PAINTING FIREWORKS WITH CHILDREN

It has been a funny few months, with children at home throughout in some cases, and it has been HARD. Entertaining the little ones throughout has been a task none of us expected to be undertaking and running out of ideas appears to have been a constant with friends, family, and colleagues. 

Now, following the news that meeting between groups is to be limited to 6 and incidence of COVID 19 once again on the rise, the expectation is that we are liable to go back into lockdown again as the usual Winter flu season gets underway. 

Whilst this might be the case, children still have to be entertained and as we are on the run-up to Bonfire Night, why not have them getting creative. 

Here are some natty ideas for ‘crafting’ with the little ones – ENJOY

You will need:

• PIPE CLEANERS
• PAINT (I USED RED, GREEN, AND YELLOW WHICH ARE THE MOST COMMON FIREWORK COLOURS BUT YOU CAN CHOOSE ANY COMBINATION)
• PVA GLUE
• GLITTER
• PAPER PLATES (3 FOR PAINTS AND 1 FOR GLUE)
• PAPER

How to create your firework effects:

• Take 4 pipe cleaners and fold them in half
• Twist the folded end to create a ‘handle’
• Spread out the 8 legs to make a spider shape
• Repeat till you have at least one for each colour, 1 for the glue, and a couple of spares (saves fighting if you are dealing with more than 1 child at a time)
• Pop a little paint onto each plate
• Put a little glue onto a plate
• You are ready to dip the ‘spider’ into the paint and apply to the paper
• Once your painting is finished, let it dry and then apply the glue and the glitter
• Happy crafting!

If you can’t get a hold of pipe cleaners, you can use a toilet roll and cut down to halfway down the inner roll and you can achieve a similar effect.

I did this with my grandchildren aged 4 and 2 and they had a fabulous time.