HALF term is upon us, but have you planned enough activities to keep the kids busy?

Buying craft supplies can be costly, but a new book by parenting blogger and mum-of-three Sydney Piercey, inset, has more than 60 ideas on how to make your own fun at home using empty boxes, jars and loo rolls.

Natasha Harding chooses five craft projects from Sydney’s book Sustainable Play (Greenfinch, £14.99, out now) that could come in useful next week.

I FIRST made this in the autumn, so playing with it was more of an opportunity to talk about birds than see them.

When we returned to it in the spring, it was amazing. It invited so many birds into the garden. My girls were delighted and it shot up on their list of their favourite cardboard toys.

WHAT YOU DO: Begin by creating the pointed roof line of a house. Remove a right-angled triangle from each corner of the top of the cardboard box. You can cut these off carefully with scissors or a craft knife.

Next, add a peep hole for the birds. I use one of the loo roll tubes as a guide for this. Place it in position and trace around it lightly with the blade of your scissors or craft knife before cutting it out completely.

Through the open roof of the box, you can add shredded cardboard or tissue paper at the bottom of the box. From the scraps you cut to create your pointed roof, cut one wide strip of cardboard and fold it in half. Position this above the uncovered roof space of your bird house and tape into place to create your roof.

If you have some twine, tape a length of it to the back of the house so it can be hung from a fence or tree outside.

FOR THE BIRD BOWLS: Take an egg carton and cut out pairs of cups. Cut close to the bowl shape that the cartons naturally make. Cut a length of twine and tie it together in a knot around the bridge of your bowls. Leave the twine lengths long so you can hang them up in your garden.

THIS is a lovely craft for your little ones to create their own unique characters.

WHAT YOU DO: Cut out silhouette shapes of your choice from the cardboard sheet, as directed by your young theatre producer. We created sea creatures for our under-the-sea theatre theme.

Decorate the shapes with faces, clothes and colour. Tape the finished creatures to the bottom of the lollipop sticks, strips or straws and get playing.

THERE are lots of variations in method but this is the way we make them.

WHAT YOU DO: Lay three corks together in a line. If one of your corks is a champagne cork and the others from wine bottles, then place it in the middle to ensure balance.

If you have two champagne corks and one wine, place the wine cork in the middle. Secure the corks together across the middle, using elastic bands or lengths of tightly tied twine or string.

Take a piece of scrap paper or fabric to prepare the flag. Cut a diamond from the paper or fabric and fold in half to make a triangle. Place a cocktail stick along the folded line and glue the two halves of the triangle together.

Finally, pierce the cocktail stick through the middle cork in the boat. Now it’s ready to set sail.

YOU’LL need ring pulls from tins or cans for this one. If you haven’t got enough, you can always add to your tambourine as you come across more in time.

WHAT YOU DO: Cut a wide strip of cardboard from the sheet and roll into a circle shape (I wrap mine around a glass to achieve this) Then open it back out and pierce a hole at each end of the strip.

Poke or pierce pairs of holes at intervals around the strip. You want two holes next to each other, but not so close that they merge into one hole.

Cut some short lengths of twine – as many lengths as you have pairs of holes. Thread a length of twine through two ring pulls. Very young ones may be able to do this, but be sure to check beforehand for any sharp metal edges.

Next, thread each end of the length of twine through each hole of the pair. Pull the twine through and tie on the inside of the strip.

Then tie together the two ends of the strip to secure the tambourine together. Trim any overhangs and give this a little jangle. Repeat this process until you run out of ring pulls or holes.

THREE empty loo rolls can make a wonderfully detailed plane with lots of space for your little ones to add designs and decorations. Our planes are played with endlessly.

WHAT YOU DO: Cut open a loo roll tube vertically. Open up and flatten. From this, cut out a piece in the shape of a plane’s silhouette. Next, take a second loo roll tube and fold in half and flatten.

Cut a small semi-circle in the middle of the longer side, then reopen. Place this second tube on top of your cut-out plane shape and glue or tape in place. Take a third loo roll tube and cut in half horizontally. Take one half and cut in half vertically.

Roll it in tighter to create a narrower tube shaper and tape to secure. Make four slits in this narrower tube, as if cutting at the north, east, south and west portions on a compass.

Take the other half of the third loo roll tube and cut in half vertically. Open and flatten. Cut out two oval shapes. Slot one oval into the west-east slit in your narrow tube. Cut a slit in the middle of this oval.

Slide your remaining oval into your north-south slit and through the slit of the oval just cut. This is your plane’s rudder. Tape or glue this to the side of your tube.

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