It’s starting to get colder, and the dark nights are drawing in, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun inside. Autumn is a great time of the year to get creative – here’s a couple of ideas to get you started!
If you fancy relaxing with a book this autumn, try making our quick and easy conker bookmark. It makes a great home made gift for friends and family, and should ensure you never lose your page again!
- 18 inches of string
- Around 10 small conkers (and some beads if you want to jazz up your bookmark)
- A ruler
1. Place a knot about 4 inches from one end of the piece of string.
2. Ask an adult to help you, and drill some holes through your conkers. This can be done with a sharp spike, such as a skewer, or with a small drill. Be very careful!
3. Thread some conkers or beads onto the end of the string, and the knot should stop them slipping.
4. Tie another knot at the very end of the string, so the conkers and beads can’t slip.
5. Repeat these steps at the other end of the string.
6. When you have finished you should have a piece of string, with conkers and beads at either end. This can now be used as a string book mark - the string goes through the middle of your book, and the conkers will dangle on either sides.
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Creating art isn’t limited to paintbrushes and pencils. Great looking art can even be made using a potato, and you are sure to have plenty of fun too!
1. Cut a potato in half, so that you have a flat surface.
2. Paint a colour onto the flat surface of the potato, and use this as a stamp. If you want to use a different colour, you can simply wipe the paint off the potato, and add another colour.
3. If you want to be adventurous, you can even start creating shapes, such as squares, triangles and circles. With a pen draw the shape onto the potato that you want to print. Ask an adult to supervise you, and use a knife to score around the shape. Cut about half a centimetre of depth out of the potato, so that only the shape you want to paint is in a raised section.
4. Paint the raised section, and then you can print whatever shape you want onto the paper.
5. If you want to make other shapes you could paint some dry leaves, or even your hands, and press them onto the paper.