ideas needed

so i spend my summer working with kids teaching arts and crafts at a summer camp. we have a a lot of the general camp type craft (anything i can have a lot of kids be able to make with a very limited budget).. tie dye, decoupage, macrame, string art, stepping/garden stones, woodburning, shrinkies, basic woodworking, cross stitch, memo boards... and so on. last year i added a pattern for autograph books, rainsticks, and worry dolls. i wanted to add something or some things new this year as well. i'm looking for ideas. my budget is limited, my supples stretching and often from recyclables.... so any ideas? or ideas for something cool (and possibly ethnically or culturally influeced that i could desgn for kids to make... 9-14 average age all different ability level.) i really am trying to bring concepts and cultural influence that they might not get easily elsewhere.

any helpful ideas, thoughts, comments, etc would be appreciated.

 

gods eyes just require two sticks and some yarn, all you do is weave the yarn around the sticks.
you can make tons of stuff with duck tape.
use newspaper and liquid starch, to make masks, pinatas, toys, ect.
popsickle sticks can create tons of stuff as well.
try fliping through a book or searching the internet for more ideas.

 

The God's eyes reminded me of dreamcatchers. I always made those in camp. My favorite one that I made was using a vine as circle, twine, beads and feathers. You can use scraps of yarn, green twigs and any other leftover supplies with it. I also think it's Navajo.

Oh! I just had an idea!
Prayer flags. I have a set of batiked prayer flags with all these beautiful pictures on it. So there's no "religious" meaning to it (won't offend the uber-religious). You can get scraps of fabric, string them together, and have the kids paint their favorite things on it. It doesn't have to be uber-long, just four panels is enough, but you can hang it around the camp and then they can hang it at home! Not to mention its Tibetan, so there is some cultural significance.

 

you could try simple cardweaving. You can make your own cards for it out of playing cards, and I am pretty sure you could make your own shuttle, and use a butterknife as a beater. Also my friend Mish made her cards out of old postcards.

Here is a link to how to make the cards: http://anvil.unl.edu/toli/loom.html

You don't actually need the loom to card weave. If you scroll down it explains how to make your own cards from playing cards.

Set up is a little labor intensive, threading the cards takes a while, but once it is done the weaving goes really fast. this could prehaps be a 2 day project.

A great book on the subject it: Card Weaving by Cadace Crockett Your library will probably have the original version of this book from the 70's. At least our did.

If you need any more info I have tons of sites marked on the subject, and I have another book with just patterns that are pretty simple. I could email you directions of other patterns if you want.

The nice thing about this is that kids can do it. and you can use anything for the warp and weft threads, from crochet thread to sock weight yarn. maybe even a little thicker. I have tons of resources so let me know.

This is a great craft if you are looking for something for yourself also. I make belts, chokers, and bracelets out of my bands. I am also going to start making trim for clothing.

Here are some pictures of my set up, again you don't need the loom to do this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/libracreations/

 

Ropes, knotting, rigging and such have kept Boy Scouts busy in camp for years. (Plus this week's rope bridge can be untied to be rebuilt by next week's campers.)

For the indoor knotter, macrame is a traditional sailor's past-time.

 

I never went to summer camp, so I have no idea what sorts of things kids do there. But here are some ideas anyway.

Paint with watercolors on coffee filters, then fold them up and cut them like snowflakes or flowers to hang in a window.

Those woven loop pot-holder thingys.

Beading is fun, make necklaces with leather cords, or seed beads "indian" jewelry.

You can get an inexpensive leather tooling kit and make belts or coin purses.

Mosaic... breaking plates might be just what some of those kids need! You could stretch out the activity by building something like a birdhouse, and then mosaic tiling it all over.