Celebrate Summer!

Paper Dot Rainbows

Summer means play dates, camping trips, swimming pool visits and kids saying "I'm bored. What can I do?" At least that's how it goes at our house. It seems like no matter how many adventures I plan someone still gets bored. 

I have the habit of making chore lists for when someone says they are bored. But you could also try some of our free crafts, activities and snack recipes too...if you are feeling super nice.


Paper Bag Picnic
This easy craft is fun to create and fun to play with. Use it as a rainy-day boredom buster or take it outside into the sunshine for some make-believe fun!

Colorful Butterflies
This artsy activity is a crowd-pleaser! Marbles, paint, a shoebox and you are set to jazz up your butterflies in a most colorful and unique way.  No paint brushes required!

Bears on the Beach
Summer time is all about snacks. Get creative with teddy grahams, frosting and a few gummy worms and watch the smiles spread as your kiddos create a surf's-up-sort-of snack!

Bugs!
This simple craft uses materials you have on hand including an egg carton, paint, pipe cleaners and glue. (If you don't have pipe cleaners on hand and you have kids under 5 in the house - go get some. You'll thank me later.)

Ants on a Log
Make celery more appealing as a healthy snack choice by adding cream cheese or peanut butter and raisins to create adorable little ants on a log. (Make up a fun little story to go along with it too!)

Visit The Idea Box for crafts, games and snacks to create for summer fun! Connect with us on Facebook where I share more ideas from other crafty bloggers and sites or follow us on Pinterest and create your own pinboard full of kids crafts!

Beautiful Butterflies

Spring Butterflies

Are your kiddos going a little stir crazy as they wait for the weather to warm up and the sun to stick around? Celebrate Spring with an easy-peasy butterfly craft! Make this cute little flyer with a sandwich bag, glitter and construction paper.

Here are some other super cute and fun butterfly themed crafts and snack ideas to get you ready for Spring!

Butterfly Puppet
With some cardboard and imagination, your class can make personalized butterfly puppets to play with, perform with, or decorate your room with.

Butterfly Flyer
Collect a straw, some yarn, construction paper and a few other bits from your craft cupboard - and create a butterfly flyer, perfect for your little ones to fly high.

Butterfly Surprise
Using craft sticks and creativity, make some cute little butterflies to play with and use in all sorts of decor for Spring time.

Very Neat Butterfly Feet
I love this artsy painting project for preschoolers and even little tiny ones too - paint the bottoms of their feet and create a painted butterfly to share or display!

Butterfly Sandwich
Turn a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich into a yummy butterfly snack with a little ingenuity and imagination!

Find more spring themed crafts over at The Idea Box to create with your class, kids or homeschool group. Connect with us on Facebook where I share ideas from other crazy-cool crafters too! Find us at Pinterest too for more imaginative inspiration!

Funny Buddies to Make & Play With!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Little kids love buddies! Especially during the toddler years, when having friends or buddies to play with means being just like big brother or big sister.

Little kids also have big imaginations so creating "play buddies" is not just fun but also very entertaining and stimulating! Here's a list of crafty ideas to make with your little buddies to get you started.

Clothespin Pal
This craft is super simple and can be created with materials you already have on hand. Take a few clothespins, some markers and maybe some embellishments like buttons or bows and make a clothespin pal! (These are great "quiet" toys too.)

Springtime Grass Buddy
This buddy craft involves a bit more planning, prep time and grass seed. It would be a creative way to learn about the earth in Spring time or for an Earth Day craft. The little kids will love watching their grass buddies grow!

Bugs in a Cup
This game is a super fun learning tool for little ones and requires minimal effort to put together. Grab some plastic bugs at the dollar store, cups and markers and you've got a great counting tool and entertaining game.

Ziplock Butterfly
Another fun craft to create a colorful butterfly, this requires materials you have on hand, a little planning and whole lot of fun. Little ones may need a bit of help to assemble their butterflies, but I promise they will love tearing up the paper!

Buddy Tag
A buddy version of the game of tag - this is a fun game to play with 8 - 14 kids and keeps them moving until you decide when to blow the whistle. It's perfect for a classroom full of wiggly kids to work out their bugs!

Share your favorite buddy craft with us on Facebook or visit The Idea Box for more buddy inspiration!

Stars, Bugs and Butterflies

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

August already? I can't believe it - the summer is going by so quickly. Time flies when you are having fun, and so do bugs, butterflies and stars! I've collected a few butterfly crafts to help your little stars shine and keep you from going absolutely buggy!

Connect with us on Facebook to share your favorite summer craft, activity or snack recipe. Or visit The Idea Box for many more summer time projects and ideas for your little helpers.

Bugs!
This simple craft uses materials you have on hand including an egg carton, paint, pipe cleaners and glue. (If you don't have pipe cleaners on hand and you have kids under 5 in the house - go get some. You'll thank me later.)

Little Stars
I love this craft since it features your little star as the main ingredient! With a small photo of your little one and some construction paper - a star is born, one that you can hang, display, or even use at Christmas time as a gift ornament.

Butterfly Flyer
Another favorite at my house, the butterfly flyer is made with straws, yarn and construction paper. The best part is flying your finished butterfly around outside. Get creative and make them in all shapes, colors and sizes!

Sweet Stars
This sweet treat doesn't disappoint! Use strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream to create star shaped snacks and serve to your little shooting stars. My kids love this seasonal tasty, kid-friendly treat!

Butterfly Puppet
This craft project takes a few more materials and supplies, and again, items you probably already have on hand at home. With a little ingenuity and mad stapling skills your kids can have a butterfly puppet put together in no time!

You're An All-star, Get Your Craft On!

Upcycled Kids Bank

I can't resist a good upcycle crafts, especially when it comes to kids crafts. What is upcycling? For those of you who don't know: it means "repurposing" an item for a new use, enhancing it visually or changing it's structure in order to add value to it and functionality. And upcycling is cool. It makes you feel good. It brings new life to old stuff that might otherwise go in the trash.

Try it, and you'll get hooked like me. I have upcycled old tires into planters, pallets into furniture, jars into pretties, just to name a few. And now, I've made a coffee can into a kids bank! I dare you to try it. We've got tons of other fun crafts that use or repurpose stuff you have around the house at The Idea Box.

Colorful Butterflies
A fun crafty way to lay down some paint tracks, your kids will have so much fun "marble painting" their butterflies. And...you can apply this technique to all kinds of pictures.

Compass
Create a homemade compass with the kids. Use it to find and enjoy more summer adventures! This can also be a great teaching tool and lesson prop, or even a craft for a pirate party.

Fishing Pole
Another crafty creation, this fishing pole is designed with boredom busting in mind. Just don't run out of magnetic things that stick to your pole. This can be great for mini scavenger hunts too!

Deserted Island Survival Mix
Upcyclers, pirates, and fishermen get super hungry with all their adventures. This kid version of "trail mix" is a treasure trove of delicious kid snacks and will definitely please your little explorers.

Connect with us on Facebook and share your favorite upcycle craft or your favorite summer boredom buster for kids!

Happy Upcycling!

5 Crafty Ideas for June!

Cupcake Spring Flowers

School is out at our house. How about yours? Are you ready for summer? Are you ready for bored kids telling you they have NOTHING to do? Here are a few ideas to beat the boredom blues.

Paper Bag Picnic
This easy craft is fun to create and fun to play with. Use it as a rainy-day boredom buster or take it outside into the sunshine for some make-believe fun!

Colorful Butterflies
This artsy activity is a crowd-pleaser! Marbles, paint, a shoebox and you are set to jazz up your butterflies in a most colorful and unique way.  No paint brushes required!

Bears on the Beach
Summer time is all about snacks. Get creative with teddy grahams, frosting and a few gummy worms and watch the smiles spread as your kiddos create a surf's-up-sort-of snack!

Flower Pot Decorations
If gardening is your family's forte, let the little ones help by decorating some flower pots (old or new) for showing off your summer flora and fauna!

Enjoy your summer!

March 20th is the First Day of Spring!

Yay, spring is here and we are ready to share all of our springtime activities, crafts, songs and more. When we think spring, we think of flowers, rain, sunshine, rainbows, nature, and more. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Here's just a sampling of what you will find in our spring section!

Butterfly Feet

Construction paper
paint (any color)
black pen

This is a great craft for infants who are too young yet to do crafts on a regular basis. Paint the bottom of the child's feet. Make imprints of each foot with the big toe facing outward and the outer edge of the feet touching each other. You will notice the results looks like a butterfly. It helps to clean one foot before you paint the other. Can't seem to keep the little ones still? I do this project while they are in high chair eating a favorite snack. They are occupied, but still giggle alot when you paint their feet. I then write this poem on the paper:

Beautiful butterfly,
precious and sweet.
Strange how it looks,
Just like (child's name)'s feet.

I really get a wonderful response from parents on this craft. They know their children get great care when even the infants can participate in art from time to time.


Paper Dot Rainbows

colored construction paper
glue
hole punch

Have the children make several paper dots using the hole punch in the colors of the rainbow. Then have them glue the dots onto white paper in the form of a rainbow. You may want to have a picture of a rainbow to show as an example. Have fun!


Spring Lilies

Construction Paper (Any color)
Green Chenille Stems
pencil
stapler and staples
glue or scotch tape

Have children trace hands on the paper, cut out the hand prints. Place the chenille stem at the bottom of the hand print and then roll the paper around the stem and attach with glue, staples or tape. Once you have that completed, take a pencil and curl the fingers down to form a lily. You may want to make a bunch in different colors. You can also cut some leaves from green construction paper and attach them to the stems of your "lilies". You can make a container for your bouquet of "lilies" by taking an 8 1/2 x 11 inch sheet of construction paper, roll it to form a cone, fasten the end with glue, tape or staples. Makes a wonderful Mother's Day, Grandparent's day or Father's Day gift also.


Check out all of our activities, crafts, recipes, games and more by visiting The Idea Box