Most parents want their kids to enjoy being children, but they also want to improve their kids’ potential for excellence by improving creativity and resourcefulness early on. There’s a great way to balance fun and education… crafting.
Here are two craft projects you and your kids can try at home…
Sock Puppets
Small children, even babies, love to see puppets. Instead of spending a lot of money on puppets, why not let your child make their own? If your house is like most, you probably have all kinds of unmatched sox sitting in a box or bag in the bottom of your closet. With glue dots, wiggly eyes, colored felt, and some yarn, your child can make their own puppet friends.
The look of their puppet is entirely up to your child. They can choose the type of sock – striped, with lace on the bottom, or whatever is on hand – to create a one-of-a-kind toy. Using glue dots, put on the wiggly eyes, add a moustache or teeth, if you have fake eyelashes, they can add those, too.
Have Mom or Dad find a large box and cut a hole out of it to make a puppet stage. With a little bit of imagination, your child can have many hours of puppetry fun.
Finger Painting
For a child, is there anything more fun that getting their paint covered hands, arms, and elbows into their artwork? When they’re usually told to keep their hands clean, finger painting allows children an opportunity to get dirty and have fun all the while. Water-based paints are available at most department stores as well as at craft stores around the country. If your child can’t find a color they want, this is a great opportunity to help them learn about which colors make which when mixed together.
Don’t forget to have your child wear an old shirt and be sure to have plenty of newspapers on the surface where they will be painting. Let them have fun and make a mess; it’ll clean up with soap and water.
Another option for cleaning up is to spray some shaving cream on the table. Not only will this be an additional bit of fun for the kids, it will also help your table end up clean as a whistle.
Whatever crafts you allow your younger child to do, get down there with them and have fun. You may have been told for years that you have to act like a grown up. You may have been told to act your age. When you have craft happy kids, who says you can’t act like a kid? There’s no telling the amount of fun you’ll be able to have with your children as you create sock puppets or finger paint. It’s also quite possible you might strike the spark of creativity that has been missing from your own life.
Jan 10, 2010 | Growing Up Stories, crafts, family traditions
Some parents are skilled crafters. Others are doing well to cut paper in a reasonably straight line. No matter which group you fall into, crafting with your kids can be beneficial for all involved. Few things bring families together like crafting. Here are some of the good things that come out of crafting with your kids.
Crafting is all about having quality family time. But more than that, it builds creativity. Developing minds need a creative outlet, and crafting provides the opportunity for kids to use their imaginations. It helps them learn to solve problems, and it could lay the groundwork for a lifetime of interest in art. For parents, getting creative can help reduce stress and promote using the brain in ways that we don’t have a reason to use it every day.
Know a lot of educational crafts?
Crafting is a learning experience for your kids. Crafting teaches kids to follow directions. This seems like a very basic skill, but we all know adults who can’t seem to follow directions. When kids craft, they learn the consequences of not following directions when their projects do not turn out as expected. This instils in them the importance of doing things the right way the first time.
For young children, crafting is fabulous for learning basic skills.
Almost any type of craft promotes hand-eye coordination. Kids can also learn to use scissors, measure and do lots of other things they will eventually do in everyday life.
Crafting gives parents and children have a chance to talk
In our busy lives, it seems that we know less about our kids than previous generations of parents did. Passive activities such as watching TV do little to encourage conversation. But when you’re crafting together, talking comes naturally. You can seize the opportunity to discuss such things as your child’s interests, his concerns, and how he’s doing in school.
* Crafting is a great way to wind down. It’s wonderful for kids to be active, but there are times when they need to calm down. If you find your child getting agitated or exhibiting an overabundance of energy near bedtime, try bringing out the craft supplies. Crafting engages kids’ minds, giving them something to focus on and a good reason to sit still for a while.
Creating things is a confidence booster.
Parents who craft regularly know the feeling of accomplishment when a project is complete. Multiply this feeling by ten, and you have a pretty good idea of how your child feels when he makes something. For kids, crafting can help build positive self-esteem.
Working on a project together is a great way to teach your kids teamwork. This will help them develop skills needed to resolve disputes peacefully and effectively. It will also help them discover their strengths and teach them that doing their best will make the entire project turn out better.
The finished product will serve as a reminder of the fun you had making it together.
Crafting as a family provides opportunities for us to interact with our children. It is also a valuable learning experience for them. Don’t worry if you aren’t the world’s greatest crafter. Simply being willing to try anyway is a lesson to your kids in itself.
Jan 09, 2010 | crafts, family traditions
Smaller hands need larger crafts because they don’t have the fine motor skills of children who are older. Allow them to work with hands-on materials such as chunky crayons and large sheets of paper. If you allow them to start using scissors, you’ll want them to have safety scissors which will make injuring themselves much harder to do.
Here’s one craft project that the little ones will enjoy to the fullest!
Paint Stamping
This will require adult supervision but it can be a lot of fun for your child who needs larger tools to work with: Make stamps to paint with using common garden potatoes.
Let your child decide what type of stamp they would like. Cut a potato in half to determine which size of design your child can use. You can make chunky designs such as apples, leaves, or the sun. Of course, Mom or Dad will have to cut out the designs because knives aren’t safe for little hands.
Cover the table with newspaper to cut down on the amount of mess that’s made. Then put child-safe finger paints into a tray or Styrofoam plate, but don’t use too much at one time. Have the child press the potato into the paint and then firmly onto a piece of paper. Depending upon the amount of paint, they may be able to make more than one impression. They can then change the paint color and keep making impressions. If the potato becomes overly saturated or begins to break down, Mom or Dad can cut that part of the potato off and make an entirely new design.
If you want other options to use as a stamp for painting, why not use a rubber eraser, cork board, or cardboard as the medium for the stamp base? Of course, the size of the stamp base you use will determine the size of the design your child can make. Keep a damp sponge near your child’s work area while stamping so they can keep the mess down and clean off the stamp between colors.
Jan 05, 2010 | crafts
