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Making a homemade lantern: lantern ideas for children.

How to make a lantern: tips & ideas

Simple step-by-step instructions for creative DIY lanterns

Do your children enjoy arts and crafts and getting creative? In this article we will show you three creative ideas for children on how to make a lantern. We'll show you step by step how to make a colourful milk carton lantern, unicorn lantern and an original dinosaur lantern.

Making a DIY lantern: tips

Making a lantern is a great activity for children and lots of fun. These colourful illuminated lanterns can be used all year round whenever it gets dark.

We have put together a few helpful craft tips below to help you get started:

  • Get everything ready: it is a good idea to get everything you will need for your lantern in advance. This also includes a suitable craft mat. Make sure there is enough lighting and that your child can easily reach all the materials.

  • Choose an age-appropriate craft idea: check that the instructions for the lanterns are appropriate for your child's age. For younger children, you can start with simple designs, for example a colourful lantern made from cardboard boxes.

  • Foster your child’s creative skills: your child will really enjoy making a lantern if they can combine it with one of their interests. For example, a unicorn lantern could be perfect for any child that loves horses, while a dinosaur lantern is the ideal choice for any child that likes little adventures and dinosaurs.

Tip

It is advisable to only use electric tea lights, a mini string of fairy lights or a lantern stick with an LED lamp for the light in your homemade lantern. This way, your child can easily hold the finished lantern themselves and admire their wonderful creative work.

Making a milk carton lantern: step-by-step instructions for simple DIY lanterns.

How to make a milk carton lantern

If you're looking for a simple DIY lantern for younger children, a colourful lantern made from milk cartons or cardboard boxes is just the thing. This gives your child the opportunity to get creative and enjoy colouring the cardboard. Not only will their lantern be a unique work of art, but it is also quick and easy to make.

Milk carton lantern: everything you will need to get started.

Here is everything you will need:

  • Empty milk carton or a cereal box

  • Coloured tracing paper

  • Pipe cleaners

  • A wooden dowel and small fairy lights

  • Pens, acrylic paint, stickers, glitter or anything for decorating and colouring your lantern

  • A glue stick

  • A pair of scissors

  • A hole puncher

Making a DIY lantern out of a milk carton: add your pipe cleaners to your lantern.

Step-by-step instructions for a milk carton lantern:

1. Start off by cutting the top part off the carton.

2. Now, use a pencil to draw some windows on the sides of the cardboard and cut them out with a pair of scissors. The windows need to be the same size.

Tip

If this part is too difficult for your child, you can also do the cutting out.

3. Next, get a piece of coloured tracing paper and cut it to the correct size so that it fits the height of the carton. You can then stick it to the inside of the cardboard. This will be the coloured windows for your lantern.

4. Now you can get creative and enjoy designing your lantern. Add a splash of colour with acrylic paints or colourful stickers.

5. Get a hole puncher and punch two holes at the top edge of the carton on the opposite sides.

6. Next, attach the pipe cleaner to the holes so that you can create a handle.

7. Finally, all that's missing is your wooden dowel which you hang on the pipe cleaners. Your colourful cardboard lantern is now ready!

DIY unicorn lantern: step-by-step instructions for homemade lanterns.

How to make a unicorn lantern

Does your child love fairytales and unicorns? Then a homemade unicorn lantern made from a paper lantern is a great idea. These adorable lanterns are quick and easy to make and perfect for any child that really like unicorns. They can be taken to a lantern parade or hung up as a decorative element in their bedroom.

Unicorn lantern: everything you will need to get started.

Here is everything you will need:

  • A paper lantern

  • A piece of glitter card

  • A piece of black cardboard

  • Tracing paper and string

  • A pen and a pair of scissors

  • Craft glue or a glue gun

  • A wooden dowel and small fairy lights

Step-by-step instructions for a unicorn lantern:

1. Start by drawing the ears for your unicorn, a semi-circle for the horn and flowers and stars to decorate on the glitter card and cut these parts out.

Making your own lantern: cutting out the ears, horn, flowers and stars on a piece of glitter card.

2. Next, roll the cutout semicircle into a horn and glue the ends together. Cut several flaps at the bottom of the horn and fold them inwards.

3. Next, get a piece of black cardboard to draw the eyes and cut these out.

DIY lanterns: rolling a piece of card to make a unicorn horn.

4. Now it's time to use a piece of tracing paper. Put it on the table and unfold it completely. Now fold it from top to bottom so that the paper is closed at the top and open at the bottom. Then fold the paper vertically from left to right. The sheet of paper is now open at the bottom and on the right. Now get a pair of scissors and cut as many strip fringes as you like from bottom to top. It is important to leave an approx. 2 cm thick edge at the top.

5. Unfold the piece of tracing paper again and tie it together at the top with a small piece of string. This creates decorative tassels that will be the mane on your unicorn.

Making your own unicorn lantern: cutting strip fringes on a piece of tracing paper.

6. Now, you can put the individual parts together. Start by attaching the colourful strip fringes to the bottom edge of the lantern. You can then attach the horn, ears and flowers to the upper part of your lantern. Make sure you don't forget the eyes and glue them onto the centre of the lantern.

7. Finally, attach the finished lantern to your wooden dowl and hang the fairy lights in the lantern and your magical unicorn lantern is all done!

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Making a dinosaur lantern: step-by-step instructions for DIY lanterns.

How to make a dinosaur lantern

A homemade dinosaur lantern is a fantastic idea for any child that loves dinosaurs. This lantern emits a warm light and is guaranteed to stand out at any lantern parade. The following instructions are ideal for slightly older children who can use a pair of scissors.

DIY dinosaur lantern: everything you will need to get started.

Here is everything you will need:

  • 2 (brown) paper plates
    Tip: alternatively, you can use white paper plates and then paint them with brown acrylic paint.

  • Brown and black card

  • Glittery green card

  • A piece of green tracing paper

  • A pair of scissors and a pencil

  • Craft glue or a glue gun

  • A hole puncher

  • A wooden dowel and small fairy lights

Step-by-step instructions for a dinosaur lantern:

1. Start off by cutting out a circle from the inner part of your paper plate.

2. Now, get a piece of green tracing paper and cut out a circle that is slightly larger than the circle from the paper plate. Next, stick it to the inside of the paper plate.

Homemade lanterns: cutting out a circle from a paper plate and a piece of green tracing paper.

3. Draw a dinosaur head, the spikes and the legs on a piece of green glitter paper and cut out the shapes.

4. Use a piece of brown card, sketch and cut out a slightly smaller version of dinosaur feet. Then stick these onto the green dino feet you have already made.

5. Cut out small triangles from the brown card and attach them to the head.

6. Now, cut out a small circle from a piece of black card and an even smaller circle from the piece of brown card. Stick both onto the dinosaur's head to form the eyes.

How to make a cardboard lantern: cutting out the parts for your dinosaur lantern.

7. Next, draw small and large stars on the piece of green glitter card and cut them out.

8. Now, you can put the different parts of the dinosaur together. Start by glueing the head to the edge of a paper plate. Then you can attach the back spikes and legs the same way.

9. Get a second paper plate and stick it onto the first paper plate to make a round belly for your dinosaur.

10. Decorate your dinosaur with your cutout green glitter stars.

Making a dinosaur lantern: decorate your dinosaur lantern with green stars.

11. Next, place a small string of lights in the belly on your dinosaur lantern.

12. Finally, get a hole puncher and punch a hole in the paper plates and hang the wooden dowl through the holes. Voilà! Your homemade dinosaur lantern is all done.

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Conclusion: foster your child’s creative skills with these fun lantern ideas

Making a lantern is a fun activity for children. Not only will your fantastic lantern stand out at the next lantern parade, but they can also be hung up on the wall in your children’s bedroom as fantastic works of art. Depending on how old your child is, you can make individual steps easier or more challenging in order to encourage them as much as possible and to ensure they have lots of fun making them.

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The image sources in this text are in chronological order:

All images in this text are from C&A