AHEAD: Over 40 Fun and Easy Summer crafts that you can do with your kids this summer. Fill hours this summer with exciting and simple crafts they will love. Some of these craft make great outdoor activities while others are fun for when the weather turns rainy or too hot and you are forced to stay inside. All of these crafts are good for toddlers and preschooler but if you also have an older child they will love them too! They are for kids of all ages!! Get ready to get crafty this summer with all these colorful and joyous craft ideas!

And check out my short form crafting series Curious Crafting on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube! Watch all the episodes here.

Summer Arts & Crafts!

Now that school is almost out – I wanted to create a blog post that would make it easy for you to plan a few kid friendly crafts to do this summer.

One of my current obsessions when it comes to kid crafts is the potato masher. Who knew that it could be used to create so many fun creatures!

When using the potato masher you are only limited by your imagination. It’s easy to use and a great art tool for toddlers and preschoolers. It is also something that everyone either has already in their kitchen or can include in their craft supplies!

Here is a list of simple crafts that you can do today with a few basic supplies. So if it’s a rainy summer day or if it’s too hot to be outside and you have a bored toddler or preschooler on your hand this is the list for you!

I have also have included a list of the basic supplies that you’ll need for these crafts.

Basic Supply List

(This list contains affiliate links for your convenience. If you make a purchase using one of these links, I may earn a commission. Please visit my disclosure policy for more information.)

• Washable Kids Paints
• Construction Paper
• Q-Tips
• Glue
• Googly Eyes
• Rounded Potato Masher
• Scissors
• Plastic Fork
• Sponges
• Water Guns
• Contact Paper
• Cardboard
• Pom Poms
• Paper Plates
• Pony Beads
• Bubble Wrap
• Plastic Table cloth to protect ground when doing a large messy painting activity

40+ Fun & Easy Summer Crafts

1. Shower Curtain Painting – Happy Toddler Playtime
2. Bubble Printed Butterfly Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
3. Sandpaper Sandcastle Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
4. Scrape Painted Ice Cream Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
5. Cardboard Tent Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
6. Fly Swatter Painting Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime

7. Watermelon Sponge Painting – Fantastic Fun and Learning
8. Button Snail Craft For Kids – I Heart Arts n Crafts
9. Paper & Cupcake Liner Lemonade Craft – Glued to My Craft Blog
10. Fingerprint Baseball Craft for Kids – Crafty Morning
11. Felt Pretend Play Popsicles – Kid Craft Idea For Summer – Glued To My Craft Blog
12. Handprint Fish Puppets – Glued to My Craft Blog

13. How to Make Sidewalk Chalk for Outdoor Summer Painting – Happy Toddler Playtime
14. Dandelion Snail Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
15. How to Make Sponge Boats – Happy Toddler Playtime
16. Turtle Nature Sticky Wall – Happy Toddler Playtime
17. Sponge Painted Fish Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
18. Giant Nail Salon – Happy Toddler Playtime

19. Rocking Paper Plate Boat – The Madhouse Mummy
20. Colorful Jellyfish Craft by I Heart Crafty Things
21. Cardboard Roll Shiny Pipe Cleaner Dragonflies – Our Kids Things
22. Squirt Gun Painting – Fireflies and Mud Pies
23. Cupcake Liner Fireworks Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
24. Flip Flop Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime

25. Ice Lolly Preschool Craft – Learning and Exploring Through Play
26. Bubble Wrap Starfish Craft – Our Kid Things
27. Salt Painted Fireworks Craft – Happy Toddler Playtime
28. Cardboard Bird Feeder – Happy Toddler Playtime for Happy Hooligans
29. Pom Pom Painted Watermelon – Happy Toddler Playtime
30. Potato Masher Ice Cream Cone Craft – Happy Toddler Playti

Even More Fun & Easy Summer Crafts for Kids

31. Potato Masher Bee

32. Potato Masher Turtle

33. Paper Plate Rainbow Sun Catcher

34. Sunflower Craft

35. Watercolor Snail Craft

36. Pom Pom Painted Pineapple Craft

37. Potato Masher Crabs

38. Butterfly Craft

39. Shaving Cream Sunflower

39. Potato Masher Spider

40. DIY Cardboard Tube Kazoo Craft

41. Painted Pasta Necklace Craft

Looking for more summer activity ideas? Check out of these other round-ups for more ways to stay busy this summer:

1. 25+ Outdoor Water Activities to Keep Kids Cool This Summer
2. 40+ Awesome Outdoor Learning Activities for Kids
3. 30+ Easy Outdoor Art Projects for Kids
4. 60+ Awesome Outdoor Activities for Kids
5. 45+ Awesome Water Sensory Bins for Toddlers & Preschoolers
6. 40+ Water Table Activities for Toddlers
7. 21+ Spray Bottle Activities for Toddler
8. 20 Amazing Backyard Obstacle Courses
9. 21+ Amazing Summer Sensory Bins
10. 40+ Ice Sensory Play
11. 12 Healthy Smoothie Recipes for Toddlers + Kids

Check out My Books, TV Show & Play Kits!

Book: Exciting Sensory Bins for Curious Kids

Did you know I wrote a book of sensory bins? Click here for more information Exciting Sensory Bin for Curious Kids. Or grab your copy at Amazon. 

Boring afternoons are made exciting with awesome animal-based bins, like Salty Shark Bay or Yarn Farm. Pretend play bins like Birthday Cake Sensory Play or Bubble Tea Party encourage creativity and imagination. And your kids will have so much fun they won’t even know they’re getting smarter with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) activities like Sink or Float Soup, Magnetic Letter Hunt or Ice Cream Scoop and Count.

Book: Super STEAM Activity Book for Kids

Learning all about science, technology, engineering, art, and math sets kids up for scholastic success―and it can be so much fun! Watch kids enjoy building STEAM skills as they color friendly fish, help water find its way to tree roots, solve math problems with mazes, and more. 

TV Show: Curious Crafting

I’m so excited to finally share my new crafting TV show Curious Crafting which launched July 1 at on TVOkids and TVOkids YouTube!

This show is all about fun and easy crafts for toddlers and preschoolers. 

Set in the ultimate crafting space, Curious Crafting is a short form pre-school age series about the joy of making crafts. I lead a rotating cast of adorable little preschoolers (including my own) making magic out of common household objects.

In each episode we transform recycled items into magical crafts like a milk carton school bus, paper bag puppet or cotton pad turtle. The crafters learn and laugh their way through each activity while demonstrating what their young imaginations can create. 

Curious Crafting shares the adventure and joy of making art with takeaway lessons for creating crafts at home.

Book: Big Book of Riddles for Kids – coming out September 27, 2022

Book: STEAM Crafts for Kids – coming out November 29, 2022

The Best Sensory Play Kits for Kids

Play is at the core of learning during the early years and it can take many forms. One of the most important of these is sensory play because it engages all of a child’s senses (taste, touch, smell, sight and hearing) and has a enoumous positive impact on brain development.

WILL YOU TRY ANY OF THESE CRAFTS WITH YOUR LITTLE ONE THIS SUMMER? Pin it for later!