Need a good way to keep your kids entertained on those long summer days? These fun summer crafts for kids are the perfect form of entertainment. Not only do they keep kids entertained, but also, they help improve eye-hand coordination, creativity and other important skills. Plus, by offering regular arts and crafts at home you give your child a leg up in school.
#1. Scrappy Monogram
Make or buy a plain oversized wooden or paper cutout of your child’s first or last initial. Tell your child he or she can decorate it any way to represent who they are. Offer paints, markers, or stickers. Glue can be used to attach cut outs, pompoms, glitter, or images from magazines. The finished monogram makes a nice decoration piece for your child’s bedroom.
#2. Pompom Art
Pompoms, glue and construction paper can lead to hours of fun crafting, okay… at least half an hour! Give your child an assortment of different color pompoms and then let them create a picture. Suggest they draw a picture first, and then instead of using markers or crayons to fill in the lines, use pompoms to color it in. Different size pompoms can add even more fun to the mix, plus your child can organize pompoms by color and size for additional benefits.
#3. Make a Fairy House out of a Milk Jug
All you need to make a fairy house with your child is a milk jug, or some type of large bottle or container, and some decorations. They’ll need your help to trace and cut out doors and windows—which makes the bottle come to life and resemble a real house. Make sure the doors are large enough for their favorite small dolls to walk in and out of. Once the outline of the fairy house is complete, let your child decorate it any way they want using markers, stickers, glitter glue, etc.
View the complete Fairy House tutorial here: http://www.filthwizardry.com/2009/07/fairy-houses-and-fairy-wings-for-your.html
#4. Soda Bottle Flower Stamps
All you need is a water bottle, paint and paper for this activity. The bottom of a plastic water or soda bottle makes a lovely flower stamp when dipped in paint. This is a great opportunity to teach your child about shapes, or even mix up different paint colors to create a flurry of colorful flowers.
#5. Button Bracelets
Do you have spare buttons sitting around the house without a purpose? What about some basic string? These are the only two things you need to make button bracelets. Simply string buttons through thread for lots of wearable fun. This is a great activity for kids because it exercises creativity and helps improve fine motor skills as they string buttons. Furthermore, it provides something they can wear to show off their newfound jewelry-making talents.
View the complete Button Bracelets tutorial here: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/27565/button-craft
#6. Cereal Bracelets
Don’t have enough buttons? You can use cereal to make bracelets instead! This puts a whole new twist on things because now bracelets are edible. Cereal is a great alternative to buttons for younger children or kids who are prone to putting everything in their mouth.
#7. Make Cute Animals out of Rocks
Go on a nature walk with your child to find flat-faced stones that are large enough to draw on. When you return, let your child transform the stones they collected into animals—like an owl, chicken, or horse. Use their hand drawn stones as decoration in the garden or around the house. Kids love to see their artwork on display.
View the complete Owl Stones tutorial here: http://www.redtedart.com/stone-owls/
#8. Bagel Birdfeeder
Do you have a stale bagel you’re about to toss out? A stale bagel is the perfect DIY birdfeeder. Not only is this an art project, but it gives kids a chance to get up close and personal with local wildlife. Simply attach a string (approximately 24” long) through the hole in a stale bagel so that you can hang it outside from something, such as a tree branch.
Mix together 1 teaspoon peanut butter with 1 teaspoon shortening and then spread mixture over the flat side of the bagel. Next, pour bird seed on a paper plate and press the bagel into it so that seeds stick all over.
Hang your bagel birdfeeder outside and then watch through a nearby window while the birds take it down in no time.
View the complete Bagel Birdfeeder tutorial here: https://www.thespruce.com/bagel-bird-feeder-1249780