With a simple paper plate and some paint you can help your little wisemen make themselves a crown.

We like to use acrylic paint for most of our projects.  It is fairly easy to find and inexpensive -- we usually buy ours from the dollar store in the neighbourhood but we also sometimes get it at the craft store or Amazon.  I like that it comes in small containers in a zillion colors so I can shop for the colors I need for each project without feeling guilty about waste.   It is cleanable if you wipe it up while it's still wet.  It dries fairly quickly so children don't end up sitting around waiting for the various stages of the project.

Materials:

• paper plate
• paint for crown:  gold/yellow or silver/grey
• paint for jewels: red, blue, green, purple...
• pencil,
• scissors
• Optional:  stickers or fake gems

Instructions:

• Paint the back of the paper plate gold (or yellow, silver/grey)
• Let dry.
• Draw light pencil lines on the back of the plate as shown to the right so it divides the plate into eight pieces.  It should look like a pie.
• Cut the plate as if you were cutting a pie as shown but do not cut from edge to edge.  Cut to within about an inch of edge of the plate on each side.
• With the plate upside down (painted side up) fold each of the wedges up so they stand.
• Decorate the point of each wedge by coloring with paint to make it look like gems.
• You could also use stickers or fake gems to decorate your wiseman crown.

Printable version of these instructions