Looking for a fun and quirky way to keep your kids entertained with a unique theme? How about turning pickles into playful art projects?
1. Pickle Painting
- Use cucumbers or pickles as stamps! Slice them in different ways and dip them in green paint to make unique prints on paper. Once dry, kids can decorate their "pickle prints" with faces, hats, and other fun accessories using markers or googly eyes.
2. Pickle Jar Piggy Banks
- Repurpose empty pickle jars by turning them into personalized piggy banks. Kids can paint the outside, add their names, and decorate with stickers or drawings. Once the jar is dry, cut a slit in the lid for coins.
3. Pickle Puppets
- Using green construction paper or foam, cut out pickle shapes and have kids decorate them to make "pickle puppets." Add googly eyes, pipe cleaner arms, and funny expressions to bring the pickle characters to life. Attach a popsicle stick to the bottom to turn them into puppets for a fun little show.
4. Pickle-Shaped Clay Magnets
- Make pickle-shaped magnets using air-dry clay. Let the kids mold little pickle shapes, poke texture holes in them with a toothpick, and once dry, paint them green. Stick a small magnet on the back, and voilà, cute fridge decor!
5. Pickle-Themed Collage
- Gather magazine clippings, green construction paper, and other green scraps to make a "pickle collage." Kids can use the materials to create their own unique pickle art, cutting shapes and gluing them down to make funny pickle characters or patterns.
6. Pickle Character Storybook
- Help kids create their own mini-storybooks featuring pickle characters. They can draw their pickle characters on each page and tell an imaginative story. This helps with creativity and storytelling, and you can help with writing down their words.
7. Pickle Christmas Ornaments
- Make homemade pickle ornaments out of salt dough or felt. For salt dough, shape the dough into a pickle, bake, and then paint it green. For felt, cut out pickle shapes and sew them together, stuffing lightly for a soft ornament. These can be hung on the tree, just like the traditional "Christmas pickle."
8. Pickle Jewelry
- Create playful "pickle jewelry" with green beads or buttons. String green beads onto elastic to make pickle-themed bracelets or necklaces. For a challenge, kids can try making a mini-pickle charm using polymer clay.
9. Pickle Faces Art Project
- Print or draw a simple pickle shape on paper and let kids go wild adding silly faces with crayons, markers, or craft supplies like feathers, pom-poms, or yarn for hair.
10. Pickle-Themed Sensory Bin
- Set up a sensory bin filled with items like green pom-poms, mini-cucumber toys, plastic spoons, and cups. Kids can pretend they’re making pickles, sorting by size, color, or just exploring different textures while having fun.
11. Pickle Paper Plate Faces
- Use green paint to color paper plates like pickles, then let kids add faces, arms, and legs using construction paper, markers, and googly eyes. You can string them together to make a fun pickle character garland.
12. Pickle-Themed Slime
- Make green slime with your kids, and call it "Pickle Slime." Add some glitter or fun scents (even a touch of pickle juice for an adventurous scent!). It’s a gooey, fun sensory activity (see below for recipe).
13. Pickle Jar Lanterns
- Clean out old pickle jars and turn them into lanterns. Kids can paint the outside with pickle designs, then add a small LED tea light inside to create a glowing "pickle lantern."
14. Pickle Puppets on a Stick
- Cut pickle shapes out of green construction paper or foam and let kids decorate them with faces, hats, and accessories. Glue them onto craft sticks to make "pickle puppets" for a puppet show.
15. Pickle-Themed Tic-Tac-Toe
- Create a pickle-themed tic-tac-toe game. Cut out small pickle shapes and another fun food like cucumbers or olives to be used as game pieces. Draw a simple grid on cardboard or paper, and let the games begin!
16. Pickle Bookmark
- Help kids make pickle-shaped bookmarks using green construction paper. They can decorate the "pickle" with funny faces or designs, and use it to mark their favorite books.
17. Pickle Rock Painting
- Gather some smooth rocks, paint them green, and add pickle-like details such as bumps, eyes, and funny faces. These pickle rocks can be used as paperweights or decorations.
18. Pickle-Themed Stick Puppets
- Use craft sticks, felt, and pipe cleaners to create a family of pickle stick puppets. Kids can make different sizes of pickles and add googly eyes and yarn for hair. They can put on a "pickle puppet show."
19. Pickle-Themed Photo Frame
- Decorate a simple wooden or cardboard photo frame with green buttons, beads, and stickers. Add a fun label like “Pickle Lover” at the bottom, making it a great frame for your favorite family photo.
20. Pickle Counting Game
- Make pickle shapes out of paper or felt and add numbers on each one. Kids can practice their counting by matching numbers or placing the right number of mini "cucumber" objects (like green pom-poms) on each pickle.
These ideas offer simple and creative ways to enjoy crafting with kids while sticking to the fun pickle theme!
AND as an extra bonus here's a recipe to for making the best pickle themed slime!!
Pickle-Themed Slime Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of white school glue
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- 1½ tablespoons of contact lens solution (containing boric acid)
- Green food coloring
- Optional: A few drops of pickle juice for scent or green glitter for sparkle
Instructions:
- Pour the glue into a mixing bowl.
- Add baking soda to the glue and stir well until fully mixed.
- Add green food coloring to get the perfect pickle color! You can also add glitter for extra fun.
- Slowly add the contact lens solution and stir as it thickens. Continue stirring until the slime forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Once it reaches the desired consistency, knead the slime with your hands for a minute or two until it becomes stretchy.
- If you're feeling adventurous, add a drop or two of pickle juice to give it a unique, tangy scent! (Totally optional!)
Store your pickle slime in an airtight container to keep it fresh for play later.
Enjoy your pickle-inspired gooey fun!
~Jo~