With the summer holidays in full swing, I thought I’d put together some crafts that have become family favourites in our house.

If you’ve read any of our previous blogs, you’ll know that we have a teenager and a 4-year-old. So, as a parent, I’m often challenged with finding activities that will engage both of them.

So, I have included a few crafts below that are suitable for different ages - hopefully, there will be something in there to inspire you. Many of the crafts can be easily adapted for different ages/abilities.

First up is what has to be one of my favourite ever crafts:

Air dry clay fridge magnets.

You will need:

• Air dry clay (we used: DAS White Air-Drying Modelling Clay)
• Sculpting tools: nothing fancy—I used a children’s set!
• Light sandpaper
• Acrylic paint
• A glue gun or super glue
• Magnets

The thing I love about air dry clay is how simple it is to use. I have put together a reel on our Instagram showing the techniques I used to create these magnets. But it really is just a case of shaping them and letting them dry.

Tip: If your clay starts to dry or crack, it’s easy to smooth it out again with a little drop of water on your finger—it does start to get a bit messy though, so you’ve been warned!

Once your shapes are dry, give them a light sand, paint, topcoat, and then glue magnets to the reverse side.

As mentioned in our reel over on Instagram, we did use a paint-on topcoat; however, it did blur the paint a bit. My advice would be to find a spray-on topcoat if you are looking for a glossy finish.

And voila!

I honestly can’t wait to see the different ideas people come up with for this craft. I feel like it’s such a sweet idea that’ll make you and your children smile every time you pop to the fridge.

Plant pot bees.

Using the same materials and techniques, we also created some bees with curved bodies. I wanted to create something cute that we could glue to the edge of a plant pot.

When shaping these, you will need to rest them against something while they dry. I propped mine up against a cookie cutter and that worked fine.

I think you’ll agree that our little plant pot bee turned out great—don’t you think this would make a lovely gift from the kids to someone special?

Tic Tac Toe.

Out of all the crafts we've done so far this summer, I’d say this has been a firm favorite!

You will need:

• Wooden tokens and a drawstring bag (can be found in most craft stores)
• Acrylic paints
• Ribbon or fabric
• Embroidery thread
• Sewing needle and pins
• Ruler and pencil
• And someone to play with who doesn't cheat (unlike my son!)

Start by painting two different designs on a total of 10 tokens.

We used a cocktail stick to add some detail and I think it worked out perfectly!

On the front of your bag, lay out and pin your ribbon in the shape of the Tic Tac Toe grid. I sewed this using a contrasting coloured embroidery thread. I wanted an element of “handmade,” so I kept the stitches fairly even, but I liked that some were a little wonky. I also added a little cross-stitch where the fabric met, just as a small design feature.

If you would like to see how I did this, I have a reel over on Instagram that shows the process. You’ll notice on the reel that rather than using ribbon for the grid, I actually cut fabric with some zig-zag shears—this again was a personal choice to make it feel a little more handmade.

Alternatively, if you have a Cricut, you can add the grid to the front of the storage bag using iron-on vinyl.

Or, if you don’t fancy any of those options, you could always use a fabric pen.

I was honestly quite shocked at how much our 4-year-old loved this. While this craft is aimed at much older children, he had so much fun playing with it once it was complete. We took it into the garden and spent lots of time laughing at how much he tried to cheat!

Weaving.

• Cardboard (medium card stock)
• Scissors
• Wool
• A printer (if using the template I’ve provided)
• Template available at the bottom of this blog, just right click and save.

Now this is a craft I’ve been doing since I was a child. I can clearly remember the year I got a weaving loom for Christmas, and I have vivid memories of the things I made and how much I loved it! So, this craft is something that is right up my street.

I think this is the sort of craft you could adapt from pre-school right up to old age, and I love that about it!

You will need to start by cutting your base out from medium card stock, something rigid enough to hold its shape while weaving. I have attached a template at the bottom of this blog. You can either print it and use it as a template, or if you have a Cricut, you can easily import it into the app and remove the background.

Next, you need to wrap your base wool either around your flower petals or through the holes in the snail, like the photo below.

Once this is done, it’s time to get creative and watch your weaving come to life super fast! Start by tying a piece of wool in the middle and simply weave the wool over and under, working your way around the circle. I would recommend a large plastic needle for this part, as it can be quite fiddly otherwise. You can find these at most craft stores.

Tip: Because this is woven in a circle, you don’t end up alternating in the same way you would with a flat weave. To overcome this, every second row, I changed direction. I found this made the weave more secure.

To swap colours, simply tie a new thread and tuck the knot under the weave as you go.

If you have an older child, why not try a traditional rectangle weave using a mixture of different textured fibres. 

Trinket trays.

• Air dry clay
• Rolling pin
• Sandpaper
• Acrylic paint
• Gold metallic paint
• Topcoat

Back to air dry clay now. Yes, I do love a bit of air dry clay.

But this is such a simple but effective craft!

Simply roll your clay out, use something round to create the centre of your flower (I used the tube from some baking paper), draw and cut out your flower.

Tip: Place something of equal thickness on either side of your clay; that way, you can ensure an even thickness when rolling your clay out.

Once your flower is cut, add any details. For example, I drew some extra petals and also added some texture to the centre of the flower.

Place your flower in a bowl overnight to dry; make sure the bowl is small enough to cause the edge of the flower to curve - this creates a dish shape.

Once dry, lightly sand, paint with acrylic paints, and then add any extra details. I added metallic gold around the edge and in the middle of my flower.

Once finished, add a topcoat. It’s worth noting that I tried a paint-on finish, and it actually made the colours bleed. My advice would be to find a spray-on topcoat.

These would make great gifts and are beautiful when adapted for all different seasons.

As I said before, I have aimed to include crafts that I think can be easily adapted for different age groups, so I would love to see how you take these ideas and make them age-appropriate for your children! If you do complete any, we would love to see them, so please tag us on Instagram @nestieuk so we can have a little nosy.

Please remember: all of these crafts were done under adult supervision