Nothing fills up a rainy morning like crafts kids can explore with little intervention from grown-ups. Release your mini's creativity with these easy craft ideas for kids––there is something for every season.
Written By
Katie Covington Crane
Easy Crafts for Kids: The Supplies
These are the craft supplies we like to have on hand for spur of the moment crafting:
• Glue
• Tape
• Scissors
• Kid-safe paint, crayons or markers
• Carboard from boxes, egg cartons, or toilet paper tubes
Use them to top a winter hat, add to a backpack zipper, or make a garland of mini pom poms – nothing is cozier than a fluffy pom pom. School-aged kids will love to dream up their own color combinations and designs.
As we head into fall, engaging kids inside becomes more and more important. Allison Klein suggests making her super simple recipe is a great way to "involving kids in the whole process, from creation to playing, makes the experience even more valuable."
Allyship Bracelets
Teach your mini what it means to be an ally (and hone in on their fine-motor skills) while crafting your very own rainbow beaded bracelets.
Crayons - they've seen it all; battered, broken, chewed up, spit out. Bring new life to those little fallen wax soldiers with this crayon melting tutorial by Paper & Stitch. These colorful geodes and swirling planets are an easy way to introduce children to the incredible possibilities of recycling. Plus, they're easy for little hands to hold!
When you open up an egg carton, you’ll find the pointy pieces perfectly resemble the center of a daffodil. Paint the petals by hand or make a potato stamp as we did, and glue the egg carton pieces to the center for a lovely vase of daffodils that will last all spring.
Get the party started with paper, tape, and pipe cleaners. Teach them to delight in the joy of their own self-expression with colorful homemade crowns.
Skip the carving knives (and pumpkin guts) and break out the sparkly stickers instead. Let littles go crazy with Meri Meri stickers in Halloween shapes that feel decidedly not-spooky.
When Laura Prietto found herself in a creative lull between Halloween and Christmas, she tried this ornamental corn painting activity and it was a hit. We love this idea as a harvest-inspired Thanksgiving kids' table decoration that doubles as an activity for creative kids–you could even use butcher paper for the tablecloth and let kids decorate it with their corn drawings.
Paper dolls but make it Halloween? This Newspaper Garland from Handmade Charlotte turns the Sunday paper into a series of repeating bats, ghosts, and pumpkins to hang from bunk beds or front stoops.
Nothing says summer camp like a DIY friendship bracelet. Erica from @PSimadethis gives a fresh, creative, and sustainable twist to a classic craft using scraps of fabric and ribbon or string to make bracelets you and your kids will love wearing.
Who says plants can't have personality? When a child tends to a houseplant, not only are they getting a firsthand experience with maintaining their own mini-ecosytem, but they're building a better understanding of what life can look like and the basic things we all need in order to thrive.
A Dandy-Lion: Turn an ordinary toilet paper tube into the dandiest lion with a handful of dandelions. Then, use a hole punch to make the perfect space for threading stems into a mane. A fun activity for little fingers!
Mama and founder of the craft and design site, The House that Lars Built, Brittany Jepsen shares her decorative stockings craft (made with materials you probably already have) that you and your littles can DIY and deliver to friends.
An update to the potholders of yesterday, these rolled taper candles are a sweet holiday gift kids can make that friends and family will actually use. Tie them with string or ribbon and a note, like Kristen from Live Simple. A kit makes it mess-free and simple to do on a cold afternoon.
