Whether you gather supplies in your neighborhood or at the crafts store, your kids will love bringing the outdoors inside with these easy natural crafts projects featuring supplies found in nature.
Rain Stick
This instrumental craft might not summon the rain, but the natural seeds inside the tube sound like a real thunderstorm when your child turns it from end to end.
Make It: Cut a piece of decorative cardstock or scrapbook paper 1/2 inch wider than the circumference of an empty paper towel roll and 1 inch taller than the roll. Measure across the inside of the roll to get the diameter. Cut a piece of boxboard or heavyweight cardstock 1/4 inch narrower than the diameter of the roll. Accordion-fold the boxboard and stuff it inside the roll.
Next, tape one side of the roll closed. Have your child scoop rice and popcorn seeds into the tube; tape the other end closed. Adhere the decorative paper to the outside of the roll, folding the paper over the ends. Adhere two circles of the same decorative paper to cover the ends of the roll. To finish, have your child choose pretty ribbons to tie on to an elastic band. Place the band around the tube and you're ready to play.
Rain Stick
This instrumental craft might not summon the rain, but the natural seeds inside the tube sound like a real thunderstorm when your child turns it from end to end.
Make It: Cut a piece of decorative cardstock or scrapbook paper 1/2 inch wider than the circumference of an empty paper towel roll and 1 inch taller than the roll. Measure across the inside of the roll to get the diameter. Cut a piece of boxboard or heavyweight cardstock 1/4 inch narrower than the diameter of the roll. Accordion-fold the boxboard and stuff it inside the roll.
Next, tape one side of the roll closed. Have your child scoop rice and popcorn seeds into the tube; tape the other end closed. Adhere the decorative paper to the outside of the roll, folding the paper over the ends. Adhere two circles of the same decorative paper to cover the ends of the roll. To finish, have your child choose pretty ribbons to tie on to an elastic band. Place the band around the tube and you're ready to play.
