Looking for a fun way to keep kids busy without buying a whole box of expensive craft supplies? You can create plenty of fun projects with simple things already sitting around the house.
Paper, cardboard, crayons, paint, glue, and a few recycled items can turn into colorful decorations, toys, and imaginative creations. These 10 easy crafts are simple enough for a relaxed afternoon at home and give kids plenty of room to add their own ideas.
1. Torn-Paper Collage
A torn-paper collage is one of the easiest crafts to set up, and there is no need for perfect cutting.
You’ll need:
Scrap paper, cardboard or thick paper, glue, and crayons.
How to make it:
Give your child several pieces of colorful paper and let them tear the paper into different shapes and sizes. They can arrange the pieces into an animal, house, tree, rainbow, or completely imaginary picture.
Let them glue everything down once they like the design. Adding a few drawn details with crayons can bring the whole picture to life.
2. DIY Paper Fan
Paper fans are quick to make and can be decorated in endless ways.
You’ll need:
A sheet of paper, crayons or markers, and tape.
How to make it:
First, decorate the paper with stripes, dots, flowers, stars, or any pattern your child likes. Then fold the sheet back and forth in narrow sections to create an accordion shape.
Pinch the bottom together and secure it with a small piece of tape. Your child now has a colorful handmade fan they can use during pretend play.
3. Paper Crown
Turn an ordinary sheet of paper into a royal accessory for hours of imaginative play.
You’ll need:
Paper, scissors, tape, and crayons or markers.
How to make it:
Cut a long strip of paper wide enough to sit comfortably around the child’s head. Create points along the top edge to form the crown shape.
Before taping the ends together, decorate it with drawings, patterns, stars, hearts, or colorful designs. Kids can create crowns for kings, queens, superheroes, explorers, or even dinosaur rulers.
4. Handmade Corner Bookmark
This craft is perfect for children who enjoy books and want to make something they can actually use.
You’ll need:
One square piece of paper and markers or crayons.
How to make it:
Fold the paper into a triangle and use a few simple folds to create a small pocket that fits over the corner of a book page.
Once the shape is finished, decorate it as a funny monster, animal, flower, or favorite character. It makes a small project that feels special when reading time comes around.
5. Paper Flowers
Create a colorful paper garden without needing real flowers or complicated materials.
You’ll need:
Colored paper, scissors, glue, and a pencil.
How to make it:
Cut several narrow strips of paper and bend each strip into a loop. Glue the ends together, then arrange the loops around a paper circle to create petals.
Add a paper stem and a few leaves underneath. Kids can make different flowers by changing the colors and sizes, then combine them into one cheerful paper bouquet.
6. Paper Bag Puppets
A simple paper bag can become the star of a homemade puppet show.
You’ll need:
A paper lunch bag, scrap paper, glue, scissors, and markers.
How to make it:
Lay the bag flat and use the folded flap as the puppet’s mouth. Draw a face on the front and add ears, hair, teeth, horns, glasses, or anything else needed to create the character.
Once the puppet is complete, give it a name and personality. Making a second puppet can turn the craft into a fun storytelling activity.
7. Cardboard Tube Rocket
Save a clean cardboard tube and turn it into a colorful spacecraft.
You’ll need:
A cardboard tube, paper, tape or glue, scissors, and markers.
How to make it:
Decorate the tube as the main body of the rocket. Make a paper cone for the top and add small paper fins near the bottom.
Kids can draw windows, buttons, control panels, and decorations. They can even give the rocket a name and invent a destination for its first imaginary mission.
8. Cereal Box Aquarium
An empty cereal box can become a miniature underwater world.
You’ll need:
An empty cereal box, colored paper, scissors, glue, and crayons or markers.
How to make it:
An adult can carefully cut an opening in one side of the box. Cover the inside with blue paper or color it blue to create the water.
Then make fish, seaweed, coral, shells, treasure, or imaginary sea creatures from paper. Arrange them inside the box to create a tiny underwater scene.
Children can make their aquarium realistic or invent a magical ocean filled with unusual creatures.
9. Cardboard Robot
This is a great project for kids who love building, designing, and making up stories.
You’ll need:
Small cardboard boxes or pieces, tape, paper, and markers.
How to make it:
Start with a box for the robot’s body. Add another piece for the head, then create arms, legs, buttons, tools, or antennas from cardboard and paper.
The most fun part is deciding what the robot can do. Maybe it cleans bedrooms, searches for treasure, helps plants grow, or travels through space.
There does not have to be one correct design—the more imaginative, the better.
10. Fingerprint Art
Fingerprint painting is simple, colorful, and especially fun for younger kids.
You’ll need:
Washable paint, paper, crayons or markers, and a cloth for cleanup.
How to make it:
Put a small amount of paint on a washable surface. Let your child dip a fingertip into the paint and press it onto the paper.
One fingerprint can become a balloon, bug, flower, or fish. A collection of prints can turn into grapes, a caterpillar, a garden, or a whole underwater scene.
After the paint dries, use crayons or markers to add eyes, stems, wings, faces, and other details.
Make Craft Time More Fun
The best part of kids’ crafts is that the finished project does not have to look perfect. Give children the freedom to choose their own colors, change the designs, and come up with unexpected ideas.
You also do not need a large craft cupboard. A small supply of paper, recycled cardboard, glue, crayons, scissors, and washable paint can provide plenty of creative possibilities.
So the next time the kids say they are bored, look around the house before heading to the store. A simple piece of paper or an empty cardboard box might be all you need for a fun afternoon.