Summer Arts and Crafts Ideas for All Ages

When the warm weather hits creative minds reach for their summer arts and crafts. Summer arts and crafts are for making or using outside so grab your craft supplies and head out into the sun where summer arts and crafts are made!

Summer Arts and Crafts for Pre-School Age Children

One of the best parts of summer arts and crafts is that the weather is warm and you can send messy projects outside!

Many pre-school age children enjoy painting but paint can get everywhere. Hang a sheet outside and let your child paint the fabric. You can also spread a sheet on the ground and let them paint without destroying your carpet. There is nothing like having a summer arts and crafts project and leaving all the paint outside.

Sidewalk chalk is also an excellent summer arts and crafts project for pre-school age children. Turn it into a learning experience by having them draw letters and numbers.

Picnics are fun but baskets and accessories are expensive. Instead of buying a basket, turn your picnic into a summer arts and crafts project. Let your toddler decorate a plastic tub with stickers and paint. Take the sheet painted earlier to sit on. Your toddler will love that they made the picnic!

Summer Arts and Crafts for Elementary School Age Children

Summer arts and crafts are not just about being creative but they are also about getting kids away from the television and get them running around outside.

One summer arts and crafts project that is made for the outdoors is pressing flowers or leaves. Have your kids gather all of the plants they would like to press. Then have them help you layer the plants between layers of newspaper and tissue paper. Take your heaviest book or a brick to press the layers down. After a week or two of allowing the plants to dry, the kids can then use them to decorate place mats, picture frames, or a card to Grandma!

Boys may find the time capsule one of the most interesting summer arts and crafts projects. Have the children decorate a plastic box with everything that has happened in the last year. The kids can look around your house for items to place in the time capsule and help them write a letter to leave inside. Set up a time to open the capsule together, whether the end of the summer or in a few years.

While you are doing your summer remodeling keep those boxes everything comes in. A refrigerator or oven box can be made into a puppet show or a play house. Let them decorate the box while you cut windows. Smaller boxes can be drawn on to make little towns or tables for outdoor tea parties.

Summer arts and crafts for pre-teen and teenagers

Even pre-teens and teenagers can enjoy making summer arts and crafts. While some kids may complain about summer arts and crafts, most kids will enjoy making tie-dyed

T-shirts, or using fabric paint to make their own beach bags.

Girls can create flip flops that they can then wear out and about. All this takes is a cheap pair of flip flops, some hot glue and whatever embellishments you have around the house. They could even make a matching purse or beaded bracelet to go with their new shoes.

Summer arts and crafts may seem easier to find for girls but some boys (and girls too!) may become interested in woodworking, metal working or building model airplanes or cars. A great summer arts and crafts idea for the woodworker would be to build a bird house or, even better, look online for the plans to build a bat house!

Summer arts and crafts for adults

Summer arts and crafts don't have to stop just because you turn 18! Adults can spend their time outdoors painting or building bat houses just like kids.

Scrapbooking those warm weather memories can be a fun summer arts and crafts project for college students as well as moms and dads, and you can turn one summer arts and crafts project into another by using those pressed flowers the kids made to decorate your summer scrapbook!

Get down on the ground with the kids and get your hands dirty too. You don't even have to have kids to enjoy the projects. Even if you enjoy typically indoor crafts such as knitting or beading, take your projects outside and at least enjoy the summer while you work on your craft.

Get away from the TV and make something! If the mention of summer arts and crafts brings on eye rolls do not get discouraged. Every age can have fun making summer arts and crafts. All it takes is some research and you can find a project that fits your age and personality.