Wednesday 9 June 2010

Pipe Cleaners for Kids Crafts


At littlecraftybugs we sell a huge range of pipe cleaners for crafts in single colour and mixed colour packs.

Available in pack sizes of all sizes, including bulk packs, you are sure to find what you are looking for.

Mixed Colour Pipe Cleaner Packs

Single Colour Pipe Cleaner Packs

Bulk Pipe Cleaners

Tinsel Pipe Cleaners

Extra Long Pipe Cleaners


What can I make with pipe cleaners?

No matter whether you call them pipecleaners, tinsel stems or chenille sticks, they are the same thing really and can be used in so many different ways in the world of kids crafts.

We have given a few ideas below on how you can use pipecleaners for children's crafts - imagination and creativity are probably the only limits in pipecleaner crafting!


Wobbly Pencils

Give a child some pencils, pipecleaners, pom poms and wobbly eyes together with some craft foam or card and they can have a bumper crafting session.

To start these crafts, we would suggest that you wind a small amount of double sided tape in a spiral at the top of the pencil and then, after peeling off the tape backing, you then wind the pipecleaner over the tape.

Keep the pipecleaner spiral tight and leave a section overhanging the ends if it can be used in the decoration, as in the examples above. The decoration will then wobble on top of the pencil when being used.

See below for the best glue.


Alien Monsters

Giving kids a pile of craft supplies and expecting them to create something can have varying degrees of success.

Why not choose some supplies that you know will work together to make a model on a theme. In this example we have made an alien monster using a selection of neon pipe cleaners and pom poms, which you could add wobbly eyes and craft foam to.

This makes a great craft party idea and is also perfect as a team building activity.

As with all pipecleaner activities, you need to choose the right glue - see below. This will particularly apply where you want to attach pipecleaners to other things. A top tip here is to rest it on a flat surface whilst a tacky PVA gets a firm grip.


Pipecleaners for Christmas, EasterHalloween

Every kids craft season comes with it's own colour themes, which is reflected in our range of pipecleaners for Easter, Christmas and Halloween.

The traditional colours of yellow and white for Easter, red, green and white for Christmas and black, orange and purple for Halloween do not need to be the only colours you use in these seasons.

The Christmas reindeer bug above is made using brown pipecleaners but you could also use gold. Similarly, green pipecleaners are great for Easter or Spring themed crafts, making excellent flower stalks.


Hairy & Loopy Pipecleaners!

Loop pipecleaners, where the chenille is looped on the wired centre, rather than cut at the ends, come in a great selection of colours and can be used for hair on puppets, pom poms, monsters and much more.

If you're making people or animals, choose the natural coloured ones, otherwise choose bright or tinsel for monsters etc.



Peg Dolls

When making peg dolls, you will obviously need the wooden pegs and possibly stands. We also use tulle nets, cutting a hole in the centre to thread the peg through) and ribbons.

In addition, you will need natural coloured pipecleaners for the arms. The chenille stems can be used to help secure the dress in place under the ribbon if you wrap it tightly.

Take a look at all of our peg doll kits and supplies at the littlecraftybugs company.


Something More Complex

As with all kids crafts, you can make pipecleaner craft ideas as simple or as complex as you like.

Taking a simple idea like wrapping pencils with pipecleaners and adding foam, eyes and pom poms can result in some very basic finished crafts or can be more detailed, as the giraffe topped pencil above.


What glue should I use with pipecleaners?

The difficulty with sticking pipecleaners to other pipecleaners or anything else is that sometimes they have a mind of their own.

Pipecleaners themselves can be joined by twistng them together. However, kids normally want to add other bits and pieces as well.

To best stick chenille and tinsel stems we would always recommend a high tack or fast tack glue.

Our popular tacky glue is perfect for this job as it is immediately more tacky than normal PVA and will have a good strong bond within 10/15 minutes.

No comments: