Henna Hands

Explore the art of henna! Henna (sometimes known as mehndi) is a type of body art common in Pakistan. The leaves of a henna plant are crushed and if you put it on your skin it leaves a temporary stain.  For celebrations in Pakistan people often apply henna in beautiful patterns and designs on their hands, arms, and feet! 

To make your own designs trace each of your hands on a piece of paper and cut them out.  Glue the cutouts on a background paper.  Decorate the paper hands with all sorts of designs that are important to you! Traditional designs include the sun and moon, leaves, and flowers! 

You can follow along with my demonstration below and find the link to the project here  "Henna Hands:" A Simple Multicultural Craft for Kids
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If you have air-dry clay at home you can try to make a hand sculpture with henna designs like you see here: Kids Craft: Mid Century Ceramic Hand Dish

Moon & Star Mobile Inspired by the Pakistani Flag

This moon and star mobile was inspired by the Pakistan flag (below).The green color represents Islam and the white stripe represents other religions. The crescent moon is a symbol of progress and the star represents light. 

I chose to use my own colors but you could use traditional green and white designs as well! To make this mobile you need two paper plates, string/ribbon/yarn, a hole punch, scissors, a pencil and paint (or something to add color or designs)

​1. Trace one paper plate on top of the other to make a crescent moon shape (or free-hand it) and cut it out. In the scrap from the middle draw a big star in pencil and cut it out.

2. Punch a hole in the top of the star and in the top of the moon (I did two in the moon)

3. Paint your moon and star (or add color another way) and allow them to dry.
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4. Thread the string through the moon and star to make them hang how you would like! I had to play with mine a little!

This project was inspired by the tutorial from The Crafty Arab