HERE ARE THE MUST-HAVE MATERIALS THAT
NO CRAFTY KIDS SHOULD BE WITHOUT:
• Adhesive tape
• Copier and
construction paper
• Crayons
• Glue sticks and
craft glue
• Hole punch
• Kraft paper
• Paintbrushes
• Paints (finger paints
and tempera paints)
• Pencils (both
graphite and
colored) • Ruler
• Scissors
• Stapler
FOR MORE ADVANCED CRAFTERS,
GO BEYOND THE BASICS AND ADD SOME
SPECIALTY SUPPLIES:
Craft • Beads
• Craft foam and craft sticks
• Decorative paper punches
• Plasticine and polymer clay, for modeling
• Rubber stamps and stamp pads
• Specialty papers, such as origami and tissue
paper • Stencils
PROJECTS Scavenger hunts have always been popular activities
for children. Not only are they simple, inexpensive and fun
distractions, but they also encourage kids to interact with their
environment and practice problem solving. Get them moving
and thinking with these easy, creative scavenger hunt ideas.

THE ALPHABET HUNT
Grab a sheet of paper and write down the alphabet. Challenge
your kids to find objects around the house that start with each
letter. They can either collect the items and put them in one spot
or, if you’d rather not have a gigantic pile of 26 random objects
on your floor, have them write down the object next to the letter.

THE SENSORY HUNT
Encourage sensory exploration by creating a scavenger hunt
where kids can touch, see, taste, hear and smell. Challenges
can include finding items that feel soft, bumpy or squishy, or
that make noise, smell nice, taste good, are heavy, are bright or
can move.

THE COLOR HUNT
Help your little ones learn their colors with this simple
scavenger hunt. Take an array of markers and draw colorful
boxes on a sheet of paper with the name of the color
underneath. Then ask your kids to find an object to match each
color. As an added challenge, use different shades of the
same color and encourage your little ones to explore items
with different hues.

10 Washington FAMILY JANUARY 2021
THE EXERCISE HUNT
This activity is a great way for your kids to have fun and get
active. Write down eight to 10 different exercises on index cards,
such as 10 jumping jacks, 15 seconds of jogging, five pushups or
30 seconds of dancing. Place the cards around the room where
they can be easily seen. Dividing your children into teams,
have them find the exercise cards in the order printed on a
separate card and complete them. You can make this activity a
competition to see who can complete all of their exercises first
and offer a prize as an incentive.

THE STATE HUNT
Break out the maps for this scavenger hunt. Create a list of
geography-based questions about the 50 states and encourage
your child to explore our nation. For example, ask kids to find
a state that is next to the Pacific Ocean, a state surrounded by
other states on all sides, a state that borders another country, a
state that starts with a specific letter, a state next to one of the
Great Lakes or a state made up of islands.

THE GRATITUDE HUNT
On this hunt, children can find items to be grateful for and
discover what makes them happy. Ask your kids to find items
that they like to wear, enjoy playing with, are useful to them,
are good for giving as gifts to someone else, make them laugh,
reflect beauty or remind them of a place that they like to visit.

n — Katie Beecher



Art class shouldn’t be the only times kids get to be creative.

“It’s important for kids to use their imaginations to help them
express themselves through their
creativity,” says Rachel Dorton,
public relations manager for Kid
Made Modern.

In order to let imaginations
run wild, you’ll want to stock up on some craft supplies. Just
make sure they are kid-friendly items. For example, scissors
with a rounded tip are the safest type for young kids. And kraft
paper is great to protect work surfaces and can also double as a
background for creating a large drawing or painting.

Of course, don’t overlook household items, such as milk
cartons and paper-towel rolls, which kids can use for their
artistic creations.

You may not have the luxury of having your own craft room
in your home, but you can easily transform an old armoire or
a cupboard into a well-stocked craft space.

“It’s really great to give your kids the materials
they need to let their minds run with their
imagination and let them create something,”
says Dorton.

If your child struggles to get started on
independent artwork, Kid Made Modern holds
regular one-hour virtual crafting sessions for
kids around the country. Or you can sign up for
the Kid Made Modern Monthly Craft Club and
receive a new box of crafts each month with all the
materials and directions your child needs to complete a
project on their own. n
— Michael Vyskocil
GIRL: DPAINT; SUPPLIES: TARGOVCOM
ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Scavenger HUNTS
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