Building toothpick bridges can be a great activity in arts and crafts for kids. You only need toothpicks and glue work on this project. Remember to be patient and plan ahead to make things easy and fun.

1. Toothpick Art and Sculpture: Toothpick Bridges
You can be sure that everyone on earth has seen a toothpick even at least once in their lives.
After all, it is the oldest dental instrument since Neanderthals walked the earth. Yes, even
these pre-modern men needed to clean their teeth too you know. Well, the toothpicks they
used way back then didn't exactly look like the ones we use today. But they did use some
form of toothpick back then as we do today.
Most of the toothpicks we use today are made of wood or plastic. In some places, they also
use metal and bone, which will require some of us to stretch our imaginations a little bit.
Now, there's more to a toothpick than just something to clean our teeth with. Toothpicks can
actually be used as a sculpting medium. They're actually great stuff to use for arts and crafts
for kids.
Sculpting with Toothpicks
Believe it or not, some artists make use of crazy forms of media to create some of the
fabulous art we see nowadays. Some artists fancy the use of toothpicks to create their art.
They make boats, copy famous buildings, trains, and create toothpick bridges. These are all
miniatures and they are pretty neat especially when kids get to make them.
Toothpick Bridges for Kids
Making toothpick bridges is a great arts and crafts idea to teach young children. The materials
you'll need are pretty simple – just grab some toothpicks and some glue and you have your
stuff ready. Of course, you need to plan things before you start working on the toothpicks.
Grown ups can create a simple bridge plan so the kids won't have to work on something too
complicated.
You might want to avoid creating bridges with the wide curves if you're creating one for the
first time with your children. Work on straight lines and angles for the first bridge and don't
make one that is too big or too elaborate. If your kids have little toy cars then you might want
to make the bridge wide enough for those toys to go cross over.
Remember that it will take a lot of patience when working with kids especially when you're
doing a construction project along with them. One more thing you should remember is that
you don't need to rush things. The glue for the bridge takes time to dry up and it will also take
some time to get the toothpicks to line up the way they should. If you rush things then the
bridge is more likely to collapse.
The time spent building toothpick bridges can become quality time spent with your kids.
You're literally building bridges of trust that will last a lifetime.
References:
http://www.deartips.com/tips-for-building-toothpick-bridges.html
http://www.artsandcraftsforkids.org/