With schools closing yet again in our third lockdown, we thought it was time for an update on activities to do with the kids. So here’s some of our favourite craft ideas and activities ready for half-term.
Homemade bath bombs
One of the simultaneously most simple and most difficult crafts, making your own bath bombs is fun and useful. For a simple bath bomb recipe and instructions watch this video youtube.com/watch or search other tutorials on youtube. To make basic bath bombs generally you need cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, bath salts (epsom salts) and citric acid. As well as some sort of essential oils, colour dye, and moulds.
Glue Gun Crafts
There are so many different crafts and activities that can be done with a glue gun, including jewellery, art, decoration, and any craft project in need of substantial gluing. This site has some fun suggestions: agirlandagluegun.com. A mini glue gun can be found online for a relatively good price (under £20) if you hunt around but it is worth researching how you personally would use it. Also, adult supervision is definitely necessary for young children as the glue is obviously very hot!
Hedgehog bread / other shaped baking
The craze to make bread during lockdown started a while ago but there are ways to make it more interesting for youngsters with simple stylings. For example, hedgehog shaped bread is very easy to make and only involves scissors to snip spikes. bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/hedgehog-rolls
Decoupage
Decoupage involves painting coloured paper with glue onto various objects such as decorations or boxes. It is quite easy to do but you do need the right paper which is thin enough. You can try more adventurous projects and decoupage the insides of drawers or photo frames. You will need decoupage glue, a paint brush, a pair of scissors and decoupage paper.
Online activity sites
Royal Opera House: learning-platform.roh.org.uk has many activities on their website that span all ages and a variety of topics.
The Eden Project: edenproject.com/learn/for-everyone has many fun and educational activities for both outdoor and indoor learning.
Here is a handy website for craft ideas: positivelysplendid.com/kids-craftoy