Cork Your Excitement! It's Pumpkin Painting Time!

Calling all crafty kiddos (and grown-up helpers)! Fall is in the air, and that means pumpkins are everywhere! But this year, why not skip the mess of carving and try a fun, textured pumpkin project using everyone's favorite leftover - wine corks?

Looking for a fun and festive fall craft for the kids? Look no further than cork pumpkins! This project is perfect for little hands and even littler attention spans. It's easy to set up, uses recycled materials, and lets kids unleash their creativity. Plus, it's a great way to introduce them to painting in a tactile way.

Here's what you'll need:

• Wine corks (enough for each child to make a pumpkin)
• A paper plate
• White paper
• Orange paint
• Paint brushes
• Green paint
• Black paint 

Pour a quarter sized drop of paint onto a paper plate.

Offer your little artists the corks, and encourage them to begin by stamping a circle shape with one color of orange paint.

Encourage the kids to now fill in the large outline of a circle by dipping their cork into orange paint and stamping it in.

When the pumpkin is filled in, dip the side of the cork into the green paint.

Slide the cork upwards to form a stem. 

Let the kids dot the stem with the wine cork.

Allow to dry and display on the fridge.

These are so cute and fun that you might want to make a few and share with a special neighbor or a grandparent.

Building Fine Motor Skills

Grasping a wine cork is a great way for little hands to develop the strength and dexterity needed for important tasks like writing and buttoning clothes. The wide, rounded surface is easy for children to hold, allowing them to focus on the creative process rather than struggling with grip.

Encouraging Exploration and Experimentation

Cork painting is all about having fun and getting messy! There's no right or wrong way to use a cork stamp. Kids can experiment with different dipping techniques, applying pressure to create lighter or darker prints, and even using multiple colors at once. This freedom to explore fosters a love of learning and experimentation, which are essential for a child's development.

Find more favorite cork painting projects here:

Cork and Button Apple Tree Art

Christmas Tree Stamp Painting

Hungry Caterpillar Process Art

Handprint Crafts for Kids

Are you looking for some fun ways to keep the kids busy this winter? Well, why not look down, at your hands, to get a little inspo!

We love hand print art! When the kids were tiny, they liked nothing more than making some homemade monster puppets with their handprints!

Handprint art is so much fun for kids to make, but adults also love handprint art. It makes for the perfect reminder of when their hands were that small. Who doesn't love art that doubles as a keepsake? I gathered some of my favorite cutie pie ideas from some of my favorite bloggers to share with you. Please make sure you click through the links to check out the tutorials. Pin the ideas that appeal to you. You might just want to start a new board because all of these are adorable.

•  Thanksgiving Hand Print Tree by Crafts by Amanda
• Cactus Handprint Art by A Little Pinch of Perfect
• Handprint Snowflake Art by In the Playroom
• Hand and FootPrint Easter Art by Mimosas and Motherhood
• Handprint American Flag by In the Playroom
• Handprint Turkeys by The Keel Deal
• Handprint Elephants by Seaside Sundays
• Handprint Flower Vase by Mama of Minis
• Skeleton Handprint by Mom Brite
• Handprint Flower Poem by Mom Hacks 101

If you make any of these crafts with your kids make sure to hop over to facebook and share a photo with me!

You might also want to check out these cute hand print fish puppets.

Or 7 Ways to Entertain a 3 Year Old.

Paper Plate Crafts for Kids

 Paper plates have always been one of my kids favorite things to craft with. There are so many possibilities for making something fantastic, out of a plain old paper plate! This collection has some really fun ideas for your family to try out. You might not ever look at a pack of plates the same again.

You might notice there are a few of my craft projects listed below. I have been crafting things out of paper plates and Styrofoam bowls since I was a little girl. I can recall my cousin Courtney and I making these super fun flying saucers when we were kids with styrofoam bowls, and it is safe to say, I have been hooked ever since.

Be sure to click through to get the details of all of the projects below.

Paper Plate Lions by Sweet Silly Sara

Grab the paper plates, glue and some pasta to make a really fun little lion craft!

Paper Plate Ladybugs by Crafts by Amanda

These cute little ladybugs are the perfect way to make a spring craft with minimal supplies. Kids of all ages will love this!

Fun Snails by Attachment Mummy

These little snails might inch their way into your heart! They are perfect for an afternoon craft for the little ones!

Paper Plate Witch Craft by Sweet Silly Sara

This friendly witch is the perfect craft project to get kids in the Halloween spirit!

Paper Plate Apples by Mom Brite 

Take a bite out of craft time with this cute apple craft! All you need is a paper plate and a few basic supplies!

Paper Plate Crabs by Mom Wife Busy Life

This paper plate crab craft is nothing short of a pinch of perfect! This is such a cute idea for little hands!

Paper Plate Flowers by Glitter on a Dime

Create a pinkalicious storybook inspired garden of pretty flowers! This a great craft for anytime you need a craft to share!

Paper Plate Pigs by Simply Everyday Mom

Need a cute craft to entertain the kids? This piggy craft is an oinking good time for all!

Witch Window Cling

It is hard not to get in the spirit of things this Halloween with his hands on witch window cling craft!

This window cling was so much fun to make with the kids. I love that it gives them a chance to use their fine motor skills and practice scissor skills while making something so cute for your windows!

Supplies

Scissors

Clear Transparent Contact Paper

Green, Black, White, Purple Construction Paper

A scrap of pink or red paper

Have the kids tear and cut up the black, green and purple paper into small bits.

Make 2 small circles from a black square of paper.

Cut out small white circles for eyes and a small smile from the red or pink paper.

Begin by placing the small black circles on the contact paper, sticky side up.

Cover those with the white circles for eyes

Next form the nose, mouth and hat of the witch

Begin filling in the face with green bits of paper.

Fill in the remaining areas with purple.

Leave just a few areas uncovered so that the contact paper will stick to your window.

We thought these were really cute. They were fun to make and offered the kids a little challenge as the contact paper is sticky. 

You can find all of my Halloween ideas here.

Paper Plate Witch

Glam Pumpkin Makeover

Cupcake Liner Sun Craft

Preschoolers will love this easy sun craft. It is perfect for spring days! All you need is a few supplies and a little imagination.

Harp is my crafty girl.She loves to make makeup, is a renowned perfume mixer, and is always drawing something! We had made these lovely perfumes to share that smelled like spring days so we thought we needed to make a few pictures to go with them. 

Samples were provided for inclusion in this post.

The perfume kit, you will want to check out independently! This is aimed at older kids, but with close supervision and assistance it was something Harper was well suited for. We got the STMT DIY Signature Scent Kit from the Horizon Group and LOVED it!

I gathered some easy supplies that you will probably already have at home.

Supplies

Yellow cupcake liners

White cupcake liners

Markers

Glue

Blue Construction Paper

Directions

Glue one yellow cupcake liner on a sheet of blue paper.

Using an orange marker give the yellow cupcake liner rays like the sun.

Using a white cupcake liner, cut out several puffy cloud shapes.

Have your preschooler do all of these steps independently. The cutting is good practice!

 Finally give the sun a happy face to welcome spring!

You can find all of our spring crafts here.
3D Paper TulipsBird Activities

Easy Rain Drop Craft

Spring is here and we have been trying to make the best of the rainy days that comes with the season. Harper and I thought a raindrop craft would be the perfect way to spend the last rainy day we had. This was perfect for my 3 year old. Oh, who are we kidding?! I had a lot of fun with it too. I mean, there is glitter involved!

This craft was so easy, yet so engaging!

All you need is:

A pair of scissors

A few sheets of blue paper

glue

glitter

Begin by cutting a drop shape 

Next have your toddler or preschooler liberally apply glue to the paper.

Next, invite the child to shake some glitter on the drop!

And there you have a way to add a little sparkle to any rainy day, regardless of the season!

This was a 5 minute craft, it took very little time to assemble, but it completely engaged my little one! We love easy paper crafts for those hey, let's make a craft moments.