Craft Idea for a Group: Make a Mural

If you are minding the kids for the rest of the family on some of the key holiday, it is helpful to come up with group games and activities to suit the tastes of all involved, for a wide range of ages and of course interesting for both girls and boys. Most craft ideas are geared to individuals, whether kids or adults. Sometimes you’d like to have a craft idea that works for a group of kids working together. Making a mural together is an idea that works for a group. By working together, you are creating something to decorate a shared area.

Individual crafts can be displayed, but one unique item is often more effective than a group of items that are almost identical. In addition, sometimes kids crafts, like it or not, just become clutter when they are taken home, and it isn’t long before Mom throws it out. This craft idea of making a group mural can be displayed for several weeks and will not become clutter in anyone’s home.

The basic materials for a kids’ group mural is freezer paper. Freezer paper is about 18 inches wide, and it is very tough. One side is plastiki coated. That is the side that is designed to be placed against the food. You will have better luck drawing on and gluing things onto the other side. Class or group murals can feature a number of different design elements.

You can mix up some finger paint and let the children make finger streaks on the paper. You can let them scour old cast-off magazines and color catalogs for pictures they like and let them cut the pictures out and glue them on. They can add scribbles, designs, signatures, slogans, or pictures using markers, crayons, or gel pens. They can attach stickers to the mural as well. This craft idea is very flexible!

For making the mural, choose a theme that relates to the whole group in some way. If the group are girl scouts, for instance, and have been learning to camp, the mural can feature pictures of items related to camping. If you’ve been learning about dinosaurs, you can use them as a theme.
Little preschoolers will like making a mural with an animal theme. You should probably find and cut out animal magazine pictures to start with, and then let the children choose the ones they like for gluing down.

The children can also use animal cookie cutters dipped in finger paint to stamp animals on the mural, too. You may need to tape the paper to the table so it doesn’t slide around while the children work.

Again, the craft idea is to build group solidarity and not to highlight one artist’s skills over another. When the mural is completed, it can be a group project to display it. It can be hung in a special central location or given to an appreciated community leader or family member.