Need some inexpensive ideas for your classroom? Buy a jumbo box of wood craft sticks, because we’ve got lots of cool projects and crafts for you to try! From reading, writing, and arithmetic to classroom management and fun crafts, this list has it all.
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1. Start the year with a craft sticks school bus.
This cute and simple craft is perfect for the first day of school! Glue a student’s picture to the bus and write their name beneath.
Learn more: Glued To My Crafts
2. Manage your classroom with flip sticks.
This simple trick will help you in a million ways. Color craft sticks so that each end is different (the watermelon sticks here are so cute!) and add student names. Then, use them for attendance, class participation, and more by simply flipping the stick as each student completes the task.
Learn more: Inspired Elementary
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3. Craft a clever catapult.
Here’s a fun STEM challenge: Build a catapult with craft sticks and see what objects fly the farthest!
Learn more: Little Bins for Little Hands
4. Play with finger puppets.
Use some paint and a few basic accessories to create all kinds of animals for creative classroom fun.
Learn more: Crafts by Amanda
5. Make mess-free sidewalk-chalk pops.
Sidewalk chalk is a blast, but it can leave little hands messy. Use tempera paint and plaster of Paris to make your own chalk pops instead.
Learn more: Project Nursery
6. Turn craft sticks into reading pointers.
Help young readers keep their eye on the page with sparkly magic wand reading pointers!
Learn more: Creative Family Fun
7. Take a brain break.
Sometimes kids need to get up and move so they can refocus on the task at hand. Give them options with brain break sticks.
Learn more: Tickled Pink in Primary
8. Introduce them to Kaboom!
Here’s an easy game that can be adapted for so many lessons. Write math facts, sight words, vocabulary terms, or whatever else you’re working on right now on one end of the craft sticks. Add several that say “Kaboom!” Kids draw a stick and answer the question. If they get it right, they keep the stick. When someone draws Kaboom!, that student places all their sticks back in the jar and starts from zero. Kids love it!
Learn more: Teaching With Jillian Starr
9. Add pom-poms to craft sticks.
Kids will love constructing letters from craft sticks and adding lots of pom-poms for color.
Learn more: Homeschool Junkie/Instagram
10. Feed the birds.
Construct this simple feeder (with or without the roof) and hang it outside your classroom window to see who comes to visit!
Learn more: Do Crafts
11. Learn the days of the week.
This activity works well for anything kids need to practice putting in order: days of the week, months of the year, presidents of the United States … you get the idea.
Learn more: Teach Me Mommy
12. Create craft stick bookmarks.
These cute flower bookmarks are fun for kids to use, plus they make great take-home gifts. Use craft foam for the hands so they’ll last longer.
Learn more: Darice
13. Make a marble maze.
What a fun STEM challenge: Create a marble maze from cardboard and craft sticks! (Aren’t recycling crafts and projects the best?)
Learn more: Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls
14. Match up sight word puzzles.
We love this fun way to work on sight words. Line up two craft sticks and write a sight word across them both. Then mix them all up and ask kids to match them.
Learn more: And Next Comes L
15. Challenge your fast finishers.
Every class has kids who finish before others. Keep them busy and productive with fun learning tasks they can pull from a jar. (Visit the site below for lots of terrific ideas.)
Learn more: A Love 4 Teaching
16. Put together a craft sticks puzzle.
If you’re a bit of an artist, you can draw or paint your own pictures on these DIY puzzles. For the rest of us, printed images and some Mod Podge are all you need!
Learn more: Motherhood on a Dime
17. Turn craft sticks into building tools.
Add adhesive Velcro dots to colorful craft sticks for an inexpensive way to spark creativity.
Learn more: Powerful Mothering
18. Make DIY word dominoes.
Write CVC sight words on either side of a craft stick. Then set the rules: Match up starting letters, ending letters, vowels, rhyming words … there are lots of options.
Learn more: Nurture Store
19. Knit a yarn snake.
Who knew you could use craft sticks and a toilet paper tube to knit? Learn how at the link.
Learn more: Repeat Crafter Me
20. Practice math facts with addition craft sticks.
This homemade math manipulative gives little fingers some fine-motor-skills practice too. Mini clothespins + craft sticks = fun and learning!
Learn more: Planning Playtime
21. Craft a wind chime.
Shimmering beads that catch the sun make this simple kid’s craft extra pretty. Get the how-to at the link.
Learn more: It’s Simple
22. Float a craft sticks boat.
Build a simple boat of craft sticks that really floats! Turn this into a STEM challenge by having kids experiment with the size of the sails or the shape of the boat to see who can win a race.
Learn more: Inspiration Made Simple
23. Construct 2-D and 3-D figures.
Give kids Play-Doh and craft sticks and challenge them to create various geometric shapes. Find free printables at the link. (Love Play-Doh? Click here for more ways to use it in the classroom.)
Learn more: The Stem Laboratory
24. Practice writing with sentence sticks.
This is a fun way to sneak in some quick writing practice. Get free printables at the link.
Learn more: Liz’s Early Learning Spot
25. Make a mini hockey game.
This adorable mini hockey set would be perfect for rainy day recess activities!
Learn more: Today’s Parent
26. Weave a baby turtle.
We adore this spin on the classic god’s eye weaving craft. It’s a fun way to use up odds and ends of yarn, too.
Learn more: Pink Stripey Socks
Teachers love bargains, so here are more than 100 Dollar Store Hacks to try next!
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