As a child, I loved playing with the little circular plastic ball mazes that I found in Christmas crackers and party gift bags.

I now know that playing with ball mazes develops hand-eye co-ordination and that making them is a great STEM activity promoting the development of a number of skills including designing, constructing, problem-solving, ...

Play dough is an easy to make, inexpensive, modelling material. It can be made out of just a few ingredients and is a great resource for focused play activities.

Check out Play Dough letter fun for our play dough recipe or print a free copy here

Last ...

Ever wondered what to do with odd or worn out socks? Recycle them into sock puppets. Making sock puppets is an easy, inexpensive craft that keeps your kids busy, encourages imaginative play and promotes the development of fine motor, creative and language skills.

What you need:

• An old, clean sock

• Materials ...

Be a creative, science detective with this easy, inexpensive craft. Create amazing art and investigate why wax resist painting works.

What you need:

• Wax crayons (not the washable kind) or oil pastels
• A piece paper
• A paintbrush or sponge
• Watercolour paint or water coloured with food ...

An inexpensive craft that keeps kids busy and develops creativity. Display their art on the wall, or fridge, or use it to make inexpensive personalized cards or bookmarks.

What you need:

• Wax crayons or oil pastels

• Paper

• Tempura or acrylic paint

  (Top tip: ...

Making drawings or collages of favourite foods is an easy, inexpensive craft that keeps your kids busy and promotes the development of fine motor, creative and language skills and scientific understanding.

What you need:

• Recycled cardboard or card-stock to cut a plate shape from (or you can use a paper plate)
• Pencil ...

Encouraging your child to draw, or make collage, faces can provide opportunities for discussions about emotions and mental well-being.

Ask your child how they think their drawn or collaged face is feeling? Why do they think this?

Draw their attention to how facial features (and body language) can give us clues to ...

Getting your kids to design, make and test their own boats keeps them busy and promotes the development of fine motor, creative and language skills, scientific understanding and problem solving.

What you need:

(This is just a suggested list of resources, you do not need everything on it. Add your own ...

Getting your kids to design, and make, their own musical instruments keeps them busy and promotes the development of fine motor, creative and language skills and scientific understanding.

What you need:

• Recycled cardboard boxes of different sizes

• Kitchen towel rolls

• Elastic ...