Family Fun Crafts for Kids

from the editors

Whether you’re looking to keep your kids happily entertained for a few minutes (or a few hours!), teach them new skills, or reconnect during a particularly busy season, crafting together offers a fun family activity. Making things together engages and challenges young minds as you choose a project, source the materials, and then see a creative spark take hold. That is why we’re so excited about this collection of crafts for kids! We share projects to make after school—or on an unexpected snow day—with supplies you can find around the house (“Raid the Recycling Bin,” page 12). There are crafts for when you need a weekend activity: Try out a new STEM experiment (“Silly Science,” page 22) or create a custom cardboard playhouse (“Play Pretend,” page 46). And we give ideas…

10 tips for raising creative kids

Everyone is born with the capacity for creativity, we just have to know how to unlock it. We asked fellow parents and creativity experts to share how they encourage their own children to harness the power of their imaginations so you can help your kids tap into theirs. 1 TRUST THE PROCESS. “Parents and kids can get too focused on the final result,” says Meri Cherry, owner of the Meri Cherry Art Studio in Los Angeles and a mom of two. “You have to end up with a beautiful masterpiece or it’s a failure. If you are drawing a house, it has to have four walls and a rectangle roof. How limiting is that? There are a million kinds of houses in the world! If you see beauty in the process instead,…

rainy-day supply kit

scrapbook & origami paper Vibrant patterns and hues spark creativity, whether your child is making a card or an outfit for a paper doll. florists stem wire Use pieces to create faux flowers, or just bend lengths into cool sculptural shapes and figures. sparkly trim Bits of trim like rickrack and adhesive-back bling add sparkle to collages and art rubbings too: Make a pattern on one sheet, place another paper on top, and rub with crayon. stretched canvas Challenge your child to re-create a Monet painting—or make their own masterpiece—on a pro-level surface. googly eyes Stick ’em on to silly-fy any object (a tin can, a pom-pom, a piece of fruit, Gram’s portrait). oil pastels These deliver supersaturated blendable color. Have your child try a study in red or blue. dowels Nurture a new engineer. Use lengths as axles for wheels, framing for…

raid the recycling bin

BUTTERFLY BUNCH Just wing it! No one will believe this wall art is made from toilet-paper tubes. What you’ll need ⋆ Toilet-paper and/or paper-towel tubes⋆ Gesso (optional, for brighter color)⋆ Crafts paint⋆ Hot-glue gun or adhesive dots⋆ Poster putty 1. If desired, prime tubes inside and out with gesso; let dry. Then paint; let dry completely. 2. Flatten the tubes and use scissors to cut them into slices. For a large butterfly, you’ll need five ⅝-inch-wide slices. For a small butterfly, you’ll need two ½-inch-wide slices and one ¼-inch-wide slice (eyeball them). 3. To construct the small butterfly: Fold two ½-inch-wide slices in half; unfold. Add a dot of hot glue (an adult’s job) to the inside center of each and fold ends to the center to form wings. Glue two sets of wings to the…

silly science

The formation of the beads looks like magic, but it’s science! edible gel beads Know those gel beads kids go crazy for at the fro-yo shop? You can make them at home with some simple ingredients and chemistry intel. 1 Pour 1 cup vegetable oil into a glass and chill it in the freezer for at least 40 minutes. 2 In a saucepan, mix together 1 cup Gatorade and ½ tsp. agar powder (find it with the Asian foods). Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring. Pour into a heatproof bowl (an adult’s job) and cool for 20 minutes. 3 Take out the oil. Fill a dropper with the Gatorade mixture and squirt it into the oil. As soon as the drink mixture hits, it will form a ball and sink. 4 Using a…

play with your food

go to town! Get ready to build and decorate this tiny (edible!) village. These sweet treats bring new meaning to coming home for the holidays. Cut a 10.75-ounce frozen pound cake into eight 1-inch slices. (Do this while the cake is frozen to avoid crumbs!) Use a butter knife to trim into simple house shapes. Warm up prepared vanilla icing, leaving it in its container, for 30 seconds in the microwave at 50 percent power, or until warmed through and smooth when stirred. Push a dinner fork into the bottom of each house, then submerge the house in the frosting, leaving just the bottom uncoated. Remove from frosting container and place on waxed paper, keeping the houses on the forks while the frosting sets (the curve of the tines keeps them suspended).…