Backyard craft projects keep kids busy for hours.
If your children get bored during summer break, there are several crafts and activities to keep them busy and entertained. Make the materials available, show them a couple of activities and let them work on the projects when they can't find anything else to do. Once your kids try one, they will likely want to do more.
Easy Mural
Your kids can make an easy mural in the backyard. Take an old sheet and wet it down with water from the hose. Hang it on your fence, from your deck or between two trees. Place a large tarp, vinyl table cloth or plastic sheeting behind and under the sheet to prevent the paint from coloring anything but the mural.
Set up a table with multiple colors of tempura paint, paint brushes, sponges and water-filled squirt bottles. Encourage the kids to be creative and allow them to direct the mural's design. They may choose to depict a scene from their favorite summer activity or paint random pictures and symbols that describe their summer fun. If they want to start over, just hose the sheet down with water. This easy mural can keep elementary kids occupied for hours.
Record the Day
Give each of your children a disposable or inexpensive digital camera. Encourage them to take pictures throughout the day. They can take pictures on a walk, at the market or while playing in the backyard. Remind them to get permission before taking other people's pictures.
The next day take the camera in for developing, or print out the digital pictures. For each child, cut open a large paper bag or get a large piece of poster board. This will be the backdrop for the pictures. Have children arrange the photos however they want on the paper, then glue them down using a clear glue stick. When the glue dries, write captions beneath each photo. Hang the poster boards where children can look at or add to them as the summer progresses.
Custom Glasses
Give each child a pair of plastic sunglasses, preferably white or another light, solid color. Provide acrylic paints. Take the lenses out of the glasses, or tape over them with painter's tape so they don't get paint on them. Have children paint a base coat on the glasses. Allow the glasses to dry. For a deeper base color, apply additional thin coats of the same color. After the base color dries, decorate the glasses with different designs and colors of paint using cotton swabs, paint brushes and pencil erasers. If you removed the lenses, replace them when the frames are thoroughly dry.
Tags: base color, down with, down with water, each child, Give each, Have children