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Kids Get Crafty – Pumpkin Seed Owls

November 3, 2010

Hello, welcome back to Kids Get Crafty! With the excitement of Halloween over, it is time to “revisit” the left overs and get crafty: Red Ted and I saved some of our Butternut Squash (or Pumpkin) seeds and made this very quick little owl. Sadly, Red Ted decided that it would be GREAT fun to totally unpick it again, before I could make it into something for us or friends and family! But he had fun. I guess that is the main thing! And then… We reused them to make my second owl inspiration: Loo Roll Owl! Both owls took us less than 5min to make!

Donโ€™t forget that this is also a link up party/ blog hop for all craftiness with and for children! Do take part. Do be inspired! Link up at bottom of post! Hooray!

Old posts welcomed. Grab a button and add it to your post or side bar. Please do NOT post things for sale or Giveaways!

Our book

The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark (Book & CD)The Owl Who Was Afraid of the Dark ย by Jill Tomlinson

This is the story of a little Owl called Plop, who is scared of the dark! Now who has ever heard of an OWL being scared of the dark?! Well it does happen. Plop goes out into the world and talks to people all around and find out what is so special about the dark – Dark is Kind. Dark is Fun. Dark is Wonderfulโ€ฆ In the end, plop decided that being a night owl is a good thing after all. This book has been particularly helpful for us at the moment, as Red Ted (almost 3yrs), has suddenly developed a fear of the dark. We have installed a small night light and I believe that Plop has help him along his way too. A perfect inspiration for todayโ€™s craft! We were lucky enough to be given the book that also has a CD with the story, games and song attached. Lovely!

The Craft

This is a fabulous craft as it is so pretty.ย They are wonderfully tactile andย they areย great for developing fine motor skills. They are also so “cheap”. Just save the seeds from a pumpkin or butternut squash and prepare them:

1) Soak them in water – the pulp will fall away. Rinse and soaking again until free of all pulp.

2) Place them spread out on some kitchen roll or absorbent cloth to dry.

Done. Then Get Crafty.

As mentioned, the craft came about rather randomly and โ€œshort noticeโ€.ย  I was thinking about the โ€œseed challengeโ€ that the lovely Meni over at Dalle un Colinho set, when reading the book with Red Ted and suddenly thought we should give the owl a try! We had already been playing with the seeds a bit โ€“ making simple flowers etc โ€“ which helped, I am sure. As this was as spur of the moment thing, I donโ€™t really have any photos. But this is what we did:

1)ย ย ย ย ย  I drew an owl outline, with dots for eyes, a small beak and wings.

2)ย ย ย ย ย  We added glue around the eye. I made one eye to show Red Ted how to do it. And he made the other, then added some extra seeds to mine.

3)ย ย ย ย ย  We added some glue to the wings and โ€œthrewโ€ on the seeds, then patted them down

4)ย ย ย ย ย  I helped Red Ted โ€œsnipโ€ a peak out of some brown paper which he then stuck on

5)ย ย ย ย ย  Once dried, I cut the owl out. I was going to use it for a Calendar project, I was thinking of bring to you in a Tutorial soon, butโ€ฆ alas, Red Ted had other ideas and unpicked it all as mentioned above! Hey ho!

Oh and Pip Squeak joined in and played with the seeds, much to Red Tedโ€™s annoyance. But what can you do?!

The next day, I remembered the Loo Roll Owls on Autumn Get Crafty. They were so cute. And I thought.. hey, we still have lots of loo rolls and lots of picked of seeds, let’s have another go:

And hey presto another 5min craft! This time we added some lentils for eyes and Red Ted decided to put some in the wings too, which looked pretty! If you want to make these EVEN nicer, then you can paint the loo roll first. We had a lovely yellow painted loo roll to use, but Red Ted asked for theย plain one. I DID have to help with the eyes and he loved “throwing on” the seeds again! I think it was helpful that we did the first owl first, as Red Ted “understood” the drill… Oh and to shape the head, I just pinched the top of the roll and then squashed it down a little…

We enjoyed playing with our seeds so much, that I will be saving ALL our pumpkin and butternut squash seeds from now on and store them in a jar to use through the year! Meni, thank you for the inspiration!

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Filed Under: Autumn, Kids Craft, Loo Rolls, Nature 39 Comments

Comments

  1. Tatjana says

    November 3, 2010 at 7:34 am

    Oh, so pretty! You have the best ideas! I love that you’re doing all these lovely crafts with Red Ted ๐Ÿ™‚
    And loo roll art reminds me of something Mam made for me each Christmas … Do you still need submissions for Xmas crafts?!

    Reply
  2. fabmums says

    November 3, 2010 at 9:17 am

    wow, now that’s what I call recycling. Well done!

    Reply
  3. cathy@nurturestore says

    November 3, 2010 at 9:24 am

    I think loo rolls are the new paper plates – very this season!!

    Reply
  4. Red Ted Art says

    November 3, 2010 at 9:36 am

    Tatjana – yes, sadly Xmas Get Crafty is already “out”. But dooooo make your Mam’s crafts and link them on Kids Get Crafty? Would LOVE to see them

    Fabmums – yes, it was a rather rather thrifty craft!! And at least I have the photo of Owl 1!

    Cathy – Aaaaaand… though paperplates are cheap, loo rolls are as good as FREE! Even better ๐Ÿ˜‰

    Reply
  5. Chris at Thinly Spread says

    November 3, 2010 at 10:42 am

    Fantastic! I got buried under a pile of loo and kitchen rolls I’ve been storing for the cracker season…they all came tumbling down on top of me! I may liberate a few to make tube creatures!

    Reply
  6. @creativeedu says

    November 3, 2010 at 10:55 am

    I have included your post in my Daily Digest of educational blog posts as I thought it would be of interest to other teachers. You can see it here: http://bit.ly/a345eQ

    Reply
  7. Red Ted Art says

    November 3, 2010 at 11:22 am

    Chris – oh yes, I regularly have loo rolls falling out of random places too.

    Creativeedu – THANK YOU so much for the mention, very much appreciated!

    Reply
  8. Molly says

    November 3, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    I am obsessed with owls lately! LOVE this, great idea!

    Reply
  9. Red Ted Art says

    November 3, 2010 at 7:41 pm

    Owls are FABULOUS though! There are some more on Autumn Get Crafty! https://www.redtedart.com/2010/11/01/autumn-get-crafty/

    Reply
  10. meninheira says

    November 3, 2010 at 11:41 pm

    Thanks Maggy you are always so sweet with me, thanks a lot

    Un beso muy grande :*

    Reply
  11. Gret says

    November 4, 2010 at 8:17 am

    What a great idea!

    Reply
  12. Susana says

    November 4, 2010 at 12:51 pm

    Thanks for this book title. This owl craft is adorable! I’ve never seen one like it!

    Thanks for hosting this linky each week too.

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      November 4, 2010 at 1:22 pm

      Aah, thank you, that is so sweet of you to say! Very much appreciated! Maggy

      Reply
  13. MessyMissy says

    November 4, 2010 at 2:08 pm

    Gosh, that owl is so cute. Love how delicate it looks with the seeds, very pretty.

    Reply
  14. Almost Unschoolers says

    November 4, 2010 at 7:12 pm

    I’m crazy for this craft! The pumpkin seeds look beautiful on the owls.

    This is a great link-up, too. One of these days I hope to jump in – but it always takes me a while with a new one ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  15. Red Ted Art says

    November 4, 2010 at 8:31 pm

    Look forward to you joining in at Kids Get Crafty!! ๐Ÿ˜‰ doesn’t have to be “new” – anything goes!!!

    And am so pleased you liked the Owls!!! Was so impromptu and all thanks to my son picking off the seeds from the first Owl!!

    Maggy

    Reply
  16. Sarah says

    November 4, 2010 at 8:40 pm

    What a great project!!! So much fun ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
  17. Wonder Mom says

    November 5, 2010 at 2:39 am

    Whoooooo loves this owl craft? I do, I do! ;0)

    Reply
  18. JDaniel4's Mom says

    November 5, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    I love your owl. It is so cute. Thank for stopping by and linking in up to Read.Explore. Learn.

    Reply
  19. Tracey M. says

    November 6, 2010 at 5:34 pm

    Hopping over from What My Child is Reading carnival. I love cute owl books like the one about Plop. My son went through an owl craze period when we found a book called Hoot by Jane Hissey. We found a DVD that had this story on it too (Old Bear Stories; Friends, Friends, Friends). Your owl craft is just adorable too.

    Reply
  20. Andrea says

    November 6, 2010 at 7:54 pm

    My almost 3 year old has recently become afraid of things as well, we will have to check this book out!

    Reply
  21. Janelle says

    November 6, 2010 at 9:19 pm

    What a cute use of your pumpkin seeds.

    Reply
  22. Red Ted Art says

    November 7, 2010 at 7:15 pm

    Andrea – hope the book helps a little!!

    Janelle – thank you!

    Tracey M – Like the sound of Hoot! Will look into it!

    Reply
  23. Charlene says

    November 7, 2010 at 9:21 pm

    I really like the owl crafts. And I really like owls, but my mother collected owls when I was a kid and she had hundreds, literally hundreds of them. Even though I like them, they freak me out now and give me flashbacks of having to dust ALL those suckers, every Saturday morning before I could go out the play hahaha!

    Reply
    • Red Ted Art says

      November 8, 2010 at 7:31 am

      Haha no, for you, no owls then… I will make something else cute!!

      Reply
  24. Natalie says

    November 8, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    Thanks for joining WMCIR! Both the book and the craft look awesome. I like your creative use of pumpkin seeds!

    Reply
  25. Mindy says

    November 8, 2010 at 8:29 pm

    What fun kid crafts! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  26. Anne@LittleSproutBooks says

    November 12, 2010 at 6:33 am

    so, I honestly just pitched the pumpkin seeds I had cleaned and dried and kept on my counter for 3 weeks because I decided I didn’t know what I’d do with them. grrr! oh well… have to wait for a squash night! Thanks again for linking up at Feed Me Books Friday!

    Reply
  27. Amy says

    November 12, 2010 at 2:02 pm

    Wow I did not think of this one. Where do you get all of your craft ideas. They are always the best.. Thanks for the link up again.

    Reply
  28. Michelle says

    November 12, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    What a cute book.
    The crafts look fun to make.

    Reply
  29. Shannon says

    November 12, 2010 at 6:24 pm

    Super cute! I made pine come owls with my daughter http://itsnotalwaysblackandwhite.blogspot.com/2010/10/pine-cone-owls.html

    Stop by my blog for a Christmas Card giveaway!

    Reply
  30. Amanda says

    October 16, 2011 at 10:26 pm

    Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts! You can see it here
    http://funfamilycrafts.com/pumpkin-seed-cardboard-tube-owl/

    Reply
  31. Red Ted Art says

    October 24, 2011 at 4:55 pm

    Oh fab! Thank you Amanda! You rock!!!!

    Reply
  32. Hira Rai says

    April 1, 2016 at 11:01 am

    lovely just love it ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Catherine wheel firework craft | NurtureStore says:
    November 3, 2010 at 9:39 pm

    […] happily shared with Kids Get Crafty […]

    Reply
  2. The Daily Digest(ive) November 3rd 2010 | The Creative Education Blog says:
    April 4, 2011 at 4:02 pm

    […] And now for something completely different. ย Primary school teachers, or anyone with a few too many pumpkin seeds left kicking around after Halloween may enjoy this lovely post about makingย Pumpkin Seed Owls […]

    Reply
  3. Red Ted Art's Blog » Blog Archive » Autumn Get Crafty 2011 – Crafts & Ideas for Autumn says:
    October 1, 2011 at 5:01 am

    […] Pumpkin Seed Owls At the same time, we also made some owls – much simpler ones in some way and harder in others… we used out pumpkin seeds to make it. Working with seeds is a popular craft in Germanic countries in Autumn and it is a great way to “recycle” part of your cooking leftover. Click to visit our pumpkin seed owl. […]

    Reply
  4. Remember, Remember the 5th of November! - thinlyspread.co.uk | thinlyspread.co.uk says:
    April 30, 2012 at 2:44 pm

    […] you are inspired to Get Crafty, pop over to Red Ted Art for some more crafty with kids ideas! Share […]

    Reply
  5. 14 Creative Things to do Using Leftover Pumpkin Seeds with Kids - says:
    October 27, 2016 at 9:01 am

    […] Pumpkin Seed Owl Craft by Red Ted Art […]

    Reply

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