Spring Crafts for Adolescents

September 06, 2008

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Spring Crafts for Adolescents

by Susan E. Davis
reviewed by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Once they reach middle school, your kids probably won't be as eager to hang out with you at the kitchen table. Their interest in glue and glitter likely will have waned as well. That doesn't mean they're not into craft projects, though--this age group can have sophisticated ideas about artwork, symbolism, and self-expression. Feel free to make suggestions, but forget about supervising or directing; you're no longer dealing with a five-year-old. And be sure to support your child's results. At a time when self-esteem can falter, it's more important than ever to show your pride and appreciation.

Pressed and dried flower art
One great way to celebrate the first blooms of spring, whether they're sprouting up in your backyard or growing wild in a local meadow, is to press or dry them for use in craft projects.

You can buy flower presses at craft stores and high-end gardening supply stores. Or do it the old-fashioned way: Sandwich flowers between two sheets of wax paper and place between the pages of a heavy book.

To dry flowers, simply wrap the stems with yarn or twine and hang them upside down in a well-ventilated area that doesn't receive direct sunlight. Here are a couple of simple ideas, followed by a more complex project.

Use small pressed flowers to decorate pins. Glue the flowers onto cardboard and shellac the surface, then glue a pin clasp (available in jewelry and craft supply stores) onto the back.

Bundle dried flowers into pretty arrangements.

Make a wreath of dried flowers. The process is time-consuming but can yield spectacular results.

The trick here is to gather enough flowers to fill even a small wreath frame (you can pick up wire or grapevine frames at craft stores). If you don't have enough of your own dried flowers, check the supplies at your local craft store or nursery.

Simple wreaths use just three or four types of dried flowers; elaborate wreaths can involve a dozen or more. For the best results:

Use a glue gun to secure the stems onto the frame.

Work with one type of flower at a time.

Start with longer-stemmed flowers, then fill in the rest of the wreath with shorter-stemmed ones.

Bird feeders and birdhouses
You can attract birds to your yard with store-bought birdhouses or feeders, but creating your own adds a personal touch.

Simple, unpainted bird feeders and birdhouses are available at pet stores and craft stores. Older kids, especially, enjoy decorating these objects with such elaborate details as shutters, picket fences, flowers, and shingles.

For the teen who enjoys a challenge, pick up a kit that provides all the pieces necessary to make a feeder or birdhouse but requires assembly. Some of these are relatively simple and can be completed in a day or so. Others can take up to a month (allowing time for the glue and paint to dry). If you're unable to find these kits at a craft store, check out woodworking supply catalogues or the Internet.

Flowerpots in bloom
Few things symbolize spring more than flowers, so why not invite your child to decorate some containers for them? All you need are wooden planters or terra-cotta pots and several bottles of acrylic paint.

If your child has simple tastes or little free time, she can use one color of paint, then seal with an enamel gloss (make sure she follows all the safety precautions on the label).

For a more sophisticated project, pick out containers that have raised designs on them. Your child can use different paint colors to make the designs stand out.

Teens with carpentry skills might want to try building their own planters.

Youngsters who are interested in macrame can learn how to make hanging planters.

Leaf prints
Creating ink prints of leaves preserves nature in a way far different from drying flowers or taking photographs. Done properly, the printing process picks up the finest details of the leaf's surface, and the resulting images are beautiful enough to use in cards or to frame for display. Yet the process is relatively simple.

In addition to fresh leaves, you'll need several tubes of printmakers ink, a small spoon or trowel, waxed paper, tweezers, high-quality paper, and two rollers (brayers). (All of these items can be found at a craft store.) Then follow these steps:

Flatten the leaves in a flower press or a heavy book for about an hour.

Scoop out some ink, and use one roller to smear it on a piece of wax paper.

Using your tweezers, pick up the pressed leaf and lay it in the ink, vein side down.

Place another piece of wax paper over the leaf, and roll the clean brayer over it so that you're pressing the leaf into the ink.

Carefully remove the top sheet of wax paper.

Using the tweezers, pick up the leaf and lay it on a sheet of high-quality paper.

Take another piece of wax paper and lay it on top of the leaf.

Use the clean brayer to press the leaf's ink onto the paper, then remove.

You can put just one leaf print on each piece of paper or arrange several prints on one page. Experiment with different colors of ink--gold, silver, and black are a nice combination, but more brilliant colors are striking as well.


RELATED INFORMATION

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			Quality Time
			Hobbies and Crafts

Created March 01, 2001
Reviewed March 04, 2001

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