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Looking for a fun, inexpensive craft that gets the creative juices flowing? You need to learn how to make a dream catcher for kids.
This craft is especially interesting because of the story and the legend behind it. Even better, kids get to practice some important skills like concentration, hand-eye coordination, patience, and following directions.
What is a dream catcher?
Dream catchers, which were created by an indigenous group of people living in North America called the Ojibwa, generally consist of a hoop with net or a web inside and hanging feathers and beads.
The idea is that a dream catcher is hung above someone's bed while they sleep, and during the night bad dreams get trapped in the web so they're unable to reach the dreamer.
When the sun rises the next day, those bad dreams disappear. Good dreams, on the other hand, pass through the dream catcher and slide down the feathers to the sleeping person.
Traditionally, they were used only by children, as adults were encouraged to receive, embrace and interpret all of their dreams, good and bad, and learn from them.
This is a great craft especially if your child is struggling with nightmares. Together you can make a dream catcher to stop those bad dreams in their tracks.
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Let's get started
If you're wondering how to make a dream catcher for kids step by step, then you've come to the right place.
We've compiled a list of 12 different ways to do it.
Some will teach you to make simple dream catchers while others will show you a more complicated approach, but rest assured: every tutorial is perfect for children.
Materials you'll need
There are, unsurprisingly, many ways to make a dream catcher and that's why we love this craft for kids. There's no one way to do it.
Here are some of our favorite tutorials. Go ahead and pick the method—and final product—you like best!
Broadly speaking, most of the methods here use the craft supplies. That being said, it's pretty amazing how different each person's dream catcher can look!
For this craft you're going to need:
- Paper plates (here's an eco-friendly option)
- Scissors or a craft knife
- Yarn
- Craft beads
- Feathers
- A hole puncher
- Markers and
- Glue
This is an interesting craft because of all the coordination required. Your kids will be cutting, threading, punching holes, tying... They'll be working up a sweat and practicing important fine motor skills and honing their hand-eye coordination.
How to make a dream catcher for kids
Our first method comes from Keryn from over at Style Novice. She has a lovely tutorial on how to make a DIY dream catcher for kids using most of the supplies mentioned above. In fact, paper plate dream catchers is a whole genre in itself!
She swaps in ribbon for the yarn and uses stickers and markers to decorate her dream catcher, which we think looks fabulous!
Another idea comes from authority site Dream-Catchers.org, which explains how to make a basic dream catcher, similar to the one above, but using yarn instead of ribbon and tying on the feathers instead of using glue.
The final result look great, if you ask us!
Image credit: Dream-catchers.org
Another method for making your dream catcher comes from Misilla, from Crafts, Homeschooling and More. Check out her video below.
Her approach is slightly different in that she cuts small triangles in the paper plate and uses yarn to weave the web on the outside of the plate. She also makes her own beads and feathers using construction paper.
What we love about this method is that you need even fewer supplies and that it's even more crafty, since you need to make some parts of the dream catcher yourself.
Sophie, from Sophie's World, had the great idea of using plastic children's bracelets (left over from a birthday party) to make mini dreamcatchers.
The method is more or less the same as the others but the final product has a completely different look, as you can see. Even if you don't have bracelets at home to use, you can try to find something similar.
The crafty people over at Kiwicrate.com have their own way of making a dream catcher for kids. The process is similar to the others, but what we love about their approach is the unabashed use of beads.
The dreamcatcher is very lively and colorful. There's no such thing as too many beads! Catch their tutorial right here.
DiYana teaches us how to make a "simple" dream catcher with this video. We love how she traces a plate and then cuts it out and wraps yarn around it. This is a great opportunity for kids to enhance their fine motor skills.
Her inner web is fantastic and looks just like a flower. It may be complicated for some kids, but parents can help them out with this part. She also adds charms to the bottom of her dream catcher.
This may not exactly be a kids dream catcher tutorial, but with a little help your little one can certainly make this one.
For a totally different approach and look, you'll want to check out this great crafting blog.
This method uses a pipe cleaner for the hoop of the dream catcher instead of a paper plate. The inner web also looks quite different from the paper plate webs as it's intentionally made to get smaller and smaller with a view to trapping bad dreams more effectively.
This would look great hanging above any kid's bed!
The clever ladies over at Urban Moms have an excellent blog post on how to make a dream catcher for kids.
But they don't use paper plates or pipe cleaners for the hoop, they use the outer rim of a margarine container! We love how they use recycled items. They wrap yarn all the way around the rim to create a beautiful colored hoop.
Image credit: Urban Moms
This dream catcher, from Michelle over at MollyMoo, caught our eye because of its unique design. The process might be a tad (just a tad) more complicated, so check it out to make sure your child can handle it.
Image credit: Molly Moo
She uses a bunch of different materials: an embroidery hoop, twine, felt, cookie cutters... And although the finished dream catcher looks quite different from the others, we can confirm that it's just as pretty, and we suspect that it's just as effective.
How about making a mini dream catcher? This could be a great introduction for kids into the world of dream catchers and the materials might be easier to handle for small hands.
We love this tutorial, which uses an old tape roll. It doesn't matter if yours isn't pretty, you'll be wrapping the yarn around it. She also uses pom poms in this kids craft.
Another great dream catcher craft tutorial comes from Barbara over at Art Bar Blog.
She uses a whole slew of different materials, from washi tape and felt to paper pinwheels. The process is definitely a bit more involved than the others but if your little artist is up for it, then definitely give it a try,
Image credit: Art Bar Blog
These dream catchers are, in a word, awesome.
Here's another idea, thanks to Tiffany Clarke. We love how she decorates the paper plate and cuts star-shaped holes for threading the yarn. The rest of her approach is similar to the others, but we like hers in particular because it's so happy and colorful.
Well, there you have it!
If you were wondering how to make DIY dreamcatchers for kids, now you have 12 different approaches to try. It's a fun, interesting craft with a great purpose and an even story legend behind it.
