Interesting Art & Craft Ideas For Kids That Will Keep Them Engaged

Parents – spend quality time with your children with these interesting art and craft ideas for kids and in the process create memories for a lifetime.

By Shruti Bhat

Art and craft activities help in teaching kids creativity and imagination. It also helps them develop their motor skills, improve coordination, increases concentration and more importantly, keeps them occupied productively! If you want to spend some quality time with your children, try doing some crafts with them. Rest assured that you will come up with some quirky results that your child will be proud of. And in the process you will also be creating many beautiful memories to cherish for long!

1. Paint a stone

Art On A River Pebble

What could be easier than painting a roadside pebble and turning it into garden art? Here’s how you get going!

Materials required:

– A flat smooth pebble

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– A sponge

– Ear Buds – 4 in number

– Acrylic colours – Orange, Dark Blue, Silver Yellow

Procedure: 

Pick up some flat and smooth pebbles from your next riverside trip. When you are ready to start crafting with your child, choose a pebble from your collection and paint the whole pebble dark blue using acrylic colours and a sponge. Now trace any pattern like a fish or a turtle on it using a pencil. Following this, paint the turtle silver using a brush. Let dry completely. Once dry, apply uniform dots in orange colour around the border using ear buds. Use alternate colours to apply dots to fill in the turtle design. Use light blue colour and add dots outside the turtle design. Voila! Your very own personalized stone art is ready!

2. Stamp something

Penguin Print On A T-shirt

Stamping crafts is so much fun to do since most of the materials are already present in the house!

Materials Required:

– A  plain white T-shirt

– 2 potatoes. One large and one small, oval in shape

– Acrylic or fabric colours – Blue, White, Orange & Black

– Paper plates to hold the colour in

– An old newspaper

– A paint brush

Procedure:

Place an old newspaper (Folded atleast half an inch thick) between the layers of the T-shirt to prevent seepage of colour. Cut the potatoes into smooth halves. Then cut a wedge shape on the backside to make a handle. Pat the potato dry using a tissue. In a paper plate add some blue acrylic colour. Do not dilute. Rub the large potato half in it (smooth side down) till the blue covers it completely. Press hard on the T-shirt and lift carefully. Now repeat the same with the smaller potato to form the wings as shown in picture. Let dry. Use a new half to dip in white colour and print on top of the blue to form the stomach. Let dry completely. Using a paint brush add 2 dots for the eyes. Use orange colour to add feet and a tiny beak.

3. Make a gift

Ice-cream Sticks Photo Frame

Help your child surprise a loved one on a special day – be it Mother’s day, Father’s day, birthday or just like that – an anyday gift for someone special!

Materials Required:

– 4 ice-cream sticks in various colours

– Fevicol

– Embellishments – beads, sequins, shells. Shinier, the better

– A photo 5X5 inch

– A magnet

Procedure:

Arrange the ice-cream sticks two on top of the other two to form a square. Secure them in place using fevicol. Let dry. Using fevicol decorate the frame using sequins, glitter, sand and shells. Make sure all the sequins are stuck firmly onto the frame. Make a mixture of 1 part fevicol and 1 part water and apply a thin coat all over. Let dry completely. Cut the photo to size and paste behind the frame. Secure a magnetic strip and use as a fridge magnet.

4. Recycle

Kitchen Roll Owl

An effective way for teaching kids about recycling  is to set an example at home. Reuse stuff lying around the house and craft with them.

Materials required:

– Empty Kitchen roll

– Blue or purple construction paper

– Yellow foam

– Glue stick

– Design crepe ribbon

– Large googly eyes

Procedure:

Cut the kitchen roll into a 5 inch tube. Cut the construction paper to form a 6 inch by 6 inch square. Wrap around the tube so that one inch is extra and secure in place using glue. Now pinch the construction paper and fold to form ears. Cut the pattern paper into two leaf shapes. Paste to form wings. Paste googly eyes. Finally cut the foam into a triangle and paste to form the beak.

5. Indulge in some finger painting

Hand-Print Keepsake

Most kids love messy hands and messy play. So it’s time to get your hands dirty! Here’s a craft that acts as a keepsake and can even be framed. This can also be painted onto a card for Easter.

Materials required:

– White, green, red & yellow paints

– A sheet of paper preferably in a darker colour

– A black marker

– A sponge or a brush to paint

Procedure:

Place the paper firmly on the ground. Take some white paint and paint the whole palm using a big brush or a sponge. Stamp onto paper. Wait for 5 seconds before lifting it up. Wash hand. Using the pointer finger dab on some red and yellow feathers. Paint some chicks by using a finger to paint a yellow circle for its face and a larger circle for its body. Paint some grass using green color again using fingers. Add red plumes, feathers, feet using a paint brush. Draw eyes using a marker.  

We hope these ideas will help all you Indian moms out there to have a fun time at home while also teachings kids some useful skills!

*Art & craft photos credit: Shruti Bhat.

Image: Pixabay

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