Summer Fun: 5 Cool Crafts

By Jeanne Benedict

Sometimes, fun in the sun takes a little planning. Spend a summer day being creative with the kids or let them loose in the backyard with these hot ideas from building a Sandcastle Playhouse to crafting Bug and Butterfly Mini Garden Clips. They’ll sleep like angels after a busy day of art!

For more ideas, read our Summer Fun: 5 Fab Games and Activities article!

1. Sandcastle Playhouse

More Summer Fun Ideas:

A box can be anything: a ship, a fort, a castle! Suggest that the prince and princesses in your life build a summer home out of boxes and sand for hours of beach fun in the backyard.

To make a Sandcastle Playhouse out of boxes:

Find an assortment of boxes to build the castle structure. Use a big appliance box for the main room and add smaller boxes as side chambers. Round cardboard containers makes great turrets and poster board rolled into cones can be the spires.
Put all the boxes together with lots of duct tape or by other means to make the boxes sturdy and safe – an adult can help out on this part!
Brush the outside of the boxes with white glue and pack play sand on the glue, covering the sides completely. Once the first layer of sand has dried, you can apply another layer. Play sand can usually be purchased at a toy store or home improvement center.
Decorate the castle by gluing shells on the walls, along with fish and sea life made out of construction paper. Don’t forget to make a royal flag!

2. Seashell Crafts

Shell Jewelry: Purchase shells and assorted beads from the craft store and string them on jewelry wire to make necklaces and bracelets. You can also dangle shell and bead strings from a piece of driftwood to make a cool beach mobile.

Shell Ornaments: Make a Santa Starfish by painting one of the starfish points red for a hat, using cotton for the hat’s fur, and adding googly eyes for his face. You can also paint shells in holiday colors and dust them with glitter. Tie a ribbon on them to use as a hanger.

Shell Treasure Box: Brush white glue on a small wooden treasure box and decorate it with tiny craft shells.

3. Kid-Designed Kites

Purchase plain kites and decorate them with markers, or glue on sparkly sequins and other lightweight accents.

Use a few scraps of colorful cotton material to tie on to the kite’s tail.

Take your kite to the park or beach and let it fly!

4. Bug & Butterfly Mini Garden Clips

Create bugs and butterflies on mini clothespins to clip on branches, leaves, or a t-shirt!

Purchase mini clothespins and craft supplies to make the critters such as construction paper, markers, glue, googly eyes, sequins, glitter, pom-pom balls and chenille stems.