With two creative kiddos at home, I am always on the lookout for kid-friendly crafts that we can do together. Over the years, we’ve tried just about everything, so I can say with utmost confidence that these are the best.
How can I be so confident?
About 6 years ago, my oldest and I embarked on a 100 Day project that focused on doing a craft together every day for 100 consecutive days. We spent close to 3 months doing every craft under the sun and had an absolute blast doing them.
And then, a few years later, when COVID hit and our worlds were flipped upside down, we attempted another round of our 100 Days of Crafting (even though we didn’t quite make it to the 100 day mark).
Needless to say, we’ve done a lot and liked … several.
These are the kid-friendly craft projects that rose to the top and made our Top 10 list.
- Crayon Lip Gloss. This was hands down our favorite craft we did. Of course, it was also the first thing we did. My oldest loved choosing the colors and having her very own “lipstick” to wear. I loved how easy it was to make lighter or darker, depending on who we were making it for. I am confident this will be in our repertoire for years to come.
- Pocket Fairies. We have been making these FOR YEARS. I print out a bunch of copies at a time and then pass them out to each kid. The Big likes to do the whole thing herself, while The Little needs a little help making the fairies. I let The Little give me directions on the clothing and hairstyles she wants and then she gets to color them in. Once everyone is done, we cut them out, laminate them, and then cut them out again. It keeps both of my kids (and their friends) entertained for hours at a time.
- Bath bombs. These are so much fun to make and customize, from colors to scents, to sizes. The kids absolutely love this one and we make them at least twice a year. Little and big hands alike will have fun with this one. Bonus, they make perfect gifts for friends and family!
- Sharpie Tiles. This is one seriously cool craft project. The Big loved being able to use the “special” markers and I loved watching our tiles go from weird spots of color to beautiful abstract designs in mere seconds. We will definitely be keeping these in our back pocket for house warming presents or holiday gifts.
- Chocolate lip balm. This makes the list, not because it’s lip balm, but because you get to eat the chocolate chips while making the lip balm. I will say that they have been a big hit with her friends because of the chocolate factor as well. The only disappointing thing about them? They don’t taste or smell like chocolate. Might need to try some cocoa butter next time to help out with that.
- Watercolor and rubbing alcohol. We love painting in our house and it’s really fun to see how rubbing alcohol affects watercolor. The darker paint colors show the effects a bit more dramatically than the lighter colors. You could also try this with salt instead of rubbing alcohol for another fun effect.
- Tassel Keychains. This project is a quickie and is so dang satisfying to make. I’ve had my tassel for over 5 years now and I honestly cannot imagine my keychain without one now. I have also made a few as zipper pulls for cosmetic pouches and plan to add one to my winter coat for a little extra flare. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something easy that you will actually get use out of.
- Nature Bracelets. This is a great get out of the house and explore the great outdoors kind of activity. We rolled a thick piece of tape around our wrists sticky-side out and were off to collect little bits of nature (aka magic) along the way. This is a fun one to do every season, since the things you find outside will change each time.
- Homemade play dough. Out of everything we’ve ever made, this is the one that gets made (and used) the most. It seriously makes the best play dough ever and the color choices are as endless as your imagination.
- Baking soda art. I almost forgot about this one. This one is a great science project that’s also an art project kind of craft. The kids love watching the reaction that happens when vinegar and baking soda mix and they have fun mixing all the different colors together. This one is especially fun for the littles, even though the bigs will still have lots of fun with it.
What about you? What are your favorite kid-friendly crafts? Have you tried any of the ones on this list?
