PETS - CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES
Create a Pet
Have available a supply of small boxes, pipe cleaners, construction paper, and assorted craft scraps and supplies. Have each boy use materials at hand to create a new species of pet. Then have each boy introduce his pet to the Den, its name, what it eats, what it sounds like, etc. Variation: Use plastic eggs as pet’s bodies.
Puppy Portrait Frame
Material:
Flat wooden frame, dog-bone treats, water based high-gloss polyurethane, small
paintbrush, hot glue
Step 1:
Remove the glass and the cardboard backing from a flat wooden frame and set them
aside. Lay the wood, face side up,
on a flat working surface and arrange crunchy dog-bone treats on top of it. Place them horizontally, end to end to
fashion a border all the way around, or diagonally to accent the corners.
Step 2:
Once the pattern is determined, remove the dog bones, lay them face down,
and apply a coat of water-based high-gloss polyurethane to the backs. Once dry, hot-glue the bones to the
frame so the polyurethane sides are against the frame (adults only.)
Step 3:
Apply polyurethane to the tops and sides of the glued-on bones, let dry and
apply another coat of polyurethane.
Step 4:
When the final coat is completely dry, insert your photo and reassemble the
frame.
Dog Bone Magnet
Heart of
America
Materials:
Dog bone snack, acrylic Sealer (clear) felt, moveable
eyes, scissors, 2 small pom poms, 1 medium size (2 1/4") pom pom, (buy in fringe
department), Magnetic tape, craft glue
1. Dip bone into clear acrylic and allow to dry.
2. Glue pom pom in center. Add felt ears and small
nose pom pom or felt circle.
3. Glue on moveable eyes. Add magnetic tape to back of bone.
Dog Cookies
Heart of America
Council
Materials: 1/2 cup Cornmeal, 6
tablespoons Oil, 2/3 cup water or meat broth, 2 cup whole wheat flour Rolling
pin, Cookie cutters (bone shaped would be fun) Cookie sheet
Use of an oven
1. Mix dry ingredients together, add wet
ingredients.
2. Use your hands to mush it up well. If it feels too
dry, add a few drops of water. If it feels too wet, add a teaspoon of flour at a
time until it feels soft but not sticky. Careful not to over-mush or the dough
will get tough.
3. Roll out about 1/2" thick on a flour dusted
surface, cut out with any shape of cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes, or
until lightly golden.
5. Be sure to let cool before giving to your
pet!
A Pooch’s Place Mat
Heart of America
Council
1. Cut a place mat shape from poster board. Then press a dog bone cookie cutter into
the cut surface of a potato half and leave it in place. Pare away a 1/4" layer
of potato from around the cutter. Remove the cutter and blot the potato with a
paper towel.
2. Pour some acrylic paint on a paper plate or pie
tin. Press the stamp into the paint, dab off excess color on newspaper, and
print dog bones on the placemat.
For the best results, rinse and dry the potato before switching to
another color. Once the design is
dry, laminate the place mat between sheets of clear contact paper.
Balloon Dog
Heart of America
Council
Materials:
Long thin balloons (available in craft & hobby
stores like Hobby Lobby, Michael's,
US Toy or party stores such as Paper Warehouse)
Optional: Hand or Foot Pump
The first trick to making a balloon animal is to blow
up the balloon. This is hard. You can buy a hand pump or use a
football pump to help blow up the balloons. Do not blow the balloon up all the way,
you only need a small balloon.
Carefully tie the balloon. When twisting a balloon, always start at
the end with the knot. Do not
worry, it will not break if you twist it, but you must hold on to both ends of
the balloon. Otherwise, the balloon
will untwist. The balloon will not
stay twisted by itself. You have to
twist the balloon together.
1. Blow up the balloon half way.
2. Start
at the beginning with the knot and twist a 3 to 4" bubble or 3 or 4 fingers
wide. Make sure you hang on to both
ends of balloon, otherwise it will untwist. Twist it around 2 or 3 times. Do not
worry it will not break. Why didn’t
it break? There is space at the end
of the balloon for the trapped air.
That is why we only blow the balloon up half way.
3: While holding on to the twisted balloon, make
another bubble the same size. This
will be the one ear. Do not let
go.
4. Make
another balloon bubble the same size.
This is the other ear.
5. Twist
balloon joints A & B together twist 2 or 4 time all the way around. The balloon will not break, and they
will stay together. If yours looks
like this, very good; if not, try it again -practice makes perfect!
6: Now for the neck. Twist a 2 to 3" bubble or 3 or 4 fingers
wide. This is the neck. Make sure you hang on to the balloon,
both parts.
7: To
make the legs, start by twisting a 2 to 3" bubble. Hang on to the neck as you twist the
balloon, and do not let go of the leg.
8:
Second leg, same as the first.
Twist a 2 to 3" bubble.
Twist those two parts together just like you did with the ears. Remember twist around each other 4 or 5
times.
9. Have
a lot of balloon left over?
Hotdog! We make the body 1
hand long. Then twisting; make sure
you hang on to the balloon. Make
the legs like you did in step 7.
Bone
Prints
Purchase a box of large dog bone snacks. Set the bones, shallow bowls of paint,
and colorful construction paper on a table (with protective covering). Allow the Cubs to dip one bone at a time
into the paint and then press it on a piece of construction paper to make a
design. Talk about why dogs enjoy
their snacks and why snacks are beneficial (source of vitamins, helps clean the
teeth, etc.) You may also wish to
explain that people often use snacks as treats when they train dogs and other
animals.
Paw
Prints
Have the boys help you make paw prints. Make them by using the cut ends of a
potato, molding clay or cutting corrugated paper into a paw shape and gluing it
to another piece to serve as a handle.
Allow the Cubs to dip their "stamp" into a bowl of tempera paint and
pressing it to paper.
Birdhouse
Slide
Cut two inches from a 1.5-2" diameter branch. Cut the top on two slants (peaked roof
shape). Take apart a pinecone and
glue the individual "petals" to the roof for shingles. Drill a larger hole for the house
opening and a smaller hole for the perch.
Glue a small twig in the perch hole. Attach the birdhouse to a slide (curtain
ring, PVC ring, twisted pipe cleaner).
Fishtank
Slide
Use an
empty Tic Tac container. Glue blue
construction paper on the inside of the back. Use colored paper to make small fish and
underwater plants. Glue the plants
and some of the fish to the inside of the box - both front and back to give the
tank a dimensional look. Put small
colored fish tank beads, plastic gravel, or craft melting beads on the
bottom. Put in 1 or 2 fish that
aren’t glued down. Attach a slide
ring (curtain ring, PVC ring, twisted pipe cleaner) on back.
Dog Bone
Slide
Take one of the colored, dog bone shaped treats and attach a
slide ring (curtain ring, PVC ring, twisted pipe cleaner). Use a permanent marker to add a
slogan. For a fancier slide, add
pompoms of different colors, eyes etc. to make a dog of your choice.
