Some fun quick crafts to do with your children over the weekend or after school. Enjoy a scavenger hunt, paint rocks and hide them for others to find, make your own rainbow rice and so much more.
SCAVENGER HUNT
Have the kids find items that match a color, a letter, a sound and more. If your kids are on the mischievous side, you might want to set some ground rules such as no live animals.
PAINTING ROCKS
Next time you’re at the garden store, pick up some river rocks that are big enough for your kids to work with but small enough for them to pick up themselves. Let the kids loose with craft paint and see what they come up with. Encourage them to make up a story or to paint the rocks in cheery colors and themes. For extra fun, coat them in sealant and hide them around the yard.
DOODLE ART
Grab some copy paper and markers. Let the kids create a single-line scribble using the black marker, then fill the shape with different colors of markers or crayons for a fun abstract piece.
DIY STRESS BALL
Fill a balloon part of the way with cornstarch. Tie a knit and let the kiddos decorate their new homemade stress balls. These are great for road trips and fidgety kids.
RAINBOW RICE
Put uncooked rice in freezer bags, then drop in a few drops of gel food dye. Shake and mash the rice and food coloring together – this is fun for the little ones – and then pour each color onto a baking sheet. Bake to set the dye and you’re ready to go. Let the kids make their own pictures and sort the colors.
- 4 C uncooked rice
- 3 T rubbing alcohol
- 2 small globs of food color gel, or 2 T liquid food coloring
- In a gallon size ziploc bag, combine all three ingredients. Remove the air and zip close. Smoosh and mash the bag until the color is evenly distributed.
- Pour onto a cookie sheet and allow to dry completely. It helps drying time to stir it occasionally.
MAKE OOBLEK
That’s a fun word, isn’t it? Ooblek is a gooey substance somewhere between water and slime. Make it by mixing two cups of cornstarch with one cup of water and, if you’d like, food coloring. Mix to combine. Your ooblek should be solid if you apply pressure and melt back into a liquid when you let go. If the ooblek is too wet, add a little more cornstarch and mix again. Too dry? Do the same with water.
Mix 2 cups of cornstarch to 1 cup of water into a bowl. Mix the cornstarch and water until your oobleck is formed. Tip: If you would like to color your oobleck, add your food coloring to your water and then mix with the cornstarch.
