200 Quick & easy experiments

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750+ Quick & easy craft ideas

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game

printable

I've always been inspired by the underlying messages of Dr. Seuss's books. I love that they encourage coloring outside of the lines, trying new things, and exploring creativity in unconventional ways. As a treat for our kid testers, we pulled together this quick game challenging them to explore creativity and get a little goofy! We loved seeing the creatures they dreamed up which were all a little wild and very silly.Click&nbsp;<a href="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/images.kiwicrate.com/diy_ad/Kiwi_Make-A-Monster-Game.pdf">here</a>&nbsp;to download our printable game board to start playing!

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Download and print our printable game board that assigns a body part to each number of the die. If you like, you can also make up your own! With a marker and paper, have each kid start by drawing the body of their creature.

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Use the game board as a prompt. Have your child roll the dice and draw the body part that corresponds with the number rolled. If they roll a 5, they got the wild card and add anything they want to their drawing!

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Keep rolling until you feel like your monster is complete. Your creature might end up with 6 arms and 3 mouths, but that's all part of the fun!

paper

markers

Make-a-Monster Game

nature crafts

nature walk

nature

leaves

decorations

summer crafts

summer fun

homemade craft

Gather up some green leaves and use a roller or press to create natural stamp art. Follow these steps to stamp on canvas, or use the same technique to print lovely leafy cards.&nbsp;

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Gather the materials to make your DIY banner. 

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Start by collecting some of your favorite leaves. Look around your house or campsite to find some different shaped leaves. Remember not to pick them off of trees, only off the ground!

Don't pick the ones that are completely dried out as they will crumble as you try to paint them.

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Cut out several canvas squares, large enough to fit your leaves. You can also try different shapes, such as triangles or a flag shape like we did.

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You may want to cover your work surface for the next few steps. Squeeze some paint into your paint cups or paper plate. Using the spouncer, cover a leaf with an even layer of paint.

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Press the leaf, paint side down, onto the canvas. 

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Lay another piece of scrap canvas over the leaf and use the paint roller to roll over the leaf and transfer the paint. The extra layer of canvas helps to keep the leaf flat and in place as you roll over it.

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Carefully lift the canvas and the leaf. You should have a cool leaf imprint on the flag! If the imprint looks faint, you can experiment with adding a thicker layer of paint or pressing down harder with the roller. Getting the perfect imprint will take a couple tries.Repeat steps 4–6 until you finish all the flags for your banner.

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Once your paint is dry, use glue or tape to attach your flags onto a piece of ribbon. Now you can hang your leaf stamping art anywhere you and enjoy your nature-themed decoration! 

paint

canvas (or cloth)

Scissors

ribbon

hot glue/hot glue gun (or fabric glue)

paint roller

paint cup (or paper plate)

spouncer

Leaf Stamping

books

painting

household craft

school supplies

Try some simple stamping techniques using yarn, bubble wrap, or other materials from home. Then dress up your textbooks with custom patterns that will stand out from the crowd.

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Start by covering your textbook! If you already know how to do this, skip to step 5. Start by cutting a piece of paper that is is an extra 2" larger than your book cover. Keep in mind that you need to include the thickness of the book!

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Wrap the side edge of the book by tucking in the extra paper. Make sure the book can close once the paper is tucked into the front and back covers.

When you wrap your book, push your book down, so the spine touches the kraft paper.

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There should be about 1-2" of excess paper on top and bottom of the book. Cut  2 slots that match the folded crease along the binding. Cut out the small tab. Tuck in the top and bottom edge of paper and use tape to secure it. (Make sure you don't tape onto the actual book!). Do the same for the other cover.

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To create your stamps, cut out some cardboard pieces. These will be the bases of your stamps. Use yarn or thick string and wrap the cardboard piece to create a striped pattern. Use tape to secure the yarn on the backside of your cardboard stamp.

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Use a paintbrush to carefully apply some paint onto your stamp. Test out your stamp on a scrap piece of paper before you stamp onto the book cover.

Cover your workspace since paint can get a little messy!

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Cover your text book in any pattern you want! We decided to try a gradient by mixing in more blue each time we stamped.

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Look around the house for other stamping materials! Bubble wrap creates a fun polka dot texture.

cardboard

paper bag / wrapping paper

string

Tape

acrylic paint

paintbrushes

Hand-Stamped Book Covers

craft

easy craft

Your kids will enjoy partaking in a tried and true activity that produces beautiful tie-dye.  They will love the colorful result!

Place the fabric over the cup with the rubber band, draw your design. 

Slowly add about twenty drops of alcohol to the design.  

Let the design dry for a few minutes, then shift the fabric over to color that area.  Repeat until your fabric is sufficiently covered.  

Set the colors by placing in the dryer for about 15 minutes. 

permanent markers (e.g. sharpies)

rubbing alcohol

plastic cups

rubber bands

fabric

squeeze bottle

Sharpie Pen Tie Dye

rainbows

rainbow science

rainbow craft

luminary

Explore reflective materials, colors, and patterns with this easy-to-make DIY kaleidoscope! The word kaleidoscope literally means “beautiful shape viewer.” By using colored beads and a mirrored surface, you can make amazing changing scenes of color. Looking to take your kaleidoscope to the next level? <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo's</a> <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/nature-kaleidoscope-set/5293" target="_self">Kaleidoscope Set</a> includes everything needed to build a high quality wooden kaleidoscope, with activities and samples included!

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Wrap the colored paper around the outside of the toilet paper tube and secure it with masking tape. Then, trim any excess paper to the size of the tube. 

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Trace three circles onto the plastic food container lid using one end of the tube. Then, cut out each circle. 

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Hot glue one circle to one end of the cardboard tube. 

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Cut the reflective paper so that its length is 1” (2.5 cm)&nbsp;shorter than the tube (ours was 4”) and it’s width is 4 ½" (11.4 cm). 

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Fold the non-reflective side in thirds about 1 ½” (3.8 cm)&nbsp;away from the short sides of the paper. 

We used an X-acto knife to score the paper but you can do this without one.

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Tape it together so that it creates a triangular prism. The reflective side should be facing inside. 

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Insert the prism into the tube so that it lays flat against the circle you hot glued in step 4. 

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Trim one circle so that it fits snuggly inside the tube. Then, push it down into the tube so that it just fits over the triangular prism. 

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Fill the tube almost to the top with beads.  

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Hot glue the last circle to the open end of the tube. 

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Decorate your kaleidoscope and use it! To use your kaleidoscope, point the bead end towards light and look into the triangular prism. Then, start turning the kaleidoscope in your hands! 

The heart of a kaleidoscope is its mirrors. When you look at a mirror, you’re looking at a very shiny surface that reflects light. Any light that hits the mirror bounces off of it. Some of that light hits your eye, and that’s what makes the reflection you see. When mirrors are pointed at each other, like in the kaleidoscope, the light bounces back and forth, and you end up seeing reflections of reflections! All those reflections create the colorful geometric patterns you see.

Reflected things have an imaginary line that splits them into halves called an “line of symmetry.” Things on one side of the line of symmetry look the same as the things on the other side, but they’re mirrored. Think about your face — you have a line of symmetry running right down the middle, so the eye on one side looks like the eye on the other! Try drawing shapes you see in your kaleidoscope, and see if you can find their lines of symmetry.

toilet paper tube

colored paper

translucent beads

container lid (plastic)

marker

hot glue / hot glue gun

Ruler

pencil

reflective paper

masking tape

x-acto craft knife (optional)

decorations (optional)

Kaleidoscope

art-science projects

optical illusions

handmade cards

at-home learning

learning activity

math

Learn a simple way to understand drawing in perspective by writing your name in 3D! What's going on? You've just used a common artistic technique, called "one point perspective," to create the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional piece of paper. By drawing lines from your original letters back to the perspective point, you're setting up boundaries that show how much smaller your block letters would look if you slid them into the distance. Connecting the lines between your original and distant block letters makes it look like the letters are taking up 3D space. This technique can be used to draw even more complicated 3D objects and scenes - experiment with it and see what happens! You can also use a second perspective point, or shadows, to add even more depth to your drawings.Want to explore more hands-on crafts without the hassle of gathering materials? Learn about chemistry and design out-of-this-world bath bombs with <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/planet-bath-bombs/3702" target="_self">Planet Bath Bombs</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

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Draw your name in block letters in pencil. Then, trace each of the letters in marker. 

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Make a small mark in pencil anywhere on your paper. This mark will be the vanishing point of your perspective drawing. 
 
What is a vanishing point?
A vanishing point is the point where all parallel lines in a perspective drawing intersect. 

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Draw a line in pencil connecting every point of every letter to the vanishing point. Make sure these lines are light as you will erase them when you have finished your drawing. 

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Trace these lines with marker any distance. Keep in mind that these lines will dictate how long your letters are. 

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When you have finished, connect each of these lines with a horizontal or vertical line. Notice that these lines run parallel to the original letter you drew.&nbsp;

Some letters, like B and Y, have lines where it doesn't make sense to draw horizontal lines. In these instances, draw a line that is parallel to the line in the original letter you drew.

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Erase the pencil lines and then color in your name! If you want more of a challenge, try making your name into a cityscape. 

markers (colored)

eraser

3D Name Drawing

birthday party crafts

Father’s Day crafts

These pretty rainbow rocks are perfect for brightening up your desk! With just some nail polish and water, you can transform an ordinary rock into your own marbled paperweight.Want to explore more fun crafts without the hassle of gathering materials? Get hands-on and make visually stunning candles with a <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/us/store/dp/geometric-candles-project-kit/5647" target="_self">Geometric Candles project</a> from the <a href="https://www.kiwico.com/store" target="_self">KiwiCo Store</a>!

100 awesome art projects for kids

Screen-free fun!