2 people found this helpful
Looking for creative and thrifty ways to entertain restless 4-year-olds? Try these ingenious craft activities for 4-year-olds to do at home. Not only are they enjoyable to make, they’re fun to play with too!
With a few recycled objects, like empty Cushelle packaging, you can make two of the coolest craft projects around: a cardboard garage complete with ramp and car wash, and a 10-pin bowling skittles game. Who ever said you need to splash out to get your hands on the best 4-year-old games? And with young children often tiring of toys quickly, it’s great to have a couple of ideas for new games up your sleeve.
A lot of scissor-work is involved in making these craft activities for 4-year-olds, so we recommend that a responsible adult does the cutting and any little assistants can take care of the painting and assembly.
Games for 4-year-olds: DIY garage
Takes 2 hours
What you’ll need
- 5 empty Cushelle facial tissue boxes
- 4 empty Cushelle toilet roll tubes
- Kitchen paper
- Scissors
- Sticky tape
- Pencil
- Glue
- Paint
- Paint brush
- Marker pens
- Carefully cut the fronts away from two of the empty Cushelle tissue boxes. Then cut one long side off each box and stick them together with tape to form a square box.
- Cut the sides down by half all the way round to form the first floor of the garage.
- Make the ground floor by first cutting open and flattening two more empty tissue boxes. Stick them together side by side with tape, then cut the side tabs off to make a neat rectangular piece of card.
- Cut open and flatten the last empty tissue box, and cut out two rectangular strips measuring roughly 22 x 7cm. Glue the pieces together to make a sturdy ramp for the garage.
- Paint the floors and ramp and leave to dry.
- Paint the four empty Cushelle toilet rolls and leave them to dry.
- Stick the painted tubes to one end of the ground floor, then stick the first floor on top. Your garage is coming together nicely now!
- Cut an opening in the wall on one corner of the first floor, wide enough to fit the ramp, and glue it in place.
- Take a sheet of kitchen paper and cut a piece to fit between the ground and first floor of the garage, and between two of the pillars. Glue it to the underside of the first floor, and then cut 1cm-wide slits from the bottom to the top.
- Finally, draw road markings and parking spaces onto the garage using marker pens.
Games for 4-year-olds: skittles
This 10-pin bowling project is one of best games to play with 4-year-olds. It’s fun, super simple and quick to make.
Takes 1 hour
What you’ll need
- 10 empty Cushelle toilet roll tubes
- Bright paints
- Paint brush
- Number stickers
- Cushelle soft facial tissues
- Colourful paper tape
- Paint the empty Cushelle toilet roll tubes in lots of different colours and leave to dry.
- Stick the numbers 1-10 to the sides of the toilet rolls.
- Scrunch some soft Cushelle facial tissues into a ball measuring about 6cm in diameter.
- Cover the tissue ball with patterned sticky tape. Now you’re ready to bowl!
And there you have it: 4-year-old games have never been more fun or thrifty! Once you’re done making these fun craft activities for 4-year-olds to do at home, sit down with your little ones and play the games as a family. All you need is a bit of imagination and plenty of recycled packaging to have two fantastic new games to play with 4-year-olds.
Related articles
Smart and Crafty Activities for 5-Year-Olds
Learn how to make binoculars and a watch out of household objects in these two tutorials that are the perfect rainy-day activities for 5-year-olds.
Baby Activities: Play Ideas for Their First Year
Looking for activities to do with babies? Click here to discover an age-by-age list of baby activities that the whole family can get involved with.
5 fun family games to play at home
These fun family games are suitable for every occasion, from Halloween and Christmas to casual Sundays. Click for 5 family games to play at home.
2 ways to make board games for rainy days
Rainy day? We’ll show you how to create a board game and make the best of the bad weather. Click here for 2 board games you can make yourself.
Painting for Kids: Easy Painting Ideas for Little Artists of All Ages
No matter their age, painting for kids is always a big hit, but where to begin? Get inspired with our painting ideas for kids of all ages.
3 Garden Activities for Kids With Green Fingers
Need inspiration for some gardening activities for children? Here are a few kids’ garden ideas to get you started. Click here to find out more.