Like a lot of people I have a bit of an obsession with buying stationary and there are times when the cupboard here that is meant to be dedicated to the children’s crafting can look a bit like an overflowing stationary shop. So that I’m not just buying stuff and not using it I always try to create something with what we already have. Of course that’s not just my own (cute) stuff but the things that me and my husband have lying around from our work too – lots and lots of office supplies.
Office supplies might not at first seem like the obvious choice for kids crafts but they’re something that most of us have lying around at home, packs of A4 paper, pens, treasury tags and selotape. Rather than letting it fill your cupboards up why not use some of it to keep the kids entertained with these fun ideas?
All the crafts I’ve added appear in the order that they’re in the picture below but there’s a couple of extras too so make sure you check them all out!
Kids Crafts Using Office Supplies
Pens don’t just need to be used for drawing on paper – these butterfly number stones are a great way to teach numeracy too!
Bubble wrap is great fun for printing with as you can see with these bubble wrap aliens, another one that used up some coloured card and glue too!
These DIY money boxes use Mod Podge but you could easily get the same effect using PVA mixed with a little bit of water and of course you can use scissors (another office supplies favourite!) to cut out your favourite pictures for them.
If you find that you’re forever losing your kids crafts in different places then treasury tags are a great way to keep them together. Just pop a hole in the corner of each drawing using a hole punch, thread the treasury tag through and you have a great collection for you and your kids to look through.
Coloured card and paper are two of the things that I think we get through the most here, some of my favourite crafts using it are these paper plate crabs and this super sweet seahorse craft – both of them are perfect for toddlers or preschoolers to practice their fine motor skills.
Contact paper (sticky back plastic) is perfect for making suncatchers with, there are loads of great designs you can make but I love the colours in these dragonfly ones!
We used sellotape to fix our sheep’s bodies for these sweet sheep crafts
As well as suncatchers contact paper is great for making making lanterns with
Collaborative Post
I definitely have a think about stationery too and you’d have a field day in the cupboard where I keep it all 😉