One craft that we are extremely partial to is updating t-shirts and sweatshirts to give them a new lease of life. Not only is this a fun kid-centric activity, but it also leaves you with winter-friendly clothes, which are always in demand.

Additionally, t-shirt and sweatshirt crafts give kids a sense of pride in what they’ve created and help with fine motor skills. These crafts also lead to winter-friendly wardrobe items that you won’t have to fight your kids to put on.

So, now that we’ve sold you on the fun and excitement that t-shirt and sweatshirt-making hold, let’s give you three ideas for DIY t-shirt projects for the kids to do this winter season.

With all of the crafts we’re about to mention, we have a few guiding rules:

Always protect your surfaces with newspaper, craft paper, old fabric, or any protective barrier that will preserve your tables, countertops, floors, and furniture. While many fabric paints and fabric markers may say that they are semi-permanent or non-stainable, it can be challenging to get these paints or markers off of couches or out of floors without causing damage.

Remain aware of your kids’ ages and abilities. If you have small kids, be careful with paints and other materials that can easily be ingested or placed in the eyes and ears. For anything like scissors or glue, 12 years old is usually the age at which kids can safely use these tools with limited supervision, but we recommend keeping kids under 12 away from anything too sharp or too hot.

Have fun! The best part about crafts is that they offer a fun way to bond with family and friends. Make sure that you and your kids have fun and stay creative throughout the craft, and don’t be afraid to make your adult version of these winter shirts.

One of our favourite t-shirt or sweatshirt-making ideas for kids is turning an old t-shirt or sweatshirt into a snowman-adorned winter staple.

For this craft, you can find everything you need at your local craft store. You will need

• White puffy paint
• Glitter
• Fabric markers
• Any other embellishments (rhinestones, fabric pieces, etc.) that your kids want to include.

Using the puffy paint as your base, you can have your kids make fun snowmen (or snowwomen!) that are washable, durable, and textured to create a fun look.

Once the paint has been applied and has dried, decorate the rest of the shirt with glitter to give the appearance of a snowy wonderland. Embellish your design using things like fabric markers or rhinestones to personalise your shirt and to let your tiny artists channel their creative power.

We love this snowy tribute to winter, and, as a bonus, puffy paint is highly tactile and great for kids who enjoy some sensory fun throughout the day.

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Tie Dye is a time-tested fan favourite for a reason. Tie-dye is cheap and fun and creates phenomenal colours and patterns.

For a unique winter tie-dye masterpiece, you can either go with a frozen, snowy theme (think blues, greys, silver, gold), or you can go with darker, more muted colours (browns, blacks, dark greens), OR you can take things in a holiday direction with green, red, gold, and white.

Whatever you select, have fun with your patterns. Most tie-dye kits come with pattern suggestions (spirals, camo-themed, etc.), but you can make these projects your own.

One idea that we love is using some masking tape to create winter-themed shapes. From leaves, stars, and presents to holiday trees and snowmen, there’s no end to the possibilities within this fun craft.

One note when doing tie-dye: use gloves, because the dye is permanent and can be challenging to get off of fingers and out from under your nails.

One unique and creative kid-friendly DIY t-shirt idea is to create a wearable snow globe.

This project does involve glue (either fabric glue or a hot glue gun), so make sure to keep younger children away from hot tools or toxic glue.

All you need to create a wearable snowglobe is:

• An old t-shirt or sweatshirt
• Square of plastic that you will create a pouch out of.

For the plastic pouch we like repurposing clear pencil cases, waterproof phone pouches, or similar items.

Gluing one plastic edge to the shirt, let your kids fill the pouch with fun items like mini snowmen, trees, or whatever else they like. Add glitter at the end to create a “snow” effect, then seal everything up. Afterward, the pouch should have some air and space, and your kids can watch their glittery snow globe work its magic whenever they move.

For some more fun, let your kids paint or draw on the rest of the shirt to make this winter shirt their own.

When it comes to DIY t-shirt and sweatshirt crafting ideas, there’s no limit to the fun and creativity out there. Just remember, always keep a watchful eye on younger t-shirt makers and keep any dangerous or heat-centric tools high up and away from little artists.

Most importantly, have fun with these crafts and enjoy a new wardrobe filled with unique and personalised winter-friendly items.

Building a fort in the house or the garden, if the weather is good enough, is a super way to get the kids imagination and engineering skills working!

Forts can be built indoors or outdoors using cardboard boxes, rugs or sheets, clothes driers, sofas, chairs, beds and tables and offer hours of fun.

For a temporary outdoor fort, use rugs, wall/fences, clothes lines etc. Or if you wanted a bigger project, get the children to design and build an outdoor fort using trees, wood or old pallets etc.

If this seems like too much and you have a tent, why not put that up and let the children decorate it to use as their Den HQ. Remember, tents can be pitched indoors too!

When my girls were young, they loved to write their own mini-plays and perform them for us. They spent hours perfecting the show, creating the costumes and props and getting the ‘stage’ set.

Encourage your kids to be creative and plan an entertaining show for you and other family members or friends to enjoy. They could write or adapt a favourite book or TV show into a play, sing, dance, play an instrument or recite a poem, the possibilities are endless.

No matter what age your children are, teaching them some basic cookery skills is something that will last a lifetime.

If they are old enough you could get them to plan a menu, create a shopping list and make a family meal during midterm break. There are so many different options for all ages. Here are some ideas to inspire you.

• Soup (chop the vegetables you want to use, fry in a small amount of oil and butter in a large saucepan, add stock, cover and boil until vegetables are soft and blend if needed.) We love this Carrot soup.
• Salad (use a packet of salad leaves, cherry tomatoes, diced cucumber and create or buy a dressing)
• Pizza (use a pre-made base and a jar of passata. Spoon the passata onto the base and spread evenly to cover. Then add everyones favourite toppings for a quick, easy and tasty pizza that just needs to be oven cooked.) Check out these inspiring recipes from Pizza da Piero.
• Risotto (once you have the vegetables chopped and softened in oil on a large non-stick pan, add the rice and once coated in oil, spoon on a ladle of stock, let it absorb and continue to add stock, one ladle at a time, until the rice is cooked) This mushroom risotto.recipe is a firm favourite in our house.
• Stirfry (use pre-sliced meat and a packet of stirfry mixed vegetables. Heat oil on a wok and cook the meat, add the vegetables and once cooked serve with noodles or rice.) Check out this Chinese Beef Stir Fry.
• S’mores Dessert Pizza (for a real treat, use a pre-made pizza base and cover with chocolate spread and marshmallows, bake until the marshmallows melt…so tasty.)
• Muffins (for a post dinner treat, these blueberry muffins are easy to make)

Get creative and active by designing your very own obstacle course. Ideal for the garden but you can also create an indoor version for days when the weather is not co-operating!

We have some ideas here for an outdoor obstacle course. You could also include a scavenger hunt as part of the challenge.

For indoors, cushions can be used to create stepping stones, stairs can be used to hop up and down, a laundry basket and soft ball make a perfect throwing challenge and you could add an indoor scavenger hunt to make it more interesting.

Create your very own home cinema with posters, tickets and cinema treats!

Get the kids to pick some films they want to watch and use their choices to design ‘cinema posters’ and tickets.

Once they have the room set up, it’s onto the cinema treats, which could include making it a pizza and movie night with microwave popcorn, drinks from re-useable sports bottles (to avoid spills) and pick’n’mix. For this just buy several different packets of sweets and place them in bowls then give everyone a bag of their own to fill with their favourites.

Check out our top picks of family favourite movies for inspiration. Or you could choose by theme e.g. Halloween, 80’s Family movies etc.

One of the benefits of the internet is the ability to explore the world…from the comfort of home. So if you are not planning a trip away this mid-term how about getting the children to plan a virtual trip instead?

Possible virtual field trips include the Arctic, the great wall of China, a chocolate factory, a space center, or how about a day at the Zoo?

You could get your child to make a travel diary of their day out to the amazing place they pick to explore. What did they eat? Who did they meet? What did they see? How did they travel there?

When was the last time you all played a board game together? From Jenga to Snakes and Ladders and Monopoly to Pictionary we all have board games that we don’t play enough.

So, this midterm get out all your board games and have a family challenge or challenge the kids to have a board game marathon to see how many they can play in a certain amount of time!

Do you have a budding magician? We have some excellent easy magic tricks for them to perfect before trying them out on you.

For those who prefer cards, check out these traditional card games and card tricks to learn and enjoy.

This one could get a bit messy. My advice would be to cover the table where the kids will be getting creative with a disposable table cloth or give them each a tray to work on.

When it comes to homemade slime, there are hundreds of different options. We have rounded up our top homemade slime recipes which include rainbow unicorn slime, safe no borax slime and glow in the dark slime!

Playdough is also easy to make and can be moulded into many different shapes for hours of enjoyment. Get our simple Playdough recipe.

Gardening is a wonderful way to teach children about the plant life-cycle as well as the eco-system of birds, insects and plants. If you don’t have a garden, it is possible to grow herbs, flowers and vegetables in pots which can be kept indoors or on a patio or balcony.

Kids that actively engage in nurturing plants also learn responsibility and the pride of seeing a tiny seed grow into something that can be consumed or shared with others.

Growing your own is also a good way to get children interested in food and where it comes from. In my experience, my children loved growing potatoes, onions, carrots, raspberries and strawberries which we then used in cooking.

One project that is easy to achieve is to grow your own pizza garden!

I don’t know about your house, but in mine I always have a bagful of single socks with no matches!

This sock animal craft is a great way to repurpose those single socks that seem to multiply with every wash!

This heart collage project is a fun and easy Valentine’s craft project for kids, even wee ones who will enjoy sticking things on.

What you will need:

• Used cereal box
• Scissors (safety scissors for little ones)
• Old magazines
• Glue stick or PVA glue & brush
• String or ribbon for hanging

What to do:

1. Cut a heart shape out of the cardboard box or craft paper (don’t worry if it’s not a perfect heart – they can often look better if slightly lop-sided)
2. Go through the magazines and cut out any images that are red or pink.  Cut small pieces – a mixture of shapes and sizes works great.
3. Stick the pieces to the heart with either the glue stick or the PVA glue, covering the whole surface
4. When dry (or another day), you could cover the reverse side of the heart with more pieces (good if you are going to hang it in a window)
5. Make a hole at the top of the heart and thread the ribbon through
6. Hang as a decoration for Valentine’s Day!

Notes:

As well as magazines, you could use catalogs, wrapping paper, birthday cards, tissue paper, etc.

Instead of using scraps of paper, you could use sequins, feathers, beads, etc. or even a combination, so get creative and have fun!

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Dr Seuss’s The Lorax was the inspiration for About a Mom’s fun and simple Truffula Trees craft. Using lollipop sticks, craft paper and tissue paper, this is suitable for young Seuss fans.

While this ccraft is suitable for any time and makes a great accompaniment craft to reading The Lorax, you could also makes this truffula tree craft as an Earth Day activity.

This fun Dr Seuss craft idea from Must Have Mom takes two favourite characters, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and turns them into adorable handprint art. Even better, this craft project doubles as a keepsake or gift idea.

A favourite Dr Seuss book and subsequent movie, Horton Hears a Who! is the endearing tale of an elephant to listens to and rescues Whoville – a tiny town full of tiny people named ‘Whos’ that is a speck of dust on the top of a pink clover.

Now you can make your own Horton with this fun craft idea from Artsy Craftsy Mom.

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Fans of One Fish Two Fish will enjoy making this fun fishbowl craft from Mrs Thompson’s Treasures. Cut the top off of a paper plate and tape it to the bottom. Paint the base and the ‘tank’, and leave to dry, then glue some goldfish crackers or paper cut-outs to make your fishbowl!

Book inspired crafts are always a lot of fun, and that’s because they aren’t just a fun way to keep your little one busy and engaged in something creative, but it also inspires them to read more books and develop a love for them.

If your little one loved Dr Seuss’s Put Me in the Zoo, this clear slime recipe from Craft Play Learn is a must try – especially if you want to try a hands-on, sensory activity.

This idea for a painted rock Grinch craft from Homemade Heather is a fun and easy project to do with the kids, and lots of fun around Christmas to give to friends and family.

Crafting Cheerfully created this quick DIY Dr Seuss flower pot craft, using the fun and whimsy of Thing 1 and Thing 2. And a bright blue boa was the perfect choice for the blue hair looks sticking out of the pots!

Not only is this The Lorax-inspired craft from ABCs of Literacy easy to make, but it is inexpensive too. If you don’t have card stock, you can always use construction paper or paint some recycled cardboard. Instead of using the googly eyes and pom pom, you can use construction paper to make the eyes and nose too.

These cute Dr Seuss bookmark corners from Red Ted Art are the perfect Dr Seuss craft for young fans.

Partner your new craft project with your favourite book, and the cheeky little faces and distinctive blue hair of Thing 1 and Thing 2 will pop out to mark your page!

This Dr. Seuss-inspired Oh, the Places You’ll Go hot air balloon craft from Our Kid Things is absolutely adorable. Each balloon with a child’s picture riding in the basket, off on their own adventure!

Make your own keepsake craft with full step-by-step photo instructions and cut out template.

After reading There’s A Wocket in My Pocket, this early reading and word sorting activity from ABCs of Literacy will help your child to practice identifying real and nonsense words.

Not only are Dr Seuss’s books entertaining and fun to read, but many of them can be used to teach things such as rhyming, parts of speech, and real and nonsense words.

Why is it important to use nonsense words with kids? They may just seem like silly, made-up words but nonsense words can help kids learn phonics skills such as encoding and decoding.

No, you can’t eat these fizzing green eggs, but they make a super fun preschool science project from Preschool Powol Packets that partners well with reading Dr Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham.

How do you make these fun green eggs? Simply mix 1/2 cup of baking soda with 9 drops of green food colouring and a tablespoon of water. You should have a soft dough that holds together when you squeeze it, but falls apart if any extra pressure is added. Form the dough into four eggs, and place them in a foil tray or dish in a bed of white “egg whites” (baking soda).

Now, give them to your preschooler with a cup of vinegar and a dropper so they can make their own fizzy green eggs and develop their fine motor skills too!

This moustache matching activity from The Iowa Farmer’s Wife, posting at No Time for Flashcards, is a great one for preschooler fans of The Lorax.

Create a variety of moustache shapes in a mix of sizes and colours, with corresponding cut-out shapes on a master card sheet. You could use paper, card or felt for this, and even attach small magnets to the back of the moustaches if you want to create a board that will be reused time and again. Now let your preschooler match the moustaches while you read or watch The Lorax.

These fun Grinch bath salts from Ruffles and Rain Boots are a fantastic DIY gift for yourself or someone else – and perfect for Christmas.

See how easy this all-natural spa gift is to make with kitchen essentials, thanks to full instructions, materials list, and ideas on how to package it up for gifts.

The Cat in the Hat is a classic children’s book every kid should read or have read to him/her. This Dr Seuss The Cat in the Hat slime from Little Bins for Little Hands would also make an awesome Cat in the Hat party idea!

Creating both a white glue slime and a clear glue slime gives a unique look to this fun Dr Seuss slime, and it can last for quite a while, even months, with the right storage method.

One Krieger Chick had a creative idea to create poufy pom pom bookmarks that resemble the trees in The Lorax or the fluffy hair-dos in many Dr Seuss books…plus, pom poms really are so stinkin’ fun!

All you need is some yarn, scissors and about 15 minutes to make your own pom pom bookmark. Then wrap it around your favourite book and enjoy!

This adorable Dr Seuss handprint craft from Our Kid Things is inspired by Put Me in the Zoo.

For this Put Me in the Zoo handprint craft you will need yellow cardstock, colourful small poms, a black sharpie, small googly eyes, scissors, and a glue stick.

Turn a recycled can into a cute Dr Seuss hat pencil cup and, as a bonus, add in some Truffula tree pencils!

Club Chica Circle used the simple wrapped yarn technique on the outside of the can to create the iconic Dr Seuss hat pattern.

If you decide to add some Truffula tree pencils, choose some fun patterned or colourful pencils and glue some large glittery pom poms to the top your own little Truffula trees!

Celebrate a love for literacy with this Cat in the Hat pizza recipe from Homemade Heather! Creating a unique character pizza is super easy and makes meal time fun.

You could add in your favourite toppings, or keep it simple with some pepperoni stripes.

Using some craft box staple items, Lalymom made this fun and simple Lorax finger puppet, which is sure to inspire your child’s creativity and imagination. A popular addition to play time for your little ones!

Create your own fishy scene with some brightly coloured origami fish, inspired by Dr Seuss’s book One Fish, Two Fish, Green Fish, Blue Fish.

Artsy Craftsy Mom shows you just how to fold your origami fish to create a cohesive look that you can then style with seashells, glitter, pebbles, sand, and an occasional sea creature!

Each of these craft projects are perfect for some off-screen time. They can all be done easily at home with a few materials you’ll probably have at hand, so they are low cost too.

So save those cereal boxes, old cards and magazines, have your glue and scissors to hand and you are ready to get creative!

Materials needed to make your own Fantastical Beasties:

• Pencil
• Paper
• Skewer/lollipop stick
• Self drying clay
• Cup of water
• Paint
• Ribbon/string
• Rolling pin

Materials needed to make your own Fairy Door:

• Lollipop sticks
• Scissors
• Wood glue/PVA
• Buttons
• Pencil
• Paint & brushes
• Pliers

Optional extras to enhance your fairy door include pre-coloured lollipop sticks, plastic jewels, flowers, material trimmings, coffee stirrers and any decorations the fairies might like!

Materials needed to make your Summer Sun Discs:

• Paper plate
• Straw or stick
• Pencil
• Watch
• Scissors
• Plasticine

Download the worksheet with measurements and design ideas.

Materials needed to make your own Crafty Camouflage “Wings of Disguise”: 

• Big piece of card for wing base (or old pillowcase)
• Glue stick or PVA craft glue
• Scissors
• Marker
• Wool, string, or ribbon
• Some items from nature such as leaves and sticks…Or different paper, newspaper, scrap packaging, tissue
• And paints (optional)

Materials needed to make your own Musical Panpipes:

• 5 straws
• White/Blu tack or plasticine
• Sellotape
• Scissors
• Ruler

Materials needed to make your own Cut-out Stop Motion Animation:

• Paper
• Card
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Blu tack
• Glue
• Cotton wool
• Phone
• Stop Motion app

For decoration you could use: googly eyes, foil, material, feathers or other materials you like.

Materials needed for your own Paper Roll Animation inspired by the extraordinary Stokes Tapestry:

• A cardboard box
• A long strip/roll of paper
• Glue
• Box-cutter
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Tape
• Chopsticks or pencils (for rolling your artwork)
• Old magazines, cards or photos to cut out figures, objects and places or you could draw your own design

Materials needed to create your own Samurai-Inspired Helmet:

• Paper
• Cardboard
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Glue/stapler
• Tape
• Clips to hold in place while fitting on for size
• Magazines, cards, cereal boxes or other old paper for decoration

Materials needed to make your own Wonder Cabinet:

• Cardboard cereal box
• Glue
• Scissors
• Scrap card/paper
• Pencil
• Paints & brushes
• Interesting objects for your wonder cabinet

Materials needed to make your own Thaumatrope:

• Card
• Scissors
• String
• Pencil
• Hole punch (not essential)
• Colouring pencils/markers/paints for drawing your design

If you make any of these fun craft projects, be sure to tag the National Museum of Ireland on their social channels:

• Facebook – @NationalMuseumofIreland 
• Twitter – @NMIreland
• Instagram – NationalMuseumofIreland

Using shells, lolly pop sticks and string, your kids can create cute shell people to play with. I love these ones from Let’s Do Something Crafty.

Collect your favourite seashells and wash them well. Glue on other smaller shells or googly eyes and felt ears to create a shell pet that can be taken anywhere and does not need feeding or looking after when you go on holidays!

Crafts By Amanda shares step-by-step instructions to make these cute seashell creatures, using shells, air-dry clay, paint, glue, and your imagination!

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Why not dye your seashells different colours and use them to create shell necklaces, people, pets or a cool rainbow art collage? Over on The Educators’ Spin On It they use leftover Easter Egg Dye!

Using salt dough and shells, create fun fossils that you can keep long after the summer has ended. The Imagination Tree has full instructions.

They would be great to use for an explorers themed birthday party.

What a great idea for repurposing your beach finds! Red Ted Art created these adorable little crab fridge beach magnets using some paint, pipe cleaners, googly eyes and button magnets.

For younger children, they will get hours of fun from painting their white shells with all the colours of the rainbow. Afterwards you could add them to a storage jar or bowl to make a seaside themed decoration. I love the colours used on these shells over on Pink and Green Mama.

Customise your flowerpots by adding seashells to them using craft or hot glue. You can experiment with designs or cover the whole pot with a collection of the same or different shells. It is a good idea to start at the top of the pot, add a row that sticks above the rim and work your way down.

Create your own monogram wall art with this shell art idea from Purple Hues and Me. Use a cardboard cut out of the letter to stick the shells to, then mount and frame it as a keepsake.

This fun craft idea from The Yewman Projects is suitable for all ages. Pick up a plain mug and some porcelain pens and let the kids go wild. If you can’t get the pens, paint will do.

Check down the back of the sofa and gather up all the loose change to make Dad an extra special card this Father’s Day, like this one from Mama Knows. If you find enough coins, you could even make the letters completely out of cash!

How cool will Dad look in his homemade Father’s Day specs? He won’t want to take them off! Fine Craft Guild has all the instructions on how to make these super specs.

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I love this idea from Love Create Celebrate using your wee one’s footprint. Who knows, it may even remind him he needs to get on with a job or two after Father’s Day is out the way…!

This idea from Macaroni Kid is probably one of the easiest crafts for toddlers.

Take the kids on a nature walk and have them find as many pebbles as they can. Bring them home, wash them and glue them to an inexpensive frame.

Your child can then draw a picture of Daddy, or insert a photo of them together. Dad is sure to absolutely love this homemade Father’s Day gift.

Is Dad an avid reader? Let him keep track of his place in the latest book he’s reading with these sweet homemade Father’s Day bookmarks from I Heart Crafty Things.

Has Dad got a sweet tooth? Pick his favourite sweet treats and make him some candy ties, with full instructions from Natural Beach Living for this simple Father’s Day project.

Surprise him this Father’s Day with this gorgeous homemade wall hanging plaque idea from Shanty 2 Chic. It’s so simple to make and comes with a free printable too.

Get it, POP Corn? If Dad is a movie man and likes his nibbles then he’ll love this cool idea from Tried & True Blog.

Make a batch of popcorn treats and tuck in a cinema voucher to treat him to a movie, or set up camp at home and watch one of the best family movies of all time.

Kids will love making these fun cards – drawing, cutting, sticking and creating something special. Crafty Morning has a selection of fun card ideas for your kiddo to be inspired by.

Create an easy Father’s Day gift that will build memories to last a lifetime with this great idea from The Seasoned Mom. Sacrifice a few LEGO blocks, labelling each one with ideas for ways to spend quality time with Dad, and then use it as a picking jar for how to spend time together.

Does Dad have a unique sense of style? Or maybe the kids would like him to have one! Everyday Dishes shows you how to transform a tie into a work of art, or a humorous tie he’ll treasure forever.

Simple, easy and fun to make. Dad will love the reminder of how much he’s loved with this homemade paperweight for his desk. Get the tips on what paint to use from Our Family World.

One of the most personal of the homemade Father’s Day gifts is this ‘Best Dad’ t-shirt from Coffee Cups & Crayons – little kids will love making it, while the older ones will love making him wear it!

Make this fab idea for the fishing fan Dad in your life, thanks to instructions from Let Your Scribbles Be. We cannot guarantee there will be any jellies left by the time it gets to Dad, but the thought was there…