These hot glue projects make the perfect parent child craft for moms and dads and their tween aged kids. Who knew you could make these out of glue! You might also enjoy my hot glue earrings tutorial and this hot glue pencil organizer.

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I’ve always been a fan of hot glue as an easy way to glue things together. But then I went to Creativation earlier this year and realized it’s a fantastic creative medium in its own right! Surebonder generously sent me a glue gun and a bunch of glue to play with after the show. I spent months planning things to make without actually making them! Last week I decided it was time to stop planning and start making. A good friend was in town, and she joined me and the kids in a fantastic hot glue crafting session! Be sure to also check out my hot glue earrings tutorial!

I highly recommend using a low temp hot glue gun if kids are the ones using the hot glue. All of the projects featured in this post can be completed using a low temp glue gun.

Two Awesome Hot Glue Projects for the Kids

If you’re trying out a new craft material (or a new way of using a craft material, like this hot glue project), I highly recommend finding a friend who can join in! It was really fun to experiment different ways to use the hot glue I was sent, and both my friend and the kids inspired a few ways of playing with glue that I would not have come up with on my own.

Hot Glue Project #1: Necklace and Bracelet Charms

My friend Gwen and I spent a lot of time playing around with the glue, looking for new ways to use it. The bubbles of hot glue that we were pouring onto parchment paper (a great surface to play with hot glue on, since the glue won’t burn the paper or stick to it) reminded me of glass dome magnets. I started off by pouring glue on top of my kids’ extra stickers, but then Gwen recommended sticking the stickers on top – before the glue cooled. That worked much better, with the added bonus of not having a sticker backing to deal with.

I think that these would make super cute fridge magnets, but since I used my six-year-old’s stickers I turned them into necklace charms for her. I used an 1/8th inch hole punch to punch a hole. Then I used needle nosed pliers to attach a jump ring. I didn’t have any spare jewelry chains, so we used a little bit of fancy twine to turn the charms into necklaces for her. I think these would also make fun and unique charms for a charm bracelet.

Hot Glue Project #2: LEGO Minifigures

I have a few different silicone molds that I’ve collected over the years, and soon we turned to playing with those. Fridge magnets were still on my mind. I pulled out this LEGO minifigure mold I got years ago for my son’s LEGO themed birthday party, and decided to try making some hot glue minifigures.

Clear minifigures with magnets on the back didn’t sound super exciting to me, but luckily Surebonder sent us some of their incredible colored hot glue to play with as well! The molds worked beautifully, with each minifigure taking up about one stick of hot glue. I added some small magnets on the back, and the kids are now hiding these all over the house.

Hot Glue Crafting Details

We played around with changing glue sticks midway through, and especially alternating a colored glue stick with a clear one. Sometimes I cut a glue stick in half to alternate colors more quickly. All of my kids like the resulting orange minifigs the best.

Did you notice the tiny circles? Those are paper scraps that I cleaned out of my 1/8th inch hole puncher when I was working on my daughter’s necklaces. We dumped them into the minifig molds for a fun textural effect.

I originally bought the mold to make crayon LEGO minifigures. Those are fun, but the hot glue is easier to work with than melted crayon. This is especially true if you want to try textural effects. And the hot glue LEGO minifigures make great magnets!

What are your favorite hot glue projects? I’ve got a more sophisticated craft coming up soon, but would love to hear any of your ideas!

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MaryAnne Kochenderfer

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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.