What do you think of when you hear “preschool crafts?” Construction paper and glitter? Cut and paste worksheets? These kinds of crafts quickly find their way to the trash can in our house! I would rather my children spend their time making something worthy and beautiful that we’ll hang onto for awhile. If it doesn’t serve a purpose, or if it doesn’t fit well with the environment in our home, I’d rather not keep it. Handicrafts are different than crafts because they’re useful and beautiful. Charlotte Mason didn’t specifically discuss handicrafts during the early years, but she did believe that handicrafts should:
- not be a waste of time
- be taught to children slowly and carefully
- not be too ambitious for a child
- the child should be expected to do their best work (Home Education, pages 315-316)
These days, Miss H would much rather do a craft than play with her toys. Finding worthy crafts that are appropriate for a young child can be a challenge! I’ve rounded up 100 handicrafts for the early years. Some of these will rely on a grown-up’s help, but there are some that a little one can do entirely on their own.
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Crafts and Activities to Prepare for Handicrafts
These “crafts” are great for very young children. They give toddlers and preschoolers a chance to create something simple, and practice fine and gross motor skills, but they don’t rely on a pretty outcome that might be developmentally inappropriate for little ones to achieve.
- Homemade crayons- Little hands can break crayons apart and arrange them in a pan for melting.
- Play doh-Make homemade Play-doh and let little ones practice smushing and shaping it. You can also find it for a great price on Amazon
!
- Outdoor play- Playing with sticks, mud, and other natural materials sets the stage for handiwork.
- Painting- Even young children can enjoy creating with paints! Crayola washable fingerpaints
are good for really young children. When they get older, buy an affordable set of watercolors like these
.
- Keeping a family nature journal– This is a fun, no-pressure way to help little ones begin the process of nature journaling.
- Chalk drawing- This can be done inside or out! I like this chalk
for little hands
- Lacing cards
are a good introduction to sewing!
- Make a geo board for your young child to make shapes and designs. This helps develop fine motor skills.
- Playing with blocks- We love LEGO DUPLO All-in-One-Box-of-Fun 10572 Creative Play and Educational Toy
and traditional wooden blocks
.
Handicrafts by Materials
Crayons
- “Stained-glass” leaves made with crayons
- Melted crayon ornaments
- Melted crayon rocks- These make a pretty garden decoration or a great addition to a fairy garden
- Crayon lip gloss? YES! Here’s a tutorial from Raising Lifelong Learners.
Air Dry Clay
- Make leaf imprints by pressing leaves into a flattened circle of air-dry clay
- Form beads around a thin straw, and paint them after they dry
- Create fruits and vegetables for imaginative play
- Make models of flowers, plants, and animals you see in nature
- Form small bowls and plates, maybe for a doll tea party!
Paper crafts
- Origami window star– You can adapt this craft for any season
- Heart corner bookmarks
- Tissue paper flowers- Young children can practice scissor skills with this craft
- When Miss H was three, we made a papier mache bowl like this. She played with it in her kitchen for about a year, and then I went on a decluttering spree Yarn
- Make your own weaving loom
- Weave using a beautiful loom like this one from Melissa and Doug
- Finger knitting
- Knit using straws
- Yarn balls- these make pretty decorations!
- Make a yarn “painting”
Handicrafts by Type
Nature Handicrafts
- Press flowers and mount them onto thick paper
- These nature wreaths from Raising Lifelong Learners made out of winter plants are beautiful and festive!
- Dip autumn leaves in beeswax to preserve them (since the beeswax has to be hot, use this one at your discretion!)
- Make paintbrushes from pine branches
- DIY terrarium
- Easy Fairy garden– we made a popsicle stick bench like this last summer!
- Fairy houses
- If fairy gardens and fairy houses aren’t your child’s think, maybe they’d enjoy making a dinosaur garden!
- Seed bombs
Candles
- Make beeswax candles out of beeswax sheets
- Wooden candle cups- This would be good for very young children!
- These colorful votive holders are great for any season!
- Mason jar candles– an adult will have to be careful with the hot wax, but there’s plenty for little hands to help with
Nature Decorations
- Pine cone bird feeder
- Pipe cleaner bird feeder- Bend a pipe cleaner into a desired shape, and then string Cheerios onto the top. Secure the ends of the pipe cleaner together, and tie a piece of yarn at the top to hang it from.
- Flower pot bird bath
- Make a simple bird house
- Nature garland suncatcher
Painting
- Paint figurines, like these ceramic farm animals
. These would be fun little toys when they’re finished!
- Paint and decorate peg dolls like these
. There are some adorable nature-inspired peg dolls on Pinterest.
- Mini-art canvases from Hodgepodge
Jewelry
- Bead a necklace- we love this Melissa & Doug Wooden Bead Set
- Make friendship bracelets out of embroidery floss
- Parachord bracelets
- Make papier-mache beads from magazine pages
- Craft stick bracelets
Skills
- Knot tying
- Soap carving
- Building and starting a fire (outdoors, with plenty of supervision!)
Sewing and Stitching
- Cross stitch- Children as young as four or five can successfully cross-stitch! Here’s a tutorial to help you get started.
- Sewing on buttons- This is an important life-skill that many adults don’t know how to do!
- Purchase a hand sewing kit that is made for beginners. We bought this sewing kit
for Miss H (4.5 years old) and with a little help from Grandma, she made this little cat. When we’re done making the little dog that came with the kit, we’re going to get this woodland animals kit
. It seems to be of higher quality.
- Hand-sew a pillow
- Make a no-sew pillow out of fleece
Stamping
- Make potato stamps- This tutorial has a great, simple way to make potato stamps with cookie cutters! Your child can use a plastic knife, making this a safe way to practice knife skills.
- Stamp on potato cloth towels to make pretty kitchen towels for gifts!
Bath and Body Products
- Homemade bath bombs- These don’t have citric acid in them, which could irritate your little ones’ skin.
- Bath salts from the Sparrow’s Home
- Vanilla sugar scrub
Handicrafts By Season
Fall Crafts
- Use modeling beeswax to make fall leaves
- Paint autumn leaves with acrylic paints, then coat with Mod Podge
for a beautiful decoration (we did this last year!)
- Arrange pretty leaves and laminate them, or press them in contact paper
- Dip autumn leaves in beeswax to preserve them (since the beeswax has to be hot, use this one at your discretion!)
- Paper pumpkin- This requires a hot glue gun, so it’s parent intensive.
- Fall Mason jar luminaries
- Make a paper-strip pumpkin card
- This fall wind chime is fun yet beautiful!
- Pumpkin fairy houses from The Usual Mayhem
Winter Crafts
- DIY key holders from Ed Snapshots are a great for children of all ages to make!
- Christmas cardmaking- use construction paper and scrapbooking details to make beautiful Christmas cards
- Make melted bead ornaments
- Use Borax to make crystalized ornaments
- Crystalize pine cones with Borax
- String heart Valentine cards
- Orange pomanders make fragrant decorations, and as Erin from Nourishing My Scholar explains here, a great think to make for winter solstice!
- Ribbon tree ornament from Hall of Fame Moms
- These snowflake lotion bars from Ed Snapshots would make beautiful gifts! There are really cute gift tags included in this tutorial.
- Swirl paint Christmas ornaments from Nourishing my Scholar
- Cinnamon ornaments are simple and cute!
- DIY cozy hat Christmas ornament from Homestead Acres
- Simmering potpurri from We’re Far From Normal
- This homemade photo cube from Teach Beside Me would make a great gift!
Spring Crafts
- Melted crayon Easter eggs
- Mother’s Day flower card
- Glass gem sun catcher
- Make potpourri our of your spring flowers!
- Recycle your child’s artwork by making these cute pinwheels!
Summer
- Flower pot wind chimes from Thimble and Twig are full of whimsy!
- Glue and glass bead suncatchers from Preschool Inspiration
- These salt dough pendants from Raising Lifelong Learners would be fun to make any time of the year, but Colleen’s suggestion of adding citronella would be so practical for the summer!
- Sea shell picture frame– skip the glitter if you don’t want it to get all over your house
- Father’s Day string art from Teach Beside Me
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