Spring crafts and activities for kids

Spring brings flowers, butterflies, rain showers and baby animals, and all of them make wonderful crafts. These spring crafts for kids are easy, colorful and use simple materials from around the house. You will also find spring activities to do outdoors, ideas by age and free printable spring coloring pages to use as templates.

Flower crafts

1. Cupcake liner flowers. Glue colored cupcake liners onto paper and draw stems and leaves.
2. Handprint tulips. Paint a handprint with fingers together, turn it upside down and add a green stem.
3. Egg carton flowers. Cut out the cups, paint them and add a pipe cleaner stem.
4. Tissue paper flowers. Stack tissue paper, fold like a fan, tie in the middle and gently pull the layers apart.
5. Paper plate sunflower. Paint a plate yellow, glue on paper petals and fill the middle with seeds.
6. Flower coloring. Color our flower coloring pages and cut them out for a garden display.

Butterfly crafts

• Symmetry butterflies. Fold paper in half, paint one side, press and open.
• Coffee filter butterflies. Color a coffee filter with markers, spray with water and pinch in the middle with a pipe cleaner.
• Clothes peg butterflies. Glue tissue paper wings onto a painted peg.
• Handprint butterflies. Two handprints make the wings.
• Butterfly coloring. Color the butterfly pages with bright patterns and hang them from a string.

Rain and rainbow crafts

• Paper plate rainbow. Paint stripes on half a paper plate and add cotton wool clouds.
• Raindrop mobile. Cut blue raindrops and hang them from a paper cloud.
• Umbrella collage. Glue paper scraps onto an umbrella shape.
• Rainbow coloring. Color the rainbow pages and talk about the order of the colors.

Baby animal crafts

• Paper plate lamb. Cover a plate with cotton wool and add a black paper face.
• Egg carton chicks. Paint cups yellow and add a beak and feathers.
• Toilet roll bunnies. Add long ears and a cotton wool tail.
• Handprint birds. Turn a handprint into a bird with a beak and wings.
• Animal coloring. Color the animal pages and make a spring farm scene.

Spring activities for kids

Spring is perfect for getting outside after the long winter.

• Spring walk. Look for buds, blossom, bees and birds building nests.
• Plant seeds. Sunflowers, beans and cress grow quickly. See gardening activities for kids.
• Puddle jumping. Rain boots on and splash away.
• Bird feeder. Make a pine cone feeder for birds busy with their nests.
• Nature scavenger hunt. Our outdoor activities for kids has a full list.
• Kite flying. Spring winds are perfect.
• Bug hotel. Fill a box with sticks and leaves for insects.

Spring learning activities

• Plant diary. Measure seedlings every few days and draw what you see.
• Life cycles. Learn about caterpillars turning into butterflies and tadpoles turning into frogs.
• Weather chart. Record sun, rain and wind each day.
• Spring worksheets. Practise counting and reading with spring pictures, such as our Easter worksheets.
• Spring words. Write a list of spring words and use them in sentences.

Easy spring crafts for kids by age

Toddlers

Handprint tulips, cupcake liner flowers, sticking cotton wool on a lamb and coloring big flowers. Keep it short and messy.

Preschool

Coffee filter butterflies, paper plate rainbows, egg carton chicks and planting seeds in cups.

School age

Tissue paper flowers, bug hotels, life cycle posters, origami tulips and pressed flower cards.

Spring holidays

Spring is full of celebrations that come with their own crafts: St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Earth Day and Mother's Day. See St. Patrick's Day crafts, Easter activities for kids and Mother's Day crafts.

Making a spring display

Collect everyone's crafts and make a spring wall or window display. Add a paper sun, clouds, a rainbow and flowers along the bottom, then hang butterflies and birds from string. Change it as spring turns to summer.

Spring crafts using nature

Spring walks are full of free craft materials. Collect fallen petals, leaves, twigs and grass, and bring them home to create.

• Petal pictures. Glue fallen petals onto paper to make flowers, butterflies or patterns.
• Nature crowns. Tape leaves and flowers onto a strip of card for a spring crown.
• Twig frames. Glue four twigs into a square and decorate with leaves.
• Leaf prints. Paint the back of a leaf and press it onto paper.
• Pressed flowers. Press flowers between sheets of paper in a heavy book for a week, then use them on cards and bookmarks.
• Grass heads. Fill a stocking with soil and grass seed, draw a face and watch the "hair" grow.

Always pick only fallen materials or ask permission, and leave plenty for bees and other wildlife.

Spring crafts with recycled materials

Save yogurt pots, egg cartons, bottle tops and cardboard tubes. Yogurt pots make great seed starters, bottle tops become flower centers, and cardboard tubes turn into birds, bunnies and binoculars for bird watching. Recycled crafts are cheap, and they help children learn about looking after the planet, perfect for Earth Day in April.

Spring crafts for the classroom

For a class, choose crafts with few steps and quick drying times, such as cupcake liner flowers, coffee filter butterflies and colored pages. Display them together on a "spring garden" wall so every child's work is part of one big picture.

Tips for spring crafting

Spring crafts often involve paint, water and soil, so work outside when the weather allows. Keep old T-shirts as craft smocks, have a bucket of soapy water ready for hands and brushes, and lay crafts flat in the sun to dry. Take photos of nature crafts before the petals wilt, so children can keep them forever.

Frequently asked questions

What are easy spring crafts for preschoolers?

Coffee filter butterflies, cupcake liner flowers, paper plate rainbows and egg carton chicks are all easy and use simple supplies.

What can kids do outside in spring?

Spring walks, planting seeds, puddle jumping, kite flying, bug hunts and making bird feeders are all great spring activities.

Are your spring coloring pages free?

Yes. Our flower, butterfly, rainbow and Easter pages are free to print for your family or classroom.