Easy Kids Crafts for the Cottage
Decorative Creative Projects to Make While on Summer Vacation
Jun 26, 2008
Most kids prefer to play outside while on family vacation at the cottage, but sometimes it helps to have a few craft supplies around in addition to the beach toys. Whether it is for a rainy day project or a distraction from boredom, cottage crafts give kids a constructive activity to do.
Use these projects as decorations inside the cottage and around the yard to be admired by other guests. If the decorations stay up year after year, they will become fond reminders of past family vacations and may become treasured mementoes.
Twig Welcome Sign
Let the kids collect a number of twigs of various lengths and thicknesses while on a walk around the cottage. Provide a big piece of recycled cardboard or Bristol board for the background of the welcome sign, or for a more elaborate sign, a piece of wood. Help the kids arrange the twigs to make letters spelling out "welcome" or the name of the family. Glue the twigs in place using hot glue and then decorate the sign with dried flowers, seeds, interesting leaves and small stones. Hang the finished sign near the main entrance of the cottage.
Decorated Flower Pot
Using new or recycled flower pots, choose a number of different colours and sizes of pots. Let the kids decorate the flower pots using a variety of materials:
- poster paint
- 3-D paint
- glitter
- glow-in-the-dark paint
- dried flowers
- ribbons
- polished stones
- lace
- buttons
- scrap material
- beads
- wood cut-outs
Encourage the kids to be unique in their flower pot decorating and when the projects are finished, let the children choose some plants to put in the pots.
Pine Cone Birdfeeder
One of the simplest bird feeders for kids to make, this craft also encourages nature watching. Begin by spreading a thin layer of peanut butter all over a medium-sized pinecone using a spreading knife. Roll the covered pinecone in a shallow dish containing mixed bird seed. Tie a piece of yarn or ribbon to the bottom of the pinecone and hang from a low branch of a tree at the cottage.
Bead Sun Catcher
Before heading up to the cottage, buy some clear glass balls and small colourful transparent beads from a store that carries Christmas craft supplies. To make the sun catcher, remove the top of the glass ball and fill the ball half way with various colours of beads. Put the top back on the ball and string a ribbon through the wire for hanging. For the most colourful display, hang the sun catcher in an east facing window to capture the early morning sunlight.
Versatile enough to decorate the outside of the cottage, the sign, flower pots, bird feeder and sun catcher are great crafts for doing at a camp or family reunion event. The flower pots and sun catchers are also wonderful gifts for grandparents who spend their summers at the cottage.
For other creative projects and activities related to summer vacations, read Camping with Preschoolers and Rainy Day Camping Activities.
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