Making crafts is an excellent activity to spend your time on. It has a lot of benefits and is really enjoyable. Although an effort is a must in doing crafts, the outcome will surely not disappoint.

Your kids might be worn out of doing the same thing every day. Hand the little ones some materials to work on, and let them be creative!

But before you encourage your kids to engage in arts and crafts, let's talk first about its benefits:

Benefits of making crafts

Creativity and imagination are inseparable! Problem-solving, thinking outside the box, and immersing oneself in many pursuits require creativity. In turn, the ability to think creatively and express oneself helps broaden one's vision. 

• Foresight and planning - Before beginning any arts and crafts project, children should have a clear goal in mind. They will also need to consider what materials and equipment they will require. For an artistic vision to be realized successfully, children should plan ahead and think about how they will get there. Planning and foresight are essential life skills that go hand in hand with other vital skills.
• Self-Expression and emotion management - Children can express themselves freely, sometimes without even realizing it, through art! Children will unconsciously express their inner thoughts and feelings through their artwork. Transforming an idea into an actual work of art is a brilliant way for them to manage their internal thoughts and feelings, molding them into something tangible. Furthermore, art and creative pursuits improve mental health and well-being.
• Teaching patience - Perfection takes time. It takes patience and dedication to complete a piece of art or to successfully execute an artistic technique. It can be tempting to rush things to finish them faster or to give up entirely if they take longer than expected. However, children's patience will grow over time, and they will realize that all good things take time!

Now that we've discussed the benefits of letting your kids do arts and crafts, here are some projects that your kids can do!

Bubble Painting

Take your kids' enthusiasm for experimental science and transform it into an incredible art technique. Add a few drops of dish soap and food coloring to the water. Then, do some bubble-blowing and create fascinating, one-of-a-kind patterns.

Materials needed:

• Liquid food coloring
• Dish soap
• Paper
• Drinking straw

Steps:

• Fill the bottom of a wide-rimmed cup or small bowl with water. Add food coloring and a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
• Using a drinking straw, blow onto it until the bubbles reach the container's rim.
• Place a piece of paper on the bubbles, then lift it off. The bubbles will pop, leaving unique circular patterns on the paper.
• Repeat until you are satisfied with how the bubble prints look.

Tip: Cut a small notch near the top of the straw to prevent your kid from sipping the bubble mixture. 

Pasta Necklace Craft

Encourage your little ones to create their own wearable art using only pasta noodles, paint, and string. You'll probably have to help your toddler with this project, but they will most likely adore the product you have worked on together.

Materials needed:

• Craft paint
• Paint brushes
• Pasta noodles 
• Yarn
• Parchment paper

Steps:

• Put a portion of pasta and a squirt of paint in a ziplock bag. Seal the bag and rub it in your hands until the pasta is completely coated in paint.
• On a flat surface, spread out some parchment paper. Allow the painted pasta to dry on the surface.
• When the pasta is thoroughly dried, let your child decorate it with paint and a brush. Let them move on to the next step if you want to make the work easier.
• To hang the pasta, cut a length of yarn. Let your kids fill the yarn with pasta then it's all done.

Firework Painting

This firework painting is a fun and interactive art project for kids! This project will use a simple cardboard printing technique to create various colors and sizes of fireworks.

Materials needed:

• Scissors
• Container
• Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
• Paintbrush
• Acrylic or Tempera paint
• Black cardstock

Steps:

• Cut vertically around the paper roll, at least 1/4 inch apart. Longer cuts of around 2 inches work best. 
• Bend the cut paper roll pieces, so they face outwards, forming a sun shape.
• Place paint onto a container and spread it out with a paintbrush. The paint container should be large enough to cover the fanned-out paper roll.
• Soak the paper roll's fanned ends into your first color of paint. To ensure even paint coverage, bounce the roll up and down and rotate it.
• On your cardstock, stamp the paper roll. Lift the paper roll and rotate it slightly before stamping it again in the same place. This results in a more vibrant fireworks paint.

Tip: Don't put the paper rolls in the paint until you're ready to use them because they become soggy after being left in the paint for extended periods.

Pom poms

Small multicolored cotton balls are a simple yet entertaining craft project for your kids. One of the most common uses for pom poms in art projects is to improve fine motor skills. Here is a much quicker and easier way of creating fluffy pom poms.

Materials needed:

• Scrap cardboard
• Yarn
• Scissors 

Steps:

• First off, you need to make a cardboard template. Cut out a figure that resembles a rectangle with a split that extends partially across the middle.
• Wrap the yarn around the cardboard template. Make a tight tie in the middle of the string while wrapped around your template.
• Slip the yarn off the cardboard template, turn it over, and tie it tighter on the other side.
• Cut the looped ends with your sharp scissors. It will have a shaggy and uneven appearance. It requires a thorough trim, which is the key to creating a fluffy, rounded pom pom.

Foam Mosaic

Foam mosaic is a great art activity for kids of all ages. Little ones can arrange the foam pieces in an abstract pattern and use various colored fragments to create pictures. This is a great way to exercise your kids' creativity!

Materials needed:

• Colored craft foam
• Cardboard
• Glue
• Scissors 

Steps:

• Cut tiny pieces of foam. It's helpful to have a variety of shapes to piece together like a puzzle.
• Glue the cut pieces of foam to the cardboard and create beautiful artwork.

Conclusion

Always remember to be by your children's side while they work on their crafts. Accidents can happen, especially when using sharp objects such as knives and scissors. 

However, being with them while they create arts and crafts dramatically reduces the risk of injuries. So, don't let your kids miss out on anything; allow them to use their imagination and be creative!