5 Adorable Crafts You Can Do with Little Ones

Sometimes you just need some new ideas for crafts you can do with your kids. That’s especially true on those long days when they’re not in school yet. When they’re too small to cut things, do complex projects or sit still for long, it’s almost impossible to keep them occupied.

With that in mind, we’ve scoured the internet for the best crafts you can do with little ones. These are our five favourites.

Make loo roll monsters

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If you’ve got a family, you will have a host of empty loo rolls sitting around. Get all the paper off that you can, and grab your craft supplies. Have the kids paint and decorate the loo rolls to make monsters they can play with – after the paint and glue have dried, of course.

Create your own Jackson Pollock

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Kids of any age will enjoy this craft, as it allows them to play, create and learn, all at the same time. Start by laying down some old newspaper or plastic over a large area outside. Then get some brushes, paint in cups and paper (or, if you want to make a lovely gift, you can use a framed canvas). Bring your kids outside, and show them the supplies and explain who Jackson Pollock was. Explain that he would dance around his canvases, trying to splatter the paint in a way that expressed how he was feeling. Then let them go crazy.

They can even paint their hand and make a handprint to “sign” the work once they’ve finished.

Sculpt clay animals

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All this craft takes is some clay and plenty of imagination. Use the clay to sculpt their favourite animals – snakes, giraffes, mice and snails are pretty easy. Use toothpicks to make eyes and other details. If you want to make permanent toys, use an oven ready polymer clay like Fimo or Sculpey and bake the animals in your oven according to the instructions. Then your children will have toys they helped make!

Collage paper plate masks

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Shake up this classic craft with a new approach: collage. Go on a walk and gather leaves and twigs, or flip through a magazine together and cut out shapes that your child thinks of. When you’ve got plenty of materials, get some paper plates, some glue and crayons as well. Cut eye holes out, and let your children go nuts, decorating their masks with the materials they helped gather.

Wrap up some string art

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Okay, this craft isn’t for every kid (or every parent for that matter), since it does require a bit of concentration and a lot of gluing. If you think your child is up to it, though, you will get something really cool at the end of it.

Gather some dry twigs and brightly coloured yarn cut into different lengths. Glue one end of the yarn onto a twig, and wrap it very tightly around the twig. You can then glue down the other end at the same spot as you glue down the starting end of a new piece of yarn. Or you can glue the yarn onto the stick at regular intervals as you go along, which would be messier but will make the yarn more secure. If the glue dries clearly, it shouldn’t really affect how the finished product looks either way. It just depends on how much you’re happy to clean up afterward, really.

Keep wrapping until you run out of yarn or patience, whichever comes first. As you can see from the photo, exposing bits of the twigs looks great, too, so once you’re finished and the twigs have dried, you can put them in a vase to make a creative centrepiece.

 

We hope these crafts have given you some great ideas for adorable crafts you can do with little ones. Let us know in the comments which ones you can’t wait to do, and share any other crafts you love doing with your little ones, too!