Make it with everyday materials! A collection of fun summer vacation craft ideas

Creeper made from a milk carton

[Elementary School Summer Crafts & Independent Research] Make a Creeper from a Milk Carton—with a Head-Popping Mechanism!

Minecraft is a hugely popular game among kids.

Creepers are characters that appear in Minecraft and explode when they get close to the player.

Let’s make a craft that captures that feature using an empty milk carton.

Besides a milk carton, prepare green plastic bottle caps, bamboo skewers, and oil-based clay as well.

Cut the milk carton and wrap it with green vinyl tape to make the Creeper’s body.

Then cut the body section further and attach parts.

Use another milk carton for the head along with vinyl string or rubber bands to create a mechanism that “explodes.” Because kids use fine motor skills to build it, it helps improve their concentration.

Once it’s finished and displayed at school, you can almost hear friends saying, “Wow, that’s awesome!”

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Nakajima Junko

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Accessory box made from an empty box

Summer Vacation Craft Series ♡ Part 4: Making an Accessory Box from Empty Boxes [Koujoucho] DIY

Some children who love fashion may have lots of charms for rings or clothes, right? Since they can easily get lost, it’s handy to have a box that can store them all together.

Here’s an accessory box that’s practical too.

You can make it with an empty box you already have at home.

Add thickness by attaching pieces cut from a quilted surface to the lid and the sides of the box.

The soft, cushioned thickness gives it a luxurious feel, turning it into a proper jewelry box.

If you roll up some felt fabric and place it inside the box, you can store rings neatly.

The finished product won’t look like it was made from an empty box, so give it a try for inspiration!

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Nakajima Junko

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Animal clay

[Elementary School Craft] Animal Clay 🐘

This craft involves dividing paper clay into parts, then assembling them, painting them, and finishing them in the shape of an animal.

First, check what combination of shapes makes up the animal you want to create, and make parts that match the appropriate sizes and shapes.

After that, attach the parts, refine the overall form, and add colors and patterns to complete it.

If you use a paper plate as a base and attach the pieces onto it, it will look like a three-dimensional picture—highly recommended, too.

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kappamaki

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Mini violin made of clay

It was pretty tough when I tried making a mini violin out of clay.

There are many kinds of musical instruments with different shapes, and those differences heighten our expectations about what kinds of sounds they can produce.

Focusing on the shapes of instruments, this activity has you use paper clay to make a violin shape.

A real violin has a unique form made by combining pieces of wood, so let’s carefully reproduce the details, such as the indented areas.

Once the overall shape is refined, paint it and attach separate parts like the strings to finish it as a realistic-looking violin.

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kappamaki

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Let’s make a tomato with paper clay

Let's make a tomato out of paper clay for a summer vacation craft (Part 1)

Let’s make one of the classic vegetables—tomatoes—using paper clay.

Knead red paint into the paper clay, shape it into a ball, then stick it onto a stand with a wire post.

Paint it further in red, and layer yellow at the top center to capture a tomato’s coloring.

Knead green paint into another piece of paper clay to make the calyx, attach it to the red fruit, and adjust the size and shape.

Add green coloring, and finally paint the stand to finish.

Mounting the tomato on a stand makes it easier to paint and to submit as a finished piece.

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sasashina

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Tyrannosaurus made of paper clay

[First-Grader’s Independent Project] Making a Dinosaur with Paper Clay: Tyrannosaurus 🦖

When it comes to cool dinosaurs that boys love, the Tyrannosaurus is number one! So this time, let’s make a Tyrannosaurus out of paper clay.

First, create the dinosaur’s base using aluminum wire and cardboard.

Once the base is ready, add volume with paper clay.

After the clay dries, paint it and add patterns and facial details.

When the paint dries, it’s finished! If you want your Tyrannosaurus to stand on its own, be sure to fix the wire in the legs to the base before adding the clay.

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sasashina

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Cute lantern made with disposable chopsticks

Let me introduce a cute lantern you can make with disposable chopsticks—fun to display and enjoy.

Prepare chopsticks, glue, and washi paper.

Cut the chopsticks and build the lantern’s frame.

The key is to keep an eye on the balance so the frame doesn’t shift out of place.

Attach washi paper from the back to create the lantern’s window sections.

Finally, glue the frames together to finish.

It’s also recommended to use your favorite colors for the window sections.

The light that leaks through the gaps between the chopsticks looks absolutely beautiful.

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mayumi

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