Fun Dinosaur Crafts for Restless Kids

Are your kids driving you nuts? Has the long summer made you run out of ideas of fun things to do with your kids? Are they tired of the pool, the Play Station, and the DVD player? If so, here is a fun way you can turn some milk jugs into a scary flying dinosaur.

You'll need a few things to get started. Find two plastic milk jugs, tape, copier paper, dry erase marker, a hot melt glue gun, fine-grade sand paper, glue sticks, acrylic paint, and sharp scissors.

1. First, take the milk jugs and gently peel the labels off the front. Rinse all of the milk out of the jug and set them out in the sink to dry.

2. Draw a pattern of one wing and foot on paper for your flying dinosaur. These should be a few inches in size. The wing and foot can look however you wish, but make sure you leave one straight edge to attach to the jug.

3. Take your tape and attach your drawing to one of the milk jugs. Look for the seam that runs under the handle. Attach the straight edge of the wing to that seam. Trace around the pattern with a dry erase marker. Now flip the pattern over, line up the edge with the seam, and trace another wing directly opposite of the first.

4. The jug handle will be the neck of your dinosaur. The wings should fan out from the handle on the bottom of the jug's neck. Now, make a rectangle above the wings that will connect beneath the jug handle.

5. It's time to cut out your dinosaur. You should not cut all the way to the place where the top of the wings runs into the neck. Do cut through the top of the jug handle, and then cut through beneath the handle's top. Now you should see a rectangle sitting on the wings that is only held together by about a quarter-inch at the bottom of the jug's neck.

6. Fold back the rectangle beneath your dinosaur. Make it into a roll so that it forms a cylinder beneath the body. Get your glue gun and fasten that cylinder into place. It should be the right size for a child's finger to slide in to hold the dinosaur up.

7. The second milk jug will become the dinosaur's head. The beak is made up of a part of the jug handle. The top beak should be a little longer than the bottom beak. Use your glue gun again to fasten the head to the rest of the body.

8. Wipe away the marker lines with a paper towel.

9. Sand the whole dinosaur down, so that the paint will adhere better.

10. Paint the dinosaur with your acrylic paints.

11. Warn your friends that dinosaurs have returned!

After you've finished with this, your children should get a great deal of enjoyment out of what you have made together. There are plenty of other craft ideas on the Internet for you to do with your children in the hottest days of summer, or the coldest days of winter, or the rainiest days any time of year. They'll enjoy making things with you, and you both can learn something new!