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Screen-Free Summer Week 2: Get creative for Make-It Week
For week 2 of Screen-Free Summer, raid the recycling and challenge your family to make something imaginative from materials you already have at home.
- Emily Longman Wall
Published: July 27, 2026 at 12:27 PM
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Welcome back to Screen-Free Summer!
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This week, it’s time to swap screen time for make time and turn everyday bits and bobs into something brilliant.
Make-It Week is all about using your imagination – not buying a long list of craft supplies. Save a few clean items from your recycling or look through the cupboards, then see what your family can create together.
Screen-free summer week 2 challenge: Make-It Week!
Pic: Getty
Create something using materials you already have at home. It can be useful, decorative, silly, spectacular or completely impossible to explain – there are no right answers.
Cardboard boxes, toilet-roll tubes, clean packaging, paper, old socks, string, tape and scraps of fabric can all become raw materials. Just make sure everything is clean, safe and suitable for your child’s age, and supervise scissors, glue and small parts.
Easy ideas to get you started
- Turn cardboard tubes into binoculars, rockets or animals.
- Make a puppet from an old sock or paper bag.
- Transform a delivery box into a castle, car, robot or doll’s house.
- Paint stones to create ladybirds, monsters or story characters.
- Make a crown, mask or pair of wings from card.
- Build a musical instrument using a box, tube or sealed container.
- Invent a game, then make all the pieces and write your own rules.
Let children lead the way
Try beginning with the materials rather than a finished example. Ask: ‘What could this become?’ Children may come up with something far more inventive than the original plan – and experimenting is part of the fun.
Adults can help with tricky cutting or joining, but the creation doesn’t need to look polished. Make-It Week is about enjoying the process, solving little problems together and giving children space to follow their ideas.
Need more craft inspiration?
Browse our collection of more than 30 easy crafts for children of different ages — you can use the ideas as a starting point, then adapt them to whatever you already have.
How to enter the week 2 prize draw
When your masterpiece is complete, take a photo of your invention, then upload it and tag us @madeformums and use #MFMScreenFreeSummer.
Every valid entry will go into the draw to win a family activity prize. We’d especially love to see creativity, teamwork, screen-free fun and families making memories together. Terms & Conditions apply.
Gather a few everyday materials, clear a little space and see where your family’s imagination takes you. We can’t wait to see what you invent.
Pic: Getty
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Authors
Emily Longman WallDigital Content Producer
Emily is the Digital Content Producer at MadeForMums and creates editorial and video content across the brand. She also edits the weekly editorial newsletter, oversees our reviews process and loves creating our craft articles and videos. She specialises predominantly in car seats and pushchairs, and has yet to meet a buggy she couldn’t fold! With a 1st class degree in History, she always researches topics thoroughly to find the best recommendations for parents.
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