Family Projects : Kids Crafts That Improve Creativity
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
