9 Back to School Crafts for Kids and Mom

by Lynn Lilly, Jul 29 2015

Keep your kids busy after school by encouraging them to create and customize items they can use at school. This is the perfect way to stimulate your kids creative juices after the school bell rings! Check out these easy projects for kids of all ages. We have have one for Mom!

Homemade Bulletin Board: Perfect for mom to display reminders, messages from kids and more!

Materials:

Frame
Cork Board
Cardboard
Fabric
Staple Gun
String
Push Pins
Hot Glue Gun

Directions: Cut your cork to the size of your frame. Hot glue the cork to a pice of cardboard to stabilize it. Cut a piece of fabric so it is 3 inches larger than the piece of cork. Wrap fabric around the cork/cardboard and secure with the staple gun. Criss cross the string across the board and secure to the back of the board with a staple gun. Insert in to the frame. Secure the string by inserting a push pin at where the string crosses.

Paint Chip Crafts: Utilize free paint chips from your local hardware store. Cut into strips and punch a hole at the top center. Tie a piece of ribbon through the hole. Make a notebook by cutting a stack of paper to the same size as the paint chips. Use a hole punch to punch holes across the top of the paint chips and the stack of paper. Thread a piece of string through the holes to create a binding. Secure with a knot at each end.

Abstract Art: Let your child tape their own design on a canvas with painters tape. Let them fill in the open spaces with acrylic paint. Allow the canvas to dry for an hour and then let your child remove the tape to reveal their work of art

Decorate Last Year's Shoes: Let your child express their creativity by decorating last years shoes with fabric pens.

Decorate Brown Paper Lunch Bags: Worried about your child's lunch getting mixed up with the other 10 brown bags at the lunch table? At the beginning of each week have your child decorate 5 lunch bags with stamps, paint and washi tape. They will never mix up their lunch again.

Vegetable Stamped Book Totes: You can finally let your kids play with their food. Cut peppers, artichokes, apples, celery in half, dip in fabric paint and stamp on a tote. Let the design dry for 1-2 hours, then iron to seal the design.

Enhance a Cheap Notebook: Don't pay high dollar for a fancy notebook. Purchase the inexpensive one and give your child some washi tape and let them customize it.

Locker Decor: Pick up a wooden letter at a local craft store. Have your child paint it with acrylic paint or spray paint. Design it by using washi tape. Washi tape is removal so your child can change up the design anytime.