Kid Craft-Make Imaginative Pencil Toppers

Are you looking for quick simple and fun craft ideas for your kids when it is too hot outside, there is too much snow outside or your kids are just whining for something to do? Pencil topper crafts allow your kids to create something they can use for school without having to purchase a lot of fancy new supplies. They also make great party favors.

Dig through your stash and pull out all those orphaned craft supplies. You know the ones I mean. Like that bag of neon colored pompoms you just had to buy because they were on clearance for a quarter, or the left over wood bead heads leftover from all those angel ornaments you made five years ago. Let's not forget the remaining tufts of doll hair you saved thinking you would surely need it someday.

Once you have located the orphans, pull out the essentials like felt, wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, glitter, sequins, buttons, ribbon (which could also be considered an orphan supply if you saved pieces less than a foot long) and scrap fabric (let's face it, fabric of any size is not an orphan. Remember, whoever dies with the most fabric wins). Of course you will also need the tools of the trade, so don't forget the craft glue, hot glue and scissors.

Don't stop with these suggestions. The nice thing about crafting supplies is the diversity in every household.

Here are a few pencil topper ideas to get your kids crafting and using their imaginations.

Alien Critters or Bugs-
Hot glue a pompom over the eraser end of the pencil. Depending on the age of your kids, you may want to do this for them. Add wiggly eyes and a smaller pompom for the nose. Cut two, 2-inch pieces of a pipe cleaner and curl an inch of each one around a wooden skewer. Glue the straight ends into the top of the pompom head as the antennae. Add small bits of doll hair to the base of the antennae for character. Tie a ribbon in a bow just below the pompom.

Character Pencil Toppers-
Miniature wood flower pots are excellent bases for character pencil toppers. The wood flower pots are about an inch or so tall and when turned upside down and glued to the top of a pencil, they become a canvas for the character body. Glue fabric, felt or ribbon to the pot for the clothes. Glue a wood bead to the top for the head and two smaller beads to the side of the body for the arms. Attach hair with glue and make a face with markers.

Glitzy Ball Pencil Toppers-
Preteens or teenagers may enjoy a more sophisticated looking pencil topper. Push a 1 to 1 1/2-inch Styrofoam ball over the eraser end of the pencil. Remove the ball and fill the hole with craft glue. Reattach the ball. Paint the entire surface of the ball with craft glue and sprinkle with glitter. Add polka dots to the glitz by randomly gluing sequins over the glittered surface.