Getting creative with summer crafts can make staying at home a whole lot of fun!
Summer of 2020…
What to say? We stayed in the house ALL summer, couldn’t find a pool for sale at ANY of the stores, and ALL five of us hung out together, ALL day, ALL the time, EVERY week.
This might be you, or you might have actually found a pool, but no matter what is in your backyard, we ALL had to get innovative to make it through this summer.
Growing up, we had a sprinkler, a backyard, and good old creativity. My kids have the advantage of the internet. While I enjoyed seeing how other people got through quarantine and through this unusual summer online, I want to give my kids the advantage of resourcefulness offline. So I let my imagination free!
Here is my top 5 list of creative things we did this summer:
- Toilet paper crafts! These are nothing new, but after the struggle we had finding toilet paper this year, I felt like we should use the ENTIRE roll, including the cardboard middle. There were toilet paper roll monsters, toilet paper roll tigers, and toilet paper roll puppets. They end up in the trash anyway, but at least they got good use before hitting the bin.
- Shoebox crafts! Yes, I love crafts! I’m not one for kids running rampant through the house, but my two do it anyway. My kids usually run to my room and check out all the things they have seen me use that day. I want them out of my stuff, so, we do crafts. Shoebox diorama, anyone? This was a great way to learn about animals.
- My sandboat! This one is my favorite! A year ago, I had an extra storage bin from college and decided to put it in my backyard and fill it with sand. It got wet, and I threw it out, but I wanted to revisit the idea this year. None of the sandboxes I saw were big enough for what I wanted. However, I noticed a boat in Aldi’s for $15, and the sandboat was created. Sand is under $5 at Home Depot. My kids love the sandboat. It’s a boat. It’s a sandbox. It’s hours of fun. Pair it with the sprinkler and have a field day! ( You probably want them to rinse off in the sprinkler prior to coming back into the house.)
- Hopscotch hallway. Or, what can I do with this tape? I decided to make a mini obstacle course in the hall. I mean tape is free (well, after it’s been sitting in the house for months). One day I put some tape on the floor in the hallway, put a piece at the bottom of one door, and another piece of tape at the top of another door a few feet down. I filled some zip lock bags with popcorn kernels and created a target on top of the table in the next room. This was one of my favorite days from the summer, as my mom even came out to play. We followed this up with an old school movie, and had a great day!
- Brown paper bag crafts! For whatever reason, we had extra paper bags in my house. These paper bags have turned into kites, paper lions, paper chickens, paper masks, and even Adam and Eve one Sunday for quarantine church. When they ran out, I went to Dollar Tree and bought more. Like 50 more for $1! More crafts, YAY!
Even though some of my ideas were created to keep my 3- and 4-year-old kids busy, I must say I had just as much fun creating as they did playing.
Moms, in general, are great at being resourceful. However, this summer gave me a great excuse to let my imagination go and let my creativity flow!
