Art & craft projects are supposed to inspire creativity in children, but they don’t have to remain limited to only the traditional origami, collages, and coloring projects. You can introduce a number of off-beat projects to their curriculum that goes beyond the usual and teach them craftwork that is not only creative but quite useful as well.
5 Projects to Inspire Creativity in Children
Start incorporating more opportunities for children to be creative in your homeschool lesson plans. Here are five projects you can complete with little preparation and you mostly likely already have most of the materials on hand at home!
DIY Luminaries Craft
A simple battery-powered white tealight can easily be transformed into beautiful luminaries with the help of paper bags, colored tissue papers, clear tape, a sealant, Pergamenata paper and some optional stickers and paints. It takes a bit of precision and know-how, but kids can do it with a bit of guidance.
Making Cards
The very act of making cards for someone close to you is special, whether you are a child or not. However, the Adobe Spark card maker makes this process easy enough to be approached by even small children. This is similar to designing a white card but is much more economical, approachable, and it offers a lot more options than is ever possible with pen and paper. You don’t have to worry about buying new cards and materials every time and the children are free to experiment as much as they want. Once they are done with the work, simply print out the cards you need and save or discard the rest.
The LEGO Birdhouse
There is a whole range of useful things that people make out of LEGOs and that’s not really very surprising, given that they are building blocks after all. We have chosen the Lego birdhouse here because it’s relatively simple to make, easy to wash, and looks absolutely gorgeous amidst a flower garden in the yard, or even on your windowsill. Your children may need some help with this though, along with a lot of Lego blocks! Remember to make the house and the openings appropriately sized for the kind of birds you want to attract.
Make Wind Chimes
The wind chime is an ancient ornament which is amazing and simple at the same time. It is one of those rare percussion instruments that is constructed by man but played by nature. Find a stick or a branch that’s at least a foot long and then shave off any sharp or protruding parts first. Hang at least 6 – 8 (more if you want) colored metal pieces or useless keys from it with separate strings for each. Do color the metal pieces or keys in different shades to make it look beautiful. Hang the wind chime outside a door, window or in the garden.
Painted Paperweight Craft
As we begin to rely more and more on our digital formats, paper is losing its value, but it isn’t over for the paper industry yet, and that’s why you need some beautifully painted stones from your kids to keep the newspaper and the documents down at home. Find some smooth rocks and let them paint on it with acrylic colors. The imaginative mind of a child can make the paperweights look amazing.
Art doesn’t always have to be practical, so feel free to incorporate as many varieties of it into your children’s craft classes as you can. Different projects stimulate different sections of the brain as children learn and improve while working on those projects. Nevertheless, the five projects above should add an extra bit of usefulness and incentive to your kid’s art & craft project.
