Simple Word Art Projects for Kids

 

Please welcome Shannon from Joy in the Works for today’s guest post! She’s sharing a fabulous decorative word art craft with us. When you’re done reading, make sure to check out her wonderful blog. I love her LEGO Organization post!

 

Hi! I am so excited to be a guest blogger for Simple Fun for Kids! I am continually impressed with the content of this blog – always good learning ideas that are simple and easy to implement – just what a mom needs!

I am going to share a simple word art project for kids that makes a great gift for grandparents or can just be a fun, kid made addition to your home décor.

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

 

Materials Needed for Word Art Project for Kids

  • Letters for words.
  • Themed materials to glue on the letters (i.e buttons for the word SEW or canned food labels for the word EAT).
  • Adhesive (White liquid glue or Modge Podge, glue gun for heavier items).
  • Paintbrush (foam or regular).
  • Ribbon for hanging word on the wall (optional).

 

Every Christmas my boys and I make something for them to give away as gifts to grandparents and other family members. I think it is an important way for them to learn about gift giving, while giving something personalized that the Grandparents can have as a keepsake.

We have done hand prints on dishtowels, reindeer footprint aprons and Christmas light fingerprints on trivets. They have decorated picture frames, a variety of ornaments and made a gumdrop tree.

This year, we were trying to think of something a bit more personalized, however. My mother-in-law is quite the quilter and sewer, so we decided to do some wall art for her sewing room. This was a very easy project that had a great impact. And unlike other years, the kids did most of the work! =)

We started by picking out the letters “S-E-W”. We chose the light-weight cardboard letters, but you could choose from a wide variety of letter types.

However, I would recommend that you stick with the ones that can hang well or “stand “on a shelf.

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

Next, we brainstormed objects that would represent the word “SEW” that were small and lightweight enough that they can be easily attached. We settled on buttons and fabric, but you could also do ric rac ribbon (or any ribbon), wooded spools, thimbles and other sewing themed items.

Last, we picked out the ribbon for hanging the word art, and this was my very favorite find! We used ribbon that looked exactly like the soft vinyl measuring tape that is often used by tailors and sewers. It was the perfect finishing touch to our word art gift! 

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

Once we gathered our materials together, the kids cut the fabric into a variety of shapes and sizes and glued the pieces wherever they wanted across the 3 letters.

For the fabric, we decided to glue with regular white liquid glue. We used paintbrushes (and a bit of water to thin it down) to spread it before patting down the fabric.

You need to figure out what is the best adhesive for your particular project, however. For instance, if I was using paper or lightweight fabric, I would use Modge Podge or watered down liquid glue.

But for the buttons, while you probably could use regular white liquid glue, I thought a hot glue gun was a safer bet. I simply had my boys place the buttons wherever they wanted and I used the hot glue gun to attach them.

I also used the glue gun to attach the measurement tape ribbon on the back of the “S-E-W” so that they would hang evenly on the wall. The kids signed their names and I put the date on the back. For littles, you could do a finger print or hand print to remember their contribution.

It was a great Christmas present, but would work as a gift for any holiday or special occasion! 

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

After we did our first word art project, it was so simple that I began thinking about other ways we could do it.

The kids and I settled on the word “Eat” for our kitchen. Again, we picked the same brown cardboard letters because they could sit on our kitchen shelf and they were easy to work with.

We chose to use canned food labels for the decorations on this one. We carefully peeled off our favorites canned foods (don’t forget to label the cans so you can still use them!). The kids used their own scissors (those that were old enough) and cut the labels into shapes.

You could simply glue on the pieces randomly, leaving the brown cardboard showing (as we did previously) but this time we treated it like a puzzle. We fit the paper shapes together, moved them around and cut out more as needed, all with the intention of hiding the brown background.

You could also paint the letters first and attach the shapes while the paint was wet.

For this word art project, we used glossy Modge Podge to give it more of a sheen. Some of the canned food labels had a matte finish and some were glossy, so using a glossy Modge Podge really helped to give it a nice even, finished look. Because the word sat on a shelf, we didn’t need ribbon for this one, the kids simply signed their names on the back.

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

While the kids and I have yet to start another word art project, I really want to do the word beach with shells, sand and sea glass.

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

However, the boys have a baseball themed room, and they want our next project to be the words “Go Giants” using Giants themed duct tape!

 

Simple word art projects for kids from guest poster Shannon of Joy in the Works. A great gift for grandparents or a kid-made addition to your home decor!

 

In all our discussions about what to do next, we have brainstormed a ton of other great themed word art ideas. Check out our ideas through pictures and feel free to add more in the comments below!

 

 

 

Interested in reading more from Joy in the Works? Check out these popular posts from her site:

 

 

 

 

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