Decorating Walking Sticks

Posted by Nicole Carney on Jul 23, 2014 in Camping, Outdoor Activities | 0 comments

One of the reasons I love camping are the numerous possibilities for my bugs to engage in open-ended play, which coincidentally means more relaxation time for me! Although both of my bugs have wonderful imaginations, sometimes they need a little push to get their creative juices flowing. Here is a camping craft my bugs really enjoy: decorating walking sticks or, as they refer to them, ‘magic staffs’. Not only are they fun to make, but they also assist in hours of pretend play.

During our biking excursions, and while meandering through the trails near our campsite, the kids made sure to keep their eyes peeled for the perfect walking sticks to decorate. Once everyone had found a stick that fit him/her, we were ready to transform the ordinary sticks into something magical.

Materials:

sturdy sticks to fit the height of each child (you may have to use an axe to cut them to size, and a jack-knife to peel off any rough bark)
acrylic craft paint
sponge brushes
paper plates
feathers
colourful yarn (we used reflective yarn I had previously purchased from Michael’s)
scissors
soapy water for quick and easy cleanup

Decorating Walking Sticks

I gave each child a paper plate dotted with the acrylic colours they wanted to paint with, along with a foam brush. I was really impressed with how little of a mess they actually made!

When they were finished painting, the kids washed up by splashing in the soapy water, and we rested the sticks in the sun to dry.

The bugs returned from their bike ride to find that the paint on their walking sticks had dried. Now they were ready to wrap around the yarn, and tie on some craft feathers, for the finishing touch!