This post for DIY Craft Bin for Boys with STEM focus contains affiliate links and the views expressed here are 100% my own.
Crafts for kids are a great hobby and past-time. My boys love to make crafts, but only certain types of crafts. My DIY Craft Bin for Boys ages 7-11 is perfect for boys, or girls, who like to make crafts with more of a STEM focus. One of my sons is constantly creating inventions and crafts. He always makes a giant mess and I call him my tornado mad-scientist kid who loves all things STEM and science. I often come into my kitchen to find a crazy mess from his time working on a craft project. For a chuckle, see my pictures below to see some messes I’ve found in my kitchen.
My son makes creative inventions. He makes homemade stress balls, bow and arrows, stick shooters, cheese ball shooters, homemade clay, and much more. My corn starch, flour, tape, paper clips, rubber bands, and food coloring supplies get consumed on a monthly basis as he creates in a whirlwind of activity. Though he makes a mess with his inventions, I would never stifle his creativity. He’s learning how to create, how to manipulate his hands, and about physical properties as he does trial and error attempts with his creations.
I created DIY Craft Bin for my gifts to give my kids this Christmas as a gift. The craft bin includes all the things my son often likes to use and its contents will be all his own supplies contained in his own bin. I used a scrapbook case from Michael’s to hold and store all of his creating supplies. He will have organization and easy access to his craft supplies because I used a toddler snack container with a close-able lid and a scrap book photo case for wooden sticks and clothespins.
I visited my local Michael’s craft store and Target to purchase the supplies for the craft bins. Two of my sons are into making crafts so I made two bins and split some of the supplies between the two bins. I made two bins for my kids each coming in at just under $34.00 which I think is a good price for a gift considering it encourages creativity and free thinking.
Components of the DIY Craft Bin for Boys Ages 7-11:
- Wire $1.99 (Michael’s)
- Scrapbook case bin $5.99 (Michael’s) Iris brand
- Photo container case $1.19 (Michael’s) Iris brand
- Pipe cleaners $1.50 (Michael’s, $2.99 package split in two for 2 bins)
- Wooden craft sticks $2.00 (Michael’s, $3.99 package split in two for 2 bins)
- Wooden small clothespins $1.75 (Michael’s, $3.49 package split in two for 2 bins)
- Toddler snack container with lid $0.99 (Target)
- Mounting putty $1.89 (Target)
- Scotch tape $2.79 (Target)
- Balloons $1.00 (Target, $1.99 package split in two for 2 bins)
- Rubber bands $0.25 (Target, $0.49 package spit in two for 2 bins)
- Paper clips $2.19 (Target)
- Masking tape $2.49 (Target)
- Duck tape colored $3.47 (Target)
- Super glue $1.25 (Target, $2.49 package split in two for 2 bins)
- School glue $0.99 (Target)
- Total = $31.73 + tax per your state
Other potential ideas I have to add to the bin include:
- a hot glue gun with glue sticks (we already have one so I didn’t include it here)
- box of corn starch
- food coloring
- scissors
- paper
- large clothespins
- felt pieces
- wooden blocks or beads
- silly putty
- flour
- pens or other utensils
- liquid starch
Why I chose these components:
The awesome thing about using scrapbook bins for the DIY Craft Bins is they can be stacked on top of each other for easy storage. They lock together and are meant to be stack-able so they are made to not slip off.
Crafts with a science or STEM focus are the kind of crafts my boys enjoy which lead me to make this DIY Craft Bin. My two sons will enjoy opening these gifts up on Christmas and I know they will dig right in with making crafts. I have based this list on what my son loves to use in his creating.
Writing utensils may be used for writing, or for parts at our house. He has also been known to chop up pens for parts. The springs in the pens are a particular favorite of his as is the plastic tube of the pen body.
Some Supplies Available Online:
Here are some similar components of the DIY Craft Bin I made. I used the Iris brand bins (4 pack shown below) and shopped at my local Michael’s craft store and Target. These are affiliate links. These views in this post are 100% my own. Please see my disclaimer page for details.
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Very informative and useful tips with excellent presentation. Looking forward to lots more articles. Thanks for sharing ideas and such informative article.
Thank you! I hope you found it helpful and all enjoy!