Not all of us have the luxury of sending the kids off to clubs and activities every weekend, nor the opportunity to bring them to a large green space with a ball and a bunch of free time. Sometimes, we must figure out ways of entertaining the kids whilst stuck indoors and with only the resources at hand.
I’ve always found that instead of hoping that there’s a new cartoon on Netflix which will allow you a few hours of shut-eye, it’s always better to engage in a bit of arts & crafts with the little ones.
Doing so will mean you don’t only build items that can be placed around your home, it also builds memories that you’ll share with your children. On top of that, you teach them a valuable life lesson in how they can create something lasting and meaningful with their bare hands.
Despite understanding the importance of creativity, we can sometimes struggle to think of how to be creative. In order to help you out, I’ve put together a few ideas here which rarely need more than a few colouring implements, some paper, scissors, glue, cardboard and maybe a printer (filled with paper & ink, of course!). Once you’ve got your tools, it’s time to start working!
Fancy Dress
Maybe my own memories are colouring my perceptions, but kids absolutely love fancy dress. I was almost inseparable from my Spider-Man outfit, but your child might have a genre which they would love to dress up as, be it dinosaurs, princesses, or Star Wars characters. The first step to making a costume is sitting down with your kid and trying to figure out what costume they’d like. Then, start drawing up your plans on which pieces of card, fabric, and paper can be combined to create the coolest costume.
Be careful with which jobs you allocate to your kids and which you do for yourself – obviously, any scissor use should be at the very least heavily supervised! You’d be surprised how far you can go with a few basic tools and ingredients, and I think your kids will be very happy with the outcomes.
Arts & Crafts – Finger Puppets
Grab some paper, pens, and some card or foam and get started with making your own puppets! With finger puppets, the creativity doesn’t only stretch to making them; once created, they can be used to put on fantastic finger performances. Don’t allow your kids to be limited to recreating shows they’ve already seen: challenge them to use their imagination and watch what amazing ideas they bring to life.
Here’s how it works: using a printed template (which you can easily find online, but make sure you have the supplies to print them out), everybody begins with a blank puppet to colour in and decorate. Go a step further by creating a colourful series of backgrounds and put together a few scenes and you could be watching a full finger puppet performance after only a few hours of brainstorming.
Arts & Crafts – Tissue Paper Creations
All you need for this final craft is a lot of tissue/crepe paper, some glue and some card to stick the tissue to. Whilst it may not seem like the most innovative idea, tissue paper is a unique medium that allows you to edit on the fly, great for kids who often make mistakes.
Once you’ve got a vision in mind for your tissue-paper creation, simply tear, scrunch and stick until you bring it to life together! This one can’t be beaten for its simplicity, making it ideal for younger children.
So there you have some quick suggestions for fun projects that can be tackled together, and remember: you don’t have to pick just one!
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