Looking for a quick and easy way to bring the fun back into your kid’s birthday party or a craft project for your little ones with shorter attention spans?
With minimal supplies, you can create true DIY magic and an afternoon of fun. Warning! You may be required to hang the creation on the fridge, for an undetermined period of time, regardless of the result…
Easy Arts & Crafts to do with kids
These easy arts and crafts are suitable for all ages and occasions.
Paper Animals
Paper crafts are perfect if you don’t have a lot of time or materials on your hands. They can turn even the laziest afternoon into an exciting crafts session!
How about turning your old cardboard boxes into a menagerie of zoo animals? To create your own personal zoo you will need:
- Animal templates
- Paper
- Cardboard
- Paintbrush
- White Glue ( or similar )
- Pipe cleaners
You can print off all the animal templates you need at template.net or 3dgeography.co.uk.
Trace the templates onto the cardboard and cut them out (it’s best to keep little hands away from scissors). Then go wild with colours!
Let your child paint the colours and patterns of their favourite animals, and let them dry. While waiting, cut pipe-cleaner tails and tusks, and secure the cardboard with glue.
If you opted for 3d designs, make small slits according to the templates and assemble the animals.
Coffee Filter Craft Cups
Source: busykidshappymom.org
A coffee date with your fellow mums can turn into an exciting crafts session with your little ones. With the coffee filters, you can create “tie-dye” like effects without all the hassle. For your crafts you will need:
- Coffee filters ( the name gave that one away… )
- Round edge scissors
- Non-permanent markers
- Spray starch
Start by trimming the edges of your coffee filters to create an uneven organic shape.
Let your kids draw their own lines, spots, and blobs on the coffee filter (use non-permanent markers), then help them drape the filter over an upside-down plastic cup (a yoghurt container will do as well).
Spray some starch onto the filter until the colours bleed together and the filter is completely wet, then let it dry. This makes for absolutely delightful paper glasses or, if you’re careful, candle holders!
Alternatively, you can leave the filters flat and transform them into flowers or colourful snowflakes.
Pasta Jewellery
Picture by Jane MamaPeaPod
There’s nothing more fun than creating your own accessories and pasta craft is an all-time favourite for that. For your jewlery you will need:
- Macaroni pasta
- Ditalini pasta
- Food colouring
- Craft wire or string
- Scissors
Dye the pasta by putting 5 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol into a ziplock and add 15 drops of food colouring, then seal and swirl the bag to combine it.
Add around a ½ cup of pasta, sealing the bag again to remove the excess air. Let your little one swirl the ziplock around until the colours are evenly distributed, and let the pasta sit in for 15 minutes.
Once ready, use a skewer to spread the pieces into a single layer so they dry completely, and start working on your neckarroni or earrini!
For the neckarroni: Thread the pasta onto a cord and tie the ends together. You can also glue pieces together and let them dry on waxed paper.
For the earrini: String ditalini into a 7-inch length of craft wire (you can get this online or from the crafts store). Fold the wire in half with the pasta in the centre, and string a star onto each wire end, before inserting both ends through a piece of ziti. Top with a mini wheel, and twist both ends around the wire.
Homemade Playdough
Play dough is a recipe for countless fun days with the kids. Want to bring things up a notch? Why not make your own play dough (bonus: also a cheaper alternative). All you’ll need is:
- 1 cup of baking soda
- ¾ cups of water
- ½ cup of cornstarch.
If you want to make colourful and scented playdough, add 4-5 drops of food colouring and 2-3 drops of essential oils.
To make this cure for boredom, add the cornstarch, baking soda and water in a saucepan with no heat, and stir. Once mixed, place them on the stove top and turn to medium. Let your little one do the stirring until the mixture starts to bubble slightly.
Place the dough onto parchment paper and let it cool (careful, it’ll be really hot). You can flip it over and knead it a bit to cool it down faster. Then, if you’d like, add some food colouring or a scent – let your little one pick the colours! If you don’t have essential oil at hand, feel free to use some lemon juice.
Crystal Geode Eggs
Source: theactivefamily.org
For older kids or little sculptors with big ambitions, this crystal geode eggs project is not only a boredom-cure but a fantastic way to learn about nature.
Geodes are small rock cavities lined with crystals or minerals, that form through sedimentation. You can mimic this process at home with the following items:
- Eggs and an egg dye
- The egg carton – you’ll see why
- Craft glue
- Epsom salt
- Food colouring
- Toothpicks
Help your little one crack the egg at the narrow end and widen the opening until it gets to the size of a quarter. Empty it in a bowl and repeat with the rest of the eggs – don’t throw away the yolks as they make for a delicious frittata.
Set the shells in a bowl of hot water. Once rinsed, show your kids how to gently rub their thumb on the inside to loosen and remove the membrane.
Once the shells are dry, you can dye them or set them inside the carton. Brush the entire inside with a thin layer of glue and sprinkle Epsom salts. Let them dry over a few hours.
In the meantime, boil a cup of water and slowly add ½ cup of Epsom salts, stirring until they dissolve. Add small amounts of salt until it no longer dissolves, then stop.
The mixture should be thick but not slushy; carefully pour it into the shells using a small ladle, and fill to the top. Let your little one choose the food colouring and add a drop or so inside, gently stirring with a toothpick.
Now, it’s time to be patient. Place the shells at room temperature and check them daily. Gently break any hard, jagged layers forming on the surface with a toothpick to allow the water to evaporate. After the few days, your wonderful colourful geodes will appear!
Bugs from egg cartons
Picture by family.disney.com
We told you you’d need those cartons! Repurpose recyclable egg cartons into magical crafts and set a great example on reusing items into eco-friendly decorations.
To create an army of colourful bugs using egg cartons, grab the following:
- Tempera paint (you need red, green and black)
- Paintbrushes
- Glue and a hot-glue gun
- Pipe cleaners (black and brown)
- White tissue paper
- Craft needle/push pin
- Scissors
- Markers
- Googly eyes
Cut off the top of the carton and leave just the bottom. You can either use individual egg cups or two or three in a row to make the bugs.
Help your little one paint the outside of the cup with solid colours – red will create single ladybugs, painting two cups black will make fantastic beetles, and three green cups will magically transform into a caterpillar.
Once the paint is dry, add details such as dots and lines with markers. Glue the two googly eyes to the front of each egg cup, and cut the pipe cleaners at different lengths to use as antennae or legs.
Punch holes with the craft needle before inserting the pipe cleaners. To add wings, cut tissue paper and hot-glue it to the finished bugs.
Planning a big arts and crafts event?
If you’re planning an arts and crafts activity with a group of kids, consider hiring an entertainer! They will make the day a truly creative experience for kids and take away all the hassle for you!
