6 great home arts and craft ideas for kids

With so much time spent at home recently, you may find you’re running out of activities to do with the kids on the weekend. Perhaps they’ve already watched their favourite movies ten times and have played all the board games in the house. To keep cries of “I’m bored!” at bay, sometimes it’s best to go back to basics.

Arts and craft projects might be old school, but they remain an excellent way to keep the kids busy and entertained. Not only does it get them away from tech screens, but it allows them to express their creativity and develop their fine motor skills. Whether you do these projects together as a family or keep the kids occupied while you take some ‘you’ time, they’re sure to love getting crafty.

Read on for six fun and simple arts and craft ideas for kids to do at home.

1. Galaxy jars

Here’s a colourful craft project that combines both art and science.

Filled with a cosmic kaleidoscope of colour, the kids will feel like they’re holding the galaxy in their hands. To make them, put some cotton balls in a mason jar and use a pencil or stick to squish them slightly flat. You can also use another type of jar or even a water bottle if you don’t have a mason jar on hand. Then, mix a few different acrylic paints (pink, blue and purple look beautiful), mix them with water and layer the colours throughout the jar. You can also add glitter for some extra pizzazz.

Galaxy jars

2. Collages

For a classic craft project that doesn’t create a lot of mess, you can’t go past collaging. It’s a fun way to mix different mediums and get the kids experimenting with colours, patterns and textures. All you’ll need is a canvas (sheets of A4 paper will work perfectly fine), child-safe scissors, glue and some old magazines and newspapers. Encourage the kids to cut out images that appeal to them and let their creativity run wild as they bring their creations to life. To give their collages a more 3D quality, they can also layer things like paper mache, cotton balls and pipe cleaners on top.

3. DIY dream catchers

For a slightly more intricate craft project for older kids, why not create a dream catcher? Inspired by a Native American tradition, these are gorgeous ornaments the kids can hang on their bedroom as decoration. For the foundation of the dream catcher, you’ll need a circle-shaped material. Embroidery hanging rings work well, but you can also use a paper or plastic plate by cutting out the middle. Then, use some yarn to weave a criss-cross pattern throughout the circle, leaving some longer strings hanging from the bottom of the circle. Attach some embellishments like beads, feathers and pom poms and the kids are ready to welcome in those sweet dreams.

DIY dream catchers

4. Egg carton characters

This is one you can make with materials you might already have lying around at home! Empty egg cartons can be cut into individual segments and transformed into fun characters and creations. All you’ll need is some paint to cover the egg cartons and textas to add any embellishments like the facial features. To take the characters to the next level, you can also grab some googly eye stickers and pipe cleaners for the arms. The kids can even create themes for their creations, such as farm animals or Disney princesses.

Egg carton characters

5. Homemade playdough

Everyone loves playdough, but it’s even more fun when you make it yourself from scratch. You can whip this up with simple ingredients from the supermarket, like salt, plain flour, vegetable oil, water and food colouring. No cooking required! The kids will have an absolute ball kneading, squishing and squashing the mixture to perfection. Playdough also lasts for months, so you can get it out any time you need to give the kids something to do.

Homemade playdough

6. Streamer art

Crepe streamers aren’t just for parties — they can also be used to make an array of colourful artworks. One popular option is streamer jellyfish — inspired by the umbrella-shaped marine creatures. To make these, cut plastic plates in half and attach the streamers to the bottom as their tentacles. The kids can also make streamer rainbows by adding cotton balls to the plates to represent clouds. Then, attach the streamers to the bottom in a rainbow pattern and they’ve got a cute and cheerful artwork to hang on the wall.

Arts and craft projects with the kids are an interactive and fun way to spend time together at home. Give one of the six activities a go and see where your creativity takes you.