How to make a wind chime: a 4th of July craft for kids

Posted by Linda on June 30th, 2010 at 05:01pm

Looking for 4th of July crafts for kids or for yourself?  When I think of 4th of July, I think of a beautiful breezy and warm day. So a stars-and-stripes wind chime seemed like a perfect 4th of July craft for kids. Here’s how it’s made.

Materials:

• Kid-friendly clay (air dry or salt dough)
• Star-shape cookie cutter
• Plastic knife
• Flat baking sheet
• Toothpick
• Rolling pin or piece of PVC pipe to roll out clay
• Acrylic paints: red, white, blue
• Paintbrush
• Fishing line
• Scissors
• Ruler

Instructions:

1. If using salt clay, make the clay. Use your fingers, a rolling pin, or a piece of PVC pile to roll out the clay to about 1/4″ thick.

2. Cut a 1-1/2″ x 6″ piece of clay to form the main support of the wind chime. From the remaining clay, cut 3 stars and 4 wavy strips of clay about 3/4″ x 4″.

3. Along the top long edge of the main support, use a toothpick to make a hole about 1/4″ in from each top corner. Evenly space 7 holes along the bottom long edge of the main support. Use a toothpick to put a hole in one point of each star and at the top of each wavy strip.

4. If using air-dry clay, dry clay pieces according to manufacturer’s instructions. If using salt clay, place clay on ungreased baking sheet in a 250 degree oven for about 2 hours, then let the pieces cool completely.

5. Use acrylic paints to paint the stars and wavy stripes as desired. Before the paint dries, make sure to clear any paint out of the hole–the same toothpick can be used for that.

6. Cut pieces of fishing line: two 7″ piece, two 9″ pieces, two 11″ pieces and an 13″ piece. Arrange the clay stars and wavy stripes along the bottom edge of the main support as desired. Starting with the center chime, string the chime on the 13″ piece of fishing line and then thread one end of the fishing line through the center hole on the main support. Knot the ends of the fishing line together. Working out from the center, attach the next two chimes using the 11″ fishing line, the next two with the 9″ pieces of fishing line, and finally, the two end chimes with the 7″ fishing line.

7. Cut an 18″ piece of fishing line. Put one end through the hole in one corner and the other end through the hole in the other corner. Bring the ends together and tie them together with a good overhand knot. Hang the wind chime from this doubled length of fishing line.

For some other 4th of July projects, we’ve got some round-ups that will definitely inspire.
4th of July Crafts for Kids
11 Cute and Easy July 4th Craft Ideas
24 4th of July Decorating Ideas

And though the projects in our new eBook, 4th of July Crafts: Blogger Edition 2010, focuses on more than just kids crafts, there are some great craft projects for kids in there as well.

Tags: Clay, crafting with kids, Holiday, wind chimes

Under 4th of July+ Clay+ DIY+ Kids Tags: Clay, crafting with kids, Holiday, wind chimes