A set of watercolors recently delighted my 4-year-old son. He painted one picture after the next, marveling at how he could mix two colors and—presto!—make a new one. His enthusiasm was a relief.

Keeping children busy—preferably independently so—is a challenge these days. With everyone spending more time at home, parents have been forced to find creative ways to entertain, educate, and engage kids while simultaneously squeezing in everything else. Options that hold attention spans for more than a few minutes, require minimal parental oversight, and don’t involve a screen are in short supply. (Though if screens are keeping the peace right now, don’t feel too bad about it.)

Simple arts-and-wooden crafts for kids wholesale, open-ended creative activities, and toys or projects that provide opportunities for imaginative play may fit the bill. Play, after all, is how kids learn, says Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology at Temple University and the author of Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children. “We’re so concerned about getting worksheets done,” she says, “but building a Lego model is as powerful as a worksheet—maybe more.”

Projects also offer kids a way to process things. “This [current situation] is really tough on kids,” says Dr. Michael Yogman, a pediatrician based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the lead author of The Power of Play, a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics. “You have to give them ways to express themselves both physically and emotionally.”

Here are some of our favorite craft projects, art supplies, and creative toys to help keep kids busy—and hopefully buy you a little time.

As shelter-in-place orders continue in many states, a subscription craft box can give kids something to look forward to from the outside world. our favorite for the preschool set, comes with all the supplies they’ll need—which is convenient, since bopping out for materials isn’t so easy anymore. Each month, expect to receive three activities that will delight children in this age group; we found the activities to be more creative than those in other subscription boxes we tried.

Our subscription craft-box pick for kids in early elementary school, delivers monthly projects that are not only hands-on and fun but that. These aren’t traditional craft projects; one, for instance, involves constructing an arcade claw. Parents may need to pitch in, but we like how inventive and challenging these projects are.

Don’t forget we also provide Christmas wooden pendant.