Six Summer Crafts Children Can Make Their Own

For dry, low-mess summer crafts, choose a folded-paper beach towel or a summer postcard. For tearing and gluing, make a paper sun or layered ocean; for pretend play, try a paper ice-cream shop. Save sponge-print fish for a day when you have space for wet artwork to dry. All six give children ages three to five different ways to participate; choose adaptations by their comfort with the tools and materials, rather than age alone.

Choose the table setup you can manage; the tool shows matching crafts and adult preparation.

The themes offer a starting point, not a finished sample to copy. Children can change colors, leave spaces empty or take their picture in another direction. NAEYC’s guidance on art experiences emphasizes children’s choices and exploration, with opportunities to use small-motor skills, compare materials and talk about their work.

Set Out Supplies for One Craft at a Time

For the paper projects, gather construction paper, plain drawing paper, crayons or washable markers, and glue sticks. Add child-sized, blunt-tip scissors if children will cut. Use a washable work surface or table covering.

Fish printing also needs washable children’s paint, a shallow paint tray and a large sponge that an adult cuts into a simple fish shape.

Put out materials for one craft at a time, with a scrap-paper tray and a clear place for finished work. Demonstrate a tool action—such as tearing or pressing a stamp—rather than making a whole picture for children to reproduce.

Choose art materials labeled for children and appropriate for their ages; avoid products with hazard warnings. Supervise use, keep snacks away from the craft table and wash hands afterward. “Non-toxic” does not mean edible. These precautions follow the CPSC’s Art and Craft Safety Guide. Leave beads, sequins and other tiny decorations out of these projects; children can draw the details instead.

1. Torn-Paper Sunshine Uses Tearing and Placement

Materials: Background paper, yellow or orange paper, glue stick and crayons.

Adult Setup: Provide a large paper circle, or let children draw their own sun. Start a few tears along the edge of the colored paper if needed.

1. Invite children to tear strips for rays. Wide, short or crooked strips all work.
2. Let them arrange the circle and rays before gluing.
3. Glue the pieces down, then offer crayons for clouds, faces or anything else they want nearby.

Skill Opportunity: Tearing gives children practice using both hands together; arranging rays involves deciding where pieces will go.

Simplify: Offer already-torn strips so the child can focus on placement and glue.

Extend: Invite the child to alternate long and short rays. Keep this optional rather than correcting the design.

2. Layered Paper Ocean Explores Overlapping

Materials: Background paper, blue and green paper, glue stick and crayons.

Adult Setup: Offer several shades of paper and one large background sheet.

1. Tear long strips to suggest waves.
2. Overlap the strips on the background, leaving some edges visible, then glue them down.
3. Add drawn boats, fish or imaginary ocean creatures.

Skill Opportunity: Children can explore overlapping, compare shades and use words such as above, below and behind while describing their picture.

Simplify: Use two broad, prepared strips. An adult can steady the background while the child presses them down.

Extend: Ask, “How could you show something partly hidden by a wave?” Let the child decide whether to draw or layer another piece.

3. Paper Ice-Cream Shop Invites Pretend Play

Materials: Colored paper, background paper, crayons and glue stick.

Adult Setup: Cut several large circles for scoops and triangles for cones. No real food is needed.

1. Invite children to choose a cone and arrange their scoops before gluing.
2. Draw toppings with crayons rather than adding small loose decorations.
3. Ask whether they want to name their creation. Write down their words if requested.

Skill Opportunity: This offers shape arrangement, pretend-play language and an optional chance to count scoops by touching each one once.

Simplify: Start with one cone and one scoop, with more available if wanted.

Extend: Help the child make a shop sign or draw a second order for a pretend customer. Imaginary flavors are welcome.

4. Paper Beach Towel Needs No Glue or Paint

Materials: A rectangle of paper and crayons or markers.

Adult Setup: Offer plain rectangles in different sizes.

1. Decorate the paper with stripes, dots, zigzags or a free-form design.
2. Fold it in half and press along the fold. Open it again to see the crease.
3. Use the paper beach towel in a pretend beach scene with a drawn person or paper doll.

Skill Opportunity: Folding involves holding, aligning and pressing; decorating offers a place to explore repeated marks.

Simplify: Begin the fold and let the child finish pressing it flat. Folding can also be skipped.

Extend: Invite a repeating color pattern, or compare the sizes of two paper beach towels. Cutting is optional, not required.

5. Sponge-Print Fish Explores Pressure and Marks

Materials: Paper, washable children’s paint, a shallow tray, a large fish-shaped sponge and crayons.

Adult Setup: Cut the sponge yourself and spread a thin layer of paint in the tray. Use a sponge large enough for the child to grip comfortably.

1. Press the sponge lightly into paint, then onto paper.
2. Lift straight up and look at the print. Try a lighter or firmer press if the child wants to compare marks.
3. Let the paint dry before adding crayon bubbles, seaweed or fish details.

Skill Opportunity: Printing lets children experiment with pressure, placement and the marks a tool makes.

Simplify: Offer one paint color and a large sheet. If paint is unwelcome, provide paper fish shapes to glue instead.

Extend: Make fish facing different directions by turning the sponge. Compare prints without labeling one as the best.

6. A Summer Postcard Connects Pictures and Messages

Materials: Sturdy paper, crayons or markers and optional paper scraps with glue.

Adult Setup: Fold a sheet in half and cut along the crease to make two postcard-sized rectangles.

1. Invite the child to draw a summer place, real or imagined: a park, garden, beach or space campsite.
2. Turn the card over and ask whether they want to tell someone about the picture.
3. Write their dictated message, leaving space for their own marks or name if they choose.

Skill Opportunity: Drawing and dictation give children a way to connect a picture with a message for another person.

Simplify: Let the child point to part of the picture and dictate a single word—or share without adding writing.

Extend: Make a pretend mailbox and exchange postcards with a willing partner.

For a longer pretend-play theme, pair the postcard with preschool camping crafts. For movement or play between art sessions, choose from these low-prep summer activities for ages three to five.