Just as we mentioned last week, there is a LOT of time to fill during Summer Break. Even with vacations, camps, babysitters, and some screen time, the days are long. And, as they're used to the structure of the school day, your children are likely to get antsy without activities to keep them occupied.

Arts and crafts are a great diversion! They're fun and can also be sneakily educational. From helping with language skills and fine motor development to making math and science concepts less abstract, these projects are great to keep on hand for those days when "there's nothing to do!"

For Preschoolers & Kindergartners

Arts and crafts are a fun way to help young children fine-tune their motor skills and learn shapes, letters and numbers. Most will require adult supervision and some help in prepping materials, but there is still plenty of opportunities for little ones to flex their creative muscles.

Jellyfish Suncatcher: Create a colorful sea creature to hang in your windows.

Glowing Firefly: Summer is the season for Hotaru! Your child can build their own, which doubles as a nightlight.

Popsicle Matching Game: You can use these crafts to learn colors, numbers, and/or letters

Alphabet Crafts: Pick a letter, any letter! Or do them all for a summer-long crafting spree.

For Elementary Schoolers

As kids get older, crafting can help build reading comprehension, patience and resilience, and critical thought. You should still be on hand to supervise, but give them the space to make mistakes and figure things out.

DIY Stamps: Everyone loves a stamp rally! Now your children can create their own.

Chatterbox: Tell jokes or short stories using this fun, interactive origami.

Tie-Dye T-Shirts: Give those old shirts new life with this colorful craft!

Mosaic Flower Pot: A fun activity and beautiful, unique decor for your home.

For Middle Schoolers

Arts and crafts are great vehicles for building tween and teen self-esteem and creativity. They enjoy the act of building — and seeing what their efforts result in.

Shadowbox: A fun way to showcase keepsakes and trinkets from summer vacation.

Sock Monster Dolls: Cute, tactile and a great solution to all those partnerless socks.

Washi Tape Owls: Get rid of all those half-used rolls of washi tape!

Personalized Glass Magnets: Unique, easy and inexpensive.