bouncing the marbles for a different effect.

What a pretty painting!

Like snowflakes or fingerprints, every marble painting your child makes will be as unique as they are!

Share the fun!

A Simple and Thoughtful Craft

What you’ll need:

• Red and Pink construction paper
• Long piece of white yarn
• Your child’s photo or picture to be cut
• Markers
• Glue / Tape
• Scissors
• Optional: Hole Puncher

Directions:

1. Cut out a large heart from the red construction paper
   

   Base layer red heart

2. On the back of this heart, draw a pair of dots a centimeter apart. After you draw them, measure an inch away following the border of the heart and draw another pair.
   

   Centimeter separations between sister holes, inch separations between pairs.

3. Poke these dots with your scissors or use a hole puncher to make small holes
4. Beginning by going through the back of the heart, first, weave the yarn in and out of the holes you poked out! Make sure to secure the yarn with a piece of tape on the back. (If you are having trouble getting the yarn through the holes, tightly circle the tip of the yarn with a piece of tape, like the end of a shoelace.)
   

   Finish the lace effect.

5. Cut out a smaller heart from the pink construction paper and glue it in the center of the red heart
6. Cut your picture so it fits into the pink heart. (We used some pets from JumpStart!) You can also cut this into a shape of a heart.
7. Decorate the heart with more hearts, flowers, or whatever you want!
8. Write your Valentine’s Day message.

Have a super-special, fun-filled, absolutely amazing Valentine’s Day!

Share this Valentine’s Day Idea with Your Friends

A great Valentine's Day-themed activity!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Paper bag or gift bag (Try to use a color appropriate for your child’s animal choice)
• One pair of googley eyes
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue or tape
• Decorative materials (markers, crayons, paint)

Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Have your child choose any animal he or she wants to make. (If you are using a colored gift bag, skip to step 3.)
2. If you are using a brown paper bag, you’ll want to cut a piece of construction paper to cover the side that the bottom flap doesn’t fold toward. If the construction paper is shorter than the bag, this is fine, but be sure to cover the entire lower portion of the bag’s side. The remaining space at the top will be covered by the animal’s head.
   

   The entire bag face should become the animal's color.

3. Using the right-colored construction paper, cut out a circle for the head. Make sure it is larger in diameter than the bag.
4. Draw a good-sized half-circle on the head (this is for the mouth that valentines will be placed through) and cut this out as well.
   

   Size the mouth to be card-friendly!

5. On the bag, place the head where you plan for it to be. Trace an outline of the mouth. Cut out this traced outline.
6. Take the animal’s face and glue on the googley eyes wherever they need to go. For instance, this octopus’ eyes are further apart than the polar bears’.
7. Continue to decorate the face until you get the desired animal. For example, we had to cut out these heart shapes for our polar bear’s ears!
   

   We set this octopus’ eyes further apart than the polar bears’. To decorate, we cut out these heart shapes for our polar bear’s ears!

8. Now we need to make the legs! Although the number of legs will differ from animal to animal, the technique is the same. We used construction paper to cut long, rectangular strips and then folded these strips in an accordion-like manner.
   

   An accordion fold makes for fun limbs!

9. Glue the face to the bag, being sure to line up the open mouths. Also glue the legs to the bag wherever you think they look best! If you want more detail (like this Polar Bear’s paws) simply cut out what you need from construction paper and glue it on!
10. Decorate the animal with hearts, messages, or anything your child wants!
    

    Valentine-ready!

As this polar bear would say, we hope your Valentine’s Day is beary special!

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Build this crafty castle!

What You’ll Need:

• A cardboard box (The bigger the box, the bigger the castle)
• Scissors or a craft knife
• String
• Decorative materials (paint, stickers, crayons, etc.)

Directions:

1. Cut a slender, rectangular box out of all sides of the box for towers.


Repeat on the other sides, as well.

2. Cut smaller rectangular boxes on the longer sides for watch posts.
3. Draw a drawbridge on the front and poke two holes (using a pen or the scissor tip) on the door towards the top, for the strings (we will put them in later).  Cut out your drawbridge.


Drawbridge

4. Poke two holes on the wall the door is connected to, near the top of the door frame.
5. Pull some string through the holes you have poked in both the wall and the door and tie a knot at both ends of each string at a length that allows the door to lie flat.


Feed the string through and tie it off.

6. Decorate the castle with whatever your child’s heart desires!


A Royal Creation

While this particular castle is definitely fit for a princess, we know you and your children will enjoy making it match their own tastes.  We’re interested to know what kind of different ideas for decorations they came up with! Comment or send us pictures if you’d like!

Show Your Friends’ Families How to Get Fortified!

The Peacock Hat Craft

Peafowl are awesome birds. The word “peafowl” refers to the birds most commonly represented by peacocks; the word “peafowl” is used when discussing both males and females.  Males are called peacocks, and they are well-known for their brightly-colored feathers and amazing tails they use to impress females, which are called “peahens” and are mostly colored a more somber brown.  These photos were taken by a JumpStart Team member while visiting Arcadia, California, a lovely city in Southern California that features peafowl as its city bird, allowing them to roam freely throughout the city.

A peacock cruising down a residential street.

In our hat craft, we’ll be attempting to create a hat that captures the essence of a peacock for kids to enjoy and run around in, brilliant blue crest and all.  However, if your child has another favorite animal he or she would like to capture, feel free to take it in an entirely different direction after the first instruction.

The Peacock Hat Craft

What you’ll need:

• A bowl that fits over your child’s head
• 12 pages of newspaper
• Scissors
• Tape
• Tempera paint – blue, green, white, and black especially
• Paintbrush
• Glue stick
• Access to a working sink

Instructions

1. Place the bowl upside down on your workspace. Soak a page of newspaper in the sink and lay it over the bowl making sure the overlapping edges are pressed down flat.  Repeat with nine more sheets, shifting the direction of the page with each placement over the bowl so no gaps are left.
   

   Compress the soaked pages.

   Soak two  more pages and place them directly on top of each other, separate from the bowl pages; these will be used for the tail and crest.  Let them dry overnight. You should be able to remove the newspaper from the bowl the next day and have it retain the shape of the upended bowl.

2. Use scissors to trim the edge of the dried newspaper into triangular points. Don’t trim points into the area you decide to be the front; this part will be folded up to create the beak.
   

   Triangular Support.

3. Fold and the points up into the inside of the hat. To make the beak, cut a rectangle shape out of the newspaper’s overlapping edges that make up the front you decided on.  The rectangle shape should be made by dedicating one of the length-wise sides to remain attached to the main body of the hat, and fold the two opposing edge corners back towards the hat body, creating triangular folds. Tape these triangles together and then to the front of the hat (use double-sided tape or loops of tape preferably to hide the attachment).
   

   Make the triangle folds out of the rectangle's corners and bring them together.

4. Paint the hat like a peacock’s head!  Reference the photo of the peacocks below.
   

   Two peacocks moving through a front yard.

5. Add on some iconic features of the peacock from the two separate pages you molded together.  Use the upper half of the conjoined pages to create the larger, bright green tail.
   

   The extravagant tail.

   Use the lower half to create the crest; after you paint these with embellishment and let it dry, tape them to the body of the hat to complete the look.

   

   Time for some fun!

Enjoy your excellent peacock hat!

Tell Your Friends’ Families to Strut Their Stuff!

The JumpStart Team's Time Capsule

What you’ll need:

• 1 strong, medium-sized capsule, such as a mason jar, coffee can, or wooden box
• 1 zip-lock bag
• Construction paper
• Markers, stickers, and other favorite decorations
• Optional: Shovel / trowel
• Materials to capture the year 2009
  • Newspaper clippings from town
  • School pictures
  • Small toys
  • List of activities from the year, etc.

Directions:

1. Have your child write their first name and the year in big letters on the construction paper or directly on the capsule. Decide together how long the time capsule should remain sealed, and include this date as well.
2. Place the memorabilia into the capsule.  Include things that reference the year past. Newspaper clippings or a wallet-sized school photograph will help your kid think about the way the town he or she lives in may have changed or how much he or she has grown.  You can write down what your child’s world – school, interests, hobbies, favorites – was like in 2009 and guess what it will be in the years ahead.


Memories of 2009 Battles, Crafts, and Releases

3. Seal the capsule up, and enclose it in the zip-lock bag if you intend to bury it (an exciting treasure hunting-like activity), to spare it from insects and the elements.


Ready for Dirt Exposure

4. Hide the capsule away, in a closet, in an attic, next to the willow tree in the backyard, or wherever! Don’t retrieve it for a year, or more.
5. Come back to it after the set waiting period, or whenever you happen to remember it!  Dig the capsule up and think back to 2009.

Your child will probably be surprised by the change that happened since the year 2009.  We certainly have seen a lot transform here at JumpStart in a year’s time, but we’re excited at the arrival of a new year.  Enjoy 2010!

Get Everybody to Dig Up Their Backyards!

Last week, the office was caught in a festive tornado of creativity as lamps were given to everyone, along with a randomly drawn name. Each member of the JumpStart Team was asked to design a lamp for the co-worker whose name they drew. Everyone drew upon their artistic talents or hid the lack-there-of behind loads of stickers and paint to create a masterpiece. From incredibly creative to just plain strange, all of the lamps were like nothing you could ever find in a store. Check out a few of the standout lamps:

You love lamp? Me too!

For the accounting department

Yep, those are all clothespins!

Our very own Kisha

For the Stargate Fan

Eyeballs and stripes...hmmm.

It's Mardi Gras!

Still hunting for some last minute holiday gifts? Your kids can create lamps of their very own to give to family members and friends! TJust pick up a blank lamp at a local store, grab some supplies and get creative!

Our Decoration Supplies

Whatever you decide to do, we at the JumpStart Team would like to wish you Happy Holidays!  Stay warm and be safe!

Show Everyone How Talented We Are!

Make This Snow Day One to Remember

Materials:

• Small, clean jar with tight cover or lid
• Mineral or baby oil
• Winter glitter
• Hot glue gun
• Figurine with some height to it

Directions:

1. Take the jar’s lid and turn it upside down. Use a glue gun to attach your figurine to the inside of the lid. Make sure the glue sets before you submerge it in the liquid you chose.


Hot glue, once set, handles liquids well.

2. Fill the jar with mineral oil or baby oil, leaving only a half-inch pocket of air at the top. Water will also work; however, the glitter will fall more snow-like in the oils.
3. Add about a teaspoon of glitter for the snow for a mason-sized jar, adjusting your amount according to the size of the jar. We used white and silver glitter.


Add glitter according to jar-size.

4. Carefully set the lid (with figurine) onto the full jar and seal it tightly.
   Consider applying more hot glue around the rim of the jar to ensure it doesn’t leak, before you set the lid. Gloves, people; gloves! That glue will bulge, and it is hot!

A fun addition to the den.

There you have it. This snow globe is ready to be shaken up by your family, providing hours of distraction and escape over the winter months into your child’s own winter wonderland.

Share This Snow Day Craft with Friends

Poor Frosty…this jolly soul, made out of snow, laughs and plays with the children, until he melts away and has to say goodbye. So sad! Well, this snowman craft will make your children smile and laugh, and we can guarantee that this Frosty won’t melt away once winter is over!

Perma-Frosty

Flower Pot Snowman

You will need:

• Medium-sized flower pot
• Medium-sized wooden or styrofoam ball
• Small piece of ribbon
• Green and red colored felt
• Old mittens or old socks that you can cut up (preferably fun-colored ones)
• 2 buttons
• Black, orange, and pink markers
• White paint
• Googley eyes
• Glue

Directions:

1. Paint the outside of the flower pot and the Styrofoam or wooden ball white. You may need 2 or 3 layers, so allow the first layer to dry, then paint the next layer after.


Layer the paint as needed.

2. Once dry, flip the pot over and glue the ball onto the bottom of the pot.
3. Take the felt scraps and cut a piece about 4 inches in length and 3 inches in height. Glue the felt around the top of the ball to give the snowman a little hat. Gather the felt at the top and tie with the ribbon.


Place the felt and gather it to create a hat.

4. Glue the two buttons onto the body of the snowman.
5. Cut the old sock or mitten into a mini snowman scarf, or, if you have a few pipe cleaners handy, you can simply twist these to form the scarf, as shown here. It needs to be about 5 inches in length and about an inch in width. Wrap it around the neck of the snowman and securely glue it.


Besides, scarves are en vogue.

6. Once all the glue is dry, stick on the wiggly eyes, make a dotted smile for the mouth, an orange carrot nose, and add some pink circles for the cheeks.

Completed with style.

You’re done! The flower pot snowman will surely conjure up some holiday joy and bring Frosty back to life!

The Flower Pot Snowman draws a respected crowd.

Throw the Flower Pot Snowman your friends’ way!