Easy Garden Craft Projects For Kids
Fall is here and with cooler temperatures, now is a great time to spend more time outdoors! We will be spending 7 days in our Succah, which is part of the Jewish holiday of Succot, starting this Friday night, so that certainly qualifies as “outdoors!” There are so many ways to develop crafting/art skills, as well as gardening know-how with creative projects that can include anything from more complicated mosaics to very simple pots for cuttings using milk cartons. Right now those who celebrate succot are busy with succah decorations, which in many cases are similar to garden crafts, so this post can be inspiration for just about anyone right about now.
Getting creative and creating things for the garden or any outdoor area, as well as the succah, is an especially fun activity, as kids love showing off their efforts to all those who might pass by! From simple drawings, paintings, or even small woodworking craft projects for kids, any hands-on activity has a lot of benefits and gives your kids a break from screen time. And for those who are home-schooling, getting outside and doing activities away from the computer is crucial for mental health and overall well being. So get outside and make something while the weather permits! Here are some ideas to get you started, so no excuses, plus you can take the mess outdoors as well, enjoy! Now if you’ll excuse me, my succah needs some attention!
Thumbprint Painted Flower Pots
This is a very easy project, and the outcome is absolutely adorable. You can easily attempt this project with a child as young as a toddler, and it doesn’t require any fancy skills. The simple materials you will need are: terracotta flower pots, bright acrylic paint colors, black markers or paint pens, and most importantly, cute little thumbs.
Clean your terracotta pots, removing any dirt or mud scraps. Then comes the fun part! Ask your child to dip their finger in the desired colors and stamp their fingers on the pot to make a design. Make flower petals by stamping five times, or make four stamps to create butterfly wings. There are endless possibilities and you can even get their feet involved if you are brave enough to deal with the mess. Little footprints make amazing butterfly wings, so why not let baby join in the fun?
After you have finished decorating the pots with thumbprints and footprints, set the pots aside to dry. If you’d like, you can add some finishing touches with a permanent marker to define the patterns and pictures. If you’ve made flowers, you can add stems. If you’ve made butterfly wings, draw the body and some antennae. And maybe get your kids to sign their work! If you really love the outcome of this craft, consider varnishing it with outdoor varnish to preserve the color and weather any storms.
bove: Mosaics are more involved than the crafts described here, but great for older kids, and much simpler than they seem
Colored Stepping Stones
This fun project will bring some color to your garden, and stepping stones can be very useful if you have a lawn, providing a walkway to avoid damaging the grass.
To make these stepping stones, you’ll need to get some patio stones. You can choose any size you want. Mixing up the sizes would be a great idea. Then you need some acrylic paint to decorate your stones. You can use many different colors to make a rainbow pathway, or you can go for a fixed color scheme. Stones can be solid colors, or striped or even have messages on them!
For instance, if you want to match the stones with pink flowers in your garden, you can paint them in a few different shades of pink. Another fun idea is to paint them with glow in the dark paint. Your garden will light up after sundown, and this helps find the path easily. After painting, set the stones aside to dry well, and then seal them with cement varnish/sealer if you want the art to last.
If you have a lawn, don’t just place the stones on the grass, it is best to remove the grass from the area in which you plan to place the stepping stones. A good quality mower can be used to remove the grass where you plan to make the pathway, and if you don’t have a mower, you can check out the Honda hrx217k5vka. This is a tool that works great in most terrains, and is handy for many garden projects.
Owl Bird Feeder
This project enables you to make something very useful out of recycled milk or juice cartons, plus they will make everyone smile! Hanging a bird feeder in your garden and waiting to attract birds is also so much fun. This project can teach your children to appreciate birds and encourages kids to recycle, a win win craft!
To make a bird feeder, first, you’ll need to get an empty milk carton. Wash it very well. There is some cutting involved which needs to be done by an adult. Using a craft knife, make two wings on each side of the cartoon. Then cut out a section from the front, which will look like the owl’s tummy. After you are done cutting, you can hand the carton over to your kids to paint and then decorate as they wish. First sand the carton for best results and then paint several coats of acrylic paint for best coverage. You can even use old house paint. Then attach old bottle caps as the eyes, or use piece of cardboard. Hang with a piece of string or ribbon, and don’t forget to add the bird food!
Above: Painted rocks in a rainbow of colors and patterns look amazing when there are many, so get the whole neighborhood involved!
Painted Rock Cactus
Painted rocks are a great way to bring some fun color to your garden. Here’s another project that uses painted rocks to make something very pretty. Everyone will agree that small cactus plants are cute, but the pricks make it impossible to handle them for kids. Instead make a sweet cactus garden using painted rocks!
You’ll need some small terracotta flower pots, some smooth patio rocks and acrylic paint colors in different shades of green and white. Additionally, a thick permanent marker and/or paint pen (in white or black) is great for adding details after rocks are painted. Paint rocks green, in a few shades is possible. If you have strong glue, you can glue rocks together to make segmented cacti. Otherwise, stand rocks on end to make cacti that have height. Add tiny details with a pen to indicate the details that a cactus has, taking a look at pictures or drawings of cacti for inspiration.
Once dry, place cactus rocks in a pot with dirt, and enjoy. You can also choose to cover the dirt with gravel, which can look great.
Milk Carton Character Plant Pots
Fall is the time to clean up the garden and possibly take cuttings from plants that need to wintered indoors, if you live in a cold area. Plant like succulents and geraniums are simple to propogate from cuttings a well, but you’ll need some pots. Not to worry, the cutest pots ever can be made from milk and juice cartons! Simply cut out the shapes, like the ones above, paint and then decorate with permanent markers and washi tape if you like! And of course something as cute as this makes a great centerpiece for a party, or as a take-home gift, so get busy!
Beaded Hanging Ornament
You can hang long ornaments in your garden to achieve a contemporary and unique boho look, that is so much more creative than anything you could buy!
There are so many ways to go with this, and one can certainly make wind chimes as well by adding a bell to the end of the beaded string. And you can combine ribbons and little bits of lace or fabric with the bead of your choice to make something truly magical, the key is the more the better. You’ll need some craft strings or leather thong, and an assortment of beads of your choice, in a nice variety of sizes. Get some sticks to use as a base for hanging the beaded strings, one can make an X with the sticks to make a mobile, or use just one stick as one would with a wall hanging. The only thing you need to do is this project is to string the beads, tie the knots and hang! Let your kids come up with creative ideas for this one, as they really can’t go wrong. Think of a beaded curtain as inspiration or a beaded chandelier or just let the creativity take its course!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this roundup of garden craft ideas, and remember, creativity works wonders for uplifting mood and confidence, not to mention that the results are something to enjoy for weeks to come.
