May 27, 2016 Mandi Nowitz

Summer is slumber party season! Sleepover party crafts for kids

With summer vacation coming up, your kid is bound to want to have slumber parties with all of their friends. But what are some fun activities to keep them occupied aside from movies and computer games? Arts and crafts! It is like they get to make their own goodies to bring home after having a super fun night full of music, ice cream, and popcorn. The challenge then becomes finding crafts that they’ll love and sourcing the materials (and avoiding a gigantic mess, too).

We decided to focus on the seven and up category, and we came up with some awesomely fun crafts that can be bought at Magic Beans or mbeans.com, along with a few homemade crafts that require supplies from a local supermarket or even from your junk drawer. Let’s get started with kits, shall we?

Melissa and Doug Design-Your-Own Bracelets are a super fun activity (and inexpensive) when it comes to crafting, and they come four in a package, so there are plenty to go around. Kids can decorate their reversible bracelets with stickers and glitter, creating a personalized look and a fun memory to share – they can also be considered friendship bracelets, after all. Let each kid’s inner fashionista shine!

Or, for even more shine to go around, go for the Creativity For Kids Rhinestone Wrap Bracelets kit, which includes enough to make fifteen bracelets that mix faux suede and rhinestones. More bracelets means they’ll be busy for longer, and each kid can wear a few at a time – they can stack up some sparkle while you make some pink lemonade!

If the kids want to get both crafty and glam, try out the Alex Sketch It Nail Pens Salon. In this kit, you will get five nail colors along with 135 nail gems, 49 color-in appliques, 5 nail pens, a nail file, and easy instructions. There’s no reason to limit the fun to fingernails, either – try them out on the toesies for extra decorative fun!

But what if you want to make you own crafts and not purchase a kit? Not a problem. For instance, princess wands are super easy to make and every kid wants one! Just grab a package of sturdy straws, and then go online and print out as many star shapes as you need. Pick up some Melissa and Doug safety scissors and have the kids cut out the star shapes and have them use glitter, colored markers, colored pens, and/or crayons to decorate. (The Melissa and Doug scissors are essential for any homemade crafts as they are child safe and will not cut hair! Super important!) Then, take two stars and glue one on each side of the tip of the straw and bam…you have a homemade wand! Bibbity bobbity fun!

If flowers are more your child’s thing, help her and her friends make their own mini garden. Pick up a pack of green straws, and print out some flower shapes. Use the Melissa and Doug scissors to cut out the flower shapes, have the girls color them in, and then bring out egg cartons to form the base for the garden. Have each kid cover their egg carton in green construction paper to use as grass, and then poke the straws through the paper, and you’ve got a homemade garden that will never wilt!

Need some more ideas? Visit one of our stores and ask one of our toy experts – just look for the friendly faces and green teeshirts! Or, browse our Arts & Crafts selection here at mbeans.com: we’ve got craft kits and art materials for every kid from toddlers to teens (just use the handy Super Search menu on the left side of the page to narrow down your choices). Happy crafting, and continue to check in on our blog for more fun and new information!