While psychology says we ought to let children be bored at times, keeping their creative juices flowing helps build their ability to think out of the box and apply their learning in the real world. The world they live in today is riddled with technology and gadgets, and somehow the charm of creating your own entertainment or joy cannot be replicated as well as with paper plates and paints, etc.
If you believe as strongly as we do that art and crafts help spark imagination in children, as well as push for improving motor skills, even as patience and dealing with failure and success are intrinsic values imbibed, this blog post is for you!
Let’s explore some easy crafts to do at home that can make a free afternoon interesting and special.
Age group: Pre-schoolers
Materials needed: Paper plates, coloured markers, craft scissors and glue
Activity: Children can allow their imagination to run wild by creating their favourite animals. Push the boundaries a little and help them create their very own zoo or farm with them. You could help trace the outlines for them to colour and set up the activity. This enables a feeling of quality time spent as well as subtle learning along the way.
Takeaway: Creativity, learning about animals, shapes, colours, habitat, etc
Age group: Younger children
Materials needed: Coloured paper, markers, craft scissors, glue and a vivid imagination
Activity: Trace the child’s hand on the coloured paper. Make it a game of “what shall we draw next” and have a go at making trees, flowers, birds, etc.
Takeaway: Sharing ideas, adorable keepsakes.
Age group: Preteens, teens
Materials needed: Coloured yarn, embroidery threads, beads, craft scissors and glue, etc
Activity: Simple knots to somewhat more complicated ones. This is an exercise in teaching children not just to create craft items, but also to imbibe the essence of bonds shared with loved ones. Children are encouraged to thread beads of different shapes, colours and patterns to create these simple bracelets. Creativity is the joyous outcome!
Takeaway: Bonding, giveaways that celebrate life and bonds.
Age group: Any age group
Materials needed: Rocks, painting materials, and any other decorating materials
Activity: Collect smooth rocks from your garden or a walk in the park and turn them into ladybugs, smiley faces, or inspiring word stones.
Takeaway: Cute decor items
Age group: Pre-schoolers
Materials needed: Craft accessories, yarn, fabric scraps, popsicle/ ice cream sticks, googly eyes, markers, craft scissors and glue
Activity: Be it a themed activity or a simple puppet-making exercise, creativity runs amok in this. With some guidance and interesting scraps or craft materials, you could well have interesting children’s area decor items as well as beautiful shared moments of fun and laughter.
Takeaway: Joy of seeing their wild imagination come alive
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Age group: Teenagers
Materials needed: Old magazines/ newspapers, craft scissors, glue, coloured markers
Activity: Allow them to see beauty in everything. The coloured pages can be repurposed to create interesting vision boards or story collages. For those truly artistically inclined, collages help create stunning works of art.
Takeaway: Visualisation and creativity may go hand in hand, but the joy of creating beautiful keepsakes of gifts from scraps is immeasurable.
Age group: Young children of all ages
Materials needed: Brown paper bags, coloured markers, craft scissors and any other accessories
Activity: Work with the young ones to create their favourite animal or superhero masks. They will spend long hours later playing with their creations.
Takeaway: Creativity and hours of fun
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Age group: All age groups
Materials needed: Old plastic bottles, craft materials, craft scissors, glue, markers, threads, etc
Activity: Textbooks teach about recycling and sustainability. When allowed to bring these ideas into their lives, children appreciate not only the concept but also the quirky outputs. Even the smallest of living spaces can be spruced up with recycled planters.
Takeaway: Putting into practice the goal of sustainable living practices
Age group: Preschoolers
Materials needed: Craft materials, scissors, glue, paints or markers, scraps of material or yarn.
Activity: Fun games or characters can be brought to life using egg cartons - caterpillars, turtles or even tiny cars and locomotives.
Takeaway: Affordable recycling fun that teaches children joy beyond store-bought toys
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Age group: All age groups
Materials needed: Paper - plain, coloured or textured
Activity: From paper boats to jumping frogs, origami introduces kids to the joy of folding paper into endless creations.
Takeaway: A great way to challenge their patience, fine motor skills and focus.
Age group: All age groups
Materials needed: Glue, borax and food colouring or even grated crayons
Activity: What is about slime, one will never know, but no fun craft activity can be complete without slime! A few simple items and kids can stretch, squish and enjoy sensory play for hours!
Takeaway: The joy of sensory play
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Craft should never be relegated to only a single class in a week at school or downplayed as an activity merely to keep children busy at home. There are intrinsic joys in being not just creative but also building memories and confidence. As a young child, they may need some guidance, but as they grow older, these moments of simple creative pursuits teach them the joy of independent thought, translating ideas into action and maybe even add to creating keepsakes.
So next time boredom strikes, pull out the glue, markers and paper. It's time to dive into some easy and fun crafts for kids!
