One of the surest things about becoming a parent is that, sooner than you’d think, you’re up to your elbows in glue, scrunched up tissue paper, cut up magazines, and bits of old cereal boxes.
And as if to help parents out with ideas, just about every month there's something else happening that you can theme your crafts around. This month it is Easter.
There's lots of Easter crafts you can go for. Eggs, nests, bonnets, anything themed with chicks or bunnies. For this particular feature I'm focusing on Easter Baskets. And if you're not doing an Easter Egg hunt then I'd really recommend giving it a try. There's a little wood near us, and for the last couple of years a small number of us have got together and had a little Easter egg hunt for the kids. It is a huge amount of fun!
What you want to do is give the kids enough material to allow them to really go nuts with their imagination. And as it is Easter holidays, to give them an activity that will help keep them busy for a while.
Boxes
Would you think of using shoe boxes and old food boxes for a basket? No? Well they did at Vanilla Joy, and they came up with some truly inspirational and gorgeous designs too. Well worth going to have a look for ideas.
Woven paper
Next up the simple, straightforward, woven construction paper basket. You'll find a lovely photo and instructions further down the page at She Knows.
Card-tastic
If you don't fancy weaving then try out this idea for inspiration - this Easter Basket uses cardstock weight paper, which you'll find in craft stores and many stationary stores. There's step by step instructions on the website.
Get crafty
If you're looking for some inexpensive crafty websites to get supplies from, here's a few ideas. You can of course try good old Baker Ross and Yellow Moon.
We've already mentioned the Hope Education website. If you're looking for material to go inside the baskets (to keep the eggs from rolling out!) then try this Iridescent Shred from Little Party Bugs. Also Rainbow Creations, for more general supplies.
Ready Made Kits
The Hope Education website is a craft and stationary supplies site for schools, but individual's can also register. This is an ideal first stop if you're looking for crafts for a large number of children.
I first came across this website when looking for a large pack of pipe cleaners for a PTA project I was in charge of. Incidentally then, if you are looking for pipe cleaners, itsells a large range of pipe cleaners, including ‘people’ coloured, and tinsel. A pack of 2,000 multi-coloured pipe cleaners here will cost you £14.95 (plus VAT).
Their 'Make An Easter Basket Kit' is particularly good value at £15.54. It is a class set, and contains enough material to make baskets for 30 children. This is the one we ordered for this year's Easter egg hunt.
Tip: if you are doing a search on the site for multiple words enter them as one single word. Their search engine doesn’t seem to recognise spaces.
There's a number of different Easter basket making kits available at pound shops like the 99p Store and Poundland. Priced at, well, around the one pound mark!
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