March 14 marks National Children's Craft Day! While we always encourage kids to get creative every day, today is a great time to do something extra special with your child/grandchild/etc.
The great thing about crafts is that there are so many things you can make with items you already have in your home. It doesn't require you to spend a lot of extra money or require an abundance of artistic talent to make some great memories with your child. The ideas posted below are not only fun to make but are great sensory crafts that engage your child's five senses. Here are a few simple and fun ideas that you can make today!
DIY Play Dough
Play-Doh, foam, and slime are super fun and easy crafts for kids of all kinds. Even if you kid has limited muscle control, these soft and squishy materials can engage multiple senses. Bonus- this recipe uses basic cooking items- no weird or unsafe ingredients included!
2 cups of flour
2 Tbsp of cooking oil (any oil will work- vegetable oil, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.)
1/2 cup salt
2 Tbsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Gel food coloring (optional)
Optional: can add scents if desired
Mix all the ingredients together except the food coloring. Once the dough forms, create a small disc and drop food coloring as desired. Knead the dough until the food coloring turns into your desired color. (Make sure it has cooled before letting your child play with it!)
Source: https://coachart.org
DIY Rainstick
This see-through rainstick musical sensory bottle is a mess-free way to stimulate the auditory and visual sensory systems. When you tip it from top to bottom, the rice bounces off the sticks and produces a sound similar to rain falling.
Items needed:
Clear Water bottle or mason jar
Sticks, twigs, and small bare branches
Rice (or small beads, pebbles, dried lentils, etc.)
Super glue or a hot glue gun
Allow your child to fill the bottle with small sticks and twigs. Show them how to tangle them up and go in different directions to create more surface area for the rice to bounce off of. Let your child add 5-10 teaspoons of rice (or other items) to the bottle. Now put the lid on your homemade rainstick and slowly tip your musical sensory bottle back and forth to hear the "rain". You can glue the lid with super glue or a hot glue gun if desired (recommended to prevent the lid from accidentally unscrewing!)
*Bonus: Consider coloring your rice with this tutorial: https://abeautifulmess.com/make-rainbow-rice-in-5-minutes/
Paint Stamping
Gripping a paintbrush can be challenging for children with motor disabilities. You can use familiar objects like cut fruits or vegetables (such as apples or potatoes, or even broccoli) or textured materials, such as egg cartons, to create "stamps" that kids can easily grasp. Simple dip your "stamp" in paint and let them have fun creating a beautiful painting!