200 Quick & easy experiments

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750+ Quick & easy craft ideas

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Radical rainbows

Outdoor Adventures

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Pi Day

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food play

craft

3 material crafts

household craft

homemade craft

easy craft

recycled craft materials

quick craft

indoor project

Quickly “age” paper with tea bags to create a beautiful worn-looking texture, then use it to create maps, journals, posters, and more.

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Heat up a cup of water in the microwave or in a pot. Add a tea bag and allow it to steep for at least 10 minutes.  

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Take your paper and tear around the edges to make it look worn.  

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Allow tea bag to cool enough so it is safe (and comfortable) to handle. Do not ring out too much tea from the bag, but enough so you do not over saturate the paper. Use the tea bag as a paint brush and cover the entire piece of paper.  

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If desired, allow the first coat to dry and repeat for a darker color.

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You can also create the tea paper on paper that has not been torn along the edges. Here the student is creating tea paper to use to make a old-fashioned circus poster!

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Once the paper is dry, use it to make a map.

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Or to create a poster that looks weathered by time.

1 tea bag

water

white paper (construction or computer paper)

Making Tea Paper for Maps, Journals and More

launcher

motion

physics

rocket

Fourth of July

party game

outdoor game

game

summer crafts

3, 2, 1, launch! Try making these super simple paper cup launchers for a backyard rocket launch competition that’s out of this world.

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Place two rubber bands lengthwise across the cup, making a cross shape over the opening.

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Add a third rubber band around the cup, to secure the two rubber bands in place. This will be the "rocket."

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Get ready to launch! Place a second cup upside down on a flat surface. Put the "rocket" over the base cup. Holding the lip of the rocket cup, pull down and release! Watch your "rocket" go flying!

cups (2)

rubber bands (3+)

Rubber Band Powered Cup Launcher

science experiment

science project

STEM

magic tricks

quick experiment

easy experiment

school supplies

Wow your friends with this surprising “leak-proof” bag trick!

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Fill the plastic bag halfway with water. 

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Use one hand and hold the plastic bag at the top for stability.

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Use a pencil to quickly pierce the bag and water! What's going on? Most plastic bags are made of polyethylene, a polymer that is durable, flexible, and shaped like long strands.  When the pencil is quickly pierced into the bag of water, the polyethylene molecules separate but don't break, forming a seal around the pencil. If the pencil is pierced into the bag before the water is put in, the water will leak!  Try the experiment with a faceted pencil, a larger pencil, or a thicker plastic bag. What happens?

plastic zip bag

round pencils (with sharp tips!)

Pencil Trick

dolls

learning activity

Kids get the opportunity to hone their fine motor skills by cutting precisely to make paper doll chains. Make sure to grab lots of paper because after your kids make one they'll probably won't want to stop there!Help your little one build their creative confidence with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/rainbow-air-dry-clay-project-kit/5612">Rainbow Air-Dry Clay</a>. This kid-friendly clay is soft, not sticky, so it’s easy to handle and shape into anything you can imagine.

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Cut an 8.5*11" piece of paper into 2 long strips (4.25*11" each).  Then fold one of these long strips in half twice, and then into thirds (a total of 4 folds).  

Draw half a doll on the folded edge of the paper. Be sure that the ends of the hands and feet touch this folded edge. 

Cut out the doll! Pull the chain apart and enjoy!

Paper

Scissors

Easy Paper Doll Chain

puppets

animals

construction

indoor game

pretend play

Create a puppet out of a single sheet of paper! Decorate it to become any character or animal that you want. The possibilities are endless with this simple craft!Encourage your little one to build their creative confidence with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/rainbow-air-dry-clay-project-kit/5612" target="_self">Rainbow Air-Dry Clay</a>. This kid-friendly clay is soft, not sticky, so it’s easy to handle and shape into anything you can imagine.

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Start with one rectangular sheet of construction paper. 

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Fold it into thirds by folding the bottom third up toward the middle and the top third down. 

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This is what your paper will look like folded into thirds. 

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Now fold it in half by taking the left edge over to the right edge. 

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Almost done! Take the top flap and fold it in half, back toward the folded crease. 

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Flip it over and fold that edge back toward the folded crease. 

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Now your fingers and your child's fingers fit perfectly into the openings of the puppet. It seems a lot more complicated than it really is. If you follow the steps once or twice to get the hang of it, you will be able to fold a puppet in seconds! Time to decorate. 

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You can turn these paper puppets into anything - characters, animals, etc. We used markers to decorate the faces and glued construction paper strips as the tongue and ears. You can also use cotton balls, pom poms, pipe cleaners, or anything you can dream up to add details to your puppet.  

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My 6-year-old wanted to make a zebra (not very decorative, but he was proud of his puppet). 

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My 3 year old chased her brother around with this dragon. Use these puppets to tell a story. Have a puppet show or make a zoo. Get creative and have fun! 

Construction Paper

Markers

Paper Puppets

recycled

decorations

gift

handmade gifts

Christmas

Handmade Christmas Gifts & Cards

Christmas crafts

birthday

everyday materials

I love coming up with the perfect gift for everyone on my list. I put a lot of care into making sure the gifts are personal and thoughtful no matter the size. But for some reason, I have no patience for wrapping the gifts! Lucky for me, I came across a simple idea to make little gifts extra special, and best of all, I already had all the materials (and I bet you do too)! Yes - old toilet paper rolls can make for a perfect little gift. Give your wrapping paper and boxes a break, grab some recycled tubes and some ribbon and get wrapping.Looking for more ways to help your little one create handmade gifts? <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/animal-bath-bombs-project-kit/2784" target="_self">Animal Bath Bombs</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a> are the perfect way for your little crafter to dip their toes into bubbly bathtime chemistry!

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Carefully bend in the ends to create half-moon-shaped flaps.

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Open one end of the tube, slip in your gift, and fold it back up again. Decorate it with some festive ribbon or crepe paper to finish your mini gift box. It's the perfect size for small presents or stocking stuffers!

toilet paper tubes

ribbon

Gift Boxes from Cardboard Rolls

arts & crafts

This festive garland is super simple to make, and only requires two supplies – wooden beads and yarn. If you’re feeling creative, mix up the colors of the yarn tassels or paint the wood beads for a more colorful look!

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Follow the steps in our <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/diy/art-creativity/quick-easy-crafts/yarn-tassel" target="_blank">Yarn Tassel DIY</a> to make two tassels.

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Decide how long you want your garland to be, multiply that length by two, and add a few inches (better too long than too short– you can trim later!). We cut a 10 ft long piece. Fold your yarn in half.

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Tie the tassel onto the folded end of your long strand of yarn, and tie snugly and securely. Leave a small tail (you’ll thread this through the beads at the end).

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Thread your beads onto your long strand (It may help to use a needle).

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Tie the other tassel onto the end of your long strand, as close to the last bead as possible. Trim the tails to a few inches.

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Thread the tails through the beads at the end of the garland until they are no longer visible.

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Wood Bead Set

Neutral Yarn Set

Pom-Pom Maker Set

Wood Bead Garland

space crafts

astronomy

When learning about what comets are really made of, we decided to make our own! This fun experiment with sand and ice is not only out of this world, but doubles as a fun sensory project.

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After learning that comets are truly large balls of ice and gritty dirt-like sand, we got out our winter gloves and set to work making our own.

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We used a small bin of sand with a scoop.

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Next, we prepared a large bowl of crushed ice. 

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The kids placed a pile of ice, topped by sand on a tray.

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They experimented with adding water to get the mixture to stick together a bit. They moved the mixture around with their gloved hands as well to get it good and mixed up. 

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Next, they scooped the mixture into a small bowl.

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They added more water to make a nice soup. Then we put the bowls in the freezer for a couple of hours. 

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When the mixture had frozen solid, we dipped the bottom of the bowl into warm water to loosen our comet, then flipped it over onto our tray. Here is our finished comet. We took them outside and threw them off our second story deck to demonstrate what happens when a comet crashes onto a planet. Smashing them onto the patio below was a fun sensory experience, too.

Panda Crate

Sprout: Koala Crate

Labs: Kiwi Crate

World: Atlas Crate

Studio: Doodle Crate

Labs: Tinker Crate

Studio: Maker Crate

Labs: Eureka Crate

100 awesome 3 material crafts projects for kids

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