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What do you do with a bored child. Coming up with something better than just turning on the TV or reading Dr. Seuss yet again isn't always easy. What's a mom to do? You could sit down and make a simple craft with your little one. You and your child will both enjoy this special time together and you can both express your creativity. It's a great way for you to spend quality time with your child. Give it a try.

Sock Puppets What do you do with all those single left-over socks whose counterparts were eating by the washing machine or the dryer? You make sock puppets out of them of course. Making puppets is a great craft idea because you get to make a new toy with your child that she will treasure for a long time.

One of the best things about sock puppets is that they allow your child to express herself through the characters she creates with the puppet. The world is a complicated place for your toddler and sometimes it's easier to explore it with a puppet. They are a great way to spark your child's imagination, and of course it is very simple to make them. All you need is a sock, and various crafting supplies to turn it into a puppet. You can use buttons for eyes, or pick up a pack of wiggly eyes at your crafting store. Of course you could also cut them out of felt or scraps of fabric and glue them on. Use leftover yarn for hair and additional pieces of felt or fabric to make clothing, or glue in a tongue. The only limit is your imagination (or that of your child).

Collage A lot of children love to cut things out and use glue.Why not use this to keep your child busy making a collage. All you need are a blank piece of paper, some magazines or other papers with pictures in them (grocery store advertisements work well), scissors, a glue stick and some markers or crayons.

Have your preschooler cut her favorite things out of the magazine pages. Anything she would like to include in the collage goes. Then it's time to glue the cut-outs on blank sheet of paper. The last step is to have her draw and write on the collage with the markers or crayons. Offer to write notes or headlines on the collage for your child. Don't forget to hang the piece of art up when you're all done.

Paperplate Fun We always have paper plates in the house and it is one of the first 'crafting' supplies I grab when I need to come up with an entertaining craft for the kids. Just add some markers, paint, construction paper or crayons and you are ready for a fun project.

Masks are a great paper plate craft. Start by cutting two holes for the eyes, then hand your child some markers, yarn and construction paper and let them turn the paper plate into any mask they'd like. The masks can be turned into animals, favorite cartoon characters or any creature they can dream up.

Of course masks aren't the only thing you can make with a paper plate. How about turning it into a plate of pretend food?Make a spaghetti dish by gluing yarn in a pile on the plate. Cut out a piece of red paper or fabric to make the tomato sauce. Or hand your child a little bit of alphabet cereal and ask them to make a bowl (or better plate) of alphabet soup. Encourage older kids to spell their name or even small sentences.

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