Looking for some fun ways to celebrate the Mid Autumn Festival with the kids? Why not try these fun and easy arts and crafts, from making your own mooncake boxes to creating your own paper lanterns!
The Mid-Autumn Festival is nearly upon us (17 September 2024), and we love visiting Chinatown to see the lights and lanterns and eating all the different flavoured mooncakes. Why not really get into the spirit of the festival by having some Mid-Autumn arts and crafts fun at home? Decorate lanterns (or make your own!), create mooncake stamps and jelly treats, or make your own bunny-themed mooncake boxes to really wow the relatives when you share treats at the reunion!
Mid-Autumn Festival art and crafts to make with the kids
1. Make your own Mooncake boxes
What’s more fun than indulging in a mooncake? Receiving them in a super cute homemade mooncake box! These cardboard mooncake boxes are super simple to make and add a personal touch to sharing a mooncake with friends and family.
2. Pebble bunny paper weights
Here’s what you’ll need: a big pebble, acrylic paint, marker pens, felt cloth/paper, a mini pompom, glue, scissors, and a paintbrush.
Now, let’s get creative: Start with some smooth pebbles and give them a coat of white acrylic paint. Let those dry out completely. Once they’re ready, use marker pens to draw a cute bunny face on each one. Next up, grab a piece of felt cloth and cut out bunny ears. Stick those onto the pebbles with some trusty glue. And for the finishing touch, glue a little pompom on the back for the bunny’s tail. Voila! You’ve just crafted your very own Mid-Autumn bunny paperweight.
3. Decorate a lantern and light up your home
Plain paper lanterns are available by the dozens at many stationery stores across town. All you need to do is pick up a bunch, and let the kids go crazy with the paints. Finally add a battery-powered tea light candle (available from Daiso or IKEA) for a glittering at-home lantern display sure to jazz up any garden, condo balcony, or even your kid’s bedroom. You could also make your own lanterns from scratch using just coloured paper – there are also loads of YouTube tutorials on how to do this, and the results can be really pretty!
4. Paper mooncakes
This easy-peasy craft looks super cute and can be made in a jiffy. All you need are a few sheets of paper, a round form to draw neat circles, and sketch pens to fill in the details. To start, lightly draw neat circles with a pencil using your circular form as a reference. Cut out the circles and begin sketching Mid-Autumn motifs with sketch pens. Add the finishing touches with color and glitter, and your paper mooncakes are all set for the festivities! Want to jazz up your paper mooncake with a heartfelt message? Check this video above for all the deets!
5. Or try these animal lanterns complete with LED lights!
If your kids love paint-by-numbers, put their skills to good use with this animal lantern craft kit from Shopee. It has everything you need to create an owl or a fish. Best bit: they light up! So sparkly. And they only cost $8.90 – bargain!
6. Eco-friendly lantern
Time to get your eco groove on this Mid-Autumn festival! Round up the crew for a super fun and planet-friendly project, courtesy of NParks SG. And guess what? The kiddos are in for a leaf-picking adventure as they whip up their own awesome DIY lanterns.
7. Mid-Autumn 3D wall poster
Here’s what you’ll need for this fun project: a large blank poster sheet, those random scraps of gift paper that always seem to hang around the house, a trusty black marker, some glue, and of course, a pair of scissors.
Now, let’s dive in: Start by hunting down any of those leftover scraps of gift wrapping paper you can find at home. Make sure they’re in a rectangular shape. Take each piece of wrapping paper and give it a simple paper-fan fold, back and forth. Once you’ve got those folds going, open them up and stick the wrapping paper onto your big poster sheet. This will make it look like a bunch of lanterns. Finally, add your personal touch – you can sprinkle some glitter or grab that marker to draw some cool decorative details. And voila, you’re all set!
8. Get out the mooncake moulds and make your own stamps
Stamping is fun at any time (just ask our kids!). Why not add a Mid-Autumn theme with mooncake designs, patterns and prints? Dip your mooncake press into fabric paint and decorate your own t-shirt or tote bag to make a keepsake or gift with a personal touch! This technique is also great for the kids to churn out pretty greeting cards for the season. You can pick up supplies for this, including paint and tote bags, at Spotlight. Happy stamping!
9. Mooncakes or Moonjelly?
This one isn’t arty, but it is delicious… Mooncake moulds can also come in handy for treats other than mooncakes! Fill the moulds with jelly mixture, pop them in the fridge overnight, pop them out, and you’ll have a sweet treat for the kids this Mid-Autumn Festival!
10. Moon phases craft
Why not give your family’s Mid-Autumn craft a little educational twist this year? It’s a piece of cake, and all you need are some paper, yarn, glue, and scissors. Let’s jump into the fascinating world of moon-phase magic! After all, the Mid-Autumn festival’s date is all about those lunar phases on the calendar.
Best get crafting! Happy Mid-Autumn festival!
