Indoor crafts “just for fun"
Crafts are a great way to get a child’s imagination flowing and can provide outlets for creativity. Along the way, hands-on projects can help kids to develop many important skills, such as hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, communication and self-expression.
Whether you’re a parent looking for indoor activities to keep the kids busy or a day camp leader who needs quick, kid-pleasing projects, it’s important to have a plan before diving in. These planning tips will make it easy to get creative and have a blast.
If working with a large group of children, try out the project ahead of time so you know what to expect, which steps will require adult help and how much time it will take. Organize your materials in advance. Make sure there are enough supplies to share, or if necessary, provide each child with their own set.
Depending on the age group, you might also want to consider having project sample’s that they can look at for some guidance, but don’t overdo it; this is their chance to get creative!
There are many different types of crafts to choose from, but everyone loves edible ones. So why not include a few tasty treats in your plans? After all, kids love to play with their food!
Make sure you’re prepared with:
- Something to protect the table from messes
- Paper plates to hold their creations
- Marker to write the child’s name on the paper plate
- Paper towels and hand wipes
- Extra candies, because some are sure to get snatched while decorating!
Entertain youngsters with these fun edible crafts. Despite appearances, these treats are simple and easy to pull off.
I’m No Dum-Dum Mini Cupcakes (from the book [Almost] Too Cute to Eat, with permission from CQ Products)
You’ll Need:
- 36 mini cupcakes
- 1 (1 lb.) tub white or chocolate ready-to-use frosting
- 36 Dum Dum pops, any color
- Mike and Ike candies, any color
- Green Tootsie Fruit Rolls, optional
- Green paste food coloring, optional
- Green nonpareils, optional
To Make:
- Tint frosting green if desired. Cover each cupcake with white, green, or chocolate frosting.
- Unwrap Dum Dum pops; use kitchen shears to cut 1” from sticks.
- For each flower, cut four Mike and Ikes in half crosswise. Press cut edge of Mike and Ikes against rim of pop for flower petals.
- Flatten Tootsies (soften in microwave a few seconds if needed) and cut out leaf shape.
- Push stick of one flower into each cupcake. Press one or two leaves into frosting beside flower.
Coral Critters (from the book Candy Creations, with permission from CQ Products)
You’ll Need:
- 8 sour gummy worms
- 1 large gumdrop
- 1 Nerds Rope, unwrapped
- Melted white almond bark
To Make:
- Cut off the desired colored section of each gummy worm for “tentacles.”
- Arrange tentacles evenly around gumdrop “body,” pressing cut ends against gumdrop to stick.
- Coil Nerds Rope and fasten end with melted bark; hold until set.
- Set octopus on top of coil, fastening in place with melted bark.
To find more fun creations, check out the books [Almost] Too Cute to Eat and Candy Creations by CQ Products or visit the publisher online at www.cqproducts.com.
