We all connect with our little ones in different ways. For me, I love connecting with my children through crafts and activities. (Hence the blog). Since I have been an avid crafter with my kids for many, many years now I thought I would put together a blog post with my 5 go-to, easy crafts for kids at home.

These 5 crafts can be easily adjusted for any holiday or any theme at all. They are so open ended and four of them are practically mess free.

While that image above looks like TONS of crafts – I want to assure you, they are really just the same 5 easy crafts adjusted in little ways here and there. I created for you a fun little video sharing a few crafting tips and ideas and also sharing with you how I change these 5 crafts to go with every theme or topic you could think up.

You can check out that video and my 5 easy crafts kids will love doing at home right here:

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And in case that video doesn’t work for you (it sometimes gets fussy when I upload it in that way), I am including it here as well from my YouTube channel:

 

Just in case you are a reader more than a video watcher, I thought I would share with you the details below. 

My Top 5 Easy Crafts for Kids at Home

I love crafting with my kids. I know that not everyone does, but I also know that because you are reading this post – you likely feel the same way I do! 

When I was thinking about crafts that I enjoy doing with my children I realized that we really have only 5 go-to crafts around here. I mean, we do other things once in awhile, but the vast majority of the time when you boil them down, we are basically only doing one of these 5. 

So let’s get right to my 5 go to crafts for kids:

#1: Paper Chains

This super easy paper craft is perfect for so many things! Simply have your little one cut strips of paper. Take one strip of paper, bend it into a circle and tape. Then stick a second strip of paper through the middle of that first circle, bend it into a circle, and tape that one. Continue on making a long paper chain.

This craft is super easy and very versatile! You can use this paper chain craft to countdown to a holiday or birthday, you can practice patterning, you can add numbers to the paper strips to practice counting, you can add letters to practice the abcs or name letters!

Here are a few of my favourite ways to craft with paper chains:

Paper Chain Bracelets for Dolls: Cut up the paper strips very tiny to make super duper teeny bracelets and necklaces for dolls and stuffies.

Paper Chain Bracelets for People: We set this paper chain making craft up as a quiet bin for my little guys to use independently and it was a big hit! 

Reusable Paper Chain Alphabet Activity: You can make this paper chain craft reusable by adding velcro to the paper strips. We used a strong cardstock for this version. 

Make a Paper Chain Rainbow: In this fun edition of “it’s actually a new craft not just another paper chain” we made paper chain rainbows! The kids loved them!

#2: Chalk

I tell you, bringing chalk inside is the perfect craft for toddlers and preschoolers! It cleans up like a dream and is so easy for toddlers and preschoolers to create with. 

You can simply use chalk on construction paper, or you can add in some wet paintbrushes afterwards for a cool art exploration. You can use cookie cutters to colour inside of, can practice some chalk colour mixing, or you can do un-chalking on a blackboard, using water to erase your chalk!

Here are a few ways we have used chalk lately:

Grating Chalk and Mixing to make Chalk Paint: This one is so simple and such fun one to explore with the kids!

Making Chalk Ghosts: We coloured inside these little chalk cookie cutters and then smudged them to make them looks as though they were blurry, fuzzy little ghosts.

Un-chalking: This is a favourite of a few little ones of mine. The colour all over a blackboard and then draw pictures using a paintbrush with water. 

#3: Contact Paper

I am not sure how I stumbled upon contact paper in the first place, but I tell you friends – contact paper is THE crafting supply! If you are crafting with little ones and you are looking for fairly mess-free crafts, you are going ot need a whole slew of this stuff! 

Contact paper, or shelf liner as it is sometimes called, is sticky on one side and transparent. I use this stuff by taping it to the wall, window, or table with the sticky side up, securing around the outside with tape. Little ones can then craft away in a ton of different ways! 

Here are some of the crafts we have made with contact paper:

Valentine’s Day (Or any holiday) Art: We cut out some paper hearts to stick down on the contact paper. Little Norah then snipped bit of paper and stuck them down as well. This works for any holiday at all and then looks pretty to display in a window.

Silhouette Snowflakes: Cut out snowflakes from black construction paper and press them down onto the contact paper. then add some blue tissue paper to fill the rest of the contact paper.

Tissue Paper Trees: Tape that contact paper up to a wall and have little ones stick on tissue paper ‘leaves’ or even real leaves from outside! 

A Sticky Snowman: add some buttons or paper cut out into shapes and let your little one decorate a contact paper snowman! 

#4: Pipecleaners and Beads

Making beaded bracelets and necklaces is definitely a childhood crafting staple. We like to make threaded bracelets using yarn and beads, but for little ones it is great to this activity with pipecleaners. Pipecleaners are sturdy and have a nice point to them, allowing for easy threading. 

These crafts are great for strengthening fine motor skills! 

You can do some patterning or counting. Or you can make secret code bracelets!

Here is a fun way we play with pipecleaners and beads:

Pipecleaner and Beads code bracelets: Start by choosing one colour for each letter, then string your name onto the bracelet again and again! You can create a whole alphabet and make secret code bracelets. 

#5: Print Making

Now this final craft is not as mess free as the other ones – but completely worth it! To make this print making craft you will need to put a plastic garbage bag or table cloth on your table. Next, tape off an area about 8.5 x 11 (a regular piece of paper). Have your child paint away in that area!

I like to add a few drops of dishsoap to the paint to make clean up and extra breeze. Let your child paint and paint that area, then while still wet, have him draw some designs or shapes into the paint using a popsicle stick.

Finally, press a piece of paper over the wet paint and peel it away, revealing your print!

Here are a few ways we have done this craft over the years:

Print Making Finger Painting: paint on the table using your fingers! Once you are happy with your design, press a piece of paper down and take a print.

Print Making with Shapes: Once you have painted your design, lay down some paper shapes – like hearts, snowflakes, or anything! Then place your piece of paper over top, press down, and peel away to reveal your print. 

There you have them! Those are my 5 easy and fun go -to crafts for kids. As you can see, taking the same craft and doing it in a slightly different way is a great option for keeping your crafting nice and simple. 

I hope you found one or two ideas perfect for you and yours to enjoy.

Thank you so much for reading!
xo

Sarah