Circus Crafts
Keep kids entertained on a day indoors by helping them make some circus-themed crafts. They can create miniature circus animals and entertain each other with a puppet show, or even become the circus animals themselves. Use inexpensive craft materials and things from around the house to put on your own crafty circus.
-
Finger Puppets
-
You can make finger puppets of different circus animals and characters out of only index cards, markers and tape. Fold four index cards in half width-wise and unfold them to find the centers. Cut them down the folded creases to give you eight equally-sized cards. Draw a different circus animal such as a lion or elephant on each half card, or circus characters like a ringmaster or a clown. Color the drawings and cut them out along the outer lines. Measure and cut a strip of paper to one-half-inch-wide by 1.5-inches-long and tape the ends together to make a finger loop. Tape the finger loop to the back of the cut-out circus character or animal and put on your mini puppet show.
Toilet Paper Roll Clown
-
Color the outside of an empty toilet paper roll any color or design that you want with colored markers or acrylic paints, to show the clown's clothing. Cut out a 2-inch-wide circle of plain white poster board and draw a clown face on it with your markers or crayons. Clowns usually have over-the-top makeup, so you can draw a big red smile for the clown's mouth, a round red nose and black or blue dots for eyes. Tape or glue the middle of the bottom edge on the back of the face circle to the top front edge of the toilet paper roll. Unravel a cotton ball and glue the cotton tufts to the top edge of the face circle. Color the cotton ball with a marker or paint in any color you want to give the clown colorful hair. Remember to cut out and decorate arms from the white poster board as well and attach them to the sides of the toilet paper roll.
-
Circus Animal Masks
-
Kids can create masks to run around in and act like their favorite circus animal. Draw the facial features of the circus animal of your choice on the bottom of a paper plate. For a lion, draw two downward curved semi-circles next to each other to make the mouth and make a round black dot right above them for the nose. For an elephant, draw a trunk extending down from the middle of the plate and tusks on either side. Draw two eyes on either side, right above the nose. Color in the face and the facial features with colored markers or paints. Poke a hole on either side of the mask and tie the ends of a string to the holes so you can wear the mask.
Swinging Trapeze Artist
-
A miniature swinging trapeze artist is a creative circus craft. Measure and cut two strings to 10 inches long and tie one end of each string to one end of a toothpick to make the trapeze swing. Tie the other ends of the strings to the middle of a pencil to hang the swing. Draw and cut out a 2-inch-tall person to be the trapeze artist. Draw him with his arms extending straight up so he can hang on to the toothpick. Tape his hands to the toothpick with small pieces of clear tape. Rotate the pencil back and forth to swing the trapeze artist back and forth.
-
References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
