A rainy Sunday activity: Handmade cards

Whether it’s a half term holiday or a quiet weekend at home, having to entertain your kids during the wet weather is inevitable. Take their eyes from the telly and get their creative juices flowing and challenge them to produce some hand-made cards for everything from their friend’s birthday to Mother’s Day.

This is a fun and easy task for kids of any age, so it’s time to stock up on glitter glue and get ready to create some crazy cards!

Getting crafty and making your own cards can be very rewarding, and seeing someone open one up that you made with your own fair hands, can be quite the pick-me-up.

Here are four materials to get them started:

Finger paints

Whether your infants use their fingertips to dab their card to decoration, or swipe a smile upon their stick person’s face, they are bound to have loads of fun getting messy – and creative at the same time

Tracing paper

As well as guaranteeing your card design is in proportion, tracing paper makes a great material on the finished card itself! Encourage your kids to trace anything and everything in the search for the perfect design.

Willowday offer an awesome tutorial on how to make super-clever tracing paper leaf cards, which are layered with tracing paper and fallen autumn leaves.

Watercolours

If your kids are a little older and want to try their hand at painting, just with a little bit more guidance, these stencilled watercolours make a fine addition to any artist’s toolbox. Mad in Crafts offer a number of designs, so that even the most heavy-handed paintbrush wielder can paint intricate cards with ease.

Stamps

Want to start your own production line of imagination? Let your child choose their favourite animal, for example, and they can make as many cards as they wish! Each design can then be personalised by adding glitter, sticking felt and felt tip pen to each one. For example, let your kids add multiple leads, various toys and different faces onto their dog stamp cards.

Looking for some inspiration or fancy getting some handmade cards for yourself? Fair trade retailers, such as Traidcraft, offer a poverty-fighting selection which is ideal for giving to your friends and family whatever the occasion.