If you want to spend time with your children in a way that is both educational and fun, then crafts is one of the best solutions. Doing crafts is something that doesn’t require any special preparation, just having the right tools and elements and letting your imagination run free. In order to give you the inspiration to create your own crafts, we’ve come up with a few kids crafts ideas that you can start applying. Remember however that no matter their age, children have to be supervised when handling scissors, glue, or other objects that could harm them. Nevertheless, you will probably have as much fun as them, so they needn’t be left unattended.
These kids crafts ideas will help your children develop their imagination and discover new talents; moreover, it gives them a bit of responsibility, because you must impose a few rules about safety and avoiding to make too big of a mess. Here are some crafts you might enjoy doing:
- Button bracelets. Everyone has a box of unmatched buttons at home, which are supposed to be used “sometime” in the future. But we never do anything with them, do we? Then why not use them in a children’s project? You can make a wide variety of crafts with buttons, and girls will especially love making bracelets. You just have to take some colorful ribbons and stitch buttons on them; you can even use them to close the bracelet by making an eyelet on one end of the bracelet and sticking it over a button on the other side. That way you can also control the length of the bracelet.
- Tiny lighthouse. One of our first kids crafts ideas was for little girls, but boys will probably prefer to build this small lighthouse. You just have to take a couple of plastic or cardboard cups and put them on top of each other. Paint the outer layer in red and white stripes and cut some square holes to represent a door and small windows. It would be preferable for the bottom cup to be larger than the top one, which should be transparent. Inside the transparent glass, place one of those small bulbs that imitate a candle and work on batteries. Now your child has a beautiful and unique nightlight!
- Tin art. All children will enjoy working with tin, but you must supervise them to avoid getting them hurt. You just have to find some soda cans around the house and cut their tops and bottoms, unfolding them into what should look like a squarish sheet. Give your kids some markers and let them draw on their tin canvases; they can draw fish, people, houses, cars or anything they like. When they’re finished, help them cut the shape of the drawing and leave room on the top to make some holes. You’ve just made some beautiful ornaments which you can hang outside in the yard. You’ve also recycled, and you can use the moment to teach the kids about environmental responsibility.
- Bottle-cap tambourines. You don’t have to worry that these kids crafts ideas might be annoying, because they won’t. Find some Y-shaped branches, small enough to be held by a child, and clean them of harsh corners. Then let your children paint them in whatever colors they like, or whatever combination they prefer. While the paint dries, take some bottle caps and flatten them; they’ll need some holes in the middle, and the parent should do this. Now take a piece of wire and tie it to one end of the “Y”, and then put a lot of flattened bottle caps on the wire, tying it to the other end. The tambourine is ready, and it makes a chiming sound. You can decorate these objects with feathers, ribbons and other elements.
Our list of kids crafts ideas ends here, but now you can start using your own imagination in order to come up with new projects. Draw inspiration from everything around you and let the children take control sometimes, because it is their activity.
