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Spring! One of my favorite times of the year with new flowers, the return of birds, trees full of leaves and fresh green grass. Here are some fun crafts you can do to prepare for summer. Email pictures of your completed projects so others can see how creative you were! (We'll only post the picture, a first name and age.)
Milk Carton Bird Feeder
What You Need:
  • Empty milk carton
  • Construction paper
  • Fake moss (Excelsior)
  • Artificial flowers and greenery
  • Little sticks
  • Scissors
  • Tacky glue
  • Hot glue gun
  • Stapler
  • Little bird
  • Ribbon or ornament hanger
What to Do:
  1. Rinse the milk carton and allow to dry completely.
  2. Staple closed the top of the carton.
  3. Choose a color of construction paper, then cut it to cover the top over the roof line, sides and bottom. Glue on with the tacky glue. Cut paper to cover the front and back then glue in place. Draw a hole for the door on the front. Carefully poke a hole into the carton and cut out the hole with scissors.
  4. Form the moss to fit one side of the roof. Have a parent glue it into place with a hot glue gun. Continue to do the same with the rest of the roof, back and sides. When you do the front, be sure not to cover up the hole. Do NOT glue any to the bottom.
  5. Take the sticks and arrange them on the roof. Cut them to fit if needed. Have a parent hot glue these on the roof. Glue the thickest one on the top of the roof. Take one of the sticks and poke a hole beneath the door, this will be the perch for your bird.
  6. Have a parent hot glue the flowers and greenery in place. Try not to use too many, just enough to add color.
  7. Have a parent hot glue the bird to the perch or elsewhere on the bird feeder.
Bagel Bird Feeder
What You Need:
  • Stale bagel or pine cone
  • Lard or peanut butter
  • Birdseed
  • String or ribbon
What to Do:
  1. Spread the lard or peanut butter on the bagel or pine cone.
  2. Roll the bagel in birdseed, or place the bagel in a gallon-sized zipper bag that contains the birdseed. Shake the bag to coat the bagel.
  3. Tie the ribbon or string through the hole of the bagel and hang the bagel from a tree.
Pinwheels
     This a project that can be used for any season or holiday, just change the colors and how you decorate it.
What You Need:
  • Colored or clear tabbed plastic file folder, letter size
  • Ruler
  • Thin line marker
  • Scissors
  • Needle
  • Straight pin
  • Unsharpened pencil with an eraser
  • Dime
Parental help may be needed.
What to Do:
  1. Lie the folder out flat. Mark then cut a 4.5-inch square out of the plastic file folder.
  2. Place a dime in the center of the square. Trace around it.
  3. Cut diagonally from one corner towards the opposite corner. Stop cutting when you reach the circle's edge in the center. Repeat for the other three corners.
  4. Take the needle and push it through the very center of the pinwheel, coming from the back of the pinwheel. A grown-up may need to help with this step. Do not push the needle all the way through.
  5. Take the right corner of the first section and bed to the center of the pinwheel. Push the needle through it and hold.
  6. Take the corner of the next section and bend the right corner to the center. Push the needle through it and hold. Repeat for the other two sections.
  7. Remove the needle, carefully holding the sections together. Push the straight pin through the front of the pinwheel completely through the back. A grown-up may need to help with this step.
  8. Push the straight pin into the eraser of the pencil, making sure not to push it all the way through. Let the pinwheel loosen up between the corners and the back. Blow on the pinwheel to watch it spin.
Windsocks
     This a project that can be used for any season or holiday, just change how you decorate the construction paper.
What You Need:

  • Empty cardboard round ice cream
  • Colored construction paper
  • Glue
  • Scissors
  • String
  • Crepe paper streamers
  • Hole punch
  • Stapler
What to Do:

  1. Discard the top and cut off the bottom. Thoroughly wash the ice cream container and allow to dry completely.
  2. Use the remaining construction paper to cut out decorations for your windsock, which can be glued in place, or use markers to decorate.
  3. Glue construction paper around the outside of the container. Allow to dry.
  4. Cut strips of crepe paper streamers and attach them to one end of the container with a stapler.
  5. Use the hole punch to make four holes evenly spaced around the top of the windsock. Thread the string through the holes and double knot.
  6. Tie all four strands together at the top to make the hanger then hang in a place where it cannot get wet.