Crafting with children: important tips & first ideas for your own artworks
Crafting with your childrencan be done in many ways.Thechoice of motifs seems unlimited– simply because you have a huge selection of patterns, shapes and materials available for every season.
Becausechoice of materials and motifs varies depending on the seasonand your individual demands and wishes for your beautiful crafts.
Whether animal motifs made of paper and felt, garlands or other great decorations, as well as individual figures made from natural materials:there are no limits to your creativity. But children are especially captivated byanimal and plant motifs.
The curiosity about what makes their favorite animal and what different plants look like is so great, that during crafting theeagerness to learnis awakened.
In general you shouldchoose DIYs and craft projects according to age, interests and especially existing skills.
While withCrafting with toddlersyou should mainly choose ideas and instructions thatdo not overwhelm due to the short attention span,with older children the craft ideas may already be more challenging.
Useful DIYs or upcycling projects that require a lot of finesse are particularly popular here.Already at the age of one year your kids are ready for big crafting fun. As soon as they can hold pencils securely, it really gets going.
Now they also want to get to know the other great crafting supplies and join in with the older kids.From about two yearsyour little crafters can already managetheir first snipping activitieson their own.However, you should never leave your children unsupervised.
The older your kids get, the more specifically they can help decide which craft projects they want to carry out together with you or somewhat on their own.
Yourparental support, which is still required for toddlers, is only needed here if theyexplicitly ask for it.
The following always applies during your creative phases:Have fun and enjoy the time together, because shaped by lots of love, the most beautiful artworks are created.
Didn't go as you imagined? No worries! Just keep going and you'll notice, only thepractice makes perfect.
Why you should craft with your children
Crafting is something very special for children. It allows your little crafters,to understand the world in a simple and natural way without actively learning.Thus crafting fun is combined with learning successes completely unconsciously. By touching the materials, naming individual things and explaining the meaning of the end results – for example animal or plant motifs – your little explorers learn more and more about nature through play.
In many ways thecolor understanding and thefine motor skills are promoted. Childrendiscover their own ways of design and expressionfor their thinking, actions and feelings. This trains creativity and imagination as well as dexterity and manual skills.
Particularly beneficial are thehours spent togetherfor thefamily togetherness. Whether as fixed rituals for various occasions or simply integrated into everyday life – crafting works wonders.
Craft materials you should always have at home
Basic supplies:
cardboard, cardboard boxes
plain paper
colored construction paper
transparent paper
felt
needle & thread
yarn
salt dough
craft glue/adhesive or paste
pens & paints
finger paints
acrylic & watercolors
paintbrushes
craft scissors
playdough & modeling clay
beads
Natural materials:
moss
pine cones
acorns
chestnuts
nut shells
wood & branches
flowers (depending on season) & foliage
stones
Upcycling - Don't throw away:
paper plates/cardboard rolls
egg cartons
kitchen & toilet paper rolls
bottle caps & champagne or wine corks
mason jars/screw-top jars
bubble wrap
empty yogurt cups
Crafting with children in every season
Spring, summer, autumn and winter – in every season you cancreate various crafts as well as special decorations or gifts. There are numerous motifs and DIYs, because each season offers different materials and (symbolic) images that are suitable for crafting with children.
Don't have any concrete ideas yet for which colorful artworks you'd like to tackle? HABA has put together an overview that leads you to the respective theme pages andprovides you with the best craft ideas and instructions.
Whether yousimply copy them or let them inspire you to create your own ideas: As always, there are no limits to your imagination and creativity.
Spring crafts with children
When spring is on the doorstep, nature shines again in vibrant colors. Onshared walksyou can get inspired for motif choices and even collect some natural materials.
Whether plants, flowers or animals– you have the choice which shapes yourspring craftsshould take.
The most important information, craft tips and instructions for reproducingcolorful spring motifs have been compiled by HABA on the corresponding theme page for you. So "spring joy moments" are guaranteed.
Ideas for Easter crafting with children
Cute Easter bunnies, garlands or rather the classicegg dyeing– numerous DIYs forEaster craftsare just waiting to be implemented by you: in no time you'll have the first preparations done for theEaster celebration with your children.
Whether whenfelting wool Easter eggs or colorful squishing with finger paints forgreat Easter decorations,the possibilities to be creative at Easter are varied.
On the theme page HABA hastips, craft ideasand simpleinstructionscollected that make your Easter even more beautiful, colorful and creative!
Summer crafts with children
Even in summer you can create beautiful artworks. Whether in your own garden or indoors,with colorful paints or summery flowersyou conjure up great wreaths and other decorations.
Sandcastles, mud kitchens and co.They are also part of creative activities in summer. Imagination has no bounds here and so the choice of motifs seems unlimited.
Popular ideas and craft instructions to recreatecolorful summer motifs have been compiled by HABA on the corresponding theme page for you. This will surely make your summer even more creative. Have fun browsing.
Seasonal crafts
For fun Easter bunny window pictures, personal Christmas greetings or spring branches you always needthe right materials and utensils.To make it even easier for you,craft kits – equipped with everything that belongs to it– are particularly suitable.
With theHABA seasonal crafts you are for every seasonwell equipped. This way you can quickly create beautiful craft artworks that really make an impression.
Whether prick art ideas, colorful felt threading or seasonally appropriate window pictures –choose your next craft projectand merrily get crafting.
Instructions for autumn crafting with children
Crafting with colorful and natural materialsis great fun for children. Autumn in particular has a lot to offer. From acorns, chestnuts and nuts comeatmospheric decorations, which underline the cozy togetherness.
During extensive autumn walks let yourselvesbe inspired by the autumnal motif world for your own creationsand at the same time collect your natural materials for autumn crafting.
Which craft ideas can you implement concretely? On the page about autumn crafting HABA hasthe most popular instructions and DIYs to recreatecompiled for you. Grab your craft supplies and start cutting right away.
Winter & Christmas crafting
Christmas meansfamily time.With hot drinks and tasty cookies thebest wintery and Christmas artworkscan be crafted.Whether festive decorations or lovingly designed giftsfor family and friends – everything is possible.
The special thing:WithChristmas craftingyour kids learn, in addition to their own physical abilities, alsothe meaning of the contemplative festivalbetter.
Are you still looking for the right ideas for your craft hours? HABA hasthe best instructions and craft tips forChristmas craftingcompiled for you. Choose your next craft projects and enjoy the creative time together.
Simple craft ideas & instructions for children
Now you surely want toget started right away and create beautiful artworks. What are you waiting for? Grab your craft supplies and putthe best craft ideas and DIYsdirectly into practice.Follow the simple instructions for this, that HABA has prepared for you and enjoy the shared crafting hours.
Fold paper motifs
Materials needed:
colored construction paper
craft scissors
wiggle eyes
pens
How to do it:
Tip:Especially popular paper motifs are animals. The simplest animal motifs are the frog, the ladybug and small Easter bunnies. The most difficult animal is the crane, which you should only attempt when you are already practiced in paper folding. The following instructions are about folding a frog:
First cut a square out of green construction paper.
Now fold the craft paper diagonally into a triangle. Then open it again to fold it diagonally from the other side into a triangle.
Open the triangle again. Now fold the craft paper in half – crease from bottom to top – into a rectangle.
In the next step open the rectangle again, then fold it in half from right to left into a rectangle.
Fold the resulting rectangle in half again by tucking it from the lower right corner to the left.
Now open the lower left point and fold it up to the upper right to obtain a triangular shape.
Now turn the craft paper over and repeat the previous step, but this time open the right point at the bottom and fold it up to the upper left to form a triangular shape.
Next take the lower right corner of the triangle and fold it towards the middle. Do the same with the left corner. This creates the frog's head.
Turn the folded craft paper over. For the frog's legs, now fold the left side to the center line. Do the same for the right side.
Now fold the right edge of the left leg back towards the left to the right edge of the leg, so your frog gets a little foot.
Do the same with the right leg by folding the left edge to the right edge of the leg.
Turn your frog over and give it a face by sticking on wiggle eyes and drawing a mouth.
Your cute frog made of craft paper is finished.
Making invitation cards
Materials needed:
paper, cardboard, card stock
construction paper
felt
pens & paints
decorative & embellishment materials
ribbon & bows
craft scissors
craft glue
How to do it:
First fold the material of your choice (construction paper, cardboard or card stock) into a card.
Now you can really get started. Think about how you want to design your invitation card. If you have a special occasion or a theme, you can create beautiful details to match.
It's best to first draw the details you want to glue onto the card on paper, cardboard or felt, then cut them out and place them where you want. Finally paint your card with pens and colors as you like. Whether lettering, colorful stones, animal and plant motifs – let your creativity run free.
If you like the exterior of your invitation card, move on to the content. Write a few kind words to the invited person and important information about the date, location and time of your celebrations.
Lastly, you can also spruce up the invitation card with ribbons and bows, if it suits the occasion and you like it.
And your personally designed invitation cards are finished.
Making tealight holders
Materials needed:
mason or jam jars
acrylic paints
paintbrushes
porcelain & glass markers
hot glue gun
decorative & embellishment materials such as acrylic mosaic stones
How to do it:
First wash your jars thoroughly so they are completely clean. Then dry them well and check one last time that all residue and stains are removed.
Now think about how you want to design the jars. Stick stones on them, paint them colorfully or both – you can really let your creativity run wild.
With glass markers in the colors of your choice, paint your upcycled jars with beautiful patterns. Stripes, dots and whole words are especially popular. How detailed your tealight holders look in the end is entirely up to you.
Decorative and embellishment materials are also popular. Your tealight holders become especially individual with a beautiful mosaic.
Finally, let your jars dry well, then fill them with tealights.
Creating coloring pages
Materials needed:
coloring page (printed or pre-drawn)
felt-tip pens
colored pencils
decorative & embellishment materials
craft scissors
craft glue
How to do it:
Once you've downloaded your coloring page, you can get started right away.Tip:If you prefer to create your own coloring page, you can easily sketch it with pen and paper. Depending on your children's age, it's best if you as parents take on this part.
Grab felt-tip pens and colored pencils of your choice and start coloring away.
You can also decorate your pictures as desired. With glitter, stickers and co. you give coloring pages your very own touch.
Once you've fully colored your beautiful coloring page, it is also suitable for invitation cards or for posters to hang up. Simply cut it out and then place it on the desired background with glue.
Designing window pictures
Materials needed:
Sachenmacher giant window pictures HABA
colored construction paper
pens & paints
craft scissors
adhesive tape
How to do it:
You can make window pictures yourself or buy ready-made templates that you then only need to carefully attach to your windows.
Making window pictures yourself:
First decide on a motif that you want to craft as a window picture. Draw the outline on construction paper and then cut it out.
Do the same with all details, which you paint on construction paper in the desired colors, cut out and glue onto the outline.
It's best to attach the finished window picture to your window with adhesive tape.
Attaching Sachenmacher giant window pictures from HABA:
Take all parts of the window picture out of the packaging.
Cut out the individual parts along the printed contours. Glue the details such as eyes, patterns and other facial features on as you like.
Once you have completely designed the individual parts of your window picture, put them together on the window. To do this, place the first part in the desired spot and smooth it with a soft cloth. Do the same with all other parts.
And your giant window picture is finished.
Tip: You can also remove the motifs again and store them in protective sleeves until you want to reattach them.
Making bookmarks
Materials needed:
plain paper
colored construction paper
pencil & eraser
pens & paints
fineliner
watercolors
paintbrushes
craft scissors
craft glue
stickers
decorative & embellishment materials like stones, beads & co.
How to do it:
First cut paper – blank or in the colors of your choice – into strips. Define the length and width of the bookmarks yourself.
Now draw your desired patterns with a pencil. From dots and stripes to detailed motifs – everything is possible.
According to your ideas, retrace the details with fineliners or fill them directly with appropriate pens and colors. Whatever approach you choose, you definitely give your artworks your very own touch.Tip:You can also draw the various patterns on other construction paper colors, cut them out and then glue them onto your bookmarks.
Then let your bookmarks dry well – this is especially important if you are working with watercolors.
With various decorative materials like glitter, feathers and co. you can further enhance your bookmarks. Once these details have also dried, your bookmarks are fully ready for use. This makes shared reading sessions even more fun.
Crafting with toilet paper rolls
Materials needed:
empty toilet paper rolls
colored construction paper
craft scissors
craft glue
wiggle eyes
pipe cleaners
felt
pens & paints of your choice
How to do it:
Crafting animals from toilet paper rolls is especially popular with children. First think about which animals you want to make. Accordingly, cut your empty rolls to a certain size.
You can make the outside of your toilet paper rolls look animal-like in two ways. One, paint the rolls with watercolors or felt-tip pens in the color of your desired animal motifs. This is the easiest method, especially for toddlers. Two, the rolls can be covered with construction paper.
If you have chosen the construction paper variant, first cut it into strips. The strips should correspond to the height of the toilet paper rolls and wrap around the entire roll.
Then attach the construction paper strips to the respective toilet paper roll by applying glue to the strips and pressing them firmly onto the rolls.
Now move on to the details: whether ears, whiskers, little feet or tails – draw them on construction paper in matching colors. Then cut out the details and place them in the right spots on the respective roll animal.Tip:To get proper proportions, simply hold the drawings briefly next to your rolls. This way you see if everything fits together.
Finally, give your little animals great faces. Stick wiggle eyes and co. on the respective spots.
And your DIY crafts from toilet paper rolls are finished.
Crafting with pine cones
Materials needed:
pine cones
feathers
felt
pens & paints
craft glue or hot glue gun
wiggle eyes (optional)
acorn caps (optional)
How to do it:
Choose a pine cone that you want to decorate. The pine cone represents the body of your owl. Of course you can also make other animals, like hedgehogs or bears frompine cone crafts.
To give your owl a great face, make the details out of felt. Paint the eye outlines, the whites of the eyes as well as the iris and pupils on your felt. Don't forget the pointed beak. Once you've painted all the details, cut them out and glue them onto the pine cone. A hot glue gun is best for a secure hold.Tip:It's better if you as parents attach the felt pieces with a hot glue gun so that your little crafters don't burn their little fingers.
If you like, decorate your owl with additional details. You can attach feathers or felt wings to the sides and place acorn caps or wiggle eyes instead of iris and pupils.
Your pine cone owl is now finished and ready to fly. It will certainly look especially good on your windowsill. Depending on how many pine cones you collected on your last walk, you can also craft more animal companions for your owl.
More craft ideas for children
Making mobiles
Mobiles are not just decorative. They are primarily acalming sourceandsleep aidfor children.They have a meditative effect and are full of emotional value.
The nicest thing about mobiles is that theycan be designed in all kinds of colors and shapesWhether made from modeling clay with colorful beads and co. or from fabrics like yarn or felt, you decide how your mobiles should look.
On the page about making mobiles HABA hasprovided the most important craft tips and dreamy instructionsfor you. Have fun browsing and becoming creative.
Book binding
Besides all the beautiful notebooks and albums as well as diaries that are available to buy, it issomething very special when you have bound your books yourself.
It doesn't have to look perfect. On the contrary: the imperfect is significant. Every visible stitch or shifted element has character and shows how mucheffort and love went into the designhas gone in.
Whichtipsyou should pay special attention to when bookbinding andhow best to get started, HABA has explained on the corresponding theme page.
Modeling with clay & co.
Getting messy, shaping, learning to estimate proportionsand in the endachieve individual results– modeling gives little crafters a lot of joy. It fills them with pride when they see what their little fingers can shape and fix.
In addition,fine motor skills and powers of observationare promoted so that your kids can better use their strengths and explore the world.
On the theme page you will receiveimportant craft tipsand also learn whichmodeling techniquesshould be applied at which age.
Candle dipping
From wax scraps and old candle stubsyou can upcycle beautiful new candles. Candle dipping is a reallyuseful craft project, that you can regularly tackle in your craft sessions. There are no limits to your imagination and creativity.
Sometimes thecraziest and most exciting shapes and colors, so you can be sure you create really great uniques.
How best to proceed with candle dipping and which tips to observe, HABA has summarized compactly on the corresponding theme page.
Alternatives to crafting colorful motifs
Getting creative and creating great original creations can also bemore of a craft naturebe. If your children do not have much interest in classic crafts like window pictures and decorations, there areseveral alternatives, that you can implement together.
Whether building projects, gardening or individually made games, here you will finda selection of great projects, where it depends on dexterity and craftsmanship. Just the right thing for creative minds.
Making games yourself
Children's games are always very popular. They don't necessarily have to be the bought classic board games orfamily gamesbe. Children's games can also beeasily made yourself– often even without much effort and numerous materials.
The special thing: your kidslearn every single detail of the games more intensively when crafting fun game ideas. This promotes creativity and motor skills.
Whether recreating popular children's games or other games in which you can happily squish, knead or paint away, HABA has on the corresponding pagethe most popular game ideas to make yourselfcollected. Let yourself be inspired to create your own creations.
Gardening with children
Even in your own garden you can really let your creativity out. When gardening with your children you can dosmall but also large garden projectssuch asplanting cressor your ownkids' garden bedimplement. This makes gardening a family affair.
Your little hobby gardenerslearn a sense of responsibilityand in the process you'll soon harvestyour planted fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Which tips and tricks make gardening child's playand which garden projects you can tackle with your kids, you can find out on the corresponding HABA page. In addition to the most important information, you will findsimple instructions, with which you can get started right away.
Building insect hotels with children
If you havea little finesse and craft skills,building an insect hotel is just the right thing for you. Building insect hotels is not only fun, you also do something good for the environment.
You help small insects to more habitat and protected nesting aids. Not least, this and the end result itself make your little craftsmenshine with pride. Their self-confidence increases.
What you should pay attention to when building an insect hoteland how to proceed best is explained to you by HABA on the corresponding theme page.
Craft tools for little craftsmen
So that you can really indulge in handiwork, in addition to great joy you of course also needthe right craft tools.
From various scissors and brushes to hot glue guns and pliers to complete toolkits, you will find pretty much everything you need for your craft sessions in HABA's range.
This also makes it possible tocreate beautiful artworks from the most stubborn natural materials, which are versatile. Browse the craft tools and get going as soon as you have all essential utensils together.
Frequently asked questions about crafting with children
How long may crafting with children last?
Which objects can toddlers already create independently?
How can we introduce our children to crafting?
More articles about celebrations & occasions
Image credits
Mother sits on the floor with her daughters and paints © zinkevych - stock.adobe.com
Mother and daughter have rolled out clay and are placing leaves into it © prostooleh - stock.adobe.com
Mother crafts Easter bunnies from cardstock with her daughters at the table © gpointstudio - stock.adobe.com
Two children paint and make Christmas cards at the table © sweetlaniko - stock.adobe.com
Paper boats, frogs, and a dog made from colorful paper © Agata Kowalczyk - stock.adobe.com
Invitation cards crafted from cardstock © Pathfinder - stock.adobe.com
Bookmarks with leaf, star, and animal motifs for coloring © Pixel-Shot - stock.adobe.com
Mother and child craft animals from toilet paper rolls © very_ulissa - stock.adobe.com
Owls made from pine cones and felt © ISO101 - stock.adobe.com
Boy drums on upside-down pots and bowls © peopleimages.com - stock.adobe.com
Father and child observe an insect hotel © Halfpoint - stock.adobe.com