Ideas for Making a Popsicle Stick Craft
In the summertime, you probably use popsicle sticks to make popsicles. But did you know that you can use popsicle sticks year-round to make a popsicle stick craft? There are so many easy popsicle stick crafts to make. Here are some of my favorites:
By: Laurie Leahey, CookScrapCraft
Popsicle Stick Christmas Tree
One of my favorite Christmas popsicle stick crafts is a popsicle stick Christmas tree. There are different ways you can do this one, but the way I did it with my daughter was to take three jumbo popsicle sticks and paint them green. Once the paint dries, glue the popsicle sticks together so that they form a triangle. Then decorate with pom-poms, glitter, and other small holiday-themed arts and craft supplies.
If you glue a loop of ribbon or string to the back of your popsicle stick trees, then they become popsicle stick Christmas ornaments. What a fun holiday keepsake!
Popsicle Stick Christmas Truck
Other Christmas popsicle stick crafts include making a handprint truck. These trucks would be ideal popsicle stick crafts for toddlers because it involves tracing their little hand onto construction paper, painting and decorating their hand however they want (maybe to look like a tree or a snowman?), and then placing the hand in the back of the popsicle stick truck.
To make the truck, horizontally line up three popsicle sticks and glue two smaller popsicle sticks vertically on the back to hold them together. Let the glue dry and then paint the front of the popsicle sticks. Using construction paper, cut out shapes for the truck cab and wheels.
Popsicle Stick Snowman
Another seasonal popsicle stick craft is painting a single popsicle stick like a snowman. Paint the popsicle stick with white paint, wrap a decorative ribbon around it as a scarf, embellish with stick-on gems or other stickers for buttons, and glue on a hat and “carrot” nose cut out of black and orange construction paper, respectively. Use a Sharpie or paint pen to draw the snowman’s face.
Popsicle Stick Jack-O-Lantern
This fall we also made popsicle stick Jack-O-Lanterns in much the same way as we did the Christmas trees. Paint or color in three jumbo popsicles orange. Once dry, glue them together in a triangle shape. Then glue orange construction paper or felt to the back and cut off any excess. Cut out pieces for the Jack-O-Lantern’s face from black construction paper, a stem from brown construction paper, and a leaf from green construction paper. Glue on these pieces.
For a bit more play with these popsicle stick crafts for kids, glue on another jumbo popsicle stick to the bottom so kids can hold them like a puppet. Then roll back the curtain for an imaginative pumpkin puppet performance!
Popsicle Stick Lightsabers
Celebrate Star Wars Day (May the 4th) with this fun popsicle stick craft. Paint a popsicle stick in the color of your choice. (Red for the Dark Side; blue or green if you want to be a good guy.) Once dry, paint one end of the popsicle stick black. That is going to be the hilt. With either white or silver paint, use a cotton swab or toothpick to add dots and thin lines on the hilt. Swing it around while providing your own sound effects.
Popsicle Stick Bored Jar
Something I recently instituted in my house is a monthly bored jar. Kids can help create it and even come up with ideas of things to do to prevent boredom. Grab enough popsicle sticks so that you have one for each day of the month. Let kids paint or color in the popsicle sticks. Then using a Sharpie or paint pen, write down a fun activity on each popsicle stick. Ideas include an outdoor scavenger hunt, build a pillow fort, play a board game, bake a special treat, or make paper airplanes.
Pop them in a mason jar or other container, and place the jar in an easily accessible location. The next time someone says, “I am bored!”, direct him to the jar to pull out a popsicle stick. Whatever the stick says is the activity he or the whole family will do!
Popsicle Stick Back to School Picture Frame
This popsicle stick craft might be more of a keepsake item for parents, but it will be fun for kids to help make. Paint 11 popsicle sticks red, like a schoolhouse, and glue them together as a square on the bottom and a triangle on top. (You may need to cut some of the popsicle sticks so that they fit.) Let your kids decorate the popsicle stick schoolhouse with school-themed stickers, write the year somewhere, and adhere a first-day-of-school photo or professional school photo to the back. Glue magnets on the back for refrigerator display or use it as an embellishment in a scrapbook.
As with any craft, parents may need to help out with steps requiring scissors. But any of these popsicle stick craft ideas can be done by kids young and old. Have fun getting creative with your kids!
