With the school holidays upon us and the weather wet outside what better way to keep the kids engaged, than with some fun monster loose parts craft.
You’ll find that kids of all ages enjoy this craft. I have a 6 year old and a 9 year old, and they where both fully engaged for a good 40 minutes.
Loose parts craft is a great way for kids to let their imagination run wild, and really promotes creative play. There is a little bit of set up beforehand because it can be a bit messy, but they love it!
For the set up I simply went around the house and found a bunch of left over craft items we had.
I found toilet rolls, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and a few more bits and pieces. I will write a list of the things we used, but keep in mind it doesn’t matter what you find. Your kids will work out what they want to use to make their own monsters.
Loose Parts Monster Craft
What you could use:
Toilet rolls and kitchen towel rolls
Pipe cleaners
Googly eyes
Ice block sticks
Glue
Resene test pot paints in a range of colours
Cupcake cases
Egg carton cups
What we did
1. First, we used our Resene test pots and painted our toilet rolls all over for the body of the monster. My son loves mixing colours so he mixed his own colours and my daughter loves dotting everything (my son was so keen to start crafting, he didn’t even get out of his pyjamas 🙂 ).
2. When they are dry, the kids grab the pieces they were most drawn too. My son went for the ice block sticks for eyes. I think they look great!
My daughter on the other hand was drawn to the cupcake cases, that she used as a hat!
3. Once they start you don’t know quite where they’ll take it. My daughter ended up creating a monster pet. She simply used a cut out, egg carton cup, added some eyes, a heart month and a little leash.
Loose part play is such a great activity. There are no wrong or right ways for your kids to create. It’s just a calling to follow their imagination.
For hundreds more crafting ideas check out our Creative arts and crafts section.