Here are eight simple summer crafts you can make with your kids this summer, no matter what their experience level! You’ll all have a great time making and then enjoying these fun crafts together! These are beginner-level crafts that can be made even by the littlest crafters in your life, but they’re all still fun enough to keep the older kids involved, too.
Water Bottle Vase
- Start by cutting the bottom off of a water bottle.
- Cut a small circular piece from the top of the bottle, use this as your vase to put flowers in
- Dip one side of the neck of the bottle into a bucket of hot glue, this will act as a sealant
- Allow drying completely before putting in flowers
- Display on your patio table or even outside your home.
DIY Lip Balm
The most basic of any good lip balm is just a mix of beeswax, oil, and butter. At the end of this post, we’ll list a few recipes that you can use to get started!
To make it at home, follow these steps:
1. Place some beeswax in a double boiler pot. Add about 1⁄2 cup of oil or butter depending on what you have available (sweet almond oil or coconut oil are good choices). Then, place it over medium heat until everything melts together smoothly. Remove from heat and let cool slightly before continuing to the next step. Add in essential oils if desired. If you don’t want to add essential oils, then you can skip this step.
Now, stir well and pour into containers with lids for storing. Allow them to set up before using by placing them in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so before trying them out.
Ice Cube Painting
Who says summer has to be all heat and humidity? Take a break from the sun with these icy creations! If you’re planning on painting with actual paint, be sure to pour a little bit into your tray first so the water will coat evenly. (We recommend using food coloring!)
DIY Colorful Feather Earrings
Materials needed include feathers, thread or yarn, needles, and scissors. Instructions below to create earrings like these below!
1) Cut 4-6 inch lengths of thread or yarn. Take two colors and loop each around one side of your hand like in the picture below. Thread one color through the eye of a needle and pull through until there’s enough to tie off at the top with another piece of thread or yarn (see pictures above).
2) Take one feather and loop it around two fingers on your other hand as shown in the pictures above. Tie off the end of a feather with another piece of string as close to the feather as possible without cutting it; cut off excess string beyond the knot. Repeat steps 1-2 with all remaining feathers, securing knots when finished. Using an extra length of thread or yarn to tie loops together at the bottom will help keep them closed and in place when worn.
Giant Paper Ball
Bigger isn’t always better, but sometimes it is! And this giant paper ball definitely falls into that category! With only two simple steps and minimal supplies needed, you’ll have an epic day of rolling this giant ball around outside like some sort of weirdo… which sounds pretty great if we do say so ourselves. All you need is newspaper strips, scissors, glue, and tape to put everything together.
Step 1: Cut 12-18 sheets of newspaper into strips about 2 inches wide. Step 2: Start wrapping them around themselves in a ball shape until they reach the desired size. Step 3: Roll up the edges of the paper with tape until they are tight against each other and use glue to seal it closed at the top. All done!
String Mosaics
It’s always fun to make something out of nothing. You can either make one big mural or work on several smaller ones. We recommend using colored string or yarn because it’s easy to see what color each tile is supposed to be and won’t get tangled up as easily as other materials would.
Patterned Wrapping Paper
Learning how to create patterned wrapping paper is an excellent DIY project for beginner crafters. This project is super simple and will not require any artistic skill! All you need are colored pencils, white printer paper, a ruler, Scotch tape or clear packing tape, scissors, and graph paper (optional).
Print out the desired pattern on your piece of white printer paper with a laser printer or copier, then cut it out. You can use Scotch tape or clear packing tape to adhere the pattern to the wrapping paper. Cutting with precision will ensure that your design doesn’t get messed up when you tear away the black lines after pressing down on it.
After all of the pieces have been drawn and cut out, place them on top of each other in order from largest to smallest. Use one strip of Scotch tape or clear packing tape at the bottom to hold them together. Then fold over the top layer so that they overlap just enough to cover everything underneath but leave a small opening at one end where you’ll insert your scissors in order to snip off all excess paper.
Your design should now be completely enclosed by what’s left sticking up at one end. Snip off all the exposed edges of the tape and carefully remove the backing to reveal your creation.
Some popular patterns include polka dots, stripes, waves, paisley prints, hearts, dots, and swirls. Make as many as you like and store them in a drawer until needed.
Pom Pom Picture Frame
Grab your favorite sheet of paper.
Cut your paper into a 6×6 square, cover the top with glue and shake on plenty of pom-poms.
Set aside to dry overnight.
Use another sheet of paper to cut out a picture (or pattern) to fit over the square opening.
Glue your piece in place and enjoy! For an extra special touch, you can spray paint the frame gold or silver before adding your pictures.
The whole process should take less than an hour – which is great for people who are new to crafting and want something quick and easy.
Ice Cube Flowers
Whether it’s the heat of summer or the cold days of winter, ice flowers will never go out of style. They are simple, beautiful, and fun to create! You’ll need a few household items to complete this project: a tray (to hold your ice in), cotton batting (to act as your soil), fabric scraps, scissors, tape measure or yardstick, scotch tape (or any other type of strong paper adhesive), water-based ink pad in coordinating colors (optional), cardboard tube (if desired) and small foamie sponge.
First, you’ll want to cut some pieces of fabric. This can be one large square or many different-sized rectangles. The height is completely up to you—you can use your creativity to make each one different! Make sure that the piece of fabric is large enough to cover an ice cube when it has been taped down on top. Cut off any excess so that there are no loose threads dangling from the edges. Next, place your cotton batting on top of your chosen piece of fabric.
The next step is optional, but if you want a fuller flower stem then tear off two strips of cardboard about 3 inches wide by 12 inches long and twist them together into a cylinder shape with both ends overlapping slightly; tape them together at one end and tuck the other end into the hole in your iced cube before adding more layers with either more cardboard tubes or just plain old ice cubes placed side by side. Place a small piece of folded fabric over the point where the two pieces of cardboard overlap and secure it with a piece of tape.
Now you’re ready to start layering your petals. Simply cut around 4-5 petals from your fabric, starting from the outside edge towards the center point where they will all meet up. Tape one end tightly against the inside edge of your ice cube while leaving 2 inches hanging overhanging past the edge. Use the same process to create additional petals.
Once you have all of your petals, gently pull up on the thread and wrap it around until it starts to become tight enough not to slip back through the hole in the ice cube. Then gently gather everything together and give a gentle tug upwards and downwards as needed so that they don’t come undone later. Continue with this process until you’ve made 10-12 flowers per ice cube depending on how tall or short you want them.
Finish by pushing a small piece of scotch tape into the center of your last layer to help keep everything firmly attached once frozen, which should take only about 15 minutes tops depending on how thickly you’ve applied your tapes.
After the final piece of tape has been secured, remove the small section of scotch tape holding the two cardboard tubes together. Fill the rest of your container with either more ice cubes or scraps of fabric. Add a second layer of flowers and ice if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. When ready to serve, carefully peel away the plastic wrap so that you’re left with clean blocks of ice decorated with lovely blossoms.
Melted Crayon Artwork
This summer craft project is best suited for younger children with smaller hands. You can create art on your own or with them as they create their own masterpiece. The first step is to gather a bunch of crayons, preferably ones that have been used at least once or twice.
Carefully peel the paper off the crayons, and put the paper into an oven-safe dish to melt on low heat. Once melted, carefully press each side of the crayon onto a canvas or piece of paper until it sticks, then repeats this process with more colors until you have reached your desired outcome. After you are done, allow it to cool for about 30 minutes before touching it and enjoying.
Watermelon Painting
Create some fruity summer paintings by painting using watermelon pieces. To make this easy activity even easier, you can purchase pre-cut watermelon circles from the grocery store if you do not want to cut up your own melon. Using watercolor paints or food coloring, dip a brush in the paint and use one hand to hold the fruit in place while painting with your other hand (or have a child do it). Continue dipping brushes in different colors for different effects.
Ombre Candles
What you’ll need: candle; colored pencil or pen; water; spray bottle (optional)
In this craft, the brown candle gradually transitions to a darker color at the top. To make this effect, start by drawing or painting one stripe of your desired color on the candle. Then, create another stripe a couple of inches below it in a slightly lighter tone of that same color.
Continue doing this until the stripes form an ombre pattern, covering all but one inch of the candle’s width (usually closest to the wick). Finally, allow these colors to dry completely before burning your candle! It is best to do this outside if possible, as the wax will not be flammable while wet.
Conclusion
Crafting is an excellent way to spend time with your friends, create something useful, or just have some fun. These eight easy crafts are perfect for beginner crafters to do over the summer break!
Each project has a detailed step-by-step tutorial with accompanying photos that will walk you through the process of creating your own awesome, homemade decoration. So grab some supplies from around the house and get started today.
Also, check out the latest articles “Resin crafts” and “Rock painting ideas“
Hi I’m Bilal Malik, a digital marketing and blogging expert holding years of experience.
