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Fairytale Things to Make and Do by Leonie Pratt has lots of cute ideas for crafts but some people (like me who likes crafts but doesn't always have the artistic ability to back it up) might find some of the projects difficult to reproduce.

Amazon lists the book as being for 4-8 year olds, but they will need adult supervision and, in many cases, help because scissors and glue are essential to a majority of the crafts.

An adult can help three and four year olds with some of the projects, such as:
  •  "Rapunzel in the tower," which requires cutting paper and fastening it into a tube to make the tower, creating a cone roof  and decorating the tower; you can skip making the trees if you're not feeling ambitious
  • "Cinderella's sparkly slipper" has you draw a slipper (no template provided so you have to find something to trace or be good at drawing a big shoe) and decorate it with glitter and tissue paper; a great introductory craft
  • "Magic Fairytale wands" - they're made of cardboard so they might not last long but they're pretty easy to make and you can keep it simple for the younger kids
Other projects require more artistic abilities, patience and adult help:
  • "Trolls and Ogres" and "Fairytale Wedding" both have you drawing the figures and then coloring them in. They do offer step-by-step diagrams for drawing the princess and prince for Fairytale wedding but this is certainly beyond the skill of a preschooler, who might get frustrated that they can't copy what the books shows. Frankly, drawing it was beyond my skills. This kind of craft would be more accessible if a template was provided; you might be able to "cheat" by finding something online
  • "Gingerbread House Collage" is listed here because the finished project  takes more skill; however, you can assist your younger child in making a simpler Gingerbread house and skip or substitute the decorations
  • "Fairytale Wall Hanging" is something Martha Stewart would be proud of. It's included as requiring a little more supervision because there is a lot of paper cutting and the child has to cross-weave the paper to make a quilt. It won't be hard for an older child and a parent could help a young one.
All in all the book has some really cute ideas for a variety of skill levels that will make for some magical afternoons. If your drawing ability is equivalent to a preschooler's, as mine is, you'll probably want to skip some projects or let your artsy older child take the lead.
 
 
Materials needed:
* card stock paper
* colored paper
* template (or use mine below)
* scissors
* crayons or markers
* craft glue
* stickers or glitter (optional)

This craft was inspired by The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven. You can see the finished product below the templates.

This is a great, simple craft to do with your princess. You could also modify the figure for a boy.

Draw an outline of a princess (to make a fairy simply add wings) on your card stock paper. You can use my template (see below) or search online for something to print and trace over (searching for princess silhouette gives some decent results). If you're drawing your own princess, don't worry if you make mistakes.

Once you've drawn the outline, cut it out. This card stock princess will be your template if you ever want to do this project again.

Place the template on a sheet of paper (it can be white or colored, depending on how your child wants to decorate it).

Trace around your template on the new sheet of paper. Then cut it out. Let your child decorate the princess however she wants. When your child is done decorating, glue the paper princess to a new sheet of paper in a color of your choice. Once the glue dries, you can proudly display.
Templates below: These are my crude attempts to draw paper princess templates. The one on the right is my version of Elisa Klevin's Paper Princess. You also can draw your own or find others online. If you use my template on the left, just be careful not to cut off her head when cutting her out; her neck is a little thin!
The finished versions done by my 3 1/2 year old. After coloring and gluing she decided she wanted to add stickers.
 
C is for Crown 10/01/2009
 
Picture
A crown fit for a princess - or prince
A nice way to reinforce the letter C of the alphabet & encourage pretend play.

Materials Needed:
* scissors
* a few pieces of different colored paper (at least two need to 8 1/2 by 11)
* tape or glue (tape might hold up better)
* stencils (optional)
* stickers or other decorative elements (optional)
* markers or crayons (optional)

Take a piece of colored 8 1/2 by 11 paper and cut it in half. Then tape them together. Depending on the size of your child's head, you might need to trim one end before taping the other end to form the base of the crown.

Take different colors and have your child draw (or you can draw) various shapes. The crown we made was an Ariel crown and we made squiggly coral (use the link for a template if you choose coral). But you can make anything - animals, shapes or even stencils for particular designs.

Once you have them cut out, now is the time to decorate them if your child desires. You can use stickers, crayons or markers to make designs.

Then glue or tape the decorations to the base of the crown.
 
 

Ok, I can't take credit for doing this craft but I'd like to think I could pull it off as well. My mother took some cardboard boxes, including a large freezer box, and turned them into very cool castles. She put these together for our daughter's third birthday party, but this is a fun thing to do anytime.

We had just bought a freezer so a large box was easy to get but you might be able to get one from a local appliance store or freecycle. My mom cut the top of the boxes to resemble the top of a turret and used leftover contact paper to cover the outside to make them look nicer. You could also try wallpaper, construction paper or leaving it plain and just draw "bricks" or allow the kids to color it in.

The larger castle (left photo) had a door and window cut out, making it a lot more fun for pretend play. On the smaller castle (middle & right photos), she cut out the front because the box was too small for a door.

She embellished the larger castle with a beautifully stenciled sticker "Once Upon a Time There Was a Princess..." Because these castles were for a birthday party, we added another element. We had stickers and markers and let the guests decorate them.

There were a little bit of work to create but you can put together a simpler castle that would still be tons of fun and they last a long time. My daughter's birthday party as mid-May and as of mid-July they are all still actively used and holding up well (although the smaller ones are a little creased). So it's well worth the effort.

 
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