Spring is already around the corner and showing its colors through the sprouting of flowers, bringing back the green scenery we all love. The warm weather makes kids more cheerful and energized. Trying to match the curriculum with their mood is important as we’re sure that new topics in accordance with the season will keep them as productive as ever. But, before you start with anything else, the season deserves a proper celebration and what better way to honor spring than to have fun with some spring crafts for kids.
In our last article, we covered 10 exciting spring activities for kids to expose them to some fresh air and vitamin D. This time, we’ll focus more on stimulating their creativity and artistic skills through simple crafts that bring joy and smiles.
Spring crafts are practical activities that wonderfully complement many lesson plans and art classes for kids of all ages, including toddlers. Not only do they allow kids to express themselves and captivate their full attention, but they also represent an opportunity for kids to learn more about certain spring topics in a more subtle way without realizing they’re actually learning.
Beyond that, we know that many studies have shown how crafts promote the kids’ well-being, self-management, and empowerment. But, let’s not stray too much from the main topic, and instead, let’s dive right into the spring crafts we’ve prepared for today.
Easy Spring Crafts for Kids
We chose 11 easy and affordable spring crafts for kids divided into three main sections based on the elements they represent. For instance, we prepared five different spring flower crafts, three different spring bug crafts, and three other spring crafts such as making DIY spring trees, bird nests, and more.
Spring Flower Crafts for Kids
When it comes to flowers, by engaging in different flower crafts, kids have the opportunity to learn about the shapes and colors of some of the most popular flower types such as daffodils, tulips, dandelions, and hyacinths.
Paper Plate Fingerprint Flowers With a Butterfly
The first activity in this section is a very simple fingerprint drawing activity that involves making a paper butterfly.
For this activity, you’ll need a paper plate, oil or acrylic paint in different colors, a small craft stick, glue, scissors, and cardstock paper (the color of the butterfly).
Start by painting the flowers on the paper plate. Pour a little paint on a palette and ask your child to dip one finger in it, then press firmly on the paper plate to leave an oval-shaped mark. Repeat it four to six times with the same paint, making a circle (the flower leaves), and then continue to do the same thing with a different color, making more flowers. Usually, one paper plate can easily fit four to five flowers.
Next, with a small paintbrush or a pointed stick, add darker dots in the middle of each flower to make the pistils. Draw the flower stems with dark green or black paint. Leave the paper plate to dry out while making the butterfly.
For the butterfly, use cardstock paper. Fold the paper in half and outline a butterfly as seen on the side with one wing. This is because when you cut it out and unfold it, you’ll get a whole butterfly. Draw some colorful patterns on it and glue it to the craft stick.
Finally, cut out a horizontal line at the bottom of the paper plate where the flower stems are, and insert the stick with the butterfly through the hole. The child will then be able to move the butterfly by moving the stick, taking it from one flower to another.
Tulip Potato Printing
Most tulips bloom from March to April, making them one of the hallmark flowers of spring. They have beautiful and intense colors as well as elegant shapes that are easily recognizable.
For this activity, you’ll need one or two potatoes, a knife or a carving tool, and some paint.
Together with your kids, take a look at how tulips look during one of your spring walks (or on the internet) and draw a simplified shape of the flower on a potato that’s cut in half. Then, carefully carve out the unnecessary bits. The point is to create a shape that leaves a tulip-shaped mark. If you allow your child to carve the potato, be attentive and close to them the whole time.
Next, dip the potato in paint and make different colored tulips. The child can then draw the flower stems or otherwise populate the landscape.
Fingerprint Dandelions
Making fingerprint dandelions is so easy that kids as little as two years old can make beautiful cards or drawings in the spirit of spring.
For this activity, you’ll need white paper, a black marker, and some paint.
Older kids can make the dandelion stem themselves by looking at some simplified illustrations on the internet, but for the younger ones, it is best to print out a template or simply draw them yourself using the black marker.
Then, the child can dip their thumb in the paint and make a mark on the end of each branch of the dandelion flower. Each dandelion can have a flower in each color or one flower can have many different colored branches. Some can be darker while others can be brighter; you get the idea. However, do let your child play and express their creativity.
Hyacinth Flower Craft
Another spring flower that’s easy to make and looks absolutely stunning is the hyacinth. Although there are whitish and violet variants, the purple ones are the most characteristic of the species and also portray the rich color spectrum of spring.
For this activity, you’ll need a small canvas, green construction paper, purple paint, scissors, and glue.
Begin by cutting the green construction paper into long, half-inch wide strips (the hyacinth stem) and oval-shaped but very narrow leaves. Make sure you cut enough for two or three flowers, meaning two to three stems and four to six leaves.
Next, glue the stems on the canvas and let them dry while you prepare the purple paint. Now, the child can use their fingers, just like the last two flower crafts, or paint with a small paintbrush. The main idea is to make small circles all around the stem (just like real hyacinths). The circles don’t have to be perfect nor completely full. In fact, some imperfections make the painting a lot more realistic.
Once that is done, the child can glue the bottom part of the leaves over the flowers. This way, you’ll get a realistic hyacinth painting that pops out.
Handprint Flower Bookmarks
One of the main goals of early childhood education is to teach children to read fluently, and to achieve this goal, kids need to read a lot. So, a great idea is to make cute flower bookmarks as a way to honor spring and make reading amusing.
For this activity, you’ll need paint, a paintbrush, craft sticks, different color foam sheets, scissors, and glue.
Start by painting the craft sticks green. Make sure to tell your child to paint with different shades to make the flower stems look more realistic and lively. Then, leave the stems aside to dry while making the flowers.
To do this, tell your child to place their palm on the foam sheet of their favorite color and outline it with a pencil. Then, cut along the lines. If you want the bookmarks to be thicker and more stable, fold the foam sheet and cut two layers, after which you’ll glue them together.
Then, cut out a small oval-shaped leaf from the green foam sheets. Finally, glue the hand on one end of the craft stick and the leaf in the middle.
Spring Bugs Crafts for Kids
Aside from flowers, another hallmark of spring is the invasion of bugs and different insects. Kids will probably learn all about them in a formal lecture, but it’s good to consolidate that knowledge by making some DIY crafts of butterflies and ladybugs.
Newspaper Butterfly Craft
Butterflies have mesmerizing patterns on their wings that are sometimes hard to replicate, especially if you have small children. So, in that case, we need to find a simple yet unique solution to make interesting butterflies. Here’s how!
For this activity, you’ll need an old newspaper, watercolors, a paintbrush, small craft sticks, glitter markers (optional), scissors, and glue.
Begin by gluing three or four sheets of newspaper together. Once they’re dried, draw a butterfly shape and cut it out. Then, dye them using vibrant watercolors. The child can make a rainbow, a two-color pattern, or basically anything that comes to their mind.
Leave the butterfly newspaper to dry while preparing the craft stick. On one end, draw eyes and a smile and glue it in the middle of the “butterfly newspaper”. Draw some lines or dots to make the butterfly pop with glitter markers or pencils.
Paper Plate Butterfly
Another way to easily make a butterfly is to use a paper plate.
For this activity, you’ll need craft sticks, a paper plate, color markers, pom poms, googly eyes, scissors, and glue.
Start by drawing some interesting shapes and patterns on the paper plate which will turn into the butterfly wings. Once done, fold the paper plate in quarters with the drawings on the inside and draw a curved, convex line an inch from the pointed side. Cut along the line, and when you open the paper plate, cut it along the middle line to separate the wings. Once done, refine the shape of the butterfly.
Next, glue the pom poms one after another on a craft stick and then glue the googly eyes on the uppermost pom. Glue the wings together on the back of the craft. Glue another craft stick at the bottom of the first one to serve as a holding stick for the butterfly.
Paper Bowl Ladybug Craft
Ladybugs are also very popular in spring and frequently seen on flowers, making them just as interesting as butterflies. Best of all, they’re just as easy to make! Here’s how!
For this activity, you’ll need a small paper bowl, red and black paint, a paintbrush, black construction paper, googly eyes, black pipe cleaner, glue, and scissors.
Begin by painting the paper bowl red (on the outside). When dry, paint black circles all around the paper bowl (also on the outside) and a line in the middle. Then, glue the paper bowl (upside down) on a flat surface – cardboard is probably the best option, but it can be pretty much anything.
Next, cut six small rectangles from the black construction paper and one larger circle. Glue three of the rectangles on one side of the paper bowl and the other three on the opposite side, representing the ladybug’s legs. Glue the circle in front of the paper bowl, then glue the googly eyes on the top of the circle. Add two small pieces of the black pipe cleaner just above the eyes representing the ladybug’s antennae.
Other Spring Crafts for Kids
In spring we also see blossoming trees and tweeting birds, which is why it might be fun and interesting for kids to make cherry blossom trees and a bird nest.
Paper Plate Bird Nest
The nest-making process for birds is not unlike this suggested craft – gluing stuff together – but the children will have it way easier. It goes without saying that they’ll also have a lot of fun.
For this activity, you’ll need a paper plate, brown paper lunch bag, extra small sticks or tree branches, glue, and scissors.
Begin by cutting the paper lunch bag into small stripes. They don’t have to be of the same length or width, so freely cut away. Once done, start gluing the brown stripes all around the edges of the paper plate.
Once a full circle of paper stripes is made, add another layer by gluing the small tree branches on top of the paper stripes. Repeat the same procedure a couple of times until you get several layers of brown stripes and branches one over another.
Finally, you can take two or three eggs and put them in the center of the paper plate, simulating a real nest!
Tissue Paper Blue Birds in a Nest
Another variation of the above-described craft is to actually make a nest with little birds inside.
For this activity, you’ll need a paper plate, blue tissue paper, yellow and blue construction paper, googly eyes, brown easter grass, scissors, and glue.
Start by cutting the paper plate in half and the blue construction paper into three egg-like shapes. Next, rip pieces of the blue tissue paper, crumple them up, and glue them over the egg-like shape of the blue construction paper. Repeat the same procedure for the other two shapes. On the sides, add pieces of the tissue paper that should stick out, representing the birds’ small wings.
After this, cut very small triangle-shaped beaks and glue them on each bird along with the googly eyes. Finally, glue the birds on top of the cut side of the paper plate and then glue the brown easter grass on top of them.
Cherry Blossom Tree
Cherry blossom trees have this amazing baby pink color that turns every street into a fairytale-like image. This is why having a few DIY cherry blossom tree decorations at home made by your child is not such a bad idea.
For this activity, you’ll need white drawing paper (alternatively, a print of a tree), pink tissue squares, scissors, and glue.
If you decide to print a tree, then you can directly start making the cherry blossoms, but if not, then the first step is to draw the tree. Once that’s done, cut the pink tissue paper into small squares. Next, add glue to the three branches, crumple the tissue paper squares, and press them in the spots with glue. Repeat the same process until the whole tree is filled with cherry blossoms!
Before You Leave
Spring crafts for kids is an increasingly popular activity that’s becoming mainstream in homeschools as well as formal education. This is probably because they’re incredibly easy to implement and kids love them, being fully captivated by their colorful nature. Plus, as we mentioned in the introduction, they have a lot of benefits for our young ones, but they’re also a leisure activity.
If you need lecture content to complement these practical activities, then head over to our website and browse through our large collection of spring worksheets, facts, and lesson plans. We’re sure that you’ll find a lot of useful topics that you can easily incorporate as part of the practical activity.
For more ideas, inspiration, tips, and science-backed guides regarding children’s educational practices don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter and regularly check out our blog content.
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