By Jenny Ringland

Before COVID-19 hit the idea of kids craft was enough to send us into a tailspin. The mess! But being forced to stay inside and slow down (no activities to rush to, no playdates to keep) gave us the opportunity to revel (sometimes) in the chaos. From creating a robot from our fruit and vegie boxes, to collecting treasures on neighborhood adventures and using what we had to entertain the little ones, we have been pleasantly surprised by the joy kids craft can bring. 

In that vein, these are our favourite no fuss, kids’ DIY craft ideas:

pine cone birdfeeders

Loved by kids and wildlife alike!

You will need:

Pine cones, peanut butter, birdseed

Head off on a little expedition to find pine cones in your local area. Older pine cones with open spiked are best for this, to allow the peanut butter to get in between its layers. Prepare a tray with birdseed.

Tie a piece of string around the top layer of open spikes, leaving around one meter to hang your feeder. Using a knife – or spoon – spread the peanut butter on the outside of the pine cone, roll in your birdseed tray.

Hang in your favourite tree.

TIP; you can also substitute the peanut butter for honey or the pine cones for toilet rolls!

Treasure hunt collage

The beauty of this is it’s two activities in one.

You will need:
Paper, craft glue

Make a list of items to find in the garden, for example a feather, leaf, flower, stick and clover, then send them off with a basket or container to gather their treasure, add in extra fun by offering a prize to the person who finds everything on the list. If you live in an apartment, you can make these out of paper or items from your recycling bin.  

Afterwards, create a collage using all the treasure.

Box monsters (or robots)

You will need:
Empty boxes (tissues, grocery delivery, online shopping), paints, crayons or pencils and glue, and anything else on hand for decorating

Use paint, crayons, or textas to decorate then use your imagination to transform the box with egg cartons as ears or a nose, or decorate with old buttons, ribbon or any offcuts you have lying around.

Toilet roll painting

You will need:
Toilet rolls, paint and paper

Collect about five (or as many as you like) toilet paper rolls and mould them into shapes. We found circles, squares and love hearts the easiest. Pour paint out on a flat surface like a plate or pieces of cardboard, then dip the toilet paper shapes into the paint and stamp on paper.

Vegie box cars

You will need:
Two vegie boxes, scissors, masking tape, coloured pencils or crayons

If you need another excuse to start ordering a weekly organic vege box, this is it! Use one box to cut circles for wheels and a steering wheel, use masking tape to affix and let the little ones loose decorating their new wheels.

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