24 Fun and Easy Crafts for Kids
These easy crafts for kids are the perfect indoor activities when you need to fill some time at home. Kids who enjoy painting, creating, and working on craft kits will love these simple projects that they can make without a lot of special supplies or planning.
From colorful bead designs and upcycled creations to easy paper crafts for kids, these fun art projects will make your home a little brighter!
Rainbow Window Art
Kristy Pepping: If you are stuck inside on a cold, rainy or hot day, make this fun rainbow window craft. Instead of paint, which some suncatcher projects call for, this uses tissue paper or cellophane and dish soap. The prep work is minimal and when you clean it up, you may just have cleaner windows from when you started. From Hands On As We Grow
Ninja Stress Balls
Kelly R: Homemade stress balls are a satisfyingly squishy sensory toy, and so easy to make with balloons and a filler like flour, cornstarch, play dough or water beads. These ninja ones are such a cute upgrade to the plain balloon version! From Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
Vegetable Garden Rock Signs
Kelly R: Kids can hunt for cool rocks in the backyard or on a walk around the neighborhood, and paint them to look like the veggies you're growing in the garden. Label each one with the name of the plant for adorable homemade plant markers. From Repeat Crafter Me
Paper Plate Dream Catchers Craft
Kristy Pepping: All kids can use some inspiration for sweet dreams, no matter how fast they fall asleep. That's why creating a dream catcher to hang above their beds is a great idea. This craft uses simple household items that can be customized depending on what the child likes. Once assembled, simply hang it up for unique room decor. From The Suburban Mom
B is for Butterfly
Kristy Pepping: Little kids love to get their hands dirty during art projects. With this simple painting project, your child will create a butterfly from both their hands. Decorate with beads, feathers, cotton balls or really anything else you have laying around the house. Plus, it acts as a teaching tool for beginner spellers. From Crystal and Company
Paint Terracotta Pots
Kristy Pepping: Whether it's planting season outside or not, a fun arts and crafts project is painting terracotta pots. Use an outdoor acrylic paint for extra ease, or just be sure to protect your creation from the elements by coating it with a sealer once you are done. Then, fill your art project with dirt and some seeds and watch it come to life!
Paper Chain Snake
Kelly R: Kids can cut and link colorful strips of paper together to create a cool snake for an easy paper craft. If you have Very Hungry Caterpillar fans in your house, try making one that looks like him! From Raising Little Superheroes
Pony Bead Lizards
Kelly R: Thread colorful pony beads onto cord or string to make these fun lizards that can be clipped to backpack zippers or shared with friends. Once kids understand the technique, they can experiment with inventing their own custom pony bead animals! From Sugar Bee Crafts
Backyard Piñata
Shila: Next time you receive a medium to large-sized Amazon box, reserve the opportunity to make a DIY piñata. Fill the box with candy and seal it back up a few times with duct tape and around the whole box again one time more for good measure. Have the kids glue small pieces of tissue paper on the box in whatever design they wish. Hang in your back yard and whack it safely!
Paper Bag Hand Puppets
Kristy Pepping: When you have school-aged children, chances are you have brown paper bags. These can double as puppets for an easy craft. And this site even makes it more simple with templates you can print out to create various characters. Simply print out the pieces, cut them out and kids can glue them to the bags to create their puppets. From Aunt Annie's Crafts
Jellyfish Salt Painting
Kristy Pepping: Kids will love this fun project. It uses ingredients that you most likely already have in the house like glue and salt. Then you paint over it with watercolors to really bring it to life. The cool part is the colors blend together to create an ombre effect.
From I Heart Arts N Crafts
Paper Plate Animal Crafts
Kristy Pepping: If your child loves animals and you have a few paper plates laying around, then your kiddo can easily create this craft. They offer step-by-step instructions to making several animals from bears to birds to cows. Simply select your child's favorite animal and start creating! From DLTK
Colored Salt Art
Kristy Pepping: For a fun and unique art project try creating with colored salt. Simply take plastic bags and fill them with salt. Then add a few drops of food coloring to each bag. Shake up until the salt is coated. Once you have all your colors created in separate bags, use glue, and draw a picture on a piece of paper. Then have kids shake the different salt directly onto the glue. This creates colorful works of art!
Paper Bag Kites
Kelly R: This cute DIY kite is assembled using a paper bag, string, and a popsicle stick, and decorated with any art supplies you have on hand. It doubles as a fun outside activity on a nice day! From Somewhat Simple
Colored Craft Bubble Recipe
Kristy Pepping: What's more fun than blowing bubbles? Well, creating an art project out of it! For this simple recipe, add three tablespoons of bubble solution and about 8 drops of food coloring. Use can also you two tablespoons of tempera paint for more vibrant colors Mix these two together in separate jars. Then, using straws or bubble wands, simply dip in the solutions and blow them onto paper of your choice.
Primary photo: Dragos Gontariu on Unsplash
Upparent collects community-submitted recommendations and reviews, and any ideas that are shared reflect the opinions of individual contributors.