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Sticks & Stones: 5 Outdoor Craft Ideas for Kids

Crafting with natural materials provides a wonderful excuse to get outside and explore. (Plus, the supplies are free!) These rustic projects will inspire plenty of fresh-air activity as your kids search for the perfect rocks and branches to paint, wrap, weave, and arrange just so.

Tree Tapestry

This weaving project looks lovely as a mobile, but you can also use it as a net for catching fairies. (Note: Results not guaranteed.)

You'll need a sturdy, Y-shaped branch. To make the loom's warp (the strands that act as the foundation of the weaving), tie the end of a ball of yarn near the base of the branch's fork. Wrap the yarn once around one leg of the fork, then cross to the other leg and wrap the yarn once around it. Repeat, keeping the yarn fairly tight, until you reach the ends of the fork. Tie off the yarn.

For the weft (the yarn you weave through the warp), thread a piece of yarn that's about five times the length of the branch into a plastic yarn needle. Tie the end of the yarn to the bottom-most thread of the warp. With the needle, pull the yarn in and out of the warp. It will seem a little strange at first because half the warp threads will be higher than the others -- just treat them as though they were flat. When you've used up the length of yarn, tie another piece to the end and continue weaving. When you're done, tie the yarn end to the warp or just tuck it into the tapestry.

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