Kids Crafts: How to Make a Crystal Ball

No wizard's den would be complete with a crystal ball. A crystal ball is a fun magical accessory for any aspiring wizard.

Make one, or make half a dozen.

Kids Crafts: Materials Needed for the Crystal Ball

newspaper
1 Styrofoam ball, any size (purchase different sized Styrofoam balls to make a whole table or row of crystal balls)
sheets of colored tissue paper, torn
glitter
pictures of interesting objects cut from a magazine (optional)
glue stick or collage gel
three matching thumb tacks

Kids Crafts: How to Make the Crystal Ball

Start by covering the work surface with newspaper.

Next, cover the Styrofoam ball with glue or collage gel. Take a piece of tissue paper, and place it on the crystal ball. Then take another piece of tissue paper, in a different color, and place that on the ball, where there is glue. Continue covering the glue on the crystal ball until you can no longer see it.

Once that first layer is dry, cover the craft with more glue. Sprinkle some glitter on the glue, or roll the crystal ball in the glitter.

After adding the glitter, place more pieces of tissue on the ball.

In the next layer, add more glue, and include the cut out images from magazines onto the crystal ball. The pictures can be of anything, from a candle, to a dog, or a favorite toy. Another option is to use a photocopy of a picture of a friend or someone in your family.

You could also add words, or just a popular letter or two onto the craft project. Popular letters to cut out of magazines for this kids craft include the letters A, T, S, L and N.

Continue adding glue, and tissue paper until you like the way the kids craft looks.

The last layer to add to the crystal ball: another layer of glitter, and more pieces of tissue paper. The final layer of tissue paper on this kids craft should be white, or the lightest tissue paper you have. Glitter tissue paper would also work well.

There is one more step in this kids craft.

Once the crystal ball is dry, turn it around in your hands to see which sides look the best. The crystal ball in this kids craft will result in a unique item every time. When you find the sides you like best, you have determined which sides are the front and the top. Turn the ball over. Stick three thumbtacks in the bottom of the crystal ball, so if you drew a line between all three, the shape would be a triangle.

The thumbtacks should be slightly angled out, since those will be the "legs" of the crystal ball in this kids craft.

The budding wizard now has a homemade crystal ball.