4 Easy Craft Ideas for Kids

It is a struggle to keep children engaged. “I’m bored” is a common phrase most parents are tired of hearing. First of all, we have to understand that it is okay for kids to be bored at times and it is not our duty as a parent to keep them entertained. Read about the importance of boredom here on How to Raise Creative Children.

However, there are times when it is best to keep them gainfully engaged. Paper craft and origami are some of the fun ways which help children develop better hand-eye coordination, increase creativity and also keeps them entertained.

Here are some fun craft activities that you can try with your children.

1. Animal Bookmark

Here are cute bookmarks that can be made into tiger, bird, shark or any other animal of your choice. The steps are simple. Once the basic structure is ready, let your child’s creativity run wild with the decorations they do on top.

Things you need:

• Square origami paper
• White paper
• Black sketch pen
• Fevicol/glue
• Scissors

Here is the Youtube video to guide you step by step:

2. Paper Bird

A colourful bird made with small bits of paper. The child will need to cut the paper into circles and stick the pieces together. It will need good skill with the scissors. It is okay if the circles are not perfect! The bird will still look cute.

Things you need:

• 3 or 4 different coloured paper (peach, orange, yellow and blue or any other of your choice) – make it as colourful as you want
• Glue
• Scissors
• White paper or googly eyes
• Black sketch-pen for colouring the eyeballs
• Compass or coins for drawing the circles

You will need 2 peach circles for the body of the bird – one small for head and one larger for the main body.

One small triangle of peach colour for the beak

3 semi-circles of yellow and blue and 1 of orange (or any other colours of your choice) for tail and wings.

The video below gives detailed step by step instructions on how to make the bird

Tip: If you want, you can use googly eyes in place of eyes made with white paper.

Get creative with the wings and tails and you can get a brightly coloured cute little bird to play with.

Read here if you want to learn to make a temporary tattoo at home along with the science behind it.

3. Envelope

This is another very simple origami activity that can be done in 5 minutes! It is easy to follow and doesn’t require a high skill level.

Things you need:

Square origami paper of any colour

Sketch-pen – for decoration (optional)

Here is a video showing the step-by-step process to make this envelope:

4. Earthen paper lamps (Diwali diyas)

These are pretty little diyas that you can make and even use for decoration. Stick them on a thread and hang them on your wall or just keep them on your table.

Things you need:

• Brown paper
• Small piece of yellow paper (for flame)
• Scissors
• Glue
• Compass or round object for drawing circles

The video below gives step-by-step instructions on crafting this beautiful diya.

I hope you liked the above ideas. If you try any of them, do let me know in the comments below.