9 Things to Do Today With Kids: Craft Projects and DIY Ideas

If you’ve ever listened to The Cats in the Cradle, you know the dangers of postponing your plans to spend time with your kids. Sure, there’s always work to do, and moving this activity by a day or two sounds compelling, but there’s no time like today, and if you skip too many such occasions, you’ll lose time that you’re never getting back.

Sure, it’s compelling to come up with an excuse that there’s a piece of equipment or a toy missing, but there are so many things to do today with your kids that your only honest excuse is that you can’t be bothered actually to do it.

Now that we’ve shamed you into giving this an actual thought, here are nine interesting things that will serve as your call to action.

1. Homemade Playdough

Playdought is made, more or less, like a regular dough, with the difference that, aside from flour salt and water, you also add food coloring. This is one of those things to do with kids that won’t even require you to go on a grocery run. You can do it with the ingredients that are already in the kitchen cupboard.

An important lesson here is that you can make your own toys with just a bit of creativity and imagination. It’s not even about saving money; it’s about being self-reliant and resourceful. Both of these traits are something that your kids will greatly benefit from later in life.

2. Drawing and painting

You have in your home all that you need in order to start drawing and painting. Nurture your kid’s future creativity and affection for fine arts by giving them a chance to express their inner artist and praising them for their work.

Keep in mind that kids often develop affection for the activities that they’re actually good at, so if you praise their talent (or, at the very least, their commitment and effort), you can easily start the spark that will turn into their passion for art.

If this goes well, you can order some advanced painting equipment or even those custom paint-by-number kits. This way, you can always keep their spark fresh and spend time together doing something meaningful.

3. DIY Bird Feeders

With just a few pinecones, a bit of peanut butter, and some bird seed, you can make a simple and effective bird feeder. Then, you can let your kids decorate them with fun designs or even inspirational words. For an added creative twist, consider incorporating a paint by numbers activity to guide their artistic expressions.

Sure, this is one of those fun things to do with kids once (you won’t make new bird feeders every week), but it’s an important life lesson that might stick with them for years to come. The thing is that by doing so, you’re teaching them about the importance of the preservation of wildlife. Humans have been a part of the problem for years; it’s time they joined the right side of nature.

4. Tie-Dye T-Shirts

Your kids love custom T-shirt patterns but probably have no idea they could have been the ones to make them, too. All they need to get started are some plain white t-shirts and tie-dye kits. From this point on, there are no rules, and your kids are free to make any patterns or ideas that they believe they can pull off.

When looking up how to start painting, you need to think outside of the box and abandon the idea that it has to be on canvas. Why wouldn’t your kids make their first masterpiece on a T-shirt? That’s right; there’s not a single compelling reason out there.

5. Paper Plate Masks

All you need to do in order to make a mask is to take a paper plate, make slits for eyes (maybe even mouths and nose), and give them to your kids to decorate them. Later on, you can use a string or a shoelace to complete the process, and there you have it.

This is one of the most creative things to do with kids, but it’s also an activity that has another side to it. First, you have the creative part of actually making masks. Then, you have the aspect of actually organizing the masquerade. Instead of a regular masquerade, you could even make a play that they’ll direct.

6. Recycled Bottle Planters

You should take some of the old plastic bottles in your home and turn them into planters. If you have a bit of a string, you can even turn them into hanging planters. This way, you’ll decorate your home, recycle, and make a useful piece of gardening equipment.

Previously, we’ve discussed the importance of nature and teaching your kids the correlation between nature and human activity. Well, today, it’s time we take this out of the world of animals and into your garden. Floral motifs and plants, in general, have long been an inspiration for art, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t inspire your kids, as well.

7. Salt Dough Ornaments

Another creative thing to do with kids indoors is to make salt dough ornaments. All you have to do is make dough with flour, salt, and water, give the dough to your kids to shape, and bake it until it’s hardened. After it’s hardened, your kids can further decorate it by painting anything they like on it.

This is one of those life lessons that will show them that even some of the most interesting things they see online or on a store shelf may be quite simple to make. For many of these ornaments, they never pause to think about the manufacturing process. By doing this just once, you can change the way their minds work the next time they encounter something like that.

8. Handprint Art

If you’re looking for things to do today with kids, handprint art is an easy option. All you need to do is cover their hands with paper and press them onto paper or canvas to make a print. Then, you can use all your creativity and imagination to turn them into a unique piece of art.

One interesting lesson that this keeps is that sometimes you need a restriction in order to activate your creativity. It’s like watching clouds. In an empty sky, you could imagine any object. But when you have a cloud that already has a shape, it takes overworking your brain a bit in order to give that shape a meaning.

9. Popsicle Stick Crafts

Popsicle sticks can be combined into so many different shapes and forms. You can use them to make picture frames, birdhouses, od even miniature furniture. Your kids can stick together and paint or decorate these sticks in any way they see fit. They can go with whatever shape or color palette they imagine.

This is an example of how something so simple can be turned into something completely extraordinary. This might change the way they see everyday items from that point onward.

Every single one of these activities hides an important lesson

There are a few lessons that your kids will learn from each of these activities. First, they’ll learn that they don’t have an expensive piece of equipment in order to have fun at home. Second, they’ll see just how much they can do indoors, even without electronics. Even your partner will see that you are actually interested in finding new things to do today with kids, and they’re bound to appreciate your care and attentiveness.