Embrace the sunny season and get crafty with your little artists. From sailboat window decals to rock insects, craft the afternoon away and try these 11 kid’s summer craft ideas.

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It’s not summer without a trip to the beach! But if the beach is a little too out of reach, you can still get crafty at home and create something like this kid’s summer craft idea.

Simply draw a bucket and spade using a thick marker (you could also grab a template online) and cut around the bucket. Add a touch of colour with some coloured paint of choice, then leave to dry. Once dry, glue the bucket onto a piece of cardboard and begin scrunching some blue tissue paper for the ocean, glue this on to your cardboard and you’re all set. Feel free to add in some cotton wool clouds for the sky or starfish like this idea. 

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Jazz up your home and have a lot of fun doing it like this kid’s summer craft idea.
Made using just cardboard, white tissue paper, scissors and blue cellophane, you don’t need a lot to get crafty with this project.

Start by drawing up your sailboats onto cardboard and then cut out the silhouette. Next, glue the white tissue paper to the back of the cardboard - this will hold the pieces of tissue paper to the boat.
Begin cutting squares of blue cellophane, we recommend using a few tones of different blue to create a stain glass window effect, then glue the squares on the white paper and you’re ready to hang them on the window.

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Use left over toilet rolls and turn them into some fun summer craft. Grab some green paint, a few coloured markers and some pom poms and get cracking. Begin by painting each roll a light green with acrylic or poster paint and leave to dry. While you wait for those to dry, let’s get to making the cactus’s spikes. Using a spare toilet roll or paper towel roll, press down on the roll to make it flat, then cut the roll in half. Use the spare pieces to create the spikey arms and paint these pieces green too.

Once that’s all dry, pick up a coloured marker like white or a lighter green and add some dashes (-) or crosses (x) to make your cactus spikey and add texture. You can add pom poms to the cactus’s arms like this idea and finish the piece by adding a smiley face. .

Image: kaz_of_all_crafts

Try your hands with clay and create something fun like this summery little duck. This idea was made using polymer clay but you can use air dry clay if you’re working with kids and there are plenty of handy tutorials like this to help you get started.

To create an easy duck, start by rolling a ball of clay out into a firm ball, then pinch the ends to make the duck’s tail. Your can use the end of a toothpick to create texture for the feathers. Then roll another ball that’s slightly smaller to create a head. Then using a toothpick, push the toothpick through each piece to secure it, (we recommend using the end of a pencil to help push the toothpick through so you don’t hurt yourself). Then create two small triangles for feet and a flattened cone shape for the duck’s beak, then attach the pieces using toothpicks again. 

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We love this kids summer art idea using left over pistachio shells! Save the shells from the bin and put them to good use with this craft idea. Begin by arranging the shells into the desired pattern (this will make placement easier and of course make sure you’re not a few shells short) then paint each shell using yellow and green poster or acrylic paint. Then glue each shell to cardboard. Use a painted pom pom for the middle of the flower and some yarn for the stems. You can add an extra shell for the bee like this idea has or use cotton wool balls, they make for great fluffy clouds.

This DIY summer art idea is not only fun but they also make for fantastic paper weights. All you need are some flat rocks, water, a thin and medium size paint brush and some acrylic paint (we used white, black, yellow, red, green metallic and yellow metallic acrylic paint). If you don’t have a steady hand, you can easily pop some googly eyes on your rocks instead. Follow along with our lesson here and create your very own pet rock insect.

Take a step into another dimension and try this summer art idea with your kiddies. It’s fun and all you need is some poster paint, a round canvas and some PVA glue. We’ve used pink, blue and gold poster paints to create these, because we find a metallic colour always pops when it comes to pouring paint. But best of all, we’ve shown you how to do it, so follow along with the project here and create something totally unique.

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Create your very own campfire with this fun kid’s summer craft idea. Turn a dreary rainy summer’s afternoon on its head and have some fun making this campfire. Make the logs out of left-over paper tubes or carboard cans, grab some tissue paper, cotton buds, paint brushes and some brown paint and create your very own campfire too. Check out the instructions here.

Paper Mache isn’t just for making piñatas, you can also make some pretty fun things with it too. Why not try making this little tiger friend with your kiddies this summer. All you need is some coloured paper, white and black acrylic paint, a thin and small flat paint brush, a pair of scissors and PVA glue. Check out our lesson and create yours with these step by step instructions.

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Celebrate the sunny season and create this kid’s summer craft idea too. Simply draw some circles onto cardboard (you can trace around a plate for a circle), then some paint for the face of your sun. While you wait for the sun face to dry, you can paint the pasta pieces, by adding some paint to a zip lock bag and giving the pasta a toss inside, then leave the pieces to dry. When everything’s dry, glue the pieces of pasta around the sun and the faces to some card and you’re all done!

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Escape the heat and create some fun craft like these cardboard popsicles with your little ones.
Simply cut out a semi-circle shape in carboard, add a wash of paint to both sides and wait for the paint to dry. Once dry, add some glitter, confetti, stickers or gemstones, the choice is yours! Then finish the project by gluing a coloured popsicle stick onto your ice block, and you’re all done!

We hope that you feel inspired to create some or all of these kid’s summer craft ideas. Try these ideas for yourself and #montmarteart or tag us @montmarteart on Instagram or Facebook, we’d love to see what your little artists and yourself create.

Looking for more? Check out these 15 sensory play activities for kids.