Finally, summer is here in all of it’s glory, and for this stay at home mom it is the absolute best time of the year! It means time with both my kids, the freedom to play all day, late nights, snuggles and sleeping in. I am relishing the opportunity to have my little lovlies with me all day again. Along with having them home all day comes the responsibility of keeping them busy, entertained, and creatively teaching them throughout the summer months. We use our summer fun list as a guideline for things we wan to do, explore, and learn more about each summer. Here is one of our summer fun activities that lets the kids get crafty and then wear their artwork proudly! A few supplies and a plain white shirt are all you to allow your kids to make their own play shirts for the summer!
They may not be perfect looking to you, but to these two kids they are as perfect as can be! Shirts designed and created with the utmost care by little hands are the perfect sleep or play shirts that they will love to wear all summer long! Not only will the kids have a blast making and decorating their own shirts, but they get to show of their artwork by wearing it whenever they want!
To make these shirts we started with a few simple supplies.
- Plain white shirts (one per child)
- fabric markers
- Puffy paint
- thick piece of cardboard (one per child)
I just purchased a package of boys undershirts that came in a package of 4 or 5. They are pretty inexpensive, and perfect as a simple blank canvas for the kids to work with. They make great comfy shirts for the kids for sleeping in, playing in, or as great smocks for them to wear doing other crafts.
Lay the shirts out flat on the table and iron if desired. Then insert the piece of cardboard inside the shirt so the kids have a nice sturdy place to write and draw. This also saves the colors from running and bleeding through to the other side of the shirt. Let’s face it – kids will be kids – and you know they will squeeze have a bottle of paint onto one square inch of the shirt just for fun!
Now let the kids get creative and decorate their shirt however they see fit! You will love seeing what they come up with, and they will get the freedom to create whatever they think up.
You will end up with some pretty fantastic little shirts that the kids will not be able to wait to wear! My favorite part of these shirts was the little necklace that my daughter decided she needed around the collar of hers. Pretty cute!
This little project was a ht, and they were ever so proud to show off their shirts throughout the summer months last year! They enjoyed their shirts so much, that I think we just might have to do it again this summer. Each summer we make some kind of short for them to wear – it is a cool way to commemorate each and every summer together.