Princess and the Pony Painted Sweater Craft

Reading with your child is such an important activity. It brings you closer, improves his or her skills, and provides many opportunities for important conversations. That is why I take part in the Monthly Crafting Book Club every month. (You can see previous months on the Kid Crafts page.) The book for this month is The Princess and the Pony. I had never heard of this book before but I must say that it is spectacular! The story is adorable and the illustrations even more so. The best part is that it easily lends itself to this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

 

[bctt tweet=”Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft! #books #kidscraft” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Materials

Step 1

Create a workspace for your child to work on. This is a messy craft and you don’t want to ruin your table. Cover it with a tablecloth or newspaper to protect it.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 2

Keep your kids’ clothes safe with an apron, like this kid decorated apron.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 3

Lay the sweatshirt flat on your work surface.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 4

Put a piece of cardboard inside the sweatshirt to protect the back from any paint that might bleed through.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 5

Put a selection of paint colors on the palettes and let your kiddos go nuts.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 6

Allow the sweatshirt to dry for at least 12 hours.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 7

Throw the painted sweatshirt in the dryer on high for a full cycle. This sets the paint.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Step 8

Wash and dry like normal.

 

Reading with your child brings you closer, improves skills, and is fun! Enjoy The Princess and the Pony with this fun and messy painted sweater craft!

Your kids will love making this painted sweater craft after reading The Princess and the Pony. They will love wearing it and showing it off even more. While they are creating it, take the opportunity to ask them if they have ever been disappointed in a gift they received. Ask them how they handled it and if they eventually enjoyed it. Follow up the questions by telling them about a time you were upset by a gift you received and how you dealt with it. Once you’ve finished this craft go check out the other awesome Princess and the Pony crafts from my friends!

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Feel Better Monkey Kids Craft

If you haven’t heard about this awesome Monthly Crafting Book Club then you are missing out. It is such a fun way to get free craft ideas that coincide with your children’s favorite storybooks. This month, I am finally taking part (yay!) and the book is the classic 5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed which is a favorite in our house. After reading the book with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor. Don’t miss the other awesome craft ideas from the talented bloggers in the club!

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

 

[bctt tweet=”Make this fun and easy feel better #monkey with your #kids, then check out the other awesome #crafts! ” username=”diyadulation”]

 

Materials

Cutting Out Your Monkey Pieces

You may want to do this part for kids who are too young to use scissors. You also may want to make some alongside preschoolers who are just beginning to use scissors. It is great practice for them in tracing and following lines however, they may want the ones you cut out later in the craft.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 1

Draw your monkey onto a piece of paper or print out the free monkey template.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 2

Cut out monkey head and use to trace desired number of monkeys needed onto one of the darker colors of construction paper.

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Tip:

  • Be sure to trace all of the monkey heads you need during this step or print out a second template. You will be cutting the template up in the next steps.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 3

Cut out your traced monkey heads.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 4

Cut the monkey mouth out of the template.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 5

Trace the monkey mouth onto a contrasting color of construction paper.

Note:

  • You will need one for each monkey you intend to make.

Step 6

Cut out your traced mouths.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 7

Cut out the inner ears of your monkey and trace onto the same color construction paper at your monkey mouths.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 8

Cut out the traced inner ear pieces.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 9

Cut out the eye background from the monkey template. Do not cut around the eyes yet. See the picture above for reference.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 10

On the same color construction paper you used for the mouths and inner ear pieces, trace the eye background. Again, be sure to trace enough time to have one for each monkey.

Step 11

Cut out your traced eye backgrounds.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 12

Next, cut out your monkey eyes. Trace these on a white (or similar color) construction paper.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 13

Cut out your traced monkey eyes.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 14

Cut out the colored part (irises) of your monkey eyes from the eye pieces. (See picture above for reference.)

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 15

On the scraps of construction paper left over from cutting out your entire monkey heads in step 3, trace the cut eye pieces. (Again, see picture for reference.)

Step 16

Cut out the trace pieces.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Assembling Your Feel Better Monkey

This part is appropriate for all ages to participate in. You may want to leave the pictures pulled up on your computer for reference.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 1

Using your glue stick, glue the mouth onto the bottom of your monkey head.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 2

Glue the eye background on your monkey head above the mouth. Leave a small space so that you get the definition between the 2 areas.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 3

Glue your inner ear pieces into the center of your monkey ears.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 4

Glue your eye whites onto the eye background.

Step 5

Glue your colored eye pieces to the bottom eye whites.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 6

Draw on a mouth and nose lines with your Sharpie marker. (Parents may want to do this part.)

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

Step 7

Make your monkeys feel better by putting Band-Aids on their boo-boos.

 

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

This is such a fun little craft. Your kids will love playing doctor for their monkeys! It is also a great conversation starter about the importance of listening and more. You can find a free printable list of questions on our VIP page. (Not a member yet? Sign up here!) Take a classic children’s book and turn it into a fun way to reiterate and strengthen good habits and understanding with your kids. Don’t forget to check out the other fun 5 Little Monkeys crafts, too.

After reading the 5 Little Monkeys with your kids, make this fun and easy feel better monkey and let your kids be the doctor!

 

 

See where I’m linking up!

Kid Decorated Aprons

Kids love to do art projects and help in the kitchen.  Unfortunately, they can be messy little monsters while they’re at it.  Help encourage their creativity and protect their outfits in future projects with these super-simple kid decorated aprons.  My kids had such a blast making these that they also made some for all of their friends.  With it being so close to the holidays they decided to wrap these up and give them as gifts but this makes a great activity for birthday parties and other kid-friendly events as well.

Affiliate links may be used in this post. Ordering a product through these links may result in a commission. Read the full disclosure here.

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

 

[bctt tweet=”Encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple #kiddecoratedaprons. Great for #gifts or as a group activity at #birthdayparties!”]

Materials

 

 

Step 1

Since you haven’t made the aprons to protect them, make sure your kids wear clothes that can get paint on them because they will get paint on them.

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

Step 2

Place some fabric paint on the paint pallets.  Give the kids some brushes and water and let them go to town on some aprons.

Tip:

  • Once they finished be sure to label which apron is meant for whom so that there aren’t any arguments later.

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

Step 3

Allow to dry 24 hours.

Step 4

Run the aprons through the dryer on a high setting for 30-40 minutes.  This will help set the paint on the aprons.  Once you have run them through the dryer for the initial cycle the aprons can be used, washed, and dried like normal.

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

 

Help encourage creativity and protect outfits with these super-simple kid decorated aprons. Great for gifts or as a group activity at birthday parties!

This project couldn’t be any easier and now you won’t have to worry about all of those holiday cookies you plan on making this year.  Let the kids put on their new personalized aprons and help you out.  Or, if you’re really brave, give them some paper and paint and let them go nuts while you get some projects of your own done.  Either way they will enjoy both making the aprons and using them for all of the fun projects you do.  You will love all of the memories you make together.

Looking for more projects to do with your kids?  Check out our DIY Kids page for more great ideas like this.

See where I’m linking up!