7 Best Summer Crafts & Art Activities for Kids

This is a collaborative post. 

Summer is a fun time but with kids being home from school for a few months, sometimes you have to get a little creative to keep them entertained. One of the best way to do this is to let your kids be creative themselves. You can even use a custom-made tag or label to mark these creations as their own! In this article, we will look at 7 of the best summer crafts & art activities for kids.

1. Birdhouse/Bird Feeder

One great thing about summer is all the animals that are out and about, including birds. If your child likes birds, a craft that they might like is to create a birdhouse/bird feeder. However, unlike some more complicated versions of this art project, this tutorial works with a cleaned-out milk carton as the base.

The instructions call for some tissue paper squares to be used to decorate the outside of the birdhouse. In a pinch, though, you can simply allow your child to paint the exterior of the birdhouse.

 

2. Wind Chimes

Another thing in the summer that can be nice is the sound of wind chimes. However, you can have fun and save money by making your own wind chimes with your kids. In fact, by using this tutorial, you don’t even need to invest in any complicated or expensive supplies. Most of what you need is just some string, tin cans, and some paint to decorate them with.

3. Make Your Own Lip Gloss

If your child is more interested in makeup, they might be interested in this tutorial for making their own lip gloss. With a little Kool Aid powder, you can make your lip gloss in whatever flavor or tint that you want. The instructions do warn, however, that Kool Aid powder can stain surfaces and fingers, so you might want to put down some mats to work on.

4. Tie Dye

If you want a more classic art activity, you could always tie dye some clothes or a pillowcase with your kids. The simplest way to do this is to buy dyes for tie dying at your local craft store. You will also need some rubber bands and, of course, the item you want to tie dye.

Once again, this craft can be pretty messy. So, you will want to at least wear gloves while you dye your item. If you want to reduce the mess, you might even want to take the dying process outside.

5. Sun Catcher

Since the summer is such a sunny time, a sun catcher is a great way for a child to decorate their bedroom. All you really need for this project is some construction paper, contact paper, and tissue paper, as well as scissors to cut the paper down to size and glue to bring it all together.

This type of project is nice because it allows some creativity in its creation. If you want specific instructions, though, this tutorial will tell you how to create a sun-shaped sun catcher and even includes the templates you need for this shape.

6. Soda Bottle Firefly

One of the most iconic pastimes for kids in the summer is watching and catching fireflies at night. If your kids aren’t very interested in touching real bugs, though, you can make your own with these instructions. The basis of this craft only really needs an old water or soda bottle. To decorate it, you can use pipe cleaners, construction paper, and even googly eyes.

What you won’t want to do is paint the bottle. This is because to make it glow, you will want to activate a glow stick and place it inside the bottle. Painting it will only block the glow.

7. Flower Crown

Once the weather gets warm, it’s time to start making flower crowns. However, actual flower chains are rather fragile and don’t hold up to children’s playtime. With these instructions, though, you can make a sturdier flower crown out of cardstock or poster board. This tutorial does call for an X-acto knife, so adult help will be needed.