Popsicle sticks are great for crafts, especially when you have a lot of them. They’re even better when reused – so get collecting! Popscicle crafts are the best craft material to teach your children how to make things using recyclable materials.
You can also use them in lots of fun ways, including making doll furniture out of popsicle sticks. We’ve collected some ideas for you to make with popsicles sticks, from adorable bug houses to simple farm animals. Explore our list below to find an idea that’s perfect for your kids!
Bug House Bugs come in all different shapes and sizes! Make these little homes out of Popsicle sticks and watch the bugs flock by. This is a great activity to do with your kids, and can help them learn more about nature while they play! Get some popsicle sticks and a few other craft materials, then get started on your new bug house.
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How To Make Handprint Flower Garden Art?
Your young ones will enjoy making their own flower stems from painted popsicle sticks, and they’ll appreciate creating this floral artwork. The flowers are drawn with their handprints, so it’s a keepsake for you as well as a fun activity for them.
This project can be completed by parents with minimal help. It’s very simple to do, and it doesn’t take long depending on how old your kids are. Younger children will need a bit more assistance. You can also adjust the project to meet your kids’ priorities by making fewer flowers that are bigger, or vice versa.
Handprint Flower Garden Art Required Stationary
You Will Need:
- Popsicle sticks in various sizes
- Pencils and crayons
- Craft paints in assorted colors
- Acrylic craft paint – green and yellow 5ml tubes from Michaels ($1 each) 3/4″ wide acrylic craft brush ($0.88 at Walmart) Scissors Clear spray sealer (optional) (Walmart $3.97 for 11oz cans) Fine grit sandpaper Ruler Mini glue dots (optional) Clear contact paper ($2.98 at Walmart in the photo frame section; 7 sheets per package)
Steps For Making Handprint Flower Garden Art
- Gather a bunch of popsicle sticks and let the kids begin drawing with crayons to make each flower stem. If you want to speed up the process, you can make a template from a piece of paper by folding it in thirds lengthwise (the fold will be the center line of your three flowers; top, middle and bottom).
- You can also cut out several small squares (that match the number of flowers you want), trace around them onto your folded paper, remove the smaller pieces and spread out your big sheet on some scrap paper for tracing & coloring later.
- Cut off about 6″ or so of popsicle stick per flower. Younger kids might need help with this step since they probably won’t have the strength or coordination to use scissors yet. You can also write their names on each stick for them if you want.
- Paint the flowers in primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and maybe even some pastel shades too…any color they want! Let them paint every other row all the way down…for example: red, blue, yellow; red, blue, yellow…until they run out of popsicle sticks.
- If you’d like to speed up this step too , cut strips of brown craft paper or construction paper. Cheaper than buying a roll of masking tape by the yard at $1+ per roll and just as easy to tear off a piece and affix it onto your painted popsicle sticks.
- Once the paint is totally dry, flip over all the popsicle sticks and lightly sand the other side with fine grit sandpaper (180 or 220). This will help to smooth out any bumps that may have occurred during painting.
- If you want your finished project to be really shiny (and pretty), give it a couple of coats of clear spray sealant . Let it dry completely before continuing onto step five…or if you’re impatient like me, use some double sided tape or glue dots to attach them one at a time to your sheet of contact paper.
- Measure & cut out individual flowers from your sheet of contact paper (12″x12″) after prepping them as above on each painted flower stem. Do this by sticking the painted end of each stick onto a piece of clear contact paper (make sure you’re putting it on upside down), and then trace around it with a fine point pen.
- Remove the popsicle sticks, and cut out the shape; that’s your individual flower! You can also do these in different shapes besides flowers, like hearts or butterflies for example.
- Use mini glue dots to adhere each individual flower to your sheet of contact paper if desired. It will only take a small amount so be conservative so you have enough left to do all twelve flowers. If you don’t want them standing up from the table, cut another 9 1/2″ x 12″ sheet of contact paper, place it behind the first sheet, and lay the flowers on top of it.
- Trace around each flower with a fine point pen so you have a dotted outline to cut out. Cut them out, and carefully remove the layer containing the actual flowers…you should now be able to place your sheet(s) of contact paper onto your table or other flat surface without anything standing up from the table (as in photo).
- Now comes the fun part: put your flower tablecloth onto whatever flat surface you’re going to use it on, and start sticking down your individual flowers!
- Kids can do this themselves if they’re patient enough because they just need to line up each stem inside one of the pre-cut circles and smoosh down gently.
- Use mini glue dots instead of liquid glue because they’ll dry hard in a minute or two, and the brush-on glues will drip when using them upside down.
- Once all your flowers are glued down, add some rub ons that you’ve cut out from animal shapes, trees, etc. for extra embellishment or decorate it yourself with paint, glitter glue , etc.!
- Some kids may also want to use markers to color the backs of each flower after they’re stuck in place so it won’t show through as much compared to painting them beforehand.
- Let the final product sit & dry overnight before letting anyone walk on it just in case there’s a few bumps here & there from being too impatient .
- It should look something like this photo when you’re finished!
