Forty crafts for children that can be made at home with what is already in the drawer: paper, loo rolls, glue, pipe cleaners and a bit of paint. Sorted by age from one to twelve, with how long they take and what you actually need. None of them requires a trip to the craft shop.
There are two kinds of craft guides: the ones with beautiful photos of things no four-year-old can make, and the ones that work on a rainy Tuesday at four o'clock. This is the second kind. These are the crafts our nannies do with their families, week after week, and they were chosen because they actually happen: little preparation, materials you have at home and a result the child is proud of.
Before you start: the craft box
A shoebox with white and coloured paper, children's scissors, a glue stick, liquid glue, felt-tip pens, wax crayons, pipe cleaners, pompoms, tape, string, googly eyes and a bag of saved loo rolls. With that box you can do thirty of the forty crafts here without buying anything. Lay everything out on the table before the children arrive, so you are not hunting for the glue with three impatient children around you.
1 to 2 years: feel, smear, stick
The littlest ones craft with their whole body. The result is beside the point; the experience is everything. Ten minutes is a long time.
- Finger paint on big paper. Tape a large sheet of paper to the floor, put out two colours. Nappy on, top off.
- Tear and stick. Tear coloured paper into pieces, stick them onto a sheet with a glue stick. The tearing is the craft.
- Pasta on a string. Thread macaroni onto a shoelace with a knot at the end. Trains the fingers, becomes a necklace.
- Painting with a sponge. Cut a washing-up sponge into pieces, dip in paint, press onto paper. Less mess than a brush.
- Sticker picture. A sheet of stickers and a piece of paper. Peel up the corner for them, they do the rest.
- Homemade play dough. Two parts flour, one part salt, one part water, a little oil and food colouring. Knead. Keeps for a week in a jar.
- Water painting on the pavement. A bucket of water and a brush. Paint on the stone, watch it dry, paint again. Zero clean-up.
- Tin can drum. A balloon stretched over an empty tin with no sharp edges, taped on. Wooden spoons as drumsticks.
3 to 4 years: stick, paint, start cutting
Now your child wants to make something that looks like a thing. Children's scissors work for most, but you cut the parts that need to come out right.
- Loo roll animals. Paint the roll, stick on paper ears and eyes. Cat, rabbit, owl, anything with ears.
- Handprint tree. Paint your child's hand brown, press it as a trunk with the fingers as branches, stick on torn green paper as leaves.
- Paper plate mask. Cut eye holes in a paper plate, your child paints it and sticks on feathers or paper, string at the sides.
- Pipe cleaners and beads. Thread big wooden beads onto pipe cleaners. Bend into a ring or a snake.
- Potato stamps. Cut a potato in half, cut a shape into the flat side. Dip in paint, press. Stars and hearts are easiest.
- Paper butterfly. Fold a sheet of paper like a concertina, twist a pipe cleaner around the middle, bend into antennae. Your child paints the paper first.
- Egg carton flowers. Cut up an egg carton, your child paints the cups, a pipe cleaner through the bottom as a stem.
- Sock puppet. A sock on the hand, stick on eyes and a scrap of fabric as a tongue. Theatre afterwards; that is half the craft.
- Salt dough figures. One part salt, two parts flour, one part water. Shape, dry in the oven on low heat for a couple of hours, paint the next day.
- Nature collage. Collect leaves, sticks and stones on your walk. Stick them onto cardboard at home. Free and different every season.
5 to 7 years: cut, fold, build
The scissors work and patience lasts half an hour. Your child wants a result that does something: flies, stands, lights up.
- Paper aeroplanes. Teach a simple plane, then compete for distance. Decorate before you fold.
- Paper chain of figures. Fold the paper like a concertina, draw half a figure against the fold, cut, unfold. Hearts, ghosts, little people.
- Jam jar lantern. Stick pieces of tissue paper onto a clean jar. Battery tealight inside. Sits in the window for weeks.
- Pinwheel. A square of paper, cut from the corners towards the centre, fold in every other corner, pin to a stick with a drawing pin.
- Fuse beads. The classic. Start with small pegboards and a pattern your child chooses. You do the ironing.
- Origami frog. Ten steps, and it jumps when you press its back end. Seven-year-olds manage it after two attempts.
- Loo roll marble run. Tape rolls in a zigzag onto a piece of cardboard leaning against the wall. Drop a marble. Rebuild until it goes all the way down.
- Pipe cleaner spider's web. Three pipe cleaners crossed, a fourth spiralled around them. A spider made from a black pompom with six legs.
- Homemade slime. White glue, a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, a few drops of contact lens solution, colour. Stir until it comes away from the bowl. Real chemistry.
- Their own book. Four sheets folded in half, stapled along the spine. Your child tells the story, you write, your child draws. Read it at bedtime.
- Pine cone bird feeder. Coat a pine cone in unsalted peanut butter, roll it in bird seed, hang it on a string. The birds arrive within a day.
- Paper weaving. Cut slits in a sheet of paper, weave strips of another colour over and under. Good for children who like patterns.
8 to 10 years: crafts with a purpose
Now your child wants to make something that gets used. It can take an hour, and it should ideally be something they can show off.
- Friendship bracelets. Three threads in different colours, tie them to a table, plait or tie macramé knots. The first one goes to a friend.
- Shoebox jewellery box. Paint it, line the inside with fabric or paper, divide it up with pieces of cardboard. Used for years.
- Stop-motion film. Lego or clay, the phone on a stack of books, one photo per tiny movement. A free app puts it together. The whole afternoon disappears.
- Papier-mâché bowl. Tear up newspaper, mix with wallpaper paste, press layers onto a greased bowl, dry for two days, paint.
- Loo roll kaleidoscope. Three strips of mirror foil on card in a triangle inside the roll, coloured beads at the end under cling film. Turn and look.
- Foam stamps. Cut a shape from soft craft foam, stick it onto a wooden block. Make your own greeting cards.
- Map of the neighbourhood. Walk around the block, draw a map with everything that matters: the playground, the kiosk, the big dog. Mark the treasure.
- Embroidery on cardboard. Draw a simple motif, punch holes along the line with a needle, sew with thick yarn. Easier than fabric.
- Patterned tin can lantern. A tin filled with water and frozen, punch a pattern of holes with a nail and hammer, candle inside. With an adult.
- Lava lamp. Oil in a clear bottle, water and food colouring at the bottom, an effervescent tablet. Science in ten minutes.
The forty crafts here can be varied by season: the loo roll animals become Halloween crafts for kids, the salt dough figures become Christmas tree decorations in December and the egg carton flowers become tulips in April.
What makes the craft actually happen
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Lay everything out before the children arrive | Hunting for the glue with impatient children |
| One craft at a time | Three half-finished ones on the table |
| Sit with them for the first five minutes | Leaving the room straight away |
| Set a time limit beforehand, with a timer | Waiting for interest to run out |
| Hang up the result the same day | Putting it in a pile |
| Let it be wonky | Correcting your child's cat |
How we do it with our families
Crafts are what our nannies do most on winter afternoons. It is dark by four, too cold for the playground and too early for dinner, and half an hour with pipe cleaners at the kitchen table is what gets a three-year-old to stop asking when Mum is coming. Having the same nanny every time means the marble run can be carried on next Tuesday, right where it left off.
Would you like someone who does crafts, picks up from förskola (municipal preschool, from age one) and comes on the same days every week? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home.
Read more: Halloween crafts for kids · Party games for kids by age · 100 riddles for kids with answers, sorted by age
Frequently asked questions about crafts for kids
Which crafts suit a two-year-old?
Anything where the hands get to be in the material: finger paint, play dough, sticking torn paper, painting with a sponge. Nothing with scissors, no small parts, and expect ten minutes before interest runs out.
What should be in a craft box at home?
White paper, coloured paper, children's scissors, a glue stick, liquid glue, felt-tip pens, wax crayons, pipe cleaners, pompoms, tape, string and a tub of loo rolls. That covers thirty of the forty crafts here.
How do you get children to craft for longer than five minutes?
Lay everything out beforehand, sit with them yourself for the first few minutes, and stop correcting. A lopsided ghost your child made alone is better than a neat one you made for them.
What do you do with all the crafts afterwards?
A washing line with pegs in the hall, swapped every week. Photograph what is going in the bin and make an album at Christmas. Your child remembers that you kept it, not whether it is in a box or a file.