Mobile basteln mit Kindern - so geht’s

Which mobiles are suitable for crafting with children?

Get creative: The great thing about mobiles is that almost any material and motif is suitable for hanging. Whether homemade and cut-out motifs, natural materials, felted or modeling-clay figures, colorful <link> beads or fabric ghosts, imagination knows no bounds. The principle is always the same: shapes or figures are hung on thin threads from a horizontally placed rod or ring. Some mobiles also consist of several crossbars hung one above the other. This way the figures move gently and come to life with every draft in the room.

Age-appropriate crafting: Even very young children can actively help make a mobile, for example by painting, cutting out, sticking or tying knots. You can, for example, print out pre-drawn autumn motifs or collect materials for a mobile in the woods. Slightly older children can knead or felt figures or design a larger mobile with several crossbars. No matter whether you use a craft tutorial or get creative yourselves, basically you only need the usual craft supplies and a few good ideas.

Mobiles made quickly – with motifs to color

Craft ideas for small children should be as simple as possible. That's why a mobile with nice motifs is just the thing. Your child can color the printed motifs glued onto cardboard and cut them out. Then each motif is punched and tied with a thin thread to a ring or a branch. The branch or ring is attached to the ceiling or the window with a sturdy ribbon.

Autumn mobile: treasures from a walk in the woods

Whoever goes for a walk with children often returns with the <link> bags full of treasures: colorful leaves or pinecones, acorns, oddly shaped twigs or flowers are collected. Especially in autumn, when nature reveals the most amazing colors and fruits, there are plenty of craft materials for an autumn mobile.

You need:

A dry, sturdy branch
A sturdy cord or a decorative cord for hanging
Various colorful autumn materials: dry leaves, red rose hips on the branch, dried flowers, small pinecones, acorns, etc.
A thin string or thread to attach leaves, berries or cones
Clear spray varnish
Old newspapers

Here's how:

The branch forms the base of the autumn mobile; the natural materials are hung on it. The branch should be dry and not rotten. If necessary, you can spray it with clear varnish to prevent the bark from coming off over time.
Lay out the collected materials on newspaper and spray them with a thin layer of clear varnish. When the varnish is dry, turn all materials over and spray the other side as well. Lacquering is not strictly necessary, but it extends the life of the mobile. In particular, leaves dry quickly at room temperature and lose their vibrant color.
Cut pieces of thread of different lengths and knot one end to each of the fully dried materials. Knot the other end to the branch at regular intervals.
Tie the cord with both ends to the top and bottom ends of the branch so that a triangular suspension is formed. Now the mobile can be hung at the window or on the ceiling.

Felt mobile: colorful and homemade

If you've always wanted to try felting yourself, a homemade mobile offers the perfect opportunity. Together with your children you can felt colorful balls in different sizes and hang them from a pretty branch with threads of various lengths. The felt mobile looks especially beautiful as autumn window decoration. If there's no time to felt yourself, you can also buy colored craft felt and cut out small figures. For autumn, for example, gnomes or colorful felt leaves are nice motifs.

Colorful woods – a nature mobile with a twist

Does your child also pick up sticks and twigs on every walk? Just make a colorful mobile out of them: cut dry, nicely shaped twigs to the appropriate size and spray them with paint in different colors. Let dry and tie them with threads of varying lengths to a thick branch, which may also have been sprayed in color.

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