How To Make Wooden Locker Magnets
I first thought of these wooden locker magnets when throwing my daughter’s 12th birthday party. Between friends and family, she was having a big range of kids, both girls, and boys, ages 6 to 12. Therefore, I had to come up with something entertaining for a large group. Magnets always seem to be attractive to kids (haha, get it?! 😁). I figured at least they could use these magnets to decorate their school lockers.
Here are some of the wooden locker magnets my kids have made:
As you can see, you can make anything from emoji faces to a holiday-themed design such as Valentine’s day. Or children can make funny looking one-eyed, two-eyed, or three-eyed monsters! After all, that is what the boys seemed to enjoy making. 😄
Now with Valentine’s Day on the horizon, I am planning to have my son’s fifth-grade class make these locker magnet pogs for their party. I think a classroom setting is perfect for this simple yet engaging craft. Most importantly, the students will get to show off their artistic style as well as making something functional they can use for their school lockers.
How to Make Wooden Locker Magnets For Your Classroom Party
These magnets are such a quick and easy craft for the classroom!
Equipment
- Paint Brushes
- Newspaper
- A cup of water to clean paint brushes
Materials
- 100 piece Wooden 1.5″ Circles
- 100 piece Flexible Magnets with adhesive
- Glue Dots (to attach to the back of all the additives to place on the circles)
- Small Crafty Items like sequins, pom poms, beads, buttons, ribbon
- Acrylic Paint *Don’t substitute for any other kind of paint as acrylic absorbs and dries the best for this project!
- Paintbrushes
Instructions
1. First, decide what colors you want to use for the wooden circles. For instance, you may want to go with the party theme or specific colors.
2. Next, paint all of the circles using acrylic paint. Acrylic paint works best for this project as it dries quickly. It also leaves a vibrant, matte color on the wood. I suggest painting the wooden circles before your party as it will not only save time, but it helps that the children aren’t getting acrylic paint all over themselves. In other words, parents and teachers will appreciate this! 😁 Of course, this is a personal choice but highly recommended.
3. Once the first coat of paint has dried, put on a second coat to make the color stand out. I even had to put a third coat on for the lighter shades. And don’t forget to paint the sides of the circles! It is not necessary to paint the back as the children will attach a magnet when they finish decorating the front.
4. Gather all of your smaller craft items that the children will be able to use for their wooden circles. My suggestion is to attach a glue dot to the back of each item and then put them into a large flat box or container. Again, this is something you could have the children do themselves on the day of the party. However, if time is an issue, this will help you save some.
5. On the day of the party, give each child however many wooden circles you plan to divvy out. Since you will receive 100 if purchased through Amazon.com, you can usually give 3 or 4 wooden circles to each student. Conversely, you may decide to let the children pick out their own colors that you painted previously.
Here are what my painted circles for the party look like:
6. Next, have the children go through the container of add-ons that they want for each of their circles. Seriously, they will have a ball searching, peeling, and sticking!
7. Finally, as the children finish up their circles, they can get an adhesive magnet to add to the back of each wooden circle. Have them press the magnet firmly on the back of the pogs.
Now the kids can enjoy their crafty creations by hanging them inside their locker or bringing them home to display on the refrigerator.
As another idea, you could even do this as a fun craft for a birthday party! Enjoy!
Check out more craft inspiration over at our WNY Deals and To Dos Pinterest page!
