These projects for kids will excite the minds and improve the creativity of your little ones! You’ll even get to bond with them in the process.
Projects For Kids: Building Blocks Of Creativity
Creating DIY projects with your children can be among the most nurturing activities. What better way to be a role model and learn together than working side-by-side? With this in mind, I've found 30 great DIY projects for both the home and outdoor setting. Take a look and find which simple projects inspire you and your little one(s) today!
1. Woven Pipe Cleaner Cans
One of the things I love about pipe cleaners is how malleable they are. They’re able to hold almost any shape or angle you put them to.
Tip: Tightening the weaves of pipe cleaners can make your cans stay sturdy.
2. Succulent Terrarium
Assemble a succulent terrarium in a matter of minutes. When picking the soil for this project, it’s best to go with a cactus mix — potting soil, pumice, and coir. Also, don’t forget to put in enough soil to help hide and let the roots grow.
3. Balloon Bowl
Keep your little one busy for hours with this project. Let them cut up as much confetti as they want and then tell them to put each piece onto the balloon to form the bowl.
4. Sci-Fi Story Stones
Fire up your kid’s imagination with these sci-fi story stones. Not quite sure how the activity works? Simply have your kids fish out stones from a bag and let them create a story from scratch.
5. Clay Bead Necklace
Give your kids an eye for style by letting them design their own clay bead necklace.
Important tip: Don’t forget to poke a hole in the clay before letting it bake in the oven.
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6. Poured Paint Pots
Add some color to your pots with this activity. To make sure the colors don’t run inside the pot, cover the drain hole with a bit of masking tape.
7. Slingshot With Felt Ball Ammo
Let your kids enjoy a slingshot without worrying about the painful ammo. Be careful not to widen the slits of the wooden Y handle for the rubber bands. Doing so could cause the bands to pop out.
8. Newspaper Fort
This newspaper fort could increase your little one’s passion for engineering and architecture. Don’t forget to add extra support by using more tape on the fort's corner.
9. Flower Shadow Box
When making this pretty flower shadow box, coat your flowers with some hairspray and let them dry. Then, cut the stems off and arrange the plants to your liking inside the box.
10. DIY Dinosaur Fossils
All you’ll need to make the dough for the fossils are the following: flour, salt, and water. When making the “fossils”, be sure to press firmly on the toys to have all the details mark on the dough.
11. Beaded Rainbow
Don’t forget to tightly twist the ends of the beaded rainbow. Doing so will prevent the craft from unraveling and the beads from falling off the pipe cleaners.
12. Electric Dough
This project is a great and safe way to teach your kids about electricity. If you don’t have cream of tartar to make the conductive dough, simply swap this out for lemon juice instead. Just don’t forget to add 3x the recommended serving of the cream of tartar.
13. Papier Mache Money Bank
Teach your kids the value of saving with this DIY money bank. To make the papier mache money bank, simply blow up a balloon and layer on newspaper strips with a mixture of flour and water. Let the ball dry once you've got enough layers to make a sturdy ball. Once dried, make a slot using a craft knife. This slot will also act as the mouth of your money bank. Paint on a face and voila! You've got a money bank to help your kid save.
Tip: Need to open the money bank? Simply cut out a bigger hole in the mouth area to make retrieving the money easier.
14. Upcycled Inventor’s Box
An inventor’s box can be your kid’s treasure chest for new ideas. Don’t forget to add supplies of egg cartons, boxes, rolls of tapes, and all sorts of other materials you can find in the house.
15. Cress Heads
Check if your kids have a green thumb by making a set of cress heads. By the way, be careful when putting the cotton wool in as the eggshell could break apart.
16. Magnets
Did you know you could make fridge magnets out of rocks? Just don’t forget to clean them first before using. I recommend painting the rocks in bright colors too — maybe you could even use your kid’s favorites.
17. DIY Edible Fingerpaint
DIY fingerpaint with cornstarch, salt, sugar, cold water, and food coloring. Remember, a few drops of food coloring is enough. Too many would turn the colors too dark.
18. Bird Feeder
Admire the birds with your little one when you create a bird feeder from scratch. If you don’t have cardboard tubes, you can always use the ones found inside toilet paper or kitchen towel rolls.
19. Water Wall
Turn a hot summer day around with this DIY water wall. Simply cut out a piece of the bottle’s side and arrange the bottles in a pattern. For the water to flow in a downward motion, don't forget to angle the bottles to let gravity take place.
20. Paper Elephant
This paper elephant tutorial will teach you how to make an elephant with movable body parts. You might want to stock up on split pins for this one, as it's crucial for making the elephant move.
21. Marshmallow Building
This marshmallow building idea is both fun and delicious! Go crazy and lay out different sizes and colors of marshmallows for your kids to play with.
22. Paper Flower Cone Bouquets
Aren’t these flower cone bouquets adorable? They're such a beauty to look at.
Tip: To keep the flower standing up, simply insert the skewer through the drain hole of the pot.
23. Okra Prints
Your kids will have a newfound appreciation for okra after this project.
Tip: Dry out the okra by baking it in the oven first. Doing so will help the vegetable absorb the paint more.
24. DIY Cork Drum
Got an extra yoga block lying around? Why not turn it into a DIY cork drum for your kid? The best part is it won’t make too much noise, so you won’t end up bothering the neighbors.
25. Jellyfish In A Bottle
Mimic the movement of a jellyfish with this project. I like making this with a used yet clean transparent plastic bag. It’s my own little way of upcycling a small sandwich bag.
26. Glow In The Dark Slime
Make some glow in the dark slime this afternoon! Did you know one of the key ingredients for this project is actually just good old regular school glue?
27. Window Crafts
Show off your kid’s artistic side with these window crafts. This project even upcycles a milk jug to make the patches, which will be drawn on. Isn’t that nifty?
28. DIY Ice Paint
DIY a cool ice paint artwork by mixing equal parts of Epsom salt and hot water. Then dip a paintbrush in and watch “ice crystals” form on the paper.
Tip: This project works best on black paper.
29. Toilet Roll Dolls
Your kids can tell a story through these toilet roll dolls. The holes are cut out for the faces because once it's twisted, a different emotion will be shown on the doll's face.
30. Printable Animal Finger Puppets
These snazzy snakes are super cute and really easy to make. The fun part comes in decorating the snake. So let your kids let loose with their markers, colored paper, and crayons.
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Your little ones will definitely have a lot of fun with these projects for kids. Hopefully, it’ll also make them more curious and more excited when it comes to learning! Why not try 1 of these 30 ideas today?
What projects for kids are you interested in? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to see more DIY crafts? Check this list to find awesome projects you can actually earn money from!
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Feature image via Raising Arizona Kids
Editor’s Note – This post was originally published in April 2014 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.