Fun and Easy Crafts for Kids

Kristy Pepping:  If you are stuck inside on a cold, rainy or hot day, make this fun rainbow window craft. Instead of paint, which some suncatcher projects call for, this uses tissue paper or cellophane and dish soap. The prep work is minimal and when you clean it up, you may just have cleaner windows from when you started. From Hands On As We Grow

Kelly R.:  Homemade stress balls are a satisfyingly squishy sensory toy, and so easy to make with balloons and a filler like flour, cornstarch, play dough or water beads. These ninja ones are such a cute upgrade to the plain balloon version! From Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls

Kristy Pepping:  All kids can use some inspiration for sweet dreams, no matter how fast they fall asleep. That's why creating a dream catcher to hang above their beds is a great idea. This craft uses simple household items that can be customized depending on what the child likes. Once assembled, simply hang it up for unique room decor. From The Suburban Mom

Kelly R.:  Kids can hunt for cool rocks in the backyard or on a walk around the neighborhood, and paint them to look like the veggies you're growing in the garden. Label each one with the name of the plant for adorable homemade plant markers. From Repeat Crafter Me

Kristy Pepping:  Whether it's planting season outside or not, a fun arts and crafts project is painting terracotta pots. Use an outdoor acrylic paint for extra ease, or just be sure to protect your creation from the elements by coating it with a sealer once you are done. Then, fill your art project with dirt and some seeds and watch it come to life!

Kristy Pepping:  Little kids love to get their hands dirty during art projects. With this simple painting project, your child will create a butterfly from both their hands. Decorate with beads, feathers, cotton balls or really anything else you have laying around the house. Plus, it acts as a teaching tool for beginner spellers. From Crystal and Company

Kelly R.:  Kids can cut and link colorful strips of paper together to create a cool snake for an easy paper craft. If you have Very Hungry Caterpillar fans in your house, try making one that looks like him! From Raising Little Superheroes

Kelly R.:  Thread colorful pony beads onto cord or string to make these fun lizards that can be clipped to backpack zippers or shared with friends. Once kids understand the technique, they can experiment with inventing their own custom pony bead animals! From Sugar Bee Crafts

Kristy Pepping:  When you have school-aged children, chances are you have brown paper bags. These can double as puppets for an easy craft. And this site even makes it more simple with templates you can print out to create various characters. Simply print out the pieces, cut them out and kids can glue them to the bags to create their puppets. From Aunt Annie's Crafts

Kristy Pepping:  If your child loves animals and you have a few paper plates laying around, then your kiddo can easily create this craft. They offer step-by-step instructions to making several animals from bears to birds to cows. Simply select your child's favorite animal and start creating! From DLTK

Kristy Pepping:  Art is part of S.T.E.A.M so why not combine craft time and learning together? This simple art project just needs a piece of paper, pen and some stickers. It will help kids learn to spell their name and use fine motor skills to trace the letters. From Busy Toddler

Kristy Pepping:  For little ones learning to tell time, this simple art project involves making a watch out of a toilet paper tube. Several watches can be made; each with a different time to learn. Then kids can enjoy decorating the different watches to wear. From Red Ted Art

Kristy Pepping:  A fun project for kids of any age is using tape and paint together. Simply map out a design using tape, paint over it and once dried, remove the tape. My kids like doing this by taping their name and then painting over it. It makes for a nice bedroom piece of art. From Artful Parent

Kristy Pepping:  Who doesn't have cardboard boxes laying around the house headed to the recycle bin? Instead of tossing these out, save them for this fun kid's art project. Pieces of cardboard in this craft are used to create a hanging work-of-art. From Artful Parent

Kristy Pepping:  This is a super fun craft that is also a game! If you have some fridge magnets laying around the house, glue pieces of cardboard to them and create tic tac toe. Kids can decorate the pieces and then they can play on the fridge while you are making dinner! From Make and Takes