This is a Thanksgiving craft and works great for keeping the kids busy during the holidays.

Materials Needed: 

Craft sticks

Watercolors

Buttons

Pistachio shells

Lentils such as Moong dal, Chana dal, Masoor dal

School Glue

Method: 

1) Take a print out of a turkey picture.

2) Take some craft sticks of small or large size.

3) First color the sticks dark brown and let them dry. Then color them orange at one end and yellow at the other end. Let the two colors dry. These sticks will serve as feathers.

4) Take some pistachio shells and color them yellow. These are for the turkey feet. Also color one of the shells red to use for the nose.

5) Take some colored buttons and glue them around the neck of the turkey and above the feet.

6) For the eyes use two black buttons.

7) The neck is decorated using Moong dal.

8) The inner feathers are decorated using Chana dal.

9) For the body Masoor dal is used.

10) The remaining face portion can be colored yellow and orange using watercolors.

I used specific dals for specific body parts to achieve the right color combination and also for the size. Since the neck area is smaller compared to the rest of the body, I chose Moong dal for its small size and nice light yellow color. For the body I needed something brown so Masoor dal came into the picture. And for the feathers I needed some dark yellow so Chana dal was selected. You can also use Toor dal here. You can use other dals as well to make it more colorful. For the feathers I chose to use craft sticks as I could get 3 different shades in one stick. Also, I arranged them such that yellow portion is facing upwards and the orange portion towards the body to make it look brighter.

Summer vacations are always fun for kids. You can make it memorable for them by involving them in craft activities needed for special events at their Summer camps. I did the same thing for my 6 year old. They had to dress like a Pirate one day so I decided to create a pirate hat for him at home. Best part is you do not need anything extra & can use the things that are easily available at home. I put this project under the category "Best out of waste" as I used Cheerios box as the base for this hat.

Things needed
1) Pirate hat template (search online) or you can even draw it free hand, its very simple
2) Cardboard (that forms the base of the hat). I used Cheerios box
3) Glue
4) Scissors
5) Stapler

Steps
1) Print out the Pirate template. I asked my son to cut it along the border for me so that way he also contributed towards the project.
2) I cut out strips from Cheerios box with a mount in the middle as seen in the picture. 2 mounts are needed (for front & back)
3) Measure the child's head & staple the cardboard cutouts so that they fit him properly
4) Stick black paper on the sides (as seen in picture) to hide the box labeling on the sides of the hat
5) Finally stick the main template on the front side & back side to make the Pirate hat.

Note: Make sure that the blank side (brown color, without print) is on the inside. Templates will be glued to the printed side of the cardboard so nobody can guess the material the hat was made from (in case you too plan to use some box as the base)

I also made eye patch for him but that's is optional.

My daughter got this craft as a birthday party favor. Both she and I loved this concept where kids could design their own mug. The mug itself has two parts - a white inner shell and clear plastic outer cover. Then there are 3 paper inserts with various pictures on them. Kids can color the insert and fit it easily between the shell and plastic cover. While the product comes with only 3 paper inserts, you can create your own. You can have more white papers with colorful pics, or you can have colored or sparkly paper inserts. The possibilities are endless!

The inserts do get soggy if you wash the mug as is. So a better way is to take out the inner shell and wash it separately. Also, the package says that the mug is good for both hot and cold beverages, but personally I don't trust hot beverages in plastic. In our house this is the designated 'Water Cup' for my daughter.

Overall, a great way to get kids to drink more water, especially during the summer.

In the US, many schools celebrate '100th Day of School'. Recently, my son also had his celebration and I decided to make it a fun event! We worked together on a creative project, rather than just giving him 100 things to take to his class. This year we had lot of snow, so Snowman was our theme.  This was a “Best out of Waste” project. We used styro-foam (packaging material) as the base. Apart from the glittery blue paper & the clear plastic cover, everything else is commonly available household material. My son was very excited to take his project to school.

Doing such small things with children makes a BIG difference for them. So my message to all you parents out there...Get involved with your kids' activities/projects & make it more fun for them!

How did we co-create this masterpiece?

1) I took 5 print outs of a snowman picture (just the structure) & my son cut them out.

2) I took a print out of each accessory (hat & scarf) which he cut, colored with crayons and then glued to the main structure. He colored the nose orange. So other than the eyes (dots) everything was made by him.

3) We put a big smile on each snowman with 7 grains on Lentils & the body was decorated with M&M's.

4) At school he counted & showed 20 things on each snowman. Thus, five 5 snowmen added  up to make 100 things!