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Looking for something to entertain the kids when it's raining or too cold to go outside? Child crafts can keep kids busy for hours- and best of all, child crafts can be educational. There are child crafts you can make with kids of all age groups, from preschoolers right through high school aged teenagers.

When the weather isn't cooperating, give your kids a variety of child crafts to work on. Clear your kitchen table off and gather some basic supplies- it's time to get crafting! Some kids prefer to come up with their own child crafts; letting their imaginations take over and making things out of miscellaneous supplies like toilet paper rolls, paper, yarn and glue. Other kids prefer to have instructions and patterns for making specific child crafts. You can find child crafts ideas in magazines or online if you aren't feeling creative enough to make up your own.

Popular Child Crafts for Preschoolers

Before getting started making child crafts, gather all the supplies! As your preschooler is running around the house, go on a search for paper, glue, crayons and safety scissors. Child crafts can make use of nontraditional items as well, so look for empty shampoo or dish soap bottles, paper towel and toilet paper rolls, string, shoe boxes and paper bags. Let your imagination be your guide.

Child crafts for preschoolers should be fairly simple to make, as well as quick in order to hold their attention. Help them make binoculars from toilet paper rolls, or puppets from old socks and markers. Add yarn hair. A favorite child craft of many children is creating *yarn masterpieces*. Give your child glue and different colored pieces of yarn. Let the child place glue all over their paper (gluesticks work great for this project) and then lay out pieces of yarn over the glue in whatever shape they want! It's like painting with yarn.

Child Crafts for Older Children

As children get older, they are capable of more detailed child crafts. Let grade school children create a city out of cardboard boxes. Flatten a box or two to create the city *ground*, and using smaller boxes, egg cartons, and construction paper, let your child build a city. Draw roads with markers, make trees and houses. Drive matchbox cars through the city, or make your own cars out of egg cartons or other objects.

Children love clay and play dough. You can follow child crafts recipes to making your own dough for the kids to play with. Other child crafts that involve food are potato stamps and macaroni necklaces.

Create musical instruments with coffee cans, and elbow macaroni. Make your own bubble solution with equal parts dish soap and water, and let your kids blow bubbles in the bathtub for a special child crafts treat!