Summer Craft Ideas
Jewelry for any occasion. String macaroni or Cheerios on yarn to make necklaces.
For formal occasions, use Fruit Loops or other colorful grain products.
Make finger puppets. (Your fingers will be the "legs"). Trace an egg shape on
construction paper or card stock, and make two holes in the bottom. Have children color
and decorate as desired.
Make an edible aquarium by pouring blue jello into clear plastic cups. Refrigerate
until slightly set. Drop in some gummy fish.
Paint with marbles. Put construction paper in a baking pan. Pour various colors of
tempera paint into an egg carton and put a marble in each color. Let children take turns
choosing marbles and placing in the pan, tilting to make designs on the paper.
Shoe butterflies. Have children stand on butcher paper with feet touching one another.
Trace around their shoes, which will (sort of) look like butterfly wings. Color as desired.
Bubblegum machine. Print template of bubblegum machine. After children
color the machine, give them different color round stickers to put in the globe part.
M&M holder. Trace a large circle on two pieces construction paper of the same color.
Cut one of the circles in half. Glue to the complete circle, forming a "pocket." Glue on
a white "m". Ta dah! An M&M holder!
Make dirt. Crumble up Oreo cookies ahead of time (not the creamy vanilla part - feel
free to eat that as part of your professional duties as a craft person.) Have kids put a
handful of Oreo "dirt" into a white Styrofoam coffee cup. Add gummy worms.
Rumpled fish. Print or trace outline of fish. Have children glue on
crumpled up pieces of crepe paper or tissue paper for the gills.
Drinkable sand painting. Bring in a selection of powdered drink mixes, making sure
you have plenty of different colors. Let children make sand creations by pouring
(layering) different colors in a baby food jar. Provide swizzle sticks and other small
items so they can make patterns in their creations.
Paper plate visor.Cut a large white paper plate in half. Let children decorate one half
with crayons, glitter, stickers, etc. Cut the inner circle out of the other half and glue to
the visor.
Colorful bubbles. Add different colors of food coloring to bottles of bubbles. Have
children take turns blowing different color bubbles over a sheet of white paper. See
what designs form when the bubbles pop.
Paper plate clown faces. Cut out shapes in various colors and sizes of construction
paper before children arrive. Give them a pile of shapes and a glue stick and let them
make a clown face on a white paper plate. Use big triangle for hat, with a pom pom on
top.
Mr. Buzz Cut. Have children draw a face on a white Styrofoam cup. Put potting soil
(or plain old dirt) in the cup and add grass seed. Have children water when they visit the
library. Watch his hair grow!
Friendship bracelets. Cut strips of card stock or cardboard paper and let children
decorate with glitter, stickers, markers, etc. Tell them that these are friendship bracelets
and that they should make them look very special because they will be giving them away
to a friend. To prevent hard feelings, consider putting the bracelets into a box at the end
and let children close their eyes and choose one.
Spaghetti spider web. Cook spaghetti ahead of time and let cool, making sure the
strings are separated and not in one big ball. Ask kids to construct a spider web one
string at a time on a piece of black construction paper. Let dry completely - the web
should come off in one piece. Great to hang from the ceiling!
Wind sock. Have children decorate a Styrofoam cup. Glue streamers of crepe paper
from the open end. Poke a hole through the bottom of the cup and tie string for hanging.
Bird feeder. String Cheerios on pipe cleaners. Bend the pipe cleaner to fit over tree
branch. (Don’t forget to remove the wire when the Cheerios are gone!)
Easy Flag (easy enough for toddlers with some help)
Materials: Construction paper, tissue paper, glue
Directions: Start with white construction paper. Have children glue on red strips, to
make red and white stripes. Then glue a blue square in the top left corner. For the stars
you can use crumpled up white tissue paper or star stickers.
From www.preschooleducation.com
Liberty Bell (easy with minimal adult help)
Materials: Paper cups, jingle bell, string, markers
Directions: Have children decorate paper cups as desired. Ask them to draw a "crack"
at the bottom so it looks like the Liberty Bell. Pull string through bottom of cup and tie
on a small jingle bell.
From www.preschooleducation.com
Fingerprint apple tree (for young preschoolers) MESSY BUT FUN
Materials needed: Construction paper, brown, green and red paint, aprons, soap and
water
Directions: Have child cover the side of his hand in brown paint and stamp it on the
paper as the tree trunk.
Have him cover his index finger in green paint and stamp it many times on the paper for
the leaves (re-dipping in the paint as necessary.)
Wind up this messy exercise by having him cover his pinkie finger in red paint and stamp
it lightly on the paper for the apples (light stamps make rounder prints.)
From www.dltk-kids.com
3-D Apple (for older preschoolers, or younger with adult assistance)
Materials needed: Construction paper, scissors, crayons, yarn or string, glue or
stapler
Directions: For simple-to-follow instructions, visit www.enchantedlearning.com
An Apple for the Parent (an easy craft for toddlers!)
Materials needed: Crayons, printer paper
Directions: Print template.
Have toddlers color the apple red and the leaf green.
