DIY Homeschool Archives - The Crafty Classroom

I don’t know about you, but the homeschool day goes really fast! And, it can be hard fitting in the time-consuming, clean up-consuming subject of art. To help my fellow homeschool moms, I’ve come up with a simple, yet SUPER engaging list of easy and frugal homeschool art projects.

Kids LOVE art — getting messy is fun! And, any creations they concoct can be proudly displayed or shown lovingly to their Grandma on FaceTime.

However, for Moms — crafts can be exhausting! The time suckers and messy materials can be somewhat daunting for our busy days! Yet, we also know our children’s joy and creativity soars with art. It’s an important subject NOT to skip.

That’s why these fast, simple, and frugal art activities are perfect to use as boredom busters for any preschoolers, kindergartners, and elementary school aged kids.

Are you looking for simple items you can purchase to keep your Homeschool Art Supply Closet full? We’ve compiled our favorite, frugal products and brands to make it easy for you to keep your art cabinet stocked. All of these products are tried and tested in our own homeschool classroom, and are well loved by the kiddos. We’ve picked these specific items because of the price and the quality, this is a list you don’t want to miss! Click Here

On a budget? No problem! Most craft materials can be found at the Dollar tree or on Amazon at a great price (and shipped right to your door!). These art crafts are also wonderful time fillers and distractors for after school, on weekends, playdates, and gift giving!

Popsicle Stick Crafts

The possibilities are endless with popsicle stick crafts but when you’re in a hurry, here are some exciting ideas. Remember, kids have vivid imaginations and giving them materials only will get their creative juices flowing! Grab some glue sticks, washable markers or paint and ask the kids to get creative.

Here are some ideas to use for Popsicle Stick crafts:

Build Tic Tac Toe Grids, glue together, and cut out 9 pieces of paper to fit inside boxes. Write ‘X’ and ‘O’s using markers on pieces of paper with different colors.
Make a star using 2 triangle shapes. One will be upside down on top of the other. The kids can paint or color them with markers.
Create a frame with sticks shaped as a square. The kids can write “family” or any words they wish or paint with favorite colors.

Beads

Beads are wonderful materials to make gorgeous designs, bracelets, necklaces, and much more! These innovative ideas may require a purchase of a bead kit for a low price. Using beads strengthen hand eye coordination, focus, creativity and fine motor skills!

Please note: We wouldn’t recommend attempting beads until your child is about 5 years old or any child who puts things in their mouths.

Pipe Cleaners

Pipe cleaners are one of the most versatile and simple craft materials you can use for tons of kid activity! They come in a variety of colors, they’re inexpensive, and easy to manipulate into any shape!

Here are some ideas to get you started with your creative kid:

Make a flower arrangement: draw and color a flower, cut it out, and pull stem through. Put it in a pretty vase or cup and pass it onto a neighbor!
Bend and twist 2 favorite colors to make a bracelet or necklace.
Cut pipe cleaner in half, add a wonderful array of colorful beads, and twist the end.

Playdough

Playdough is SO easy to make! Here is a step-by-step recipe and tutorial. Just combine 2 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of oil, ½ cup salt, and 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar. Then, start adding 1 to 1 ½ cups of boiling water in increments to determine best consistency. Food coloring is also an option for a variety of colors.

Give each child a ball of dough, and the sky’s the limit! If you see some inactivity, throw some cookie cutters on the table for a little help. You’ll be amazed at what your child can create with his/her imagination!

Now, if you just don’t have the time or prefer commercial play dough, check out this colorful Play dough package.

Finding ways to give your kids creativity time fosters mental growth, stimulates new ideas, and encourages new pathways of thinking and problem-solving! Take time today to give your children these wonderful opportunities to grow and learn exponentially!

Looking for more easy and frugal ideas on homeschool art projects? Check out these crafts, activities, and printables here!

WordEndingPin This game is great for children who are learning basic phonics and early reading skills. Children match up letter blocks to word-ending blocks to create new words. Keeping score for each assembled word makes this a fun and engaging activity for multiple children. Find free Word Family Printables on our sister site KindergartenMom.com

Materials:
1.5″Wooden Craft Blocks
Craft Paint
Sharpie Marker or Paint Pen

1.5″ Unfinished Hardwood Blocks

Perfect for crafts, artistic purposes, and other uses
1.5″ wooden cubes are made of natural, kiln-dried hardwoods
Set of 10 packaged in a convenient zip-top bag

TIP:Shop around for your wooden blocks, there are discount craft stores that might have them much cheaper! Or consider purchasing the 1″ size blocks. They are smaller but you get 32 of them for a better price and children can still read the words without difficulty.

Choosing Blocks

We are using 1.5inch wooden blocks but you can easily use smaller (see the link above). Each block has six sides so plan accordingly for how many word endings and first letters you want for your game.

Step 1

Choose how many blocks you want for your game. We are using 6 word ending blocks, and 3 letter blocks.

Step 2

Choose colored paints which are complementary to black marker showing through. (We also used a paint pen)

Step 3

Since we have three different colors we're going to paint each color on the two sides opposite each other.

Step 4

You can use a hairdryer to speed the drying process. Here is a photo of how were are painting the sides.

Step 5

Using a black sharpie marker or a paint pen, write a different word ending on each face of the cube.

Step 6

Write different consonants on each of the blocks. It took three blocks to get most (18) of the letters but you could do 4 blocks to get 24 of the letters.

Step 7

Ready, Set, Roll a Word!

How to Play:

Have children shake the cubes and roll for their turn. Then have them arrange the blocks to make as many words as they can. As children form the words, let them add up their score. If they miss a word you can help them too!

Extra:

Children can write their word on a piece of paper, this is a great way to sneak in a little extra copywork and handwriting practice.

Storage

We found these great boards at the Dollar Tree that work perfectly for a storage container.

W ord Family Printables
Word Families are a group of words with the same ending. For example cat, rat, mat, hat, bat are all part of the “at” word family. Learning about word families is a key part of learning to read. Children can pick up on patterns and rhyming sounds very quickly which in turn lends to reading confidence and success.

M aking Words
Making words is a great way to teach phonics and spelling. In these lessons, students incorporate cutting skills, writing skills and manipulation of letters, a total work-out if you will.

DIY Homeschool

4 Easy and Frugal Homeschool Art Projects

Popsicle Stick Crafts

Beads

Pipe Cleaners

Playdough

Looking for more easy and frugal ideas on homeschool art projects? Check out these crafts, activities, and printables here!