5 Incredible Spring Craft Ideas for Families

There are various ways you can have fun with the fam during spring. Whether you’re stuck inside due to an unexpected rainy weekend or are preparing for an upcoming spring holiday, these five ideas will give you and the kiddos something to do.

Upcycle Crayons

Earth Day is celebrated every year worldwide on April 22. Many people volunteer in their community on this day, such as cleaning up parks, beaches, or neighborhoods. However, do something different—and artsy—with the kiddos this year for the holiday. Try a craft project using broken crayons. In addition to broken crayons, you’ll need:

First, break the crayons into smaller pieces with your kids after peeling the wrappers off. Then, add the broken crayons to a metal muffin tin. Prepare to heat the crayons in a warming tray (you might want to do this step). Place the muffin tin or the aluminum can on a warming tray—stirring if necessary. After all the broken pieces are completely melted, pour the wax into the cookie-cutter shapes (for more fun, choose shapes of all shapes and sizes). After the wax has completely cooled and hardened, you’ll have new crayons. Your kiddos will love creating new masterpieces with these colorful crayons!

Design Easter Baskets

Here’s a fun craft idea for Easter! Help your kiddos design Easter baskets for the holiday. Afterward, have them pose for pictures holding the baskets with their boys’ and girls’ Easter outfits. There are so many directions you can take when designing a basket—don’t feel limited to our idea. To design a basket, you’ll need:

First, figure out what you want to use for the basket’s base. Straw baskets are common. However, you can get creative here. Perhaps consider edible baskets using crispy rice treat bars. You can also create paper mâché, origami, woven, or felt Easter baskets. Afterward, decorate with fun accents. Keep things traditional with crinkle paper, faux flowers, ribbons, and glitter. You can also use faux greenery, bunny ears, pom-poms, and tassels. Stick to pastels—or go bold—with the color palette. After decorating comes the real fun—filling the baskets with goodies! You have plenty to choose from, such as chocolate and plastic eggs, Peeps, stuffed animals, and jellybeans. Indulge with the family and gift your baskets to friends and neighbors.

Create Homemade Cards

Who needs Hallmark cards? Create your own cards with your kiddos to go with Father’s or Mother’s Day gifts or birthdays throughout the year. You can store the finished cards in an accessible box for whenever you or your kiddos need one. You can give these cards to family, friends, and neighbors. Here’s what you’ll need:

First, grab a few cards for you and your kiddos to decorate. If you’re feeling especially creative, just go for it without a plan! However, you all can talk about what you want on the cards. You can start with a witty message such as, “I’m beary excited it’s your birthday!” Or you can brainstorm a theme, such as superheroes or balloons. Then, decorate according to the direction you take. For example, for the “beary” statement, you can draw and color a bear holding a balloon and wearing a birthday hat. There’s no telling how far your creativity will go!

Make Nature Art

Many people begin to venture from underneath their fleece blankets and out into the warmer world during spring. During one of these outings, your kids can fill their backpacks with treasures and make nature art later. You can even make this into a game: have them collect rocks, sticks, and so on during a scavenger hunt or nature walk. Here’s what you’ll need for this project:

Various natural treasures, such as pebbles, leaves, twigs, stones, flowers, shells, pinecones, and so much more
Art supplies (glue, glitter, paint, etc.)

After your kiddos arrive back home after exploring and collecting various items outdoors, have them brainstorm the art they want to make. They can paint stones and decorate the backyard with them. They can create flower headbands or tiny animals from pinecones. Take plenty of photos and share them online. Better yet, create an instructional video and share it online with other families!

Have Fun with Tie-Dye

Tie-dye is a trendy design for spring. It adds a dose of color and optimism to the day. You can have plenty of fun with tie-dye, such as making jewelry, turning white towels into tie-dye beach towels, and so much more. Making tie-dye apparel is exciting, too. Here’s how you can create tie-dye tees with your kiddos:

White cotton adult and kids’ T-shirts
Fiber-reactive dye
Laundry detergent
Rubber bands
Bucket
Squeeze bottles
Plastic tablecloth
Gloves and dust masks
Plastic wrap

Gather shirts of all sizes for everyone in the crew. Then, set up your work area outdoors by protecting the table with a plastic tablecloth. Please make sure everyone who’s participating is wearing their masks and gloves and have the other tools close by the workstation. Mix your dyes in your basket (you can look online for specific instructions) and transfer the mixture to squeeze bottles. Fold and tie your tees based on the pattern you want. Then, apply the dye from the squeeze bottles to the tees. Let the dyes set by placing the T-shirts in plastic wrap in a sunny spot for at least 6–8 hours. After the dye has set in, rinse the tees while still tied up with cold water. Then, wash the tees with laundry detergent in the washing machine. Have your family wear their tees with their favorite jeans and leggings and take fun family photos.