26 Screen-Free Summer Crafts to Keep Kids Busy for Hours

Crafter extraordinaire Haeley Giambalvo of Design Improvised worked with Country Living to create this super colorful bird feeder made from an empty milk carton. Kids will love making this colorful project!

To make: Cut a house-shaped hole in one of the large panels of an empty half-gallon paper milk carton. Paint carton with craft paint. Once dry, add details using washi tape. To create a perch, poke a hole just below the opening, and insert a painted wooden dowel; glue in place. Cut 10 rainbow craft sticks to size; glue onto slope to create shingles. Add a card stock paper eave above the opening; glue in place. Glue twine under the top of the carton, and tie together to hang. Fill opening with birdseed.

Whether you want to celebrate the Fourth of July or just have a fun object for the kids to run around the yard and twirl, these kid-safe ribbon and rickrack sparklers will fill the bill.

To make: Wrap a 12-inch by 1/8-inch wooden dowel in washi tape. Cut lengths of ribbon and rickrack of varying widths, colors, and textures. Lay ribbons and rickrack flat on a table and tie together in the center with a length of baker’s twine. Wrap baker’s twine around the dowel and hold in place with a dab of hot glue.

Make these in red, white, and blue to wave at the town parade or use any available scraps of fabric and place them in jars to decorate a summer buffet—the kids will love having their handicrafts displayed so prominently.

To make: Cut a 4-by-3-inch rectangle from a red-based fabric. Cut a smaller square of blue-based fabric. Glue the blue square to one corner of red fabric with craft glue. Glue the flag to a wooden skewer or small dowel with a few dabs of hot glue.

A jaunt through the yard for pretty colorful flowers will provide the supplies the kids need to get started with this project.

Get the instructions here.

Whether your kids love Taylor Swift or just making a million little knots with embroidery thread, this is the craft for them!

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This is the ideal craft for kids who love to chomp on sweet, crisp watermelon all season long!

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Kids will have so much fun crafting this game and then playing with their friends once it's complete.

To make: Use craft glue or Steam-a-Seam to attach lengths of ribbon to a small burlap bag. Gather buttons to use as the game pieces.

Whether your child loves bird-watching or spying on the neighbors (kidding!) these cardboard binoculars will keep them occupied for hours.

Get the instructions here.

Kids can go as crazy as they want decorating their pool noodle ponies. Once finished, don't be surprised if the living room turns into a paddock.

Get the instructions here.

Kids will love watching all the birds who these pine cone feeders will bring to your yard. Let the fluttering begin!

To make: Wrap a length of string around the top stem of the pine cone. Fill the opening of the pine cone with peanut butter, then roll the whole pine cone in birdseed. Hang outside from a tree branch. Remove and refill as needed.

Kids will have fun searching around the house for objects to stamp on dishtowels or napkins.

To make: Spread a thin layer of fabric paint, or an acrylic paint mixed with a fabric fixative, on a paper plate. Dip found objects, such as flower-shaped cookie cutters and oversized paper clips, in paint and stamp on dishtowels.

The kids will show up to school looking like a million bucks with their hand-painted bracelets.

To make: Use acrylic paint or paint pens to paint designs on wooden bracelets. Finish with a layer of Mod Podge if desired.

This DIY banjo is constructed from an upcycled cookie tin (or box) and a few junk drawer staples. Get ready for a singalong!

Get the instructions here.

Hand-painted flowers add color and help elevate a hardware-store terra-cotta pot. Once they've painted their pots, kids will love planting flowers, ferns, or herbs in their artwork.

To make: Use acrylic paint pens to draw and paint flowers on a terra-cotta pot. When dry, fill with a fern or an herb.

The kids won't need any special equipment, just a little elbow grease, to make this super simple and delicious sweet treat.

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Take the kids for a quick trip to the kitchen and a stroll around the yard to gather the materials needed to make these perky bean and seed flowers.

To make: Cut flower shapes from cardboard. Use craft glue to glue beans and seeds to the cardboard. Once dry, use hot glue or tape to attach a thin branch to the back of the flowers. Fill a small pot with beans and insert sticks.

Celebrate the kids through their growing years by memorializing their little hands on a dishtowel.

To make: Sew or use fusible bonding web to attach ribbon to the bottom of a flour sack dishtowel. Spread a thin layer of fabric paint, or an acrylic paint mixed with a fabric fixative, on a paper plate. Have kids press their hands into the paint and then onto the towel. Iron to fix the paint per the manufacturer's packaging instructions.

These DIY flowers are made from dyed coffee filters and pipe cleaners. So easy! Tip: Make these outside—dye can be quite messy and get into and onto unexpected things.

To make: Dip paper coffee filters in Cherry Red Rit Dye. Lay flat on a cooling rack fitted in a rimmed baking sheet or hang over a drying line. When dry, kink and fold the filters so they have a little movement. Use a dab of hot glue or a glue stick to glue the centers of two filters together to create petal layers. Cut a 6-inch piece of black pipe cleaner and roll into a flat circle; use hot glue to glue to the center of the poppy. Twist three green pipe cleaners together; use hot glue to glue to the back of the poppy. Arrange poppies in bud vases.