They say that toddlers soak up the world around them and that their brains are developing at the fastest rate they’ll ever be at. With that bit of information, I never want to miss a single moment to help them explore and discover something new.

While letting them free play is great (and necessary), sometimes pastimes call for structured, adult-led activities to help them discover something new and spark some newfound interests. Be sure to subscribe to #JingkidsCrafts for more.

Today’s craft is perfect for springtime. With flowers and trees blossoming all over the place, the city is filled with all sorts of colors again.

The Color Box takes about 20 minutes to make and is surprisingly entertaining for kids to use for a color scavenger hunt in the park.

Here’s what you’ll need:

cardboard box
hot glue gun
paint
markers
toilet paper rolls

To make a Color Box, all you need to do is cut the toilet paper rolls into pieces that’ll fit into your box and paint them. I went with a simple flower design since I was taking my little girl to search for flower petals, but you can do it in any shape you like.

This simple craft was so much fun for my toddler and a great way to practice her colors as well as learn a bit about nature.

Images: Mina Yan

They say that toddlers soak up the world around them and that their brains are developing at the fastest rate they’ll ever be at. With that bit of information, I never want to miss a single moment to help them explore and discover something new.

While letting them free play is great (and necessary), sometimes things call for structured, adult-led activities to help them discover something new and spark some newfound interests. Be sure to subscribe to #JingkidsCrafts for more.

My little girl has discovered how much fun science experiments can be, and one of her favorites is now the volcano. On rainy days when we can’t go outside, she excitedly pulls me to the kitchen table to make her favorite volcano together.

This fun experiment takes very little prep time.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Things You’ll Need for Volcano Experiment for Kids:

• 100 ml of warm water
• 10 ml of dish soap
• 400 ml of white vinegar
• Empty bottle
• Red food coloring (optional)
• Super light molding clay
• Shoe box (to use as the base plate)

Step 1: Start by building your volcano with your empty bottle in the center. The kids can help build the volcano nice and tall and check if their structure is secure by adding more molding clay to the base.

Step 2: Make a baking soda slurry by mixing the baking soda, water, and dish soap. You can add a few drops of red food coloring to give your lava some color. Keep mixing until everything looks completely dissolved.

Step 3: Carefully pour in the vinegar and watch the volcano erupt! I highly recommend building the volcano in a shoe box as it can get super messy.

Want an even easier way to do it? Taobao sells the simplest volcano kit I’ve ever seen. It comes with all the ingredients for the eruption as well as a pre-made volcano if you’d like to skip right to the eruption step. Click on the link below to purchase a kit.

Images: Mina Yan, Taobao

I love crafting with my little girl. Even if what we make isn’t as intricate as the store-bought toys, she seems to love them way more. Maybe it’s because Mommy made them, or maybe it’s because she had a hand in creating them (like her bright red police car). Either way, in this house, we love making our own toys.

Our latest DIY addition is a parking garage for all her cars. I’m a newbie when it comes to DIY crafts and this one is perfect since it doesn’t require any precise measurements. It took way less time than I had expected and watching my toddler come up with all sorts of different ways to play with it makes it time well spent.

This craft takes approximately 40 minutes.

Here’s what you’ll need:
One large cardboard box
Small cardboard pieces
Hot glue gun
Exacto knife & ruler
Tape

Step 1: Cut out a big piece of cardboard.

Step 2: Since your big cardboard piece will most likely have folds, cut out a smaller piece and tape it to the back to reinforce your base piece.

Step 3: Take one long piece of cardboard and split it into four smaller pieces. Roll them into pillars and use tape to secure them.

Step 4: Find a smaller box with sides if you can to make the top part of your parking structure. Cut open half of one side to use for the ramp.

Step 5: Use a pencil to mark where you’ll be putting your pillars and secure them to your base with a hot glue gun.

Step 6: Find a long piece of cardboard and connect it to the top part of your parking structure and to the base. This will be your ramp.

Step 7: Use smaller pieces to add sides to your ramp. Trust me, you’ll need these when your kid starts pushing all their cars down at the same time.

Step 8: Smooth out the bottom of your ramp and secure it to your base with tape. This will help the cars from skipping when they get to the bottom.

Step 9: Then add sides around the entire base to keep the cars from falling off. And voilà, you’re done! Add in some parking space and decorate it however you like.

Pro Tip:
Flatten out those nice kuaidi boxes and keep a stack handy. They’re made from such durable cardboard material and are perfect for DIY crafts at home.

Did you enjoy making this with your kids? Search #jingkidsCrafts for more kitchen table crafting ideas.

Images: Mina Yan