Children's Day Crafts

A faces of the world necklace is a great way to recognize children from all cultures on Children's Day. These easy homemade beads are an international piece of jewelry and a great Children's Day craft.

What you'll need:

Plastic tub

Sand

White glue

Measuring cups

Spoon

Nail

Paper plate

Old magazines or catalogs

Markers

Colored cord

Tape

To make the beads, in the plastic tub, mix 1 cup sand with 1/4 cup white glue to make the dough.

Break off a small piece with your fingers, and roll it into a bead. Make the bead large enough for you to later paste a small picture of a child's face onto the front of it.

Carefully, or with an adult's help, use the nail to poke a hole through the center. If the dough is too mushy, put the bead back and add a little more sand to the mixture.

Make as many beads as you wish. Set the beads to dry on a paper plate until they are hard.

While the beads dry, cut small pictures of children's faces from old magazines or catalogs. You can then paste these to the front of the beads. You may want to color the beads with markers, too.

Then tape one end of a colored cord that is long enough to go over your head when looped. This will make it easier to string the beads.

When you have strung all the beads you want, remove the tape and tie the ends of the cord together.

Now wear your new "friends" around the neighborhood, and introduce them to all your best buddies! You may want to make several of these cheerful necklaces -- once your friends see you wearing one, they will want one of their own!

Next, learn how to play the famous children game. You'll quickly discover how many famous children you really know. Keep reading to learn how.

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With the famous children game you can see how many famous children you and your friends really know this Children's Day. It will give you and your friends a real mental workout.

One player is "It" and must think of a famous child. The famous child could be a movie star, a sports figure, a character in a book or play, or someone that is currently in the news. The famous child must be familiar to everyone playing the game.

"It" then says "I'm thinking of a famous child whose name starts with W" (or whatever letter).

The other players take turns asking questions about the famous child that can be answered either "yes" or "no." They may ask a total of 20 questions.

Whoever guesses correctly gets to be "It" in the next round of the game.

Who was the famous child? Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol? Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone? Little Red Riding Hood?

After you're finished playing the famous children game, you and your friends can try the slamming caps game. Keep reading to learn how to make your own Pogs

and play a new game

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The slamming caps game, also called Milk Caps or Pogs, is a great way to celebrate Children's Day because children have been playing it for ages! Back in the 1930s, when milk was delivered in bottles, children collected the milk bottle caps and played a game with them. You can make your own Milk Caps, or Pogs, to use in a special Children's Day game.

What you'll need:

Corrugated cardboard

Small jar tops

Pencil

Scissors

Copies of school pictures or magazine pictures of children's faces

Paints

Paintbrush

To make Pogs, trace around a small jar top placed on corrugated cardboard. Cut them out.

Glue on either pictures of school friends or children's faces cut from an old magazine or catalog. Leave the other sides of the Pogs blank or paint them a solid color.

To play the game, stack 10 or more Pogs in a column.

Toss a small jar top, or slammer, at the column. If a Pog lands with the child's face up, the person who tossed the slammer gets 1 point. If the Pog lands with the blank side up, the player gets 0 points.

You can also play for Pogs instead of points. Most of the fun of this game is collecting and trading the Pogs. See if you can get an entire set of Pogs with the faces of your classmates!

Children's Day is about recognizing children around the world. An international doll collection will do just that. Keep reading to learn how to make these tiny dolls.

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This Children's Day, create an International Doll Collection and welcome these tiny children to your home! Learn about other cultures with this Children's Day craft.

What you'll need:

Stiff paper

Small foam balls

Scissors

Glue

Yarn

Markers

Beads

Thin wire

Wiggle eyes

Fabric and felt scraps

Tiny jewels and sequins

Cotton balls

Dress these dolls in traditional costumes to show what children might wear in different parts of the world.

To make the basic doll body, roll a piece of stiff paper into a cone and flatten the top by folding the point inward.

For the doll head, trim the base off a foam ball so that it will fit flat on top of the cone. Glue the head on the cone. Decorate your dolls.

Study pictures of international costumes, and try to copy the fabric patterns on your paper cones. What countries are your dolls from?After you have made your collection you may want to make a movie about the dolls and the countries they come from. Keep reading to learn how to make your own movie theater.For more fun activities and crafts for kids, see:

The Magnet Movie Theater is a a great way to celebrate Children's Day. Do you like movies? Have you ever thought of making your own? Now you can. With Magnet Movie Theater you can make a science fiction or fantasy movie, such as The Day of the Disappearing Children or The Hundred-Foot Child Who Saved the World.

What you'll need:

Shoe box without a lid

Construction paper

Old magazines or catalogs

Scissors

Glue

Markers

Tape

Paper clips

Magnets

Fabric

Flashlight

To make your movie theater, cover a shoe box inside and out with colorful construction paper.

You may want to write the name of your movie theater on the sides of the box. Cut out pictures you want for the background of your movie. Does your movie take place in a city? Cut out or draw buildings, and glue them to the inside of the box.

If you want something to move -- people, animals, clouds, or vehicles -- glue a paper clip to the back of the object.

Then, when you tell the story of your movie, put your cutout against the background and press a magnet against the back of the shoe box behind the paper clip.

When you let go of the cutout, the magnet will hold it up. Slide two magnets around the back of the shoe box to make two characters move.

You can also cut out fabric curtains and glue the top edge to the top of the box. Turn out the lights before your movie starts and have a friend shine a flashlight onto the "screen" just as you flip the curtains up.

Your friends will love that they went to a movie right inside your house!

After watching a movie you can enjoy the day by flying a kite. In Japan, children fly carp kites on Children's Day. Keep reading to learn how to make one of your own.

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Celebrate Children's Day Japanese style with a carp kite! In Japan on Children's Day, carp kites are flown. The carp is the symbol of strength, courage, and determination because of the way it leaps upstream. These are qualities parents wish for their children. You can draw a carp on a kite to fly on Children's Day.

What you'll need:

Wire coat hanger

Tissue paper

Tape

Construction paper

Scissors

Markers

Spool of string

To make the kite, ask an adult to help you bend a coat hanger into a diamond shape. Have them bend the hook part so it won't poke anyone.

Then cover the wire by wrapping it with a layer of tissue paper. Tape the ends of the tissue paper to secure it. Cut a diamond shape out of construction paper that is a little larger than the coat-hanger diamond. Draw the carp with the markers.

Tape the paper to the coat hanger so that the diamond-shape opening is covered. Ask an adult to help you poke a hole at each of the corners of the diamond.

Cut three 20-inch lengths of string. Tie one each to the top and side holes. Tie one end of a spool of string to the bottom hole to make the flying string. Then tie the free ends of the top and side strings to the flying string near where it meets the kite. This will help your kite fly. Take your carp out and run!

When you are done flying your Carp Kite, invite your friends over for kid talk -- the talk show for, about, and by kids! Keep reading to learn more.

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This Children's Day put on Kid Talk, a special talk show by kids, for kids, and about kids!

What you'll need:

Chairs

Desk or table

Video camera or audio cassette player (optional)

What is important to you? Do you think something is unfair? Are there laws that should be changed? Think about the kinds of problems and challenges that children face and what you can do to make life better for children. Write down your ideas, and then act out a TV talk show to discuss them.

One person can be the host, and everyone else can be guests or members of the studio audience. One person can videotape, if you have a video camera.

Think of a name for your show. You may want to play music while someone announces the beginning of the show. The host can sit at a table with her or his guests. The studio audience can sit in rows of chairs facing the host and guests.

The guests can play experts, such as teachers or politicians, or they can play parents and children. The guests might want to discuss what Children's Day means to them.

Members of the studio audience can ask questions when the host calls on them. Practice your TV show, and then invite a real audience to watch it!

Keep reading to learn how to make a new child welcome tray. It's a wonderful gift for parents who will be welcoming a new child.

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A new child welcome tray is a special way to welcome a new child into the world this Children's Day. New parents will really appreciate this Children's Day craft.

What you'll need:

4 or 5 small jars of different sizes (one with a shaker top for powder)

Stickers or decals

Paints

Paintbrushes

Round aluminum foil cake pan

Ribbon

Glue

Cotton balls

Pins

Baby oil

Baby powder

Collect some small empty jars of different sizes. You can use jars that once held peanut butter, spices, baby food, mustard, relish, or pickles. Just make sure that they are washed and dried well to get rid of any smell.

Decorate the clean jars with stickers or decals, or paint on flowers or other cheery designs. Then label each lid (Cotton Balls, Baby Lotion, Baby Oil, Diaper Pins, etc.) with the new baby supplies that you will put in it.

Put baby powder in a spice jar with a shaker top. Next, glue a ribbon around the edge of a foil cake pan. Arrange the jars in the pan and take them over to the new baby's house to welcome her or him into the world.

From playing games to making jewelry there are many things you can do to celebrate Children's Day.

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ABOUT THE CRAFT DESIGNERSThe following crafts were designed by Lisa Lerner and Kersten Hamilton:

Faces of the World NecklaceFamous Children GameSlamming Caps GameInternational Doll CollectionMagnet Movie TheaterCarp KiteKid TalkNew Child Welcome Tray