How to Select Popsicle Stick Crafts

By eHow Hobbies, Games & Toys Editor

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At one time, before you made crafts with Popsicle sticks, everyone in the family had to eat a lot of the frozen treats and save the sticks. Now you can buy "craft sticks" in any hobby store. Good thing, too, since crafts made with these mini-tongue depressors are growing ever more popular and projects made with them take up large amounts of space on craft sites and in books. Many involve only minimal extra materials, though they do take a lot of glue.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Glue (white glue, or tacky craft glue, not glue sticks)
Popsicle sticks
Extra materials, depending on the craft you select

Select Popsicle Stick Crafts

Step1

Consider the occasion. Is the item meant for a gift? A decoration? A toy? To make an educational point? With so many crafts of this type out there, it should not be difficult to select one that suits your purpose well.

Step2

Think about space, both for making and storing the crafts. Where are you going to put everything? Do you want to use a lot of the Popsicle sticks (a log cabin, a recipe box) or only a few (a picture frame, a "god's eye")?

Step3

List the other materials you will need for the project, besides the Popsicle sticks. Are there a lot of them (as for a Christmas ornament) or only a few (a fence or bridge)? Are they readily available? What will they cost?

Step4

Figure in how many children will be doing the crafts and how much of everything you will need.

Step5

Check a number of sources (the Internet, educational supply stores) for lists of Popsicle stick crafts and choose one that you like.

Step6

Gauge the difficulty of the project in relation to the maturity and attention span of the children. Generally, the more difficult the craft the more sticks it uses. Some fairly simple ones can be found at Kid's Domain Crafts and some for more mature kids at TeAchnology.

Tips & Warnings

Be sure you have a place to store the crafts while the glue is drying. The more sticks you use, the longer it will take.
Do not select projects that use hot glue guns or chemicals for large groups or young children, since their use demands close supervision.