Do your kids like crafts? Mine sure do! Sometimes it is difficult to come up with new ideas. When we find new crafts ideas, we can be busy for hours, days, and even weeks! Then we can recycle old favorites or find another new idea.

My two younger daughters recently discovered the cutest kid’s craft. They are 9 and 11 years old. (I cannot lie; I like it too!) We found this craft scrolling Pinterest one night -they enjoy peeking over my shoulder when I enjoy this simple pleasure for a few minutes at the end of the day.

Supplies:

The supplies are simple and fairly inexpensive: instructions, pipe cleaners, black beads and craft wire or glue. (A bonus about this craft is that when you are finished you will have a bunch of adorable animal figures to play with or to share with others.)

Instructions:

We found this book at the library: Making Pipe Cleaner Pets by Design Originals. The pictures in the book are super fun and the instructions are very easy to follow and understand. This particular book only has dogs, but you can make most any kind of animal with pipe cleaners. There are many other pipe cleaner craft books with instructions, but there are also lots of tutorials online too.

Pipe cleaners:

Pipe cleaners are not very expensive. (Although, as many of you know, craft supplies can be used up quickly!) We found some for 3 cents each. You can find large quantities of them in specific colors for less than a standard multi color package, so I recommend checking the prices and quantities before you purchase them.

Beads and Wire or Glue:

We had small black beads similar to these (in link) already. The girls liked using craft wire to attach them rather than waiting for glue to dry. Wire will likely be a sturdier option, but glue would work as well. Tiny googly eyes are another option. They would also need to be glued on. I suggest hot glue if you have it. Please be careful not to burn yourself! Regular white glue will also work, but it’s not as strong. (If the googly eyes come with sticker adhesive, it definitely will not stick well to the fuzzy pipe cleaner.)

The finished product will be sure to bring smiles. Pipe cleaner animals make fun toys and gifts. They are also fun to display or pose for pictures of your own. Also, the pipe cleaner craft book and other supplies would make a fun birthday gift for a bigger kid who likes crafting.

How about you? Do you have any fun and new bigger kid craft ideas to share? Is there another fun craft that you know of for using pipe cleaners? I would enjoy hearing from you. Please comment below, and don’t forget to sign up for emails with other great ideas.