Try these 9 amazing PROCESS craft activities for kids that encourage creativity and experimental attitude!
We do a lot of process art activities around here, where the experience of creating is more important than the finished product and kids learn about materials, techniques, themselves, and their ideas as they create and experiment.
That’s obviously awesome, right?
But what about when you want to do a craft with a finished product that you’re aiming for and step-by-step instructions to get you there?
I still encourage you to take a process-oriented approach!
With the craft activities for kids that follow, you can follow the step-by-step instructions to make your own fairy houses and rock art, but you can be creative, take an experimental attitude, and make it your own. Every step of the way.
For example, with the fairy houses, you get to decide the size of the house, the shapes of the windows and doors, the decorations to use, and more!
There’s always room for creativity, even within the structure of a craft with step-by-step instructions!
Everyone loves to make fairy houses! The details are just adorable: tiny little doors and windows, pitched roofs with miniature chimneys, little gardens for the make-believe inhabitants. It’s the kind of craft activity guaranteed to encourage hours of imaginative play.
And it is an achievable clay project to try at home–even if you’re new to ceramics.
As there are lots of materials pressed into the clay, these pieces can’t be fired so we use air drying clay for this project.
Want to make some charming little rock houses for your garden or for play?
These cute houses are super fun for kids to make (using rocks as a canvas is surprisingly satisfying!) and a cute addition to your garden. You could also use them for pretend play, of course, or gift or display them.
Here’s how to make a cardboard castle for kids’ pretend play QUICKER and EASIER than you thought possible. You’ll want a cardboard box, cardboard tubes, a glue gun, and some paint sticks.
These vibrant cardboard masks are so fun to make AND inspire hours of imaginative play for kids. Create multiple creatures out of upcycled materials for a whole set!
A simple unicorn craft for kids made from toilet paper rolls. Plus a pegasus or three! And a way to weight the feet so they don’t tip over. The kids had so much fun making and playing with these!
Clothespins, air dry clay, and artificial flowers are what we used to create these whimsical flower fairies! After finishing these, why not try making a fairy house as well?
This simple DIY fishing game for kids is easy to make with cardboard and magnets. Includes instructions for making your own magnetic fish and fishing rod plus ideas for pretend play. (We used the fishing game with a Fort Magic canoe.)
Arts and Crafts Supply Library – Basically the mother of all craft kits. It has all the good stuff, including pom poms, sequins, beads, felt, pipe cleaners (fuzzy sticks), googly eyes, jewels, craft sticks, embroidery floss, and more. As you can imagine, it’s BIG.
Metal Mash Up Craft Kit – Metallic everything! This kit includes wire, metallic pom poms (my kids loved them), metallic card stock, pipe cleaners, beads, and sticker tape.
