Summer Crafts with the Grandkids

Hello! I've been gone a while!! No, I didn't have Covid-19, but I did homeschool my grandson when the schools closed. That kept me really busy. Besides, during this difficult time, I didn't think my readers would want to read a blog about. . . Fun with Gramma. We had other things on our mind, didn't we?

How about some summer crafts with the grands? I would often do arts and crafts with my grandson during homeschooling. Makes the day go faster, and hey! Who doesn't like art? Seriously, as we all know creative arts and music are just as important as the core subjects, often enhancing those subjects. I visited other blogs and good ol' Pinterest to find ideas. Today I share some of them with you that you might do them with your grandkids when they visit. And if your grandkids are not in town, or still not visiting because of the coronavirus, put some art supplies in a box and mail to them. You can tell them about it during phone calls and FaceTime. Do whatever you can to have some share time with your beloved grandkids or great-grandkids.

I picked out these art and craft activities as they mostly just involve markers and color books or drawing paper. Things you probably have on hand when they visit.

​Now that most of the states are open again, perhaps you can visit a craft store to get any other supplies you might need.

​Can't get into the public swimming pools or the parks? All the more reason to do some crafts at home. Kids need to have some fun this summer. Arts and crafts with parents or grandparents seem the way to go. So let's get started.

# 1 Tracing your hand and then coloring:

Yes, the old standby--tracing the child's hand and coloring. I saw this on Pinterest. Have them trace their hands in black marker on one page of those design color books. And then all they have to do is color within the black line. Fun for the kids and a very striking piece to put on your refrigerator or their parents' refrigerator. We just put on some favorite songs, relaxed, and colored away. Very nice activity for a hot summer afternoon when they can't go outside anyway.

They trace their hand in black marker on a design color book page, but then only color the spaces within their hand.

My grandson posed for this picture when I told him I was going to use it for my blog. He wanted you to get the idea it was HIS hand. :)

You can trace other things. It doesn't have to be your hand. My grandson loves dinosaurs, so we traced that. It's a work-in-progress for his bedroom.

#2 Tracing random items from around the house
​to make a design and then COLOR:

Another super easy one! Just trace the shape several times on the paper being sure to overlap the shapes. Then color with markers, crayons or colored pencils. Another project that turned out so pretty.

We just gathered up cookie cutters, and cutters from the Playdoh set, as well as some of our craft sticks. Another easy project, but also very zen-like. It will get grandmother and the child in a very relaxed state. (Insert chuckle here.)

Various items we found around the house.

Trace them, being sure to overlap. Then color each separate space that's created by the overlapping.

#3 Crayon-resist with crayons and watercolor:

Watercolors seem to be in every grandparent's craft box for when the grandkids come. But if you're like me, you've probably discovered that watercolors can be frustrating for the younger kids. Watercolors go all over the page, and not where the child wants it. Drawing your picture in crayon first eliminates this frustration. Another idea I found on a teacher's blog. I drew the small rectangle first and then all my grandson had to do was draw (in black crayon) the grid-like lines and then put a shape in the middle. My six-year-old grandson happens to be very adept at drawing hearts. But the child colors the heart first, and then uses different watercolors on the outside of that shape. This enables the center shape (in this case, a heart) to show up.

This is another one that turns out so well. My grandson was very pleased with his creation. I even found an old frame, and we framed one for his dad and one for his Poppa.

I also made photo-copies of his hearts as they are the perfect size to send notes to his great-grandmothers.

Painting each space within the black crayon lines.

We framed one for Poppa.

#4 Stringing beads for a wall-hanging:

My grandson loves to string beads. I think perhaps he developed his interest from watching his big sister make bracelets.   Nevertheless, before this coronavirus even hit, he asked me for some beads. So this is something we had on hand, and when I saw this idea on Pinterest, I knew we had to give it a try. We found the small branch on our morning walk, and his Poppa drilled some holes for the strings, but I don't think that would even be necessary. Just wrap the string around the branch, and you're good to go. It doesn't even require a long string of beads. We just knotted the string after five or six beads and skipped a space. Another one that's fun, relaxing, and you've got a great sun catcher for your patio when you're finished.

Very focused on stringing those beads.

Great activity for fine motor skills and coordination.

I love it on my patio!

And there you have it--four fun and relatively easy craft projects with the kids or grandkids. Such a fun summertime activity with our grandchildren. If they come to visit, and your time is limited, each of these tasks took only one hour to complete. Honest. And if you're lucky enough to have those grandkids visit, it's a nice memento to take home in remembrance of your time together.

Please feel free to share my blog with your grandparent friends. But of course, these ideas are for any kid, parent, grandparent or great-grandparent. So share! Thank goodness others shared with me. Until next week, as they always said on "Hill Street Blues," let's be careful out there.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." Pablo Picasso