3 Amazing Craft Ideas to Keep your Children Busy this Summer

From time to time when you have small children, you can find yourself stuck inside and have no choice but to figure out some way to keep them entertained - or at least keep them from wanton destruction due to boredom. A great way of doing this (that isn’t just using our latest gadgets to distract them), is the tried-and-tested method of arts & crafts.

Going through such a creative and artistic process with your kids can give them an experience which will create meaningful memories they’ll cherish the rest of their lives, and it can also help teach your children the value of working with their hands to make something permanent. But when it comes to projects, it can be impossible to decide where to start. In order to help you out, I’ve put together a few ideas here which rarely need more than a few colouring pens/pencils, some paper, scissors, glue, cardboard and maybe a printer (filled with paper and ink, of course). Once you’ve got your tools, it’s time to start working!

Fancy Dress

One of the fondest memories that we all have from when we were little, is getting kitted out in fancy dress. Your child might have a genre which they would love to dress-up as, be it dinosaurs, princesses, or even Star Wars characters. The first step to making a costume is sitting down with your children and trying to figure out what costume they’d like. Then, start drawing up your plans on which pieces of card, fabric, and paper can be combined to create the coolest costume.

Drawing out lines on a piece of cardboard can be a great way to get your children involved, but I obviously recommend that any actual cutting is at least carried out under adult supervision. With a few splashes of colour and the right shape, almost any costume can be replicated at home. 

Finger Puppets

This craft can be recreated with paper, card or foam and is another which encourages play as well as creativity. With finger puppets, the creativity doesn’t only stretch to making them, as once created they can be used to put on fantastic performances. From reenacting your most-loved films, to making up entirely new stories together, it's a great way to encourage using their imaginations.

Using a printed template (which you can easily find online, but make sure you have the supplies to print them out), everybody begins with a blank puppet to colour in and decorate. Once the puppets are ready, go wherever your little ones’ imaginations take you. You can even create a multitude of backdrops with just a pencil and some paper to illustrate the changing of scenes.

Tissue Paper Creations

All you need for this final craft is a lot of tissue/crepe paper, some glue and some card to stick the tissue to. Perhaps you can pose for your little ones whilst they compete to make the best tissue-paper portrait of you? Or maybe you can unleash their creativity and see what crazy ideas that they’ll make. Once you’ve got a vision in mind, simply tear, scrunch and stick until you bring it to life together! This one can’t be beaten for its simplicity, making it ideal for younger children.

So there you have some quick suggestions for fun projects that can be tackled together, and remember, it doesn't matter how artistic you are, as long as you have fun!

This is a collaborative post.