Rainy Day Summer Crafts for Kids

Even if the weather does not cooperate for outdoor play, keep the kids busy with fun and easy summer crafts to do inside the house.

It is raining and the kids are screaming boredom, get them busy with their creative little minds instead of popping them in front of the television for a round of cartoons while you get some housework done.

Paper Ice Cream

Cut a variety of ice cream cone shapes out of light tan construction paper and scoops of ice cream out of pink, white and brown. For extra fun, make candy shapes and sprinkles out of paper scraps in a variety of colors. Give the kids a few glue sticks and all the different shapes and let them create their own unique ice cream cones. Plan for a treat of real ice cream after the children design their paper ice cream.

Sand Castles

Let the kids make sand castles the waves will not wash away. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of warm water with 4 tablespoons of liquid glue. Add 1 cup of sand to the water and glue mixture then combine using your hands. Cut a sheet of cardboard into a large square or rectangle to hold each sand castle. Place an old sheet or towel on the kitchen floor and have the kids sit on it while building their sand castles for easy clean up. Give the kids a variety of old mixing cups and cookie cutters to design unique sand castles. Allow the castles to dry in a safe area for 2 to 3 days and then let the kids keep them forever.

Beach Collage

Provide the children with glue sticks and a variety of paper in beach colors such as blue, tan and white, along with a large sheet of chipboard, poster board or even canvas. You might want to include other colors of paper to design the sun, birds, umbrellas, beach blankets and sand toys. Let them create their own beach scene using nothing but the paper and glue. Show them how to tear the paper into different shapes instead of using scissors to cut the paper and then glue the pieces on to the background paper.