I had my 3rd grade church group make painted rocks that looked like lady bugs. Just need to find large roundish rock, paint it black, then add the red in two half circles on the back. Then I had them use pencil eraser ends to make white dot eyes, antenna and a smile. When the red paint dries, they go back and make black dots on the wings (find a small dowel or soemthing that is the right size so all they have to do is dipo and dot). Easy as can be. I guess you would already have to have the paint around to meet the "buy no supplies" rule. But it is just the 3 colors, so maybe you or a friend does?
For fall, we made home-made potpourri. I had them each go on a scaveger hunt around their neighborhood to find any sort of natural plant. Flowers, leaves, seed pods, nuts, anything you can turn into potpourri. When they all brought in their contributions, we spent some time identifying and admiring. Then I put them into a hug pot along with some old potpourri I had around home. I added a few drops of scented oil and stirred it all up. Then I gave each child a small square of fall colored material (made from old clothes I had in my "Goodwill bag")one fall leaf from a craft package that I had punched a hole in, and a piece of that natural twine. Then they each got a scoop of the stirred up nature's potpourri and tied it into their squares, tying the leaf on it as they went. Made a nice little bundle of natural, good smelling potpourri they could share with their family. Most of them were from some old orange cloth and they really looked a lot like pumpkins when they were done.
Speaking of pumpkins. We also took a roll of toilet paper, wrapped about a 10 inch square of orange cloth around it, tucking the extra material into the center hole. Then, they twisted green paper into astem shape and poked that into the hole -- instant pumpkin!
I loved the 3rd graders. They were still wide-eyed curious but more adept at doing simple crafts. Great age! |