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Home > Arts and Crafts Projects for Kids > What to do with Trays Ideas & Crafts for Kids
If you have problems getting your children to eat, you can have them make their own food tray or place mat. This is the main reason why some restaurant gives children a coloring place mat to keep them occupied. Children can also decorate an existing tray.
Tray or place mat crafts can differ depending on the holiday or time of year. For Thanksgiving dinner I recommend a Thanksgiving/Fall theme coloring place mat to keep children quiet and occupied during Thanksgiving dinner. Other tray crafts include activity trays for traveling to keep kids entertained, especially for a long journey.
Make Styrofoam Tray Photo Frames
This is a greay way to recycle your styrofoam trays. Instead of throwing them away, instead frame some of your favorite photographs. Turn your tray around so the back of it is facing you. Pick out your favorite photo and trace it on the back of the tray. Then cut just inside this traced line so that the tray opening is a bit smaller than the picture you traced. Now put some glue all over the edge of the front of the photo and then place the back of the frame over the center of the photo...just where you want it to be. Then decorate your frame with all sort of things such as fabric, felt, lace, and buttons. Then put a piece of ribbon or yarn on the back of the tray with tape...so that you can hang your framed picture.
Here is a beautiful three-dimensional wall decoration you can make out of a styrofoam tray and a few other simple materials. Paint the back of a styrofoam tray, the kind used in super-markets for packaging various kinds of foodstuffs, a neutral background color. Allow it to dry thoroughly. With a pencil, lightly sketch in a figure of a girl and a border decoration of growing flowers. Cut a piece of colored crepe paper the length of the skirt on the girl figure and twice its width. Pleat the crepe paper to make a pleated skirt and glue it to the top edge of the skirt on the figure. Add a tiny dab of glue between each of the folds at the top of the skirt. Color the rest of the figure with paints or wax crayons. Make tiny crepe paper flowers in different colors and glue them to the growing flowers in the border decoration and on the girl's hat. Attach a small metal ring to the back of the wall panel with Scotch tape by which to hang the panel.
Gesso Papier Mache Trays - Start off with paper plates and gesso and finish with a beautifully enameled tray to serve goodies on. Perfect for mother's day or a gift for someone else you love.
Acid
Rain Viewfinder - What does rain do? It waters the Earth, but also drops acid. When
there is so much pollution (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide) in
the atmosphere that the environment can’t neutralize it, the
acid leaches into rain, snow, and even fog. Research the major causes
of acid rain and how they can be reduced. Find out what acid rain
does to forests, bodies of water, and limestone and marble buildings
(such as the U.S. capitol’s columns and other world landmarks).
Bright
New Year Mobile - Kids are eager to help decorate your home for a New Year's Eve
get-together! This whimsical mobile adds glitz to any decor.
Decoupage
Serving Tray - A serving tray is a great accessory for a coffee table, dresser or
console table. Oftentimes, though, store-bought serving trays are
expensive or it can be difficult to find one that fits in your room’s
décor. Making your own decoupage serving tray is actually
relatively easy and is a great way to add an artistic element to your
room.
Flowers
Pillbox Hat - Put some fun into your headgear by making a flower hat made from
discarded trays and other materials.
Foam
Core Sculpture - Turn ordinary flat cardboard into three-dimensional foam core
sculptures. Use your child's artwork as holiday table decorations or
birthday party decorations.
Foam
Tray Casting - Using a foam tray casting, children can create artwork to plaster
all around the house. Simply look around for small, flat objects, and
reproduce their shape to make paperweights and pretty plaques.
Knex
Paper Tray That Holds Your Paper - Despite the fact that it looks a bit delicate because of its paper
construction, this craft project is actually sturdy and quite easy to
make.
Loose
Change Tray - Is Dad forever losing his keys? Why not make him a tray to put on
the hall table so that he can empty his pockets when he arrives home?
Dad will always be able to find his keys and his loose change, and
Mum will have fewer grey hairs!
Mosaic
Tray - Create a Mosaic Tray with broken plates and a focal tile.
Mosaic
Serving Tray - Add a Mediterranean touch to any simple plate and convert it into a
treasured serving tray worth showing off! The mosaic technique is
easy and with it, you can create many different items to decorate
your home.
Paper
Mache Tray - Enjoy the benefits of recycling by creating
beautiful paper Mache trays. Make trays to enhance
party decorations by simply choosing paper napkins and paint colors
to match the theme or decor. Get your kids involved by introducing
them to this recycling craft. The process is easy; it's waiting for
paper mache to dry that is the hard part. With a little patience,
your results will be terrific.
Save
the Sphinx - Explore the ancient Egyptian treasure, the Great Sphinx. The
4,500-year-old monument has a king’s head and a lion’s
body. Find out what it was made of and how it was constructed.
Sculpey
Mosaic Tray Craft - This mosaic tray looks like a designer creation that cost a small
fortune in an upscale boutique. However, it's simple and economical
to make, using sculpey clay and our recipe for faux grout. This
mosaic tray looks like a designer creation that cost a small fortune
in an upscale boutique. However, it's simple and economical to make,
using sculpey clay and our recipe for faux grout.
Styrofoam
Tray Plate - These recycled trays can be used for storing jewelry, keys and
other knick knacks around your home. They are made using recycled
Styrofoam trays and is a great kids craft project.
Toothpick
Baskets - While playing around with bamboo toothpicks, Styrofoam trays,
assorted lids and beads, it suddenly struck me that I could make a
small basket. To my surprise it was very easy to make really cute,
lightweight containers in various shapes.
Vintage
Resin Tray - This resin coffee tray is a great introduction to resin craft
projects and shows you how to use resin for craft. Resin crafts are
very popular right now and this craft project will have you hooked on
resin crafts in no time.