Crafting is an excellent way for kids to express themselves artistically and foster a sense of resourcefulness as they experiment with different materials and supplies. Crafts can encourage creative problem solving and build fine motor skills, not to mention the fun that comes with making something of your own! Below we’ll explore some great craft ideas for kids of all ages, from simple supplies like paper, cardstock, paint, and glue to some lesser-known items to achieve interesting and stunning results. Let’s dive in!
Indoor Craft Ideas for Kids
Indoor crafts are a great activity option for days when the weather is less than ideal. Try making paper bead jewelry, mini felt succulent gardens, balloon rocket ships, custom paper dolls, DIY garlands, woven paper baskets, and fabric covered notebooks with some simple items you likely have around the house. Foil and tissue paper suncatchers are particularly fun to make with younger kids and make great decorations to hang in windows!
Outdoor Craft Ideas for Kids
When the weather cooperates, there are so many fun outdoor craft activities to try. String up colorful wind chimes, paint plaster stepping stones for the garden, create an outdoor mini golf course or outdoor nature scavenger hunt, set up some outdoor art projects, make nature-inspired prints from found materials like leaves or rocks, hang up your own DIY dreamcatcher, or paint garden stakes with permanent marker. Nature provides so much inspiration, so your kids can let their imaginations run wild!
Easy Craft Ideas for Kids
Sometimes there’s not as much time available to devote to a craft project so there are plenty of simple activities that are also fun for kids. Glue craft sticks together for a mini log cabin or add wiggly eyes to create silly puppets out of an old sock. Muslin drawstring bags make the perfect no-sew pillowcases and collages from magazines can brighten up an old frame. All you need is glue or Mod Podge and some newspaper or map clippings to make an eye-catching map collage or decoupage a box with magazine cut outs.
Educational Craft Ideas for Kids
Crafting is an excellent environment for helping kids learn new vocabulary words and different scientific concepts like geology and biology. Using clay to make fossils, salt dough sea stars and shells, creating compost houses and terrariums are all unique ways to help your child gain an understanding of complex concepts while having fun. These crafts also inspire conversations with experts like stone carvers, naturalists, geologists that can spark a lifelong interest in the sciences.
Recycled Craft Ideas for Kids
Crafts are a great way to teach your kids the importance of reducing waste while being creative. Create a stuffed animal from old t-shirts and socks or turn plastic bottles into sprinklers or a herb garden planter! Egg cartons can be upcycled into painted flower pots and paper towel rolls into little potted plants. For more inspiration, take a look at any of your old cardboard boxes and get creative!
Paper Craft Ideas for Kids
Nothing beats the simplicity and affordability of paper crafts! Make fun 3D shapes such as stars or cubes from parchment paper, build a mini city from colored cardstock flowers from magazine pages, and use buttons to create patterns in origami designs. With just a few sheets of paper and some creativity, you’ll be amazed at the projects your kids come up with!
Cheap Craft Ideas for Kids
Making use of materials you already have at home is an excellent way to keep costs down while encouraging your child’s creativity. Have them design their own wrapping paper using leftover bits of newspaper and fabric scraps or use old shipping boxes to construct houses or cars. Give your child permission to reach and glean inspiration from any spot in the house; you’ll be surprised by their out-of-the box thinking.
Summer Crafts for Kids
Summer offers up ample opportunity to get your kids creative juices flowing. Decorate old flip flops or terra cotta pots with their favorite designs, repurpose plastic bottles into rain stick instruments for dancing in the rain, and upcycle plastic caps into sun catchers or hanging garden decorations. You can also do some activities in water by painting boats or floating leftovers from beach combing.
Winter Crafts for Kids
Crafting is a great way to keep your kids busy during those long winter weekends. Make window snowflakes with ice cream sticks or wooden spoons covered in glue and craft foam pieces then hit the kitchen to melt snowflakes and popcorn garlands with white candy melts. Use cotton swabs to paint intricate snowflake collages on black construction paper, turn coffee filters into colorful snowflakes with markers, paint vintage star shapes with epsom salt and white paint on wood surfaces.
Fall Crafts for Kids
Autumn brings its own opportunities to create beautiful autumn-themed crafts like leaf print napkins, mini scarecrows from goat cheese logs dressed up with craft feathers and buttons decorative mason jar bats with googly eyes or cute leaf serve dishes from crafting clay. You can also help your kids make their own natural dyes by boiling the fallen leaves in water or making apple pie play dough.
Spring Crafts for Kids
The brighter days of spring are perfect for crafting rainbows from pipe cleaners and tissue paper flowers from cupcake liners. Fill old plastic water bottles with foil, ribbon, and tissue paper strips to create bird feeders or turn pieces of construction paper into sun catchers decorated with buttons and glitter glue. Liven up some plain flower pots with tissue paper roses or decorate Easter eggs with scallop scissors.
Crafting Supplies Needed
There’s no need to go out and buy expensive specialty crafting kits when you have so many supplies in your own home or pantry. Gather supplies like scrap fabric, old t-shirts, socks, straws, beads, yarn, buttons, recycled cardboard boxes, toilet paper rolls, egg cartons – anything goes! Polish off any project with scissors, tape, glue sticks, crayons, markers, washable paint and glitter glue.
Safety Tips For Crafting With Children
You always want to make sure crafting sessions are as safe as possible – both in terms of physical safety as well as healthy boundaries around certain content areas. It’s best not to craft with items that could contain harmful toxins such as lead-based paints or plastics. Always supervise younger children when using scissors and make sure glue sticks are kept away from little fingers.
Creative Ways To Repurpose Everyday Materials
Kids love repurposing everyday materials into beautiful new works of art. Make mini robot figures from screw caps and cereal boxes decorated with bright tape shapes; or use discarded cardboard boxes for creating classic forts or modern day cars. Transform an old t-shirt into a superhero cape by adding felt elements, or turn leftover plastic spoons into decorative flowers!
Fun Ways To Upcycle Items
Upcycling is a great way to upcycle items that may otherwise end up in the trash by repurposing them into new projects! Turn tin cans into handy storage containers, use bits of yarn to make colorful friendship bracelets out of aluminum foil, construct jewelry stands out of oatmeal containers and recycled buttons. Paper rolls can get a fresh coat of paint then turned into plant holders perfect for adding a pop of color any room.
Tips on Keeping Your Crafting Area Organized
With so many craft materials it can be easy to let projects pile up while they await completion leading to a cluttered work space. Choose a designated area where your kids can easily access their materials so they can conveniently choose whatever project they’d like to work on. Label different bins for jewelry making supplies separate from paint supplies; position them within reach so everyone can enjoy their creative time together.
Creative Storage Solutions For Crafting Supplies
If you find yourself drowning in craft supplies but don’t have much counter space consider investing in some creative storage solutions like wall peg shelves which offer up plenty of room for beads and other small materials without taking up too much space in any given area. Hang buckets on the wall and designate one type of material per bucket such as felt fabric shapes separately placed sticks; while using smaller jars to store pens pencils crayons etc.
