Now that we are spending more time at home, it’s important to keep the kids entertained. Crafts are always a great way to interact with your children and spend quality family time together. Making homemade cards is a fun activity that can be enjoyed by kids of all ages. Whether it be for a birthday, a graduation, Mother’s Day, or Christmas, DIY cards always add a personal touch that a store-bought card could never achieve. Continue reading to learn how to make beautiful yet simple DIY cards at home.
Mother’s Day Cards
Mother’s Day is right around the corner. It has been a particularly stressful year and there is no better time to show appreciation than with a Mother’s Day card from kids. Instead of expecting your children to get creative on their own, give them a little push in the right direction with this Mother’s Day card craft. Not only is it easy for kids to make, but it’s something every Mom will cherish for a long time.
Begin by selecting your cardstock paper. Pastel colors work very well with this project, but really any color will do the trick. Once you have selected your cardstock, fold it in half to create a card. To get a neat fold, use the back end of a butter knife and press along the edge of a ruler to create a deep line.
Once the cardstock is neatly folded, it’s time to decorate the card. With your children’s input, select the color of washable paint they prefer and pour the paint onto a plastic plate until there is a complete layer of paint covering the plate. With rolled up sleeves, allow them to place their hand palm down onto the plate until it is completely immersed in paint. They can then place their paint-covered hand onto the front of the card, pressing down until their handprint is nice and visible.
Allow the card to dry for about an hour. Once dry, the kids can use markers or crayons to write “Happy Mother’s Day” either above or below their handprint. On the inside of the card, they can write their own sweet message and sign their name. Not only will you cherish their handmade creation for years to come, but the handprint will also be a precious reminder of their youth before you blink, and the kids grow up.
Birthday Cards
Birthdays are another great time to show someone a little extra love. Sure, you can go to the local pharmacy and buy a readymade card, but children’s birthday cards that are handmade are just so much cuter and more special. It is also a great opportunity to teach your kids the value of working on something for someone they care about.
All you need to begin is the selected cardstock of your choice. Any color works for this, but if the birthday boy or girl has a favorite color, it would be great to choose their favorite. Again, start by neatly folding your selected cardstock. Once it is folded to create a card, you are ready to design the front. Choose three different colors of balloons. These should be non-blown-up balloons from a bag of assorted colored balloons. These can be purchased from Party City or just about any dollar store near you. Allow your child to carefully glue each balloon onto the front of the card. Each balloon should be spread out and flattened as much as possible so that it has a round balloon shape.
After gluing down the three balloons, your child can take a marker and draw three lines, one beneath the bottom of each balloon and down towards the bottom of the page. Towards the end of the three lines, they can draw a large bow. With those simple steps, they will have a beautiful balloon bouquet on a birthday card. The rest of the decorating can be up to your children’s individual imaginations. And just like that, they have created beautiful kids’ birthday cards.
Valentine Cards
Another especially important DIY card that kids can make is the Valentine’s Day card. Children often like to make valentine cards for their classmates for school. To make homemade valentine cards for kids, begin by selecting a pink or red cardstock paper. Once you have your paper, fold it in half to create your card. If needed, help your child with the ruler and the back of the butter knife in order to create a neat fold.
Make sure that you have at least three to four bottles of washable paint and fill plastic bowls with each color of paint. With either a paintbrush or their finger, have your child draw a large heart on the front of the card. Once they have painted the heart, they should choose another color of paint and begin to paint diagonal lines inside the heart. They can alternate colors until the heart is completely painted.
With a gorgeous hand painted heart on the front of their card, they can then use markers or crayons to finish decorating the card and filling it with their Valentine wishes. These are easy Valentine cards that are fun to make and any recipient will be overjoyed to receive one.
Christmas Cards
Last, but certainly not least, DIY Christmas cards for kids can make for a festive pre-holiday activity. Instead of trying to keep up with the Joneses and attempting to get that impossibly perfect family photo, have your kids make homemade Christmas cards that will actually make it to the fridge instead of the garbage pile.
To make kids’ homemade Christmas cards, begin by choosing red-colored cardstock paper. Neatly fold the paper in half to create your card. You will need brown paint and green paint for this particular card craft. Pour each paint color to fill plastic plates. Have your child dip the entire side of their hand and wrist into the brown paint and place it onto the front center of the card. That will be the trunk of the Christmas tree.
They can then dip one entire finger at a time into the green paint and with their fingertip facing diagonally upwards, press their fingertip onto the tree trunk. Continue doing so until the tree looks healthy and full. Once the tree is fully dry, use markers to draw ornaments under each tree branch. Your kids can get as creative as they would like with the ornaments, as well as with any other decorations and holiday wishes they would like the card to have. The great thing about kids’ homemade christmas cards is the ability to truly personalize them as much as the children like.
It really doesn’t matter what the occasion is, making DIY cards with your children is a family activity that can be enjoyed any time of year. It creates memorable bonding moments and also encourages kids to be creative and expressive. With minimal supplies needed, the sky is really the limit when it comes to DIY cards for kids.