By Jo Philipp
Doing crafts with the kids is a wonderful way to spend more quality time with them. If you pick your craft projects carefully, you will be able to enjoy the results of your labour for a long time and add a bit more colour and fun to your home.
We love craft projects that are not only fun and simple to do, but which also use products that you may normally throw away. Recycling your everyday items and taking use of what you already have guarantees you can enjoy crafting without bleeding your wallet dry.
Here are some of our favourite craft ideas for the whole family.
1. Cardboard Ice Cream Shop
If you have cardboard boxes lying around – perhaps after you’ve bought some new kitchen appliances – you can use them in a number of different crafts.
You can use cardboard boxes for all sorts of fun crafts! Image courtesy of Kate TerHaar, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
One of our favourite is to make an ice cream shop from the boxes.
You’ll need:
A cardboard box (tall enough for your child to stand)
Scissors/kitchen knife
Tape
Paint/Water colours
Paper
Marker
If you can’t find a tall enough box, you can always ‘reinforce’ your box with some extra cardboard. Just tape the extra pieces to continue from the flap parts of the box.
Draw the openings to the box with a marker. You’ll need to draw the door, as well as the window where you sell the ice cream.
Cut the door open with scissors or a knife and do the same to the window. You should then get the kids to paint the box as they wish.
Once the paint has dried up, you can decorate the walls with paper. For instance, cut ice cream-shaped images or add text. Use your imagination!
Add a countertop to finish the shop. You can use the extra cardboard and just tape it from the window. Make sure you use strong cardboard and tape to make it sturdy!
2.Seashell Puppets
If you’ve been on a beach holiday in the past or you are heading to a beach soon, you can utilise your extra beautiful seashells with this amazing craft idea.
This seashell puppet idea is from the ZingZingTree website. The site has plenty of amazing crafts, so be sure to check it out.
You’ll need:
Lolly sticks
Googly eyes
Seashells
Glue
Let the children pick which shells they want to use as the body of the puppet and pick smaller shells to use as the head.
Glue the shells onto the sticks and let them dry properly. Once dry, you can add the googly eyes by gluing them in as well.
The above Youtube video also has an amazing idea to making seashell fairies. The video suggests using them as Christmas tree decorations, but they would be a fun idea to do with the kids just for fun as well!
3.Button Frames
You can also use leftover buttons for crafting amazing frames with the kids. You can use your imagination and use the frames either for pictures or even wall stickers.
There are many ideas online for button frame crafts. For instance, Vickie Howell’s blog has an amazing and very simple button frame idea, which we’ve used as an inspiration.
You’ll need:
Buttons
Frames
Glue
(Paint)
If you want to use old frames for this project, you may want to paint the base of the frame with a different colour. You could also make your own frames by simply gluing or nailing simple wooden sticks together.
Once your paint has dried, you can start gluing the buttons to the frame the way you want. The kids could cover the whole frame or just scatter the buttons here and there.
Colourful buttons are great for crafts. Image courtesy of Laineys Repertoire, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
On the other hand, if you want a more relaxed frame, you could create one by using a string and buttons. This is a great idea for framing your wall stickers or pictures.
Make a small knot to the string near the point where you want the button to stay. Put the button through the string and create another knot on the other side to hold the button in place. Do the same with all the buttons and you have a beautiful string rope, which you can use for framing items on the wall!
4.Pirate Cork Boats
Hopefully you didn’t throw away your wine bottle corks from the Christmas and Easter parties! If you have, then start saving them now, as you can do manyfun crafts with corks.
One cute idea is to make pirate boats. You can, of course, use some other decorative design as well, but boys will especially be interested in pirate-themed crafts.
You’ll need:
Corks (you’ll need three per boat)
Elastic bands/glue
Toothpicks
Paper
Use the elastic bands to hold three corks together. Alternatively, you could try to glue the corks together.
Cut a small square-shaped piece from the paper. You’ll use it as the sail for the boat. The kids can decorate it by drawing a skull for pirate ships or any other design.
Pierce the sail with the toothpick and press the toothpick into the middle cork.
Check out the Youtube video below for more details:
These boats will float on water so they are a fun craft idea for the beach!
5. Simple Paper Boats
As summer is almost upon us, paper boats are a fantastic craft for some outdoors fun. You can make these paper boats on your garden and the children can play with them in small puddles.
This simple paper boat idea was inspired by the Patch of Puddles website. You can find more details and ideas from their website.
You’ll need:
A4-sized paper
Wax crayons
Colour the paper with the wax crayons to your liking. Your children could make abstract drawings or even draw their favourite cartoon character on the paper. It’s really up to their imagination!
You can just colour it from one side or do both sides if you want. Once you have the paper coloured, all you need to do is fold it.
Check out this Youtube video for easy instructions:
Since you don’t need a lot of equipment to make these, they are perfect way to waste time at a picnic or at the beach. You just need to remember the folding pattern!
The above five craft ideas are fun because you don’t need to find many items for making them or spend a fortune.
You can also enjoy the crafts for a long time and the kids can use them in all sorts of games!
If you liked this post check out more from the Kids Wall Stickers blog:
Top 5 Wall Art Ideas for Boys Bedrooms
Kids Wall Stickers Blog 
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