Craft supplies for boys — cool, creative and truly home-made

At five or six, a boy mostly wants to do things himself. With Makedo he builds a car or a robot out of cardboard, with tie-dye a white T-shirt becomes his own design, and with Djeco he decorates three rockets with mosaic. Or cast and paint your own mythical creatures in plaster. Join in the first few times.

Around eight, it can get more technical and precise. With a real fretsaw he cuts his own shapes out of wood, with HABA’s Terra Kids Connectors he builds with branches, he puts together his own kaleidoscope, and with the book Paracord kids he knots cool bracelets. Doing experiments or painting a mug becomes fun now too.

For many boys, building is the best kind of crafting. With Makedo, reusable screws and a safe cardboard saw, you turn a moving box into a car, a rocket or a den. Or get going with wood: building with branches using HABA’s Connectors, a 3D kit from MakeBug or a birdhouse to make yourself.

Boys like making necklaces and bracelets too, as long as the colours are right. With paracord, the strong rope of cool knotted bracelets, and the book Paracord kids you learn the knots. Prefer beads? Choose smileys or katsuki surf beads in cool shades, and put your name or your club on your wrist with letter beads.

Shrink plastic is magic: you draw a design on the plastic, cut it out and in the oven it shrinks into a sturdy little figure. With the pirate set you make a key ring in no time, and glow-in-the-dark plastic lights up in the dark. Punch a hole for the ring before baking and let an adult do the oven work. Ideas on Pinterest.

With tie-dye, a white T-shirt or a cotton bag becomes their own design: knot, dye, let it soak in and rinse. Prefer drawing? With fabric pens you draw straight onto the fabric; do put a piece of cardboard inside the shirt. ⚠️ Fabric paint and fabric pens won’t come out of your clothes: wear old clothes and cover the table.

Modelling clay works at any age. Cast a dinosaur in plaster or model one from air-dry clay such as Darwi, and paint it once it’s dry: that’s the cool part. Real modelling clay and salt dough are the most sustainable choice. You make salt dough yourself from 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt and about 1 cup of water.

A mug you painted yourself is one your child uses every day, or proudly gives away. Take a white porcelain mug and porcelain pens or paint that you bake in the oven, such as the Edding 4200. Only draw on the outside, leave 2 cm below the rim free, and let an adult bake it as the pack says.

Crafting you can eat afterwards: decorating biscuits or cupcakes. With royal icing, fondant, an edible pen and candy eyes you make monsters, footballs or a spaceship. Great for a kids’ party too. Inspiration on Pinterest.

Don’t throw away empty toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and egg boxes: they become a rocket, a crocodile or a castle. Put it together with children’s scissors, glue and coloured card, then give it a makeover with paint, googly eyes and the drawers of the Panduro Craft Box. Loads of ideas on Pinterest.

In autumn, the craft supplies are simply lying in the street. Collect leaves, acorns and conkers: with a conker drill you thread a conker figure, and with a flower press you keep the prettiest leaves and flowers. The book about natural materials is full of ideas, and there are more on Pinterest.

Sustainable crafting starts with what you already have, as in the blocks about rubbish and nature. If you buy something, choose for example PlayMais (made of maize), Grennn cutters (made of recycled sawdust), felted wool instead of acrylic pompoms, or turn old paper into new paper with Science4you. Read more in sustainable gifting.

Pixelhobby and Ministeck both work with small pieces on a board, like an old computer game. Pixelhobby has square pixels and medallions for key rings, and Ministeck is the classic mosaic with little stones. Pick a cool theme: vehicles, dinosaurs or space. With Djeco’s mosaic set you decorate three rockets.

You place ironing beads on a pegboard and iron them together; an adult does the ironing. Hama Midi Bio and SES’s Green Beedz are largely made from sugarcane and PVC-free, and Hama Midi Bio fits the regular Hama pegboards. Nabbi’s BioBeads (made from grains) are used on their own. If you mix brands, iron a test piece first.

A craft book gives ideas for years. Het Knalgoede Knutselboek is full of projects with natural and recycled materials, in 51 dingen om te maken met toiletrollen rubbish becomes a car or a robot, and with 333 origami Kids (from age 6) you fold animals and planes. For outdoors there’s the book about crafting with natural materials. (The books are in Dutch, but the pictures show the way.)