We’re having too much screen time! Can anyone relate? So I stocked up on craft supplies and the kids are enjoying it for hours! There are so many fun things to choose from. Once I give them a suggestion, they’re in another world, creating and imagining.

They’ve been making homemade cards, cities out of toilet paper tubes and cupcake liner roofs, snowy villages with cotton balls …

Adding a few of these together would make a great birthday present too. You could combine different crafts to make your own basket — much better than the usual generic set.

Crafting supplies

• construction paper
• pipe cleaners
• pom poms
• googly eyes
• stickers
• feathers
• beads
• popsicle sticks
• cupcake liners
• tissue paper
• pastels
• markers
• colored pencils
• crayons
• scissors
• glue
• glue sticks
• glitter glue
• paint
• bingo daubers
• yarn
• cotton balls
• play-doh
• molding clay
• paint and brushes

I ordered this arts and crafts kit to start with. It gave us a good amount of fun items to start with. I think the pipe cleaners are their favorite.

Construction paper is a must. And we go through it so fast! So ordering this large pack will last us quite awhile.

Colorful cupcake liners are a fun addition! Add one to the top of a toilet paper tube and you’ve got a house. My kids have definitely got creative with this one.

Tissue paper isn’t just for gift bags! Kids can tear small pieces and glue them into a collage or try a stained-glass window effect.

My oldest son started using pastels at school so I bought this affordable set last year for him to use at home and I LOVE his creations. These are more for older kids though, as they smear easily.

Each kid has their own dollar store caddy with their own set of markers, colored pencils and crayons. This stops them from fighting over the crayon box or colors!

Glitter glue is always fun for homemade cards and bedazzled creations.

Of course kids love paint! I tend to avoid it however, haha! I don’t offer paint up very often and it’s not in their crafts that they can access. But occasionally we break out the acrylics or watercolor! This is the fun kids paint set shown with everything you need. Or you could just buy an inexpensive watercolor pad.

Play-Doh is always a hit! It’s always good to have on hand for little kids who will have a harder time with scissors and glue. The Fun Factory squeezes it through in all kinds of shapes. This doh set comes with all kinds of tools and molds.

My older kids love colored modeling clay and make all kinds of creations. This kind does not harden so they can use it again and again.

I bought this crafting book for the kids to flip through and get ideas. You can always pop on Pinterest and look — check out my kids activities board — but this is nice to have on hand for them to look at and reference as they try to copy the project.

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Organizing

We keep all the kids crafting supplies in this cabinet in the dining room. They each have a shelf with a homework basket and caddy for supplies.

If you don’t have extra cabinet space you could use a utility cart with wheels to keep your supplies organized.

It’s always a good idea to have a mat to guard the table from glue and marker and paint! Shown are large silicone mats that easily fold up, but you don’t need something special. I use old Christmas placemats! I might buy these eventually though because I like the larger size.

Some kind of caddy is helpful to organize supplies. This one caught my eye because the kids can take out a section one at a time instead of fighting over who gets the entire caddy by them!

A small one for each child saves the day from arguing too. When we do homework during the school year they each get out their individual caddy with pencils, markers and crayons instead of the larger ones.

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