I am not very crafty at all. In fact, I used to avoid anything to do with arts and crafts when I first began homeschooling. I hate messes and trying to come up with ideas. I actually love the idea of being creative and fun with my kids. But, my OCD gets in the way and I tell myself it’s too much. For years it held me back from doing fun activities with my boys.

Not anymore. I vowed this year to do more arts and crafts with them and so far I have kept to it. I have asked others for ideas. I have consulted Pinterest. I have even tagged in my husband to do a special project with the boys. It’s actually been quite fun. There is a different feeling to our homeschool day on the days when we do these activities. They don’t feel forced or even feel like school.

Most of the creative activities we do are easy and not very time consuming. I have chosen things so that we already have the supplies except one or two items. These ideas are also not expensive. Sometimes these projects can get quite pricey. But I chose ones that are basically free.

Here is a list of some ideas for arts and crafts:

  1. Painting rocks- this is such a popular thing to do around our town. There is a huge following and people get so creative. This is one of the projects we have actually done a few times. You can purchase rocks in a kit or buy them from a garden supply store. Rocks are not expensive. We have acrylic paints at home and a spray to seal the paint after we are finished. My boys love doing this and have spent countless hours on our front porch painting. My husband loves doing this as well so this is one he has taken over to give me a break. We take the rocks around our town and leave them for others to find. It’s two activities in one!
  2. Chalk painting- we study a different artist every month during our morning basket time. Last month was Van Gogh and my boys wanted to try their hand at one of his most famous paintings Starry Night. I have tons of chalk around my house. I got several sheets of black construction paper and put a book in front of them with the actual painting on it. They tried to replicate Starry Night and they did an amazing job. They took their time and tried to get every detail. We talked about how the original painting would have had texture instead of feeling smooth. It was fun and my boys felt proud of their designs.
  3. Scream Face- sounds interesting, right? It is so much fun. A friend found the idea on Pinterest. You take a plain white piece of paper and draw a generic face with an open mouth (screaming) in black permanent marker. Then, use colored pencils to draw features on the face. You could also use chalk or crayons. Get some water colors and turn the paper upside down. Dip a paintbrush into the water and paint so it’s a little runny. Place on the top of the head and blow the paint straight out using a straw. Use all different colors. My boys even made beards on their faces. Of course, my boys all made monster faces. Haha. This was a huge hit.
  4. Homemade playdough- there are tons of recipes out there for this. We made playdough in every color of dye we had. It lasts FOREVER if sealed in an airtight container. This is science and art all in one!
  5. Nature journals- we have done a nature journal for a couple of years now. Depending on the season, we go outside and draw what we see. We usually only do pencils sketches but I am thinking about getting some watercolors out and letting them do some painting. Fall is a wonderful time to do this with all the beautiful colors of the leaves. This is art and science as well.

There are literally thousands of ideas for arts and crafts out there. These are just a few we have done. I plan to keep it up and hopefully my boys will remember doing these fun activities. I am keeping a lot of these amazing crafts because they are so good.

Happy crafting!