Do a search online, and you’ll find thousands of crafts for your kids to do. Whether you’re looking for holiday decorations or a theme, or you just need something for your kids to do on a rainy day or day off from school, you can find numerous ideas online.
However, many craft activities require a ton of supplies, as well as hours of adult supervision. What parent has time for that? Are you looking for something quick and easy? Then try printables. If you have a printer, your child can quickly create crafts. Just because they’re printables doesn’t mean they’re boring coloring pages. These printables are fun and cute at the same time.
With just a couple of clicks, you can help your child spur his or her creativity on a boring day. Ready to get started? Load up the printer with ink and paper and check out these cool websites for inspiration.
Where to Find Cute Printables
MrPrintables.com offers a wide variety of printable activities that covers virtually every theme and holiday imaginable. One printable to consider is that of scrapbook papers, which can be fun for an older child with an interest in scrapbooking. Instead of buying pricey papers at your local craft store, you can print your own.
This site offers a variety of fun themes, such as sky and balloons, animals, hearts, alphabet letters, and fabric. You can also choose from holidays such as Easter and cool color combinations. The cool thing about these papers is that they are versatile. If you don’t have a scrapbook, you can use them as wrapping paper, book covers, and decorations. You can also spice up your scrapbooks with printable borders and frames.
Making ice cream is a fun summertime activity, but you need the right ingredients or it’ll come out different from what you expected. Why not make ice cream crafts instead? They’re fun any time of the year, and they don’t melt, so there’s little mess involved. Plus, your child can create many realistic-looking varieties. These printable ice cream cones are great for pretend play. Add a couple of dolls, open a pretend ice cream stand, and your child will have hours of fun. They’re not that hard to create. Just download the templates here.
With spring just around the corner, a paper bird toy is a fun idea to try. Just print out the template, cut out the various elements, and glue them together. Take it outside or fly it in the house for a cool variation of the paper airplane.
AllFreeKidsCrafts offers a ton of craft ideas, including many that are printable. One cute idea is the Dinky Darth Vader, which allows your child to create his or her own Star Wars character. All you have to do is press Print, and even a preschooler can finish this craft in under 30 minutes.
What child wouldn’t love a helicopter? Forget the complicated model sets and remote control toys and get back to basics with a paper helicopter. Just print the template and, in under 30 minutes, it’s ready to fly around the house. The age recommendation is toddlers and up, so even the smallest child can have fun with this craft activity.
When you can’t go on your own safari, Paper Fold-Up Animals allow you to bring the safari home. Just print the templates, cut out the animals, decorate them, fold along the dotted lines, and your child has his or her own paper animals. With monkeys, toucans, elephants, and crocodiles, your child can create a jungle at home. This fun printable encourages pretend play and helps spark your child’s imagination.
For something a little more advanced, what about a Lovey Puppy Puppet? Kids of all ages will enjoy this versatile printable, which can be used as a puppet or a fortune teller. Just print it out, color it, and create funny fortunes to place inside. This is a fun printable that your kids can share with their friends.
The Artful Parent also has more than a dozen printables to help keep your child occupied while helping bring out their creativity. The Blank Faces Drawing Page is a fun idea for children who like drawing people’s faces. It features blank faces of boys and girls with various hairstyles. Your child can fill in the faces as he or she pleases. Your child can experiment with various eye colors, noses and smiles to make each face unique. It’s a great way to practice making faces as your child gets older and may be required to draw people for various school projects.
Comic book templates are also a creative idea for children who enjoy drawing and storytelling. There are two parts to this template. One paper has the various squares and rectangles that make up various scenes in a story. The second paper has speech bubbles, arrows, and other cool effects to help your child tell his or her story. These can be cut out and placed where appropriate. This is a fun idea that children of all ages—even teens—will enjoy. Who knows? You might encourage your child to write comic strips or books someday.
Getting your kids to engage in craft making doesn’t need to require a lot of expensive materials or hours of time on your part. Printable crafts save time and money for busy families, and many are just as fun and cute as more expensive ones.
Article and images contributed by: Tania Longeau
