Crafts are wonderful. They allow children to experiment and expand their creative knowledge, but crafts are also a great activity because they are simply fun to do. The foam owl magnet craft is a child-favourite, and it allows them to express their creative freedom when they get to design their owls their own way. Also, they look really cute on the refrigerator!
What you need:
- Scissors
- Foam squares (dollar store or Michaels)
- Hot glue gun and glue
- Glitter glue
- Markers
- Construction paper
- An old fridge magnet
Before you begin:
Before you start cutting out shapes with the foam, it is a good idea to draw out the shapes on construction paper. Foam squares can get pretty expensive, so you will want to make any mistakes on the construction paper instead. You will want to make shapes for the owl's body, tummy, wings, feet, beak, eye shape, outer eye, and inner eye. See the picture to the left for an idea of what we mean.
After the paper shapes:
When you are finished making all of the owl's shapes, then use the construction paper shapes to trace them on the foam.
Foam:
After you trace the owl's body parts on the foam, take a pair of scissors and cut them all out. Start to heat up your glue gun as your decide where you are going to place all of the owl's body parts. When you are happy with how it looks, take the glue gun and glue it all together. Then, on the back of the owl, glue on the old magnet.
Design:
Once the owl is all glued together and dried, it is time to decorate it! Again, let the child do what they want with this so that they can express their creative freedom. There is no wrong way to create the owl, and when they design it the way they like, it is more special.
After your child adds the glitter glue, stickers, and colours their owl, their craft should be complete! Now you can stick it on the fridge and show everyone what your child made with you.
There are certain parts of this craft that children should be able to do on their own, depending on their age. For example, allowing your child to be the one to cut out the shapes will help them enhance their fine motor skills. Also, if they are old enough to hold and use the glue gun, let them! Crafts are great for experimental and creative learning, but they are also good for enhancing fine motor skills in different areas.
Finally, it may be a good idea to teach your child some facts about owls while making this craft. For example, there are around 200 different types of owls, or you can tell your child how owls are nocturnal (meaning they are active at night time), and finally, that they are farsighted (meaning they can't see things up close very well).
