Apple Window Cling Plus 4 More Back-To-School Art Ideas

Quick and simple craft ideas, such as an apple window cling made with puffy paint, for home school moms or lower grade teachers.

This apple window cling DIY will give you all the feels of Back-To-School.

Being 8 years old and skipping down the sidewalk to begin 3rd grade.

A whole new world unfolding before expectant, joyful eyes.

And no one has ever told you that the longer you continue in this new world the more challenges you’ll face.

No one ever hinted that the mountains aren’t all cake walks and beautiful side trails full of natural beauty.

And no one could convince a lower grader of that on the first day of a new school year.

(Well, there are those children that don’t look forward to school.  Their mountain is fear of the unknown, and they need your encouragement and unconditional acceptance.  But that’s another post for another day.)

While your child is counting the minutes to that first day, or you’re the teacher wondering how to occupy a sea of bouncing faces,

here’s some ideas for activities that just could hold their attention for a New York minute.

More Classroom Craft Ideas on the blog:

Free-Form Fall Painting Party: Unstructured Art Time Is Important

Fall Paint-Splat Classroom Crafts With Free Templates

Mom’s Gift: Classroom DIY Students Will Love to Make

12 Classroom Valentine Projects for Unique, Creative Fun

Children’s Bible Lesson, The Parable of the Lamps

Apple Window Cling Art

Here’s the Cliff Notes version of this project.  If you need more, find the detailed instructions at thinkcrafts.com.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. Fabric Puffy Paint in red and green
2. Wax paper
3. Apple outline printable: fill in this form and request “apple window cling template.”
4. Tape

HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Print out a copy of the apple outline for each child.
2. Tape to work surface.
3. Cover the outline with a square cut from a plastic bag, and tape the bag to the outline paper or work surface.
4. Trace all the lines with the fabric puffy paint.
5. Let dry, undisturbed, for 24 hours.
6. IMPORTANT: Let dry, undisturbed, for 24 hours.  Yeah, I know.  I said that already, but it is pretty important.
7. Carefully lift the apple from the plastic, and place on a clean window.
8. Wallah!  Amazingly beautiful and professional looking art!

Apple Chinese Lantern Style Art

Again, the short version of this project.  If you need more, find the detailed instructions at craftymorning.com.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. Red, brown and green construction paper
2. Empty toilet paper roll or red card stock rolled and taped like a toilet paper roll
3. Tape, lots of it, or glue, like quick drying Tacky Glue.
4. Scissors

HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Wrap the toilet paper roll with red paper. Glue or tape down.
2. Cut oodles of red noodles: 5/8″ x 8 1/2″ strips of red constuction paper. The width cuts don’t have to be precise.  The length should be.
3. Tape or glue one end of a red strip to the toilet paper roll. Roll this end of the strip over your finger just a little to make a nice rounded curve.  Leave the other end straight.
4. Fold a sharp crease 1/2″ from the other end of the red strip. Tape or glue to the bottom of the roll.
5. Do this to red strips till you get all the way around, overlapping each new strip over the existing one by about 1/4″.
6. Cut a red circle a little larger than the diameter of the toilet paper roll.  Scrunch it up so it will fit inside the roll.  Poke a hole in the center with a pencil.
7. Twist a piece of brown paper into a stem.  Poke it through the hole in the red scrunch. Push it to the bottom of the roll, then glue or tape it to the side of the roll.  Bend the top of the twisted paper to look like the stem of an apple, and cut to about 1 1/2″ from the top of the roll.
8. Cut leaves from green construction paper, and glue to the brown stem where it comes out of the red scrunch.

Up-Cycled Plastic Bottle Apple 

Here’s the short version of this project.  The detailed instructions are at joyfuljewish.com.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. 2 clear plastic drink bottles, the kind that have bumps on the bottom
2. red cellophane or tissue paper
3. short found twig for a stem
4. green construction paper or felt for leaves
5. scissors, ice pick, glue

HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Cut off the bottoms of two bottles.  Make one 3/4″ taller than the other.  Poke a hole in the center of one of the bottoms for stem.
2. Pack red cellophane into one bottle, then place the other bottle on top, overlapping 3/4″.
3. Shake to get the cellophane to fill the whole apple.
4. Poke the twig/stem through the hole and glue in place.
5. Cut leaf shapes and glue to the stem.
6. These would be cute with a string tied to the stem and hung from a faux apple tree.
7. Alternate ideas:  Fill them with goodies as a prize or gift for students.  Or, place an electric tea light inside with a timer set for the dark hours, and hang in your garden.  For this, you could paint the plastic bottle with red permanent marker instead of filling with cellophane.

Spiral Apple Peel – Scissors Practice 

This craft teaches scissors control while making something fun.  The detailed instructions are at teachwithme.com.

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. red, brown, yellow and green construction paper
2. child’s scissors, glue

HOW YOU DO IT:

1. Cut the pieces to construct the apple: the red round apple, green leaves and brown stem.  A fun option is to make the apple double sided, with red on one side and green or yellow on the other.
2. Glue the stem to the apple.
3. Begin at the stem, as shown, and begin “peeling” apple by cutting in a circle, one thin, long strip from outside to center of the apple.  Glue the leaf to the stem.
4. Tack to ceiling and let the apple swirl down.  This is where the two-colored apples will make their statement, as they twirl, showing both colors.

Save these projects for later…