Randel McGee - Fun and Festive Spring Crafts: Flower Puppets, Bunny Masks, and Mothers Day Pop-Up Cards

In spring, winter ice melts away, flowers bloom, and animals have babies. In Fun and Festive Spring Crafts: Flower Puppets, Bunny Masks, and Mothers Day Pop-up Cards, create easy crafts as you learn about the spring season. Read about symbols, holidays, and special events that take place during this fruitful time of year and get creative!

AUTHORS NOTE: The projects in this book were created for this particular season. However, I invite readers to be imaginative and find new ways to use the ideas in this book to create different projects of their own. Please feel free to share pictures of your work with me through www.mcgeeproductions.com . Happy crafting!

Demeter (Deh-MEE-ter), the Greek goddess of the harvest, had a beautiful daughter named Persephone (Per-SEFF-o-nee). Everyone loved Persephone for her cheerfulness. Hades, the king of the Underworld, wanted her for his queen.

One day, Hades captured Persephone and would not let her go. Demeter did not know what had happened to Persephone. She stopped making plants grow and searched for her lost daughter. The world became cold and the crops died. The people were cold and hungry.

Zeus, the leader of the Greek gods, knew what Hades had done and told him that he had to free Persephone so that the crops would grow again. Hades tricked Persephone into eating fruit from his garden, which forced her to spend half of the year with him. Spring became the time that Persephone returned home to her mother, and Demeter celebrated by making flowers grow.

As the Northern Hemispherethe top half of Earth that includes North Americatilts closer to the sun, the days get longer and warmer. The vernal (spring) equinox (EE-quih-nox) is the first day of spring and is a day when the day and night hours are equal in length. March 20 is usually the vernal equinox, but the day can change due to leap years.

Spring is the time of year when the world comes alive after winter. In spring, plants sprout, trees bloom, birds build nests, and animals have babies. There are special holidays in spring, such as St. Patricks Day, Easter, Passover, Memorial Day, Mothers Day, and Fathers Day.

As winter warms into spring, seeds from last summer start to sprout. The seed sends a small root into the soil to collect water and nutrients to help it grow. It sends up a little stem with a leaf to collect energy from sunshine. Soon plants push up from the ground with flower buds. Later we see the bright colors of spring and smell the sweet flowers. What do you think this flower puppet would say about spring?

1. Paint the dowel green. Let it dry.

2. Make a ball of clay about the size of a cherry and stick it at one end of the dowel. Let it dry in place.

3. Paint the clay ball and let it dry. Draw a face on the ball with permanent markers.

4. Draw flower petals and leaves on craft foam with a pencil or marker. Cut them out. Cut out a small hole in the middle of each piece so you can stick the dowel through.

5. (a) Trace around the open end of the plastic cup to make a circle on another piece of craft foam. (b) Draw an asterisk in the center of the circle as shown. Cut out the circle. Cut the center into slices of pie. Note: Do not cut all the way to the edge of the circle.

6. Glue the petals around the flower head by the dowel. Glue the leaves along the dowel. Glue the circle of craft foam over the top of the plastic cup. Let everything dry.

7. Have an adult make a small hole in the center of the bottom of the plastic cup with scissors. Gently push the plain end of the dowel through the center of the craft foam on the top of the cup, and work it through the hole at the bottom of the cup. Continue to push the flower through the foam until it is hidden inside the cup. Glue a wooden bead at the plain end of the dowel if you wish.

8. Gently push and pull the dowel from the bottom of the cup to make the flower pop up and down through the craft foam. Gently twist the dowel to make the flower puppet turn from side to side.

The Germans had myths about Eostre (pronounced Ee-stray), the goddess of spring. She would send her speedy messenger, a bunny, to deliver eggs so people would know spring was on its way. The word Easter is based on the goddesss name. Germans that came to the United States brought their customs and symbols for celebrating Easter, such as bunnies and eggs. This bunny mask is fun for celebrating Easter or just hopping around in the spring sunshine!

1. Print and cut out the bunny mask pattern from . Use a pencil or marker to trace it onto the sheet of craft foam.

2. Cut out the pattern.

3. Decorate the front of the mask with the permanent markers and craft foam pieces as you wish.

4. Overlap the sides of the V-shaped cut at the top of the bunny mask. Glue or tape them together. Let the glue dry.