DIY Marble Run

Paper Plate DIY Marble Run

We love simple kids activities. Especially the ones the use supplies that we have on hand and only take a few moments to set up. This simple Paper Plate Marble Cone fits the bill perfectly! The kids love dropping and racing pennies down those giant cones that you find in malls, zoos etc. So we decided to construct our own simple paper plate DIY marble run. The kids had a blast watching the marbles to spiral down and drop into the bowl.

Materials needed make a DIY marble cone

Paper Plate
Scissors
Tape
Marbles
Bowl ~ or something similar to catch the marbles in.

How to make a paper plate cone

Cut a skinny triangle shaped section out of the paper plate.
Cut a small circle out of the very center of the paper plate. Just larger than a marble.
Tape the cut edges together.

Now all you need to do is set the paper plate cone over a bowl and start rolling marbles.

Quick, simple and so much fun!

Looking for more simple kids ideas? Check out our:

Minecraft Nerf Gun Target

Elastic-Band Launchers

Popsicle Stick Harmonica

Compass Painting

How to Decorate a Christmas Tree with Jewelry

Christmas Tree Decorating Activity for Kids

Looking to add a little sparkle to your Christmas Tree? My kiddos look forward to this simple Christmas Tree Decorating activity each year. Nothing says Christmas like a box of vintage jewelry, right? Read on to learn how to decorate a Christmas Tree with a little extra sparkle this year!

My kids love any excuse to pull our my stash of vintage jewelry. They love examining each piece, sorting them and especially trying them on.

The past few years, I have set out the box of jewelry alongside a small fake Christmas tree. (If you are anything like me, you already have a few of these “table top trees” scattered through out the house.) The kids absolutely love decorating the tree with all the sparkly jewelry pieces. It is a simple activity that we add to the kids advent activity calendar each year. Easy to set up, and a sure hit!

All you nee to set up this simple Christmas activity is:

Vintage Jewelry ~ everything from clip on earrings, broaches and pins to necklaces.
Small Christmas Tree ~ We usually use one without lights.

How to Decorate a Christmas Tree with Jewelry

We found that most of the jewelry pieces slip right onto the branches so no need to add string or a hook. Earrings, broaches and pins are the easiest to hang since they have a little loop at the back already. Necklaces work just like regular Christmas garland. Simply wrap and drape it around the tree.

My kids love all the sparkle!

Looking for more simple Christmas activities for your kids? Check out our:

Jeweled Christmas Tree Craft

Paper Strip Christmas Tree

Gingerbread Play Dough

Stained Glass Nativity

Gingerbread Ornaments

Simple Reindeer Craft

Christmas Craft for Kids ~ Reindeer Craft

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is a super popular Christmas character. Where would we be with out the reindeer pulling the sleigh on Christmas Eve? The kids had so much fun creating this simple triangle Reindeer craft.

Here’s what you need to create your own Simple Reindeer:

Brown Paper ~ Cut into a triangle
Lighter Brown Paper ~ Cut into Strips
Googly Eyes
Red Pom Poms ~ You could also use red buttons
Glue

Set out everything and invite the kids to come create.

While the kids were waiting for their little reindeer friends to dry, they had fun creating the most adorable Playdough Reindeer. Not only did they look cute, but they smell AMAZING! we used our favorite gingerbread play dough recipe. It smells just light homemade gingerbread! Yummy!

These little Reindeer also make a quick and simple Christmas garland. Simply attach the backside of the reindeer with glue or tape to a length of sting. I eyeballed the space between each deer, but you can measure it if you like.

Once the glue is all cool and done, hang it where ever you like! Sit back and admire your kids handy work!

Addicted to Reindeer crafts too? Check out our:

Stacking Reindeer Craft

Playdough Reindeer

Magical Reindeer Food

Santa and his Reindeer

Merry Christmas!

Jeweled Christmas Tree Craft for Kids

Simple Jeweled Christmas Tree Craft for Kids

We love quick and simple crafts, especially around Christmas time. A couple years ago we made these adorable Paper Strip Christmas Trees. They were a huge hit, so I decided to make a simpler version this year. Instead of 3D trees, we created this super simple Christmas Tree Craft for Kids.

Christmas Tree Materials:

Green Paper Triangle ~ I precut them, but would be a great time to work on those all important scissor skills.
Jewels ~ Lots and lots of Jewels!
Glue
Q-tips
Clothes pin

The kiddos LOVE when I bring out the bin of jewels. A little sparkle makes any craft amazing. We also had fun revisiting our simple Gingerbread Pattering activity.

Squeezing glue from a bottle is great for building hand muscles and co-ordination. However if Im being honest, most of those bottles are hard even for ME to get to work. I find that its easiest to pour a bit of glue out and let the kids dip and dot the glue onto their project. Q-tips work great for dipping glue, plus the kids love it!

We also love our homemade glue sponge. If you have not tried it yet, I bet your kids will love it! So easy to make, and it really saves on glue!

I love how clothes pins look as the stems of these little Christmas Trees. Simple, cute and so easy. Everything we love about kids crafts!

Christmas is a favorite holiday at our house. We enjoy creating quick and simple Christmas crafts for kids each season. Here are a few of our favorites…

Paper Strip Christmas Tree

Gingerbread Play Dough

Stained Glass Nativity

Gingerbread Ornaments

Homemade Playdough Reindeer

Simple Christmas Playdough Activity ~ Invitation to create Reindeer

We are all about quick and simple activities, especially around Christmas time. Which is why I love invitations to play. Simply set out a inviting collection of open ended resources letting the kids decide what to do with them! Our adorable invitation to create Reindeer with homemade playdough was just that and the kids LOVED it!

Have you tried our amazing Gingerbread Playdough recipe? It smells just like traditional gingerbread and it is so easy to make. That was what we used as the structure for out little reindeer. [find the recipe and instruction here]

Homemade Playdough for Christmas

I set out a batch of our Gingerbread Playdough along with a few small sticks and mini red pom-poms. Thats it. I left the rest up to the kids;) Googly eyes could be a fun addition as well.