[Summer Vacation Crafts for Lower Grades] Make It with Everyday Materials! Simple Yet Awesome Craft Ideas
Have you ever had the experience of working hard on a summer vacation craft project, only to have someone say it looks “simple”? In fact, with a little creativity, you can make projects that really impress people, even using basic materials.
Here, we’ll introduce craft ideas that even lower elementary school children can enjoy.
Using familiar items, you can create lots of projects that are more fun and interesting than they look.
Be sure to use these ideas to find a favorite craft that you’ll be proud to show off to your friends once it’s finished!
- Simple yet amazing crafts: craft ideas that elementary school students will want to make
- Paper cup crafts that elementary school kids will love! A collection of fun project ideas
- Recommended for lower elementary school students! A collection of plastic bottle craft ideas made with everyday materials.
- Fun crafts using straws
- For summer vacation homework! Simple and amazing crafts for elementary school students that you’ll want to make after seeing them
- [For Girls] Make It with Everyday Items! Easy but Super Cute Craft Ideas
- [For First Graders] A Collection of Science Project Ideas Using Everyday Materials
- [For Kids] Today’s Handmade Craft Ideas
- [For Upper Elementary Students] Simple but Awesome! A Collection of Summer Vacation Craft Ideas
- Simple and cute summer project crafts! A collection of ideas for girls that will make you want to create
- Third graders will be hooked! A collection of science project ideas using everyday materials
- Elementary School Students: Simple One-Day Science Project and Craft Ideas
- Craft ideas using plastic bottle caps [for boys]
[Summer Vacation Crafts for Lower Grades] Make it with familiar materials! Simple but amazing craft ideas (21–30)
Cute mini-sized craft
Mini crafts made with easily available materials from 100-yen shops, such as origami paper, straws, and stickers.
You can whip up small items like keychains, mini bags, paper flowers, and wind chimes in no time.
They’re perfect for decorating your room or for small gifts to friends.
With a little creativity and ingenuity, you can make all kinds of accessories, so why not use the ideas introduced here as inspiration to create your own original pieces? Turning your own ideas into tangible form can be a very rewarding experience.
Even grade-schoolers can make it! Triple-shot chopstick rubber band gun
You might think it’s just a simple chopstick rubber band gun, but it actually has a feature that lets you fire three rubber bands.
The building process is straightforward: attach a handle to a bundle of chopsticks that serves as the base, then install a movable trigger so that it’s sandwiched in place.
What’s crucial here are the trigger shape and the positions where the rubber bands are hooked.
By attaching three rubber bands at different positions, they will fire in sequence.
The hooking method for each band is also intricate, so doing that accurately is a key point.
[Summer Break Crafts for Lower Grades] Make it with everyday materials! Simple but amazing craft ideas (31–40)
Powerful! Chopstick Gun
Prepare seven pairs of disposable chopsticks and plenty of rubber bands as materials.
First, use five pairs of chopsticks to make the main body.
Stack the chopsticks for the body alternately left and right so that about two-thirds overlap.
Secure them firmly at two points with rubber bands, then cut a notch at the front end to hook a rubber band.
Attach a short, cut chopstick to the rear of the body as the trigger, and glue another chopstick fixed in a V-shape behind that as the grip.
Your powerful chopstick gun is complete!
paper cup trumpet
This is a craft using a paper cup that can produce a trumpet-like sound when you pull the string sharply.
First, make a hole in the bottom of the paper cup, thread a string through it, and secure it with a short, folded toothpick so the string doesn’t slip out.
Then, when you pull the string vigorously, the impact on the string is transmitted to the paper cup, creating a trumpet-like sound.
You can pull the string with your hand, but using chopsticks is also recommended—try it out and see how the sound changes.
Since just building the mechanism can look simple, it’s also important to add your own decorations to the paper cup.
Making instruments with a plastic wrap core
Let’s make a Chilean instrument that sounds like rain using a plastic wrap core! First, mark a bunch of toothpicks at the length of the wrap core so they match its length.
Next, cut the wrap core in a spiral.
Glue the cut toothpicks along the spiral using wood glue or similar adhesive.
Once you return the spiraled core to its original shape, seal the openings with duct tape.
Put in grains like mixed grains, different sizes of rice, beads, or beans.
After you cap it, your Chilean instrument, the rainstick, is complete!
Making instruments with a plastic wrap core
Let’s make a Chilean instrument that sounds like rain using a plastic wrap core! First, mark a bunch of toothpicks at the length of the wrap core so they match its length.
Next, cut the wrap core in a spiral.
Glue the cut toothpicks along the spiral using wood glue or similar adhesive.
Once you return the spiraled core to its original shape, seal the openings with duct tape.
Put in grains like mixed grains, different sizes of rice, beads, or beans.
After you cap it, your Chilean instrument, the rainstick, is complete!
Well-spinning paper cup top
This is a spinning top made with a paper cup that spins well and is fun to watch because of its colorful look.
All you need are a paper cup and two plastic bottle caps.
First, cut slits into the paper cup and spread them out like propeller blades, then attach an axle made by combining the two caps.
That’s enough to complete the basic shape, but it’s recommended to decorate the “propellers” with an eye toward how it will look while spinning.
The impression changes depending on whether you spread the propellers before decorating or decorate first and then cut the slits, so try out various patterns.