Here are some family friendly, quick, easy and fun craft activities for the 4th of July, using pebbles, tiles and clothes pegs.
There are quite a lot of 'paint style markers' available on the market now, which work well on all manner of materials, including stone, ceramic, wood, plastic, and glass. 
I found a brand in the UK, called 'Decopens', which gave a matt acrylic paint type finish, which we were really pleased with! 
They worked really well on flat pebbles - doodling stars, stripes, dots, circles and zigzags using red, white and blue. 
We also used 3 pebbles to make the word 'happy'.
You could do a whole alphabet if you have a good supply of pebbles at home or live near a beach!

We experimented with tiles and ceramic shapes from our local bargain shops, to make coasters.
We also decorated cheap wooden clothes pegs, which would be a great way to peg bunting or display your July 4th artworks.!

 
If you would like to doodle or make some bunting, click on the images below, to download these free ImaginationBox activity sheets, from flipflops to lollipops.

Enjoy the 4th of July folks!
Thanks for visiting my blog :-)

This is a simple, and fun no-cook edible World Cup art activity for kids of all ages, with a learning edge - flags of the world. Read on for step by step instructions.

Ingredients:
Wholemeal biscuits (soft and easy to make a hole in)
Buttercream icing and food coloring
A selection of brightly colored sweets - jelly beans, smarties, buttons, chocolate drops
(American names may be different, these are UK sweet names!)
Licorice laces for threading the medals
Flags of the World reference sheet, with each country's name next to the flag, printed out

Make your medals!
I separated all the sweet colors in advance (I found it relaxing and ate a few!) 
This made it easier for my 6 and 4 year olds to select colors for each flag
Mix up some icing colors, or use white if you prefer 
Use a skewer to make holes in your biscuits
Thread the lace through the hole in the biscuit
Ice the biscuit with a blunt knife
Decorate the biscuits with all the sweets in your chosen flag colours
You don't need to be too neat or accurate

Leave the icing to set, wear your medals and then eat them!

We made around 17 in less than an hour - this would work well as a good party or group activity. Our children loved talking about the flags and deciding which ones to do.
They worked quickly, enthusiastically and needed surprisingly little help in 'mosaicing' their patterns. They didn't need any encouragement eating them either!

Enjoy the World Cup everyone!

If you would like some World Cup art activity sheets, for coloring, design, bunting making
click here, free to download.

This is an easy, fun way to make dad feel special on Father's Day - or his birthday.
Find a big sheet of cardboard, and cut out 'dad' letters (free template).
Photograph your children poking their smiling faces through.
We also experimented by placing some artwork behind the 'A', and discovered that it sat nicely on our front door!

Have fun with the whole family, making this outdoor father's day mural!

The main ingredients are:
Willing participants
A large sheet of cardboard, scissors
'Dad' letters template (download here) or do your own
Flour
Sieve
Pebbles, flowers, shells, leaves to decorate (optional)

How to make your mural
Print off the template, trace onto the cardboard
Cut the letter shapes out of the cardboard
Lay the cardboard flat on the ground and sieve flour over the cut out letter shapes
Lift the cardboard gently when you have covered the letter areas with flour to reveal your 'DAD' stencil - pick a non windy, dry day or a sheltered outdoor spot.

Decorate the floured stencil pattern with anything you want! 

We used a box of holiday shells, along with daisies, ferns and slate from the garden.
The children loved doing this activity, especially when I had to climb up on some rickety step ladders to take the photographs! 

Have a great Father's Day, Sunday June 15th, 2014