Craft and activity books aren’t just for little kids. These tween activity books are the perfect way to beat boredom for kids ages 8 to 12.
Disclosure: This blog contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, Keri Houchin earns a commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you.
Some of these books were sent to me complimentary from each publisher. All opinions are my own, except the ones that belong to my kids.
Summer starts off perfectly. The kids need a break from school and you need a break too. The lazy days of summer are wonderful. But at some point, not having anything on the schedule turns into boredom. When cabin fever strikes, I’ve got a handful of tween activity books to keep them happy for the rest of summer – and even into the next school year too.
Now that both of my kids are in the middle school age range, they’ve started to outgrow many of the things they loved to do when they were younger. Lucky for me, they still love books. They also enjoy craft and activity books and I’ve found some that are somewhat more challenging.
Our favorite craft, DIY, and art books are ones we can come back to over and over. Most of the projects are fun and some even inspire new creative ideas. While most craft books out there are for younger kids, these tween activity books appeal to kids in middle school and maybe even teens.
Favorite tween activity books
1. Girl Plus Pen: Doodle, Draw, Color, and Express Your Individual Style
by Stephanie Corfee
About the book: Be inspired to draw with a pen, make mistakes, and embrace your quirks and imperfections. This art journal encourages users to let the drawings flow without worrying about making mistakes. It includes step-by-step drawing tutorials, freeform pages, and prompts to inspire creativity.
My thoughts: This is definitely a more feminine book, as you might guess by the title. The pages are filled with pastel watercolor illustrations and many the tutorials are flowers, unicorns, and other stereotypical “teen girl” doodles. While my tween gushed over the book when it arrived, she was initially afraid to “mess it up” by drawing in it.
Buy the book on Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
2. Hand Lettering A to Z: A World of Creative Ideas for Drawing and Designing Alphabets
by Abbey Sy
About the book: Learn the basics of hand lettering to create original fonts. It includes an overview of supplies, example alphabets, and inspiration for art projects.
My thoughts: If you haven’t tried hand lettering or don’t love your handwriting, a few fonts in this book might be intimidating. The easier ones, like those that take advantage of a ruler or are drawn on a grid, would be fun for beginners.
From my tween: “I used one of the fonts called Woodpecker (plus the dangles below) to make our DIY game level counter.”
Buy the book on Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
3. Kawaii Doodle Class: Sketching Super-Cute Tacos, Sushi, Clouds, Flowers, Monsters, Cosmetics, and More
by Zainab Khan
About the book: Kawaii is a Japanese word that means cute or adorable. This book shows you how to draw 75 super-cute characters like nature, food, and other inanimate objects with smiling faces.
My thoughts: This is a great beginning drawing book for anyone who loves cute, comic-style art. I used these tutorials to make my kawaii corner bookmarks.
Buy the book on Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
4. The Art of Drawing Dangles: Creating Decorative Letters and Art with Charms
by Olivia A. Kneibler
About the book: Learn a unique and creative way to embellish letters with dangles, which are a combination of zentangles and doodling. Add charms hanging off of alphabet letters and whole words, draw page embellishments, and create mandalas and other shapes. The last chapter includes projects to make using your new dangle artwork.
My thoughts: To be honest, I think I like this book even better than my daughter did. It takes the concept behind adult coloring books and bullet journal doodling and makes it into something easy to learn. The style is relaxing to draw. The step-by-step illustrations make even the complex mandalas look easy enough.
From my tween: “This book is very fun and creative! It shows examples of how to draw letters and shapes, but also shows suggestions on different ways to do it.”
Buy the book on Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
5. Lazy Crafternoon
by Stella Fields
About the book: Have a lazy afternoon making a few dozen crafts with basic craft supplies and everyday household items. The simple, step-by-step instructions and photos are great for tweens and teens.
My thoughts: I had fun doing a couple of these crafts to review for this blog post. They’re the kind of thing you’ll find on your favorite craft blogs and are fun for both kids and adults.
Buy the book on Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
6. Stick Sketch School: Mastering the Art of Stick Figure Critters
by Billy Attinger and Rachel Kochackis
About the book: Learn to draw about 60 animals with a simple stick figure tutorial for each one. This includes a little bit of everything: wildlife, pets, ocean creatures, dinosaurs, and mythical creatures. There is also an ongoing adventure story throughout the book as the author takes the reader on a sort of safari with a mysterious creature to discover at the end.
My thoughts: This reminds me of the Ed Emberley books I loved as a kid. The instructions are simple and anyone can draw a stick figure. The end results actually look like whatever animal you’re trying to draw, which is a big encouragement to kids (and adults) who don’t think they’re good at drawing. Bonus: There are several more books in this series!
From my tween: “This book is easy to follow. I like all the animals, but the dragons are my favorite.”
Buy the book on Amazon.com
7. Rubber Band Engineer: Build Slingshot Powered Rockets, Rubber Band Rifles, Unconventional Catapults, and More Guerrilla Gadgets from Household Hardware
by Lance Akiyama
About the book: Combing everyday household items with lots of rubber bands to make things like slingshots, catapults, pneumatic robots, and helicopters. Each project includes a complete materials list, step-by-step photos, and explanations of physics or engineering when helpful. This is recommended for age 13 or older.
My thoughts: This book uses mostly household items. I’ve come across projects that call for everyday items that I don’t have or worse, don’t know where to buy. This uses materials like popsicle sticks, pencils, hot glue, and masking tape. The projects aren’t simple, though, and probably require some skill and adult supervision for younger teens. Many projects include sawing or drilling into wood. Expect most of the projects to take half an hour or more to complete. This is nice because the result is something that will last a while too.
Buy the book on Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
8. The Star Wars Craft Book
by Bonnie Burton
About the book: Fans of all ages and skill levels can bring the best of the galaxy far, far away right into their own homes with projects for playtime, home decor, holidays, and more.
My thoughts: This book is perfect for people who don’t think they are crafty. Most of these crafts are easy. Kids will love following the basic tutorial for things like the Chewbacca sock puppet and adults can take a simple craft like the R2D2 beanie and make it look great.
Buy the book on Amazon.com
9. The Star Trek Craft Book
by Angie Pedersen
About the book: This includes a collection of 25 unique crafts, including accessories and toys, ideal for enterprising crafters of every skill level.
My thoughts: There are quite a few easy crafts here, but also plenty that could take you hours to complete if you want to go detailed. You’ll find crafts like perler bead art and felt pillow covers – as well as photos and info on the series.
Buy the book on Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
10. Adorable Art Class
by Jesi Rodgers
About the book: Learn how to draw 75 cute plants, animals, food, and silly objects. Each tutorial includes detailed step-by-step drawings in a unique but simple style.
My thoughts: This book is for all ages and I’ll admit, I’ve spent more time drawing these cute illustrations than my kids have. If you follow Jesi on Instagram, you’ll easily recognize her art style. I appreciate that she wrote this book so we can all learn to create the adorable big-eyed creatures she does.
Buy the book on Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Barnes & Noble
I hope you found a few new books that you and your kids want to read! We’ve revisited this collection several times over the years and it’s always fun to grab a craft or drawing book off the shelf for an hour or fun.
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
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