This is an activity that’s open to lots of possibilities, only limited by the imagination and abilities of the child creating them. The age for this project will depend on the skills and interests of the children doing it. Toddlers are capable of gluing, but not all of them are interested in it, nor do many of them understand how to put things together with glue yet (they prefer to “paint” with it when very young and inexperienced). Use your
Supplies Needed:
- juice lids…the kind off of frozen juice containers…you will want to take a nail and hammer and poke a hole in each one prior to this project if you are planning on hanging them. Don’t forget to hammer down any jagged edges around the hole.
- glue…I like to color my glue
with liquid watercolors from Discount School Supply (affiliate link, because they are that awesome!)…it dries bright and colorful! - a variety of decorating supplies such as:
- puzzle pieces…I like to buy puzzles from yard sales and just dump all the pieces together in a bin for art projects…you can use old puzzles with missing pieces as well…and find different sizes and shapes of puzzle pieces for a variety of options.
- confetti and/or glitter
- string
- construction paper
- aluminum foil
- photos or cut-out magazine pics
- beads
- colored pasta or rice
- stickers
- feathers
- and anything else that strikes your fancy that the kids might like to add to their project!
- string or paper clips for hanging the finished product
What To Do:
Put out all the supplies and let the kids go to it!
If they want to decorate both sides of the juice lids, they will need to let one side dry first. Or you can use the other side to put their name and date.
If they want to put pictures of themselves or family members on the lids, you will want to have plain glue (not colored) that is a little watered down to decoupage them (glue the pic on and then paint over with a layer or 2 of the watered glue to seal it) to make them more permanent.
Puzzle pieces make great sculptured items if piled in neat designs on top of each other.
Don’t tell the kids how to do this project…just let them know that the lids are for making ornaments and let them use their own imaginations as to how they put it together.
You could also choose to put magnets on the back (instead of hanging them) or hang from a coat hanger as a mobile or wind chime (see this project idea for wind chimes)…the possibilities are endless! HAVE FUN!!