As part of Chinese New Year DIY craft activity, we decided to do something useful by making a basket out of recycled ang pow packets. Depending on the sizes of the ang pows you can get, the base of the basket can be designed accordingly. 

For the sample here, we used a 8 cm angle hexagon as a base. Template can be downloaded here. It's best recommended to use a thicker cardboard as the base so it is more stable to support whatever it is you plan to use the basket for. When you have the base cut out from the cardboard, you can start arranging the ang pow packets according to the shape of the base, then open up the ang pow flap and glue it one by one under the base. Once the ang pows are glued to the base, we will start sticking all ang pows together at every joining edge using transparent tape. 

For the handle, you will need another two ang pow packets, fold them horizontally into roughly 2 cm width, then glue each side to the top of the basket.

Lastly, to decorate the basket, you need another 6 ang pow packets (preferably other colors but same width as those used for the sides), roll each vertically and stick to each side of the basket like the picture below.

Since it is year of the Monkey, we are making lots of monkey related crafts. One of the kids' favorites is the wooden monkey rattle with the monkey face made from air dry clay. Why is it all-time favorite because the rattle itself is a noise maker, while the clay which feel as though they are playing with play dough!

Materials Required:

1. Plain wooden rattle
2. Air dry clay (black, brown, white, red)
3. Clay tools (optional)

​Contact us at fun4kidsmalaysia@gmail.com to purchase the materials.

Here's another variation of paper Chinese New Year lantern that is relatively low cost and easy to do. All you need is just a thicker red cardboard paper. You can print out the template on the red cardboard paper, cut and fold it according to the lines and your lantern is done! Of course, you might want to decorate it with colorful sequins of different shapes to make it more attractive. 
Then, cut out the handle from the template here and stick it to the lantern. Lastly, stick the shiny / glossy yellow strips in between the lantern curves and finally stick the yellow tassels around at the bottom of the lantern. 

P/S: You may contact fun4kidsmalaysia@gmail.com to purchase the tassels.

It's the year of Golden Monkey in 2016, so let's make some monkey crafts!

This paper bag monkey puppet is relatively simple, especially for toddlers. Just stick the monkey face, ears, arms, feet and tails, draw the eyes, nose and tongue and you are done!

Download the template here.

Materials Required:

1. Brown paper bag 
2. Pre-printed template on light yellow or beige paper
3. Glue stick
4. Scissors
5. Magic colors (black and red)

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Contact us at fun4kidsmalaysia@gmail.com if you would like to purchase the materials for this craft.

Chinese New Year is around the corner. Looking for some Chinese New Year theme craft? How about lantern painting with blossom cherry flowers? This time we used a very special technique to paint; reason being we wanted a smaller effect of the flower petals, hence tried it using cotton bud!
Check out the following pictures for the outcome of this : )

For those who are not very creative to draw the branches freehand, we have also prepared template for the tree branches to be cut and pasted to the lantern. Recommended lantern size between 8 to 10 inches in diameter.
Click here to download the template.

​To make a hanger on top, we used chenille stick / pipe cleaner as it's easy to shape due to its flexibility.

Optional:
To make it more Chinese New Year feel, we chose to stick tassels on the bottom of the lantern. To hold the tassels, we need another layer of cupboard stuck around the lantern. Then decorate around it with shiny yellow paper. 

Materials Required:

1. One 8-inch or 10-inch round Japanese lantern (Any color of your preference. Suggest white, pink, light yellow or light purple).
2. One chenille stick for the holder.
3. Three-color pastel color (red, black, yellow).
4. Red or Yellow tassels (length depends on the size of your lantern).
5. Two yellow shiny color paper strips.
6. Two cardboard or any thicker paper for the top and bottom of the lantern.
7. Pre-printed branches (if you choose to download template from above).
8. Cotton buds or smaller paint brush.
9. Glue stick.
10. Scissors.
11. LED battery operated lantern light (optional).

Contact us at fun4kidsmalaysia@gmail.com if you would like to purchase the above materials for this craft.