Handmade Crafts for Pre-Teens

While young children are normally content to follow an adult's detailed directions for a craft project, pre-teens often want to be able to work on something that they can personalize to fit their own unique sense of style. Parents should offer suggestions and general safety guidance, but avoid micromanaging a pre-teen's crafting efforts.

  1. Homemade Face Paint

    • Turn those weird eyeshadow colors your pre-teen insisted on buying into fun homemade face paint that she can use for Halloween or her school's themed dress up days. Make face paint by combining two teaspoons cornstarch with one teaspoon water and one teaspoon cold cream. Add a small amount of eyeshadow in the desired color. Store unused face paint in a divided pill container. Apply with a small lip liner makeup brush.

    Crayon Candles

    • If your pre-teen says she's too old to color with her crayons, help her turn them into a colorful jar candle. Superglue a candle wick to the bottom of a clear glass jar. Separate crayons into groups of like colors. Melt each pile separately in your oven at about 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Add a few drops of fragrance oil into the wax if desired. Pour wax into the jar color by color. Wait until the first layer of wax is cool before adding another color.

    Bead Jewelry Mashup

    • Pre-teens who love beaded bracelets and necklaces can have fun improving upon the cheap jewelry they find at dollar stores, thrift stores, or garage sales. Cut the string on the jewelry and dump all of the beads into one large plastic bucket. Let your pre-teen string the beads into new customized creations. Patient pre-teens may even enjoy applying colored nail polish to some of the larger beads or pendants in order to give them an entirely different look.

    Easy Furniture Makeovers

    • Pre-teens often want to celebrate their growing sense of independence by redecorating their bedrooms. If you can't afford new furniture, encourage your pre-teen to think of ways to revamp what is already in her room. A table top can be painted with chalkboard paint to provide a fun surface for doodling. Small stencils can be used to add swirls or flourishes to the drawers of a dresser. Patterned scrapbook paper or wrapping paper can be taped to the back panels of a bookshelf to provide a subtle, yer easily removable, pop of color in the room.

    Scrapbook and Art Journals

    • Scrapbooking is a great hobby for pre-teens because it encourages to them to work on developing their writing skills. If your pre-teen doesn't seem interested in making a traditional scrapbook, however, consider have her start an art journal. Art journals are similar to scrapbooks, but can be decorated with paints, watercolors, markers, or stamps. They also incorporate mementos like ticket stubs from a favorite concert, a pretty postcard from a family vacation, or notes from a close friend.

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