10 simple and cheap Montessori crafts 2026

Making crafts is not only a recreational activity for children, they are also a great help with concentration, attention, memory, increases the fluidity of their thinking, encourages imagination and creativity, in addition to allowing greater development of fine motor skills. In addition, children who practice crafts also develop greater manual skills.

Sometimes we think that giving them a blank sheet of paper and letting them doodle on it is just to keep them entertained, but it has a great benefit, for example, they can express their feelings, they can even communicate with us through what they do on that blank sheet of paper. Children's drawings can say a lot about their personality.

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There are crafts for different ages and different rates of development. With them we can spend a pleasant time as a family (not only are they great entertainment for children, they also allow adults to disconnect and relax) or the child can do them individually.

The Montessori method has as one of its maxims to encourage the child's curiosity, stimulate their senses so that each child can decide and is given the opportunity to follow a learning method that satisfies their innate curiosity. Creativity, imagination, stimulation... are basic pillars of this alternative pedagogy that requires that children be offered a wide range of activities with which to encourage the inner impulses of each child.

The benefits of crafts for children are very numerous, but we can summarize them in three great advantages: the child will concentrate, learn and have fun.

These 10 Montessorinos crafts will allow children to carry out a fun and simple activity, in addition, they will experiment and learn to use different techniques. We must always keep in mind that adult supervision is important so that they are carried out safely and without risks for children. Take note and get to work!

Almudena Palacios, primary school teacher, anthropologist and family educator in Positive Discipline. Author of the blog LivingMontessori.

colored water

A good activity is forming colors from primary colors and experimenting with whether water can go upwards, as happens with water transport in plants. To make this craft we need:

- Materials: 6 glass jars of the same size, kitchen paper, water and red, blue and yellow food coloring.

- Instructions: fill three jars with water halfway and mix a colorant in each one, we put them in a circle and between each glass with colorant, we place an empty jar in the middle. We fold the kitchen paper, two pieces, into four parts lengthwise, we put one end in the jar with water and coloring, for example, red and the other end in the empty glass, we take another piece of paper, we repeat the same operation and we put one end in the same empty jar and the other in the yellow coloring, for example. In this way we will see how the empty jar begins to fill with orange water.

colored stones

Another perfect activity to encourage children's creativity is colored stones. To make this craft we need:

- Materials: flat stones, we can collect them from nature or they can also be found in garden stores. Markers or acrylic paint.

- Instructions: wash the stones with soap, even brush them. Dry them well. Make a sketch with pencil so that it looks as good as possible. Then, with the material you want (marker or acrylic paint), paint them and decorate. Let them dry well and varnish them. Now we can have a good time inventing stories, stories, legends...!

Cardboard puzzle

Another perfect craft to do as a family or for the little ones to do alone are puzzles with cardboard and photos. For this we need:

- Materials: photos, cardboard, scissors and glue.

- Instructions: stick the chosen photos on the cardboard, this way it will last longer. Cut into as many pieces as we want and each piece in the way we want. We must always take into account the age of the child who is going to use it, the older they are, the more pieces and the greater the difficulty in fitting them together.

homemade plasticine

What if we make homemade plasticine? This activity is very entertaining and the little ones have a great time playing with plasticine. To get to work we need:

- Materials: 4 teaspoons of oil, 2 cups flour, 1 cup of water and 1 cup of salt. Food coloring.

- Instructions: We mix all the previous ingredients. We make balls and add food coloring to give them different colors, we cover it with film or put it in a container, add a little flour, so it doesn't stick. The fun thing is that you can bake it (always have an adult do it) and they harden, so they last forever.

strips of paper

Do you remember how fun it was to cut out paper and make shapes? We propose the following activity:

- Materials: A tray with round-tipped scissors and strips of paper with series of different shapes and sizes.

- Instructions: Take the scissors and cut the strips of paper on top of the tray. In this way, the child will learn to use scissors by cutting out different shapes.

photo frame

Surely more than one of you still remembers the photo frame he made for his parents when he was little. The truth is that children usually like this activity a lot and it greatly stimulates their creativity. We need:

- Materials: two pieces of cardboard 19

- Instructions: One of the 19 With the last cardboard we form a prism and support it vertically, behind the frame we glue it and that will be the support of the photo frame.

Pop art paintings

Pop art paintings are colorful, original and very striking. The little ones really enjoy making them!

- Materials: canvas or board, photocopy on cardboard of the chosen photo, paints and varnish.

- Instructions: I recommend that the photocopy be larger than the canvas, so that it can be cut once glued. We paint the outline of the photo with the color we choose, then we color the photo, in an intense color that contrasts with the background. When it dries we can put varnish on it. We can do this several times with the same photo by changing the colors, then we will put the pictures together.

geometric figures

Geometric figures can provide a lot of play to stimulate children's imagination and ingenuity! This simple craft is very useful:

- Materials: Tempera colors, canvas, toilet paper rolls.

- Instructions: we shape the toilet paper rolls into geometric figures, since these will serve as a seal. Next, the colored temperas are poured onto a plate. We can use the rolls as a stamp and with them we make a composition on the canvas.

Discovering fossils!

Attention, we have found a fossil! You are going to love this fun craft:

- Materials: container with water, objects, toy animals or whatever we want to put in the water, excavation kit (with magnifying glass, brush and chisel), hot water (without burning), a tray and salt.

- Instructions: put all the objects or toys in the container with water (we can also make several containers) and put it in the freezer for a couple of days. When we want to use it, we take it out a few minutes before to be able to remove the ice block from the container. We present the child with a tray with the ice block, a bowl with hot water without burning, another small bowl with salt and, finally, we put the digging tools. Go for the fossil!

We paint with the body

Children love to paint, but...what if we use our bodies to do it? Fun is guaranteed!

- Materials: the largest white paper we can find and colored temperas.

- Instructions: Children of all ages like this activity, because they can use parts of their body such as feet, hands, fingers, knees, elbows, arms... they have a great time. We put the paper on the floor or on the wall, we can pour the temperas into a plate to make it easier to pick up the paint and have fun!