Updated February 2024

Cardboard is the best art material out there! It’s free, versatile and readily available. And it can be shaped into countless art projects.

I’ve turned into a bit of a “connoisseur of cardboard” over the years. Because of this I recommend IKEA for cardboard that’s strong and possible for little hands to cut through. Also, LEGO and NESPRESSO pod boxes provide cardboard that is super versatile for art making.

For these rainbow cardboard sculptures, we slot the shapes together loosely (inspiration from Eames’ House of cards). It’s the sort of connecting technique that can be used to make many different sculptures.

This is a technique I’ve often used to make groovy cardboard dinosaurs. Today I’m going to show you how to make our ever-popular cardboard rainbow sculptures! Everyone loves rainbows, right?

3D Rainbow Cardboard Sculptures for Kids

MATERIALS

• hoarded cardboard (please don’t go buying any, there’s no need!)
• large sharp scissors
• pencil
• ANY sort of paint or drawing supplies you have available or ALL of them: watercolors, acrylic, tempera, markers, oil pastels, crayons, etc.

I hope you make your own rainbow cardboard sculpture!

More Sculpture Activities for Kids

• How to Make Colorful Cardboard Tree Sculptures
• Magnetic Cardboard Sculptures
• Build with Cardboard Disc Sculptures
• Recycled Sculptures with Styrofoam
• Toothpick Sculptures Ideas for Kids
• 3D Art & Sculpture page on The Artful Parent

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The tween years are a fantastic time for kids to dabble in lots of different hobbies, honing their interests and building their skills.  If you happen to have an artsy tween in your home, then you know how invested they can be in a project, and how giving them a little bit of freedom lets their creativity flourish!

While tweens still enjoy a good process art activity, they’re often very interested in the finished result, making this the ideal time to introduce a wider variety of arts and crafts.

Luckily we’ve got a little bit of everything in this list, making it absolutely perfect for this unique age group.

Arts and Crafts for Tweens

Drawing Ideas for Kids

1. Drawing Vegetables

Practice observational drawing with this above and below the garden drawing activity.

2. How to Draw Abstract Self Portraits

Learn how to draw an abstract self portrait in 6 simple steps! 

3. Frida Kahlo Portraits

This is a fun Frida inspired drawing prompt for kids. Explore identity with kids & create personalized Frida Kahlo portraits for kids. 

Painting Ideas for Kids

1. How to Do Blow Painting with Straws

Blow painting with straws is a simple but fun action art activity. Use a straw to blow liquid paint on paper, creating amazing designs!

2. How to Paint a Watercolor Geode

An excellent watercolor painting activity to pair with learning about geodes and rocks.

3. How to Paint Lace with Kids

Paint lace using liquid watercolors and then turn the colorful lace into a beautiful wall hanging!

Printmaking Ideas for Kids

1. How to Do Styrofoam Printmaking

Scratch a design into styrofoam for an easy printmaking activity.

2. How to Do Scrape Painting

Scrape painting is a fun process art activity for kids. This fun technique moves paint with a card to create colorful rainbows.

3. Create Easy LEGO Prints

Creating LEGO prints is a fun open-ended art activity for kids of all ages. Use LEGOs and stamp pads to create cities, flowers, mandalas, and letters too!

Collage Ideas for Kids

1. How to Make Marble Paper Art Landscape Collages for Kids

Create your own marbled paper and use it for beautiful landscape collages!

2. How to Make Mandala Art Designs on Records

Upcycle a vinyl record and glue on loose parts to make beautiful mandala art designs.

3. How to Make Picasso Collages for Kids

Kids explore identity and learn how to create collages with colorful cut paper shapes and glue.

Sculpture Art Ideas for Kids

1. How to Make a Coral Reef with Clay

Make a coral reef that glows under black light! A great project and conversation starter for discussing how to protect our oceans.

2. How to Make Painted Wood Blocks & Sculptures

An easy sculpture project using wood scraps that’s fun to make for kids of all ages. 

3. How to Make a 3D Rainbow Cardboard Sculpture for Kids

Get your build on with cardboard, the best art material around!

Textile Art Ideas for Kids

1. How to Make Cardboard Looms

Learn a simple weaving activity for kids with cardboard looms and fabric. Create a beautiful piece of art to hang in your home!

2. How to Make Felt Succulents

Learn how to create a colorful felt succulent garden for kids with this fun craft tutorial.

3. Tie Dye Ideas: How to Ice Dye

This variation on tie dyeing uses ice and powder dye to make amazing designs.  

More Arts and Crafts for Tweens

• How to Create Collage Art for Kids
• How to Make Sun Prints
• How to Do Mandala Printmaking for Kids
• 5 Slime Recipe Ideas for Kids
• How to Play the Exquisite Corpse Game

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Updated January 2023

Edible art is the perfect combination of delicious and engaging. These grape and toothpick edible art sculptures are similar to the marshmallow & toothpick sculptures that we’ve tried in the past, but much easier and so much better.

Oh, and healthy!

Our kids love building these, briefly admiring, and then eating!

Here’s a video showing even more Fabulous Toothpick Construction ideas for kids! And don’t forget to scroll down to get more detailed instructions for these fun grape and toothpick sculptures.

How to Make Edible Art with Grapes and Toothpicks

MATERIALS

• Grapes
• Toothpicks
• Tray (optional)

Have you tried building with toothpicks yet? If not, I highly recommend it!

More Edible Art Projects

• Making Marshmallow and Toothpick Sculptures
• Easy Cranberry and Toothpick Sculptures
• How to Make Teddy Bear Bread
• Kids’ Cake Decorating Tips and Ideas
• Edible Spring Nests
• An Edible Playdough Recipe

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Updated December 2022

Aren’t these ice sculptures lovely and colorful?! They are super fun and easy to make and are a great building activity for either indoors or outdoors (if you want to brave the elements!).

We made these colored ice sculptures by freezing water dyed with liquid watercolors (food coloring would work, too) in various containers.

Winter Art Project: Ice Sculptures

MATERIALS

• Cups, muffin tins, containers and bowls of various sizes and shapes
• Water
• Food coloring or liquid watercolors

Isn’t this colored ice sculpture beautiful in the sunlight?!

If you want to save your sculpture, you can put it back in the freezer. Or if you live in a wintry climate, you can leave it outside!

More Snow andActivities for Kids

• 12 Winter Sensory Activities and Creative Play Ideas for Kids
• How to Make Swedish Snowball Lanterns
• How to Make a Beautiful Nature Ice Wreath

Want even more creative ideas?

Check out our Winter Fun Creativity pack!

Cozy up with some of our favorite wintertime activities for creative kids! This pack has 40 pages of winter-themed art activities that will keep your kids busy even on the snowiest day!

SHOP NOW

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Many of you might wonder what sparked this clay coral reef activity, since it’s so unexpected and special. (Or so I think, but I may be a bit biased).  So let me tell you a little about the background to it.  

We live in Miami, FL, the only state in the US with an extensive shallow coral reef formation near its coasts.  Basically the reefs are everywhere around us, so we see the corals and we see how bleached they are.  

It’s not very common to spot those colorful and vibrant corals anymore. It’s sad, but it’s the reality.  

In my son’s class, they started doing some research about this topic, and one day he came home to tell me everything about it.

Why Coral Reefs are Important

I was so interested as I knew nothing about corals, even though we are surrounded by them where we live.

This topic that started as a discussion in my oldest son’s class soon became a family matter! We all became engrossed in reading about corals and watching a live video stream of marine life and coral reefs. And felt genuinely motivated by the subject.

On a side note, did you know that corals are actually animals? Pretty interesting fact right?  Yup! They are animals because they don’t make their own food like plants do.  

As we continued the conversation about corals, we wanted to approach it through some form of art making, which is what we enjoy the most as a family.

And that’s how this fun invitation to create our own clay coral reefs started.  Of course, you can bring to the table a bit more of the background.

We stressed the fact that over 50% of the world’s coral reefs have died in the last 30 years. And sadly, very few pristine coral reefs currently remain.

How to Make a Coral Reef

MATERIALS

• Air Dry Clay
• Colored Air Dry Clay
• Clay Tools
• Garlic Press
• Wooden Board
• Wire
• Scissors
• Acrylic Paints (neon colors are encouraged)
• Brushes
• Bowl with Water
• Black Light (optional)

The colored clay we used is pretty awesome as it has many neon colors, which really stood out when we used them under the black light.

This was a beautiful activity that brought some awareness on how to care for our planet and our oceans.  We learned things we can do to protect our coral reefs such as:

• Choose sustainable seafood.
• Conserve water.
• Volunteer to help out clean our beaches, etc.
• If scuba diving, do not touch the coral reef.
• Use sunscreen lotions that are safe and use no active ingredients that may harm them.

I hope this activity brings as much joy to you as it did to us!

More Clay Activities for Kids

• How to Make a Starry Night Painting with Clay
• Create Colorful Clay Relief Tiles for Kids (with Air Drying Clay!)
• 15 Amazing Air Dry Clay Art Projects for Kids

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Updated December 2022

We love to use toothpicks for construction projects with kids. And these marshmallow and toothpick sculptures are the perfect after-school project.

Pro tip: hard, stale marshmallows work better than soft ones, so if you remember, spread them out on a cookie sheet, and leave them out for a day or two, until they are nice and stale!

Simply connect the marshmallows and toothpicks to create the structure of your choice.

What starts off as a low-key sculpture-building activity soon becomes a lesson in building and geometry as you learn what shapes are the strongest and provide the most support (hint: triangles rule!).

Here’s a video showing even more Fabulous Toothpick Construction ideas for kids! And keep scrolling for step-by-step instructions of our fun with marshmallows and toothpicks.

Making Marshmallow and Toothpick Sculptures

MATERIALS

• Mini Marshmallows
• Toothpicks
• Pony beads (optional)

Have you tried building with toothpicks yet? If not, we highly recommend it! And it’s a great activity for mixed ages.

More Sculpture Ideas for Kids

• Toothpick Sculptures Ideas for Kids
• Grape and Toothpick Sculptures
• Playdough and Toothpick Sculptures
• Easy Cranberry and Toothpick Construction
• How to Make Cardboard Building Discs for Sculptures
• How to Make Easy 3D Sculptures with Buttons, Beads & Feathers

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Updated December 2022

If you haven’t tried building with toothpicks with your kids, you must give it a try!

It’s a construction project that can be as simple as poking a bunch of toothpicks in playdough for young children or as challenging as building a geodesic dome or tower for older kids and adults.

And with all the different great ways to build with toothpicks, everything from traditional marshmallows to Model Magic to sculpture as snack, you’re sure to find one to suit your family. And if you add in little animal figurines and dolls to populate the toothpick buildings, it’s a perfect pretend play craft, too.

Here are some of our favorite materials to use when making toothpick construction projects!

Here’s a video showing some Fabulous Toothpick Construction ideas for kids! And keep scrolling for even more ideas.

Toothpick Construction Ideas for Kids

Edible Toothpick Sculptures

An invitation to play with your food and create as you snack! Some options are healthier than others, but all are fun!

• Marshmallow and Toothpick Sculptures 
• Easy Cranberry and Toothpick Construction
• Gumdrops and Toothpicks (at TinkerLab)
• Grape and Toothpick Sculptures 
• Toothpick Sculptures with Cheese Cubes (at I Can Teach My Child)
• Building with Apples and Toothpicks (at Fun at Home Mom)

Clay and Playdough Toothpick Sculptures

Clay and playdough work well for building with toothpicks, too! We’ve used playdough, Sculpt-It air dry clay, and bread dough.

• Toothpicks, Playdough, and Pony Beads
• Building with Playdough and Toothpicks
• Toothpicks with Sculpt-It Air Dry Clay
• Toothpick Sculptures with Model Magic (at The Helpful Art Teacher)

And if you happen to have skewers at home, you can try Kids Sculptures with Styrofoam and Bamboo Skewers (they’re just big toothpicks, right?).

Have you tried building with toothpicks with your kids yet?

More Sculpture Ideas for Kids

• How to Make These Easy Wood Sculptures for Kids
• How to Make Cardboard Building Discs for Sculptures
• How to Make Your Own Magnetic Building Set with Cardboard
• How to Make Easy 3D Sculptures with Buttons, Beads & Feathers
• Making Marshmallow and Toothpick Construction
• Grape and Toothpick Sculptures are Healthy and Fun!

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These cheerful cardboard sculptures look like trees and are super easy and fun to make. I think they are a perfect parent-child project.

I sat down with my 6 year old and happily created a couple of trees to decorate our window sill. While I cut shapes out, my daughter painted away. We both enjoyed adding patterns over top. We discussed which colors would look good next to each other (hint: opposite colors pop!).

These sculptures look pretty, but they can also be used for imaginative play. Try adding them to a toy streetscape with other toys, cars and little dolls. I can totally imagine adding little cardboard houses and gardens too!

This project primarily uses basic materials, but I recommend buying paint or chalk markers. These really make a difference with adding patterns. Normal markers won’t have the same effect.

Cardboard Tree Sculptures

MATERIALS

• thin, but strong cardboard (We think IKEA & LEGO boxes are the best!)
• cardboard craft tubes (or save your toilet paper tubes)
• large scissors
• cake watercolors or tempera paints or even acrylics
• watercolor brushes
• chalk markers or paint markers (or both!)
• jar of water

I hope you give this fun cardboard sculpture project a try with your kids!

More Sculptures for Kids

• How to Make a 3D Rainbow Cardboard Sculpture
• How to Make Painted Wood Blocks & Sculptures
• Easy Cranberry and Toothpick Sculptures Kids Can Make
• How to Make Cardboard Building Discs for Recycled Cardboard Sculptures

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“Art will make people better.”- Ruth Asawa

As an elementary art teacher, I try to connect artists to the projects that we work on together as a class. I find that seeing images of artwork made from the same materials we are using as a class is very inspiring to children. It sparks ideas, imagination and helps children to understand their own creativity. 

I also believe that if we teach children about a wide variety of artists, they will see representation in the world around them.

One of my favorite artists to share with students is Ruth Aiko Asawa, a Japanese-American sculptor. Ruth overcame many tragedies in her life, including time with her family in the internment camps. However, like most great artists, she turned her painful experiences into art. 

Ruth’s signature style, biomorphic wire forms, is perfect for introducing to young artists.  Ruth, inspired by nature in her work, used wire to essentially draw in a three dimensional space.  (And did you know? Shape is one of the seven elements of art).

I’m excited to share this wire sculpture art project with you today. It’s a fun and easy project that uses wires and objects found around your home.

Wire Sculpture Art

MATERIALS

• Found objects in nature (sticks, large river rocks, pumpkins and gourds).
• Twisteez Craft Sculpture wire
• Clear tape

More Sculpture Ideas for Kids

• Easy Wood Sculptures for Kids
• How to Make Painted Wood Blocks & Sculptures
• How to Make Easy 3D Sculptures for Kids

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–       

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Updated January 2021

*A big thank you to Sylvan Learning for sponsoring this post; as always, all opinions expressed are my own.

We have a new magnetic building set in the house and I am ridiculously excited about it.

It’s awesome. Seriously.

Want to hear all the reasons why?

• The shapes are fun to play with and very creative.
• You can build modern abstract sculptures in all kinds of fun configurations.
• You can explore magnetic properties and build in ways that are not possible with regular building blocks. In fact, because of the lightweight cardboard, you can build in ways that are not possible even with other magnetic building sets.
• All we used were cardboard, some glue, and a coil of magnetic tape. Even the paint is optional as the magnetic shapes look awesome with or without it.
• This activity does a great job of exposing your kids to STEM. Sylvan Learning believes it’s important for kids to be exposed to STEM education because they are at the prime age for exposure, retention, and application. Incorporating STEM into fun activities like this magnetic building kit is a great way to start introducing your kids to STEM!

I know you’re going to want to make a set for yourselves, so I’ll show you how, with step-by-step instructions.

Make Your Own Magnetic Building Set with Cardboard

Children can explore magnetic properties and engineering with hands on learning and open-ended exploration. Building cool contraptions in an open-ended way helps kids become creative thinkers and problem solvers, which is vital to their future success and even the future of our world. If you are looking for fun ways your kids can learn engineering from the experts, Sylvan Learning offers a STEM focused program, the Sylvan EDGE. EDGE provide hands-on learning opportunities in classes focused on Robotics, Engineering, Coding, and Math Edge. These programs give students the confidence and skills to be successful in the future global workforce.

MATERIALS

• Corrugated cardboard*
• Utility knife
• Hot glue gun
• Paint (optional)
• Magnetic tape, adhesive
• Scissors

*Save those boxes! Or stop by a store that’ll let you cart away their boxes. I went to an ABC Store for mine and found that the inserts to the liquor boxes work especially well for making these cardboard shapes as they are plain (no markings), not too thick, and somewhat pre-scored.

See what you can do with these lightweight, 3D, magnetic building blocks? So much!

Are you ready to build your own ridiculously cool magnetic building set now? I highly recommend you give this a try!

Thanks again to Sylvan Learning for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions expressed are my own.

More Cardboard Building Ideas for Kids:

• 5 DIY Cardboard Toys You Can Make With Your Kids
• Make Cardboard Robot Puppets that Move!
• Make a Rainbow Lighted Cardboard Dollhouse

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