Struggling to keep your children occupied during the lockdown? Get creative the lockdown? Get creative
WHEN the stress of homeschooling starts to heighten, break out the craft – easy, fun projects are great for encouraging kids to be creative, and can be relaxing too.
Hobbycraft’s Ideas Hub is full of fun and simple projects. Katherine Paterson, its customer director, says: “We’ve also launched an online Daily Kid’s Craft Club, with a different theme posted at 11am Monday-Friday on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“The craft club is focused on a theme, rather than a specific project, so more children can get involved, using whatever materials they have at home. We’re seeing some really fantastic creations.”
Need some ideas? Try some of these crafty creations for yourself...
A ROCKET MADE FROM RECYCLABLES
LET little ones raid the paper and plastic recycling and build rockets which can be painted in brilliant colours. You can even make one into a rucksack by adding string straps.
DECORATED STONES
PAINTED pebbles are a must – they’re super easy and gorgeously pretty. Get the kids in the garden, or searching for stones on your daily walk. From ladybird pet rocks to crazy aliens, there are endless designs to be created. You can paint NHS rainbows and hide them in the woods for other children to find and re-hide, or get really arty by painting on beautifully intricate patterns.
MAKE A SCRAPBOOK
NOW is a great time to start scrapbooking. Buy a book and let the kids stick stuff on the pages, write about their day, draw pictures and create collages. It will be something to look back on once life returns to normal.
MASTER BRILLIANT BUNTING
EVERYONE loves a bit of bunting –
it’s so cheering, and easy and cheap to create. You can either use scraps of fabric (try upcycling old, unwanted clothes) and sew triangular shapes of colourful bunting, which can then be stitched on to a fabric string or ribbon.
Or you can cut out paper or card triangles, punch holes in them, decorate with paint or pen, and string them up. It’s bound to brighten up the place, and let’s face it, we could all do with that!
PAINT LIKE POLLOCK
SPLASH out on a lovely big canvas (Hobbycraft has a huge range from £6-£18) and make a family splatter painting inspired by Jackson Pollock.
Choose your paint colours, get brushes of all sizes at the ready and take it in turns to splatter the paint over the canvas. Keep going until you’re happy with the finished result.
MAKE CARDS OR POSTCARDS
SEND these to friends and loved ones your kids are missing. The fronts can feature hand-drawn pictures or decorations galore, while inside or on the back, children and parents can write messages of love.
To get you started, you can buy a Kids Colour In Postcard Portraits Pack for £6.50, from notonthehighstreet.