Kids Arts & Crafts

If you’d like to give a little more structure to your child’s arts and crafts experience, here are some ideas for basic crafts that kids of all ages can do. Many of these are what I call two-step crafts; they involve making something and then using that object to make something else.

Potato Stamp Kids Crafts

A classic that you probably remember from your childhood is making stamps out of potatoes. This is an easy craft that any child who can be trusted with a knife can do. For younger children, let them draw or trace a simple shape onto the potato and cut it out for them.

To make this craft, all you need is some big russet potatoes, a knife and a pencil. Cut the potato in half and let each child draw a simple design with the pencil on the flesh of the potato. Cut away the potato that is outside the lines for a cleaner stamp.

To use the stamp, pour a little tempura paint on a plate. Holding onto the outside of the potato, place the stamp in the paint, then stamp on paper, fabric, or whatever you like. If you don’t want to use paint, try ink made for rubber stamps or even just coloring on the potatoes with marker. These alternatives are a little less messy but will still give you a good result.

Other Stamps

Once you’ve mastered the potato stamp, you might start looking around the house for other things you can make stamps out of or use as stamps themselves, such as:

• erasers
• cotton balls or swabs
• felt cutouts (use cookie cutters to form shapes)
• foam stickers
• cardboard
• cork

Gooey Stuff to Make

I don’t think there’s a kid out there who doesn’t love playing with gooey stuff. Whether its silly putty, play dough or slime, these kitchen creations are a lot of fun to make and then to play with later. They’re also a great opportunity to teach your kids about the wonders of chemistry. There are recipes for all sorts of gooey and gloppy things you can make all over the web, but here are a couple of classics.

Silly Putty

Silly putty was a happy accident of chemistry. Its inventor was trying to make a synthetic rubber and thought that silly putty was an utter failure. And it was until a salesman used it to entertain some customers and saw its potential as a toy.

Silly putty is easy to make with borax (which you will find on the laundry aisle at your grocery store) and diluted white glue. The basic recipe is to mix equal parts water and glue and then mix them with the borax in a four-to-one ratio.

For example you could mix half a cup of glue and half a cup of water, then add a quarter of a cup of borax. You might want to do this in a disposable bowl or cup and using a craft stick as a stirrer, since it does make a big sticky mess.

Throw in a little food coloring to give it that classic pink color, or whatever color you like. Store this in a zip-top bag to prevent it from drying out.

Play Dough

There are many, many different recipes for play dough (also known as “play clay”) out there on the Internet (for many more than you will ever need, check out Homeschool Zone) but one of my favorites is very simple and easy to scale up or down.

In a medium saucepan, combine a cup of flour, a half cup of salt, a cup of water, two teaspoons of vegetable oil and a teaspoon of cream of tartar. Add a few drops of food coloring or part of a package of drink mix, which will both color the dough and give it a good scent (if you don’t mind your kids trying to eat it).

Stir on medium low heat until the mixture comes together like a dough and pulls away from the sides of the pan. Allow to cool before using.

If you want to make multiple colors, the easiest way is to make several small batches.

Slime

Admittedly, slime is kind of gross and not very crafty, but your kids will love it. This one doesn’t involve any heat so even the littlest ones can help you make it and then play with it.

To make slime, simply mix a tablespoon of glue with two tablespoons of liquid starch and food coloring to your taste. Put these ingredients into a zip top bag, close it well, and smoosh it around in the bag until it is all mixed together. Because there’s no heat involved your kids can be grossing each other out with this right away.

Memory Book

If you’re planning a vacation or there’s a holiday coming up, a great kid’s arts and crafts project is to have each child make a memory book. You can start with a store-bought notebook or journal or gather paper (computer paper, card stock, lined paper, whatever you want) and make a cover out of heavy card stock or cardboard. These can be any size that you like.

Gather together a bunch of craft supplies, old magazines, paints, stamps, and whatever else your kids like to use and have them decorate the covers of their books. They can make a collage or just draw something they hope to see or do on vacation. It’s their book, so they can do what they want.

Then when you go on vacation or the big day occurs, have your children write or draw in the book, talking about or showing their favorite things, what happened each day, what they liked and didn’t like. When you get photos back (or have them printed off your digital camera) you can insert photos into each child’s book as well.

These books can also be used to document a school year, a field trip, the soccer team’s season, or anything else that is important to your child. When he or she is grown up, your child will love to have these keepsakes.