10 crafts to do with a sponge

We love a good craft activity – especially one that can be done with items you find under the kitchen sink! From painting to play, here are 10 creative ways you can use those unneeded sponges for a fun craft activity with the children.

Glitter sponge cakes

You won’t want to take a bite out of this kind of sponge cake, but they are the perfect addition to creative play! With colourful layers, paint and felt icing and pom pom toppings, these sponge cakes look just like the real thing. They’re also so easy to make, only requiring a bit of glue, paint, decorations and, of course, sponge.

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Sponge flowers

Valentine’s Day may have been and gone, but you can still give someone a beautiful bouquet of flowers with this sponge craft! We love that you can make them in any colour you like using a sheet of sponge – perfect for your child’s creative play, decorating a cake or gift with or simply putting on display in your home.

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Sponge sailboat

The perfect activity for a summer or spring day, this craft is also incredibly easy to make! All you’ll need is some paper, a skewer and a bit of sponge. Your children can make a fleet of their own sponge sailboats to race down storm drains or, when the weather is less than favourable, float around in the bath.

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SpongeBob

We couldn’t leave everyone’s favourite sponge off this list, could we?! Using different coloured paper, a pen, some glue and a sponge, you can craft your very own SpongeBob in a matter of minutes. Cut out the necessary pieces yourself for your child to stick on, or let them do it – the result will be a lot of fun either way!

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Butterfly sponge printing

This is the perfect painting activity for toddlers as it requires minimal skill or set up and maximum fun! Simply tie an elastic band around the centre of a rectangular sponge, squeeze some paint onto the sponge and let your child stamp it down on a blank piece of paper. Within seconds, they’ve made a beautiful butterfly print!

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Leaf sponge printing

While you’re at it, why not cut other shapes out of a sponge for more printing fun? This particular craft from ‘The Best Ideas for Kids’ shows you how to make an autumnal leaf print, and we love the added detail of squeezing some hot glue or puffy paint onto the leaves to add more detail.

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Sponge tower

Building towers is a lot of fun, but for children with sensory issues, it can be a frighteningly noisy activity. Enter: silent blocks – AKA, sponges! All you’ll need to do is cut sponges into rectangular blocks of varying sizes, then let your little one loose creating their very own buildings.

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Sponge ball

Now this one is a lot of fun! Water balloons promise endless entertainment, but they’re not the most sustainable thanks to their single-use nature. Enter: sponge ball. This genius craft only requires sponges and some string or elastic and allows the balls to be ‘refilled’ in seconds – no balloons required.

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Sprout sponge houses

This craft idea allows you to use up your spare sponges and also teach your children about plants – a win, win in our books! You’ll need some dish sponges, grass seed, a pen and some scissors, as well as some sort of tray to build your sponge house upon. Once it’s assembled, your children will love watching the grass grow day after day.

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Sponge toys

Whether it’s time for a bath or to clean the dishes, your child will be a lot more excited thanks to these adorable sponge toys! Who knew adding a cute face with googly eyes and pipe cleaner to a standard sponge could make cleaning up so much more appealing?

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