Summer offers a fantastic opportunity for preschoolers to engage in crafts that are not only fun but also help in developing their fine motor skills and creativity.
With the warm weather and longer days, there are endless possibilities for outdoor and indoor activities that make the most of seasonal themes like the beach, insects, flowers, and the bright sun.


Crafts tailored for preschoolers during the summer months should be simple enough for them to handle with little assistance, using materials that are safe and easy to manipulate.
This can include anything from paper plates and yarn to leaves and flowers found in nature. These activities are perfect for encouraging sensory exploration and can be tied in with other summer experiences, such as trips to the beach or walks in the park.
Additionally, engaging in summer crafts can be a delightful way for young children to express themselves and learn to work with others, fostering both social and cognitive development.
Whether at home, in daycare, or at a summer camp, crafts can be a central part of a preschooler’s summer fun, creating memories and projects that parents and children can cherish.
Embrace Natural Elements
Incorporate elements from nature into your summer crafts. Use items like seashells, driftwood, leaves, and flowers to add a touch of the outdoors to your creations.
This not only adds a unique texture and aesthetic but also connects your projects to the season.
Experiment with Bright Colors
Summer is the perfect time to experiment with vibrant and bold colors. Incorporate bright hues like yellows, pinks, and blues into your crafts. These colors reflect the energy and liveliness of the season and can make your projects stand out.
Focus on Lightweight Materials
Use lightweight materials such as paper, fabric, and thin wood for your summer crafts. These materials are easier to handle in warm weather and can be used to create items that are portable and perfect for outdoor activities.
Summer Crafts For Preschoolers
19. DIY Kinetic Sand
This item demonstrates how to create homemade kinetic sand using simple ingredients like craft sand, cornstarch, dish soap, and water. The process involves mixing these components to achieve a moldable, sensory-friendly texture perfect for hands-on play.
Once prepared, the kinetic sand can be added to sensory bins along with items like plastic dinosaurs, glass gems, or aquarium grass. This setup encourages imaginative exploration and fine motor skills development, especially for young children interested in tactile and themed play experiences.
18. Flower Suncatcher Craft
This craft allows kids to create colorful flower suncatchers using real flowers, paper plates, and self-sealing laminating sheets. Children arrange petals and leaves on the laminating sheet, preserving the natural beauty of flowers in a bright, translucent frame.
Once sealed and attached to the paper plate frame, the suncatchers can be hung in windows to catch the light and showcase the vibrant colors. This activity encourages creativity and fine motor skills while offering a lasting way to enjoy seasonal flowers indoors.
17. Paper Plate Watermelon
This craft activity guides children through creating a colorful watermelon using simple materials like a paper plate, paint, and paper. It encourages hands-on learning by involving cutting the plate in half, mixing paint colors, and assembling small paper pieces to mimic seeds and rind.
Along the way, kids practice basic fractions by understanding halves and develop fine motor skills through cutting and gluing. The project also promotes creativity by allowing children to experiment with different colors and shapes while building hand strength and coordination.
16. Coffee Filter Dragonfly Craft
This craft involves creating colorful dragonflies using coffee filters, washable markers, and simple household items like plastic spoons and chenille stems. Children can experiment with tie-dye techniques by coloring and spraying the filters with water, watching the colors blend and spread to form vibrant wings.
The project encourages fine motor skills through activities like coloring, folding, and assembling the dragonfly parts. Once completed, these dragonflies can be used as decorations or incorporated into educational activities about insects, making it both a creative and learning experience for kids.
15. Paper Bowl Ice Cream
This craft lets kids create a colorful, three-dimensional ice cream cone using simple materials like paper bowls, paint, and cardboard. The project involves painting the bowl to resemble ice cream, decorating it with sprinkles and a pom-pom cherry, and attaching it to a hand-drawn cone.
It encourages creativity and fine motor skills through cutting, painting, and gluing. Once completed, the ice cream craft can be displayed on walls or used for imaginative play by adding bowls on both sides for a dramatic effect.
14. Handprint Campfire Craft
This craft invites kids to create a colorful campfire using handprints as flames and paper logs as the base. It combines cutting, gluing, and tracing skills, resulting in a vibrant keepsake that captures the warmth of a campfire scene.
Children can personalize their campfire by choosing different colors for the flames and arranging the logs in a realistic pattern. This hands-on activity encourages creativity and fine motor development while bringing a fun outdoor theme indoors.
13. Potato Masher Ice Cream Craft
This craft uses a potato masher as a stamping tool to create a colorful ice cream cone artwork. By dipping the masher in paint and pressing it onto construction paper, children can form waffle cone patterns and round ice cream scoops.
The project encourages creativity through choosing paint colors and adding pom poms as sprinkles and a cherry on top. It offers a hands-on, playful way to practice fine motor skills while making a fun summer-themed decoration.
12. Watermelon Craft
This watermelon craft allows kids to create a colorful, layered paper card that resembles a watermelon slice. Using simple materials like colored cardstock, glue, and googly eyes, children can practice cutting, gluing, and assembling different shapes to build the design.
The finished craft can be personalized with a fun message inside, making it a cheerful card for summer or special occasions like birthdays and holidays. It encourages creativity and fine motor skills while providing a playful, hands-on activity suitable for preschoolers and older kids.
11. Paper Plate Bee Craft
This craft uses a paper plate to create a simple, colorful bee that children can paint and decorate. Kids paint the plate yellow, add black stripes with a pom pom and clothespin, and attach googly eyes and antennae made from clothespins and pom poms.
The project encourages creativity and fine motor skills while providing a fun introduction to insects. It is suitable for preschoolers and older children, making it an engaging hands-on activity for spring or insect-themed learning.
10. Nature Hearts Art
This craft project invites you to create heart-shaped collages using natural materials like leaves, sticks, flowers, and bark. By cutting out a heart shape from newspaper and gluing collected nature items onto it, you can make a personalized piece that celebrates the outdoors.
The finished nature heart can be mounted on construction paper for display, adding a rustic, handmade touch to your home or classroom. Gathering materials during a walk or hike encourages outdoor exploration and creative expression through simple, tactile art.
9. Handprint Ice Cream Cone Craft
This craft involves painting a child’s hand and stamping it onto paper to create a colorful handprint. Once dry, the handprint is cut out and glued upside down onto a brown paper cone, forming a playful ice cream cone shape.
It offers a simple and fun way for kids to engage in creative play while making a seasonal summer-themed decoration. The project combines basic painting, cutting, and gluing skills to produce a cute keepsake or gift.
8. Paper Plate Beach Camper
This craft project transforms a simple paper plate into a colorful beach camper, complete with wheels, a door, and a surfboard on top. Using basic materials like cardstock, markers, and stickers, kids can create their own summer-themed camper that sparks creativity and imagination.
The activity encourages hands-on fun and customization, allowing each camper to have unique decorations and details. Once completed, these paper plate campers make cheerful displays that celebrate the spirit of summer and beach adventures.
7. Scrae Painted Jellyfish
This craft lets kids create colorful jellyfish windsocks using a scrape painting technique that blends vibrant paints in fun patterns. The finished jellyfish have long, flowing tentacles made from crepe paper and curling ribbon that move beautifully in the wind.
Children can run and play with their windsocks or hang them up as cheerful decorations. The project uses simple materials and mess-free adhesives, making it easy for kids to assemble and enjoy both the creative process and the finished product.
6. Fish Windsocks
Create a colorful fish windsock using simple shapes and craft materials that bring an ocean theme to life. The project involves cutting, gluing, and decorating with crepe paper, stickers, and googly eyes to form playful fish and underwater plants.
Once assembled, the windsock can be hung indoors or outdoors to catch the breeze and add a lively summer decoration. This activity encourages fine motor skills and creativity, making it suitable for preschoolers and children of all ages.
5. Paper Plate Snail Craft
This craft uses a small paper plate as the base for creating a colorful snail shell by gluing on small squares of scrap paper in a spiral pattern.
The snail’s head is made from cardstock with googly eyes and a drawn smile, which attaches to the plate to complete the design.
The project encourages using recycled materials and offers flexibility in color choices and patterns for the shell. It provides a simple, hands-on activity that helps children practice cutting, gluing, and arranging shapes while making a fun, tactile art piece.
4. Foil Painted Campfire Craft
This craft invites children to create a vibrant campfire scene using simple materials like paint, foil, and paper. By dipping crumpled foil into red and yellow paint, kids can mimic the flickering flames of a fire, adding a tactile and colorful element to their artwork.
The project encourages creativity while being accessible to young children, making it ideal for preschoolers and early elementary ages. It also offers a hands-on way to explore color mixing and texture, resulting in a fun and engaging camping-themed activity.
3. Paper Plate Beach Ball Craft
This craft creates a colorful beach ball using a paper plate and torn pieces of construction paper. The plate is divided into six sections, each filled with a different color, and finished with a white circle in the center to mimic a classic beach ball design.
The activity encourages fine motor skill development through tearing and gluing paper, which helps strengthen the small muscles in children’s hands. It offers a simple, affordable way to engage kids in a fun summer-themed art project using common household materials.
2. Torn Paper Watermelon Craft
This craft involves creating a colorful watermelon collage using torn pieces of red and green construction paper. It encourages children to strengthen their fine motor skills by tearing paper and gluing the pieces onto a watermelon outline.
Black fingerprint “seeds” are added with washable paint to complete the design, making the activity interactive and tactile. The project combines art with sensory play, offering a fun way to explore colors and textures while learning about watermelons.
1. Paper Plate Watermelon Craft

What materials do I need for summer crafts?
Basic materials for summer crafts include:
1) Paper (construction paper, tissue paper)
2) Scissors and glue
3) Paints and brushes
4) Markers and crayons
5) Craft sticks (popsicle sticks)
6) Recycled materials (bottle caps, cardboard)
7) Nature items (seashells, leaves, flowers)
How can I make summer crafts eco-friendly?
Recycle and Reuse: Use old magazines, newspapers, and cardboard for craft projects. Nature Crafts: Incorporate natural elements like leaves, flowers, and stones. Eco-friendly Paints and Glues: Choose non-toxic and biodegradable options.
Upcycling: Transform old clothing or fabric scraps into new craft items.
How can I involve the whole family in summer crafting?
Craft Stations: Set up different stations for various crafts so everyone can choose their favorite. Collaborative Projects: Work on a large mural or collage together. Craft Challenges: Have fun competitions with themes or specific materials.
Outdoor Crafting: Take your crafting outside to enjoy the summer weather while creating.
Are there any summer crafts that can double as outdoor activities?
Kite Making: Build and decorate kites, then fly them at the park. Painted Rocks: Paint rocks with bright designs and hide them around the neighborhood for others to find.
Nature Scavenger Hunt: Create a list of natural items to find and use them in a craft project. DIY Bird Feeders: Make bird feeders using pine cones, peanut butter, and birdseed, and hang them in the yard.