With Step-by-step Instructions

Crafting is an age-old practice that has shown to have a calming effect on the mind and an uplifting effect on the spirit. People who craft regularly swear by its effectiveness in regulating anxiety and stress. This proves to be pretty great for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are looking to expand their skills or navigate a comorbid diagnosis such as depression or anxiety.

We’ve observed the benefits of crafting with our residents in real-time. The sense of community, development of skills, fun chats, enthusiasm, development of motor skills and the joy that the DIY crafts bring people is amazing.

At Stephen’s place, we’re always looking for fresh craft ideas for people with a variety of range-of-motion that all our residents can enjoy together. Whenever we find some we like, it’s hard not to share them with the rest of the world. So here are 4 DIY craft ideas for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

4 DIY Crafts for Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Here are 4 DIY craft ideas for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

1. Rhinestone Flower Pots

What you’ll need:

• Ruler
• Glue
• Rhinestone sheets
• A pair of scissors/craft knife

Steps:

1. Measure the rim of your pot with a ruler.
2. Note down the measurement.
3. Cut out a rhinestone sheet of the same width and length.
4. Apply glue to the back of the rhinestone sheet.
5. Place the sheet and press firmly against the rim of the pot.

2. Giant Perler Bead Decorations

What you’ll need:

• Giant Perler Bead shaped pegboard
• Giant Perler Beads
• Ironing Paper
• Iron
• Bead Tweezers (optional)
• A tray for spreading out a collection of Perler beads on (rather than having to dip into the Perler bead jar every time you’d like to choose a bead)

Steps:

1. Decide on a shape for your pegboard
2. Place each bead onto the peg board.
3. Once the pattern is set, and all the beads are in position, place ironing paper on top of the beads.
4. Iron for a few moments and check to see if the beads have begun to fuse together.
5. Slowly peel the the paper off of the fused beads.
6. Once completely cool, you can take your design off of the pegboard.

3. Decorating Unfinished Bird Houses

What you’ll need:

• Paint brushes
• Paint (in a variety of colors)
• Unfinished wooden birdhouse
• Acrylic sealer
• Decorative items like flags, ribbons, wooden shapes, glitter etc.
• (Optional) hot glue and a hot glue gun to add decorative items

Steps:

1. Paint the birdhouse with the colors you like. You can use a pattern, paint like a house or choose some other design unique to you. 
2. Wait for paint to dry.
3. If needed, paint other decorative items like flags, ribbons etc.
4. Stick the decorative items to your birdhouse.
5. Apply sealer or even varnish to add a polished feel.
6. Wait for it to dry.
7. Place the bird house outside.

4. Popsicle Stick Rainbow Craft

What you’ll need:

• Cotton Balls
• Colored Popsicle Sticks
• Pot
• Toilet Paper Roll
• Glue
• Colored Markers (In case colored sticks are unavailable)

Steps:

1. Place the Popsicle sticks in order of the colors in a rainbow.
2. These will be Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple.
3. *If colored stick were unavailable you will want to color your sticks in these colors beforehand.
4. Apply glue onto the side of the toilet paper roll and onto the side of the sticks that you’ll stick to the roll.
5. Place the sticks onto the tube and wait for the glue to dry.
6. Next, place cotton balls onto the ends of the sticks and glue them firmly.
7. Place your Popsicle rainbow clouds in the pot.

We hope you enjoyed these 4 DIY crafts for you to make with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. For more projects, check out the posts below!