As we continue to prepare for our holiday break, we thought we would give you a few ideas on how to enjoy your downtime while keeping the littles busy. Here is another winsome tool to add to your holiday arsenal because let’s be honest, not all parents jump up and down when they hear the word crafts.
Encouraging our less-enthused, non-crafty parents is Mrs. Jessica Wilson, one of our wonderful Preschool teachers. If you have been in Mrs. Wilson’s classroom, you will understand why she is one of the best people to spark the inner crafters in each of us. Her classroom is beautified with color and whimsy yet paired with a delicate balance of quietude and serenity. It’s simply magical! Going in there will make you want to go back to preschool!
Let’s find out how we can take a bit of that environment into our homes…
If your child has been bitten by the craft bug and you are really feeling a little overwhelmed, here are a few tips and tricks to help get them started and help you feel swell about it.
Start small. Set up an area where it is ok for your child to work on messy arts and crafts with or without your assistance. The kitchen table, a coffee table, or desk in the school area of your home is a good start. I use a large piece of cardboard for my projects so that I do not accidentally bedazzle the tabletop or floors of my home. A placemat could work in a pinch but you may wish to have a larger area covered for the chaos. A vinyl tablecloth works as well as a yard of oilcloth (I use this also). Once the area is set-up, go over the dos and don’ts that will make you feel the most comfortable walking away from their craft-splosion. Is paint allowed? When is it allowed? What kind of paint? What is off-limits, what is ok? If you will be needing the workspace for dinner and/or other activities, you can transport the works in progress using a tray or cookie sheet.
One way of creating a parent-approved craft extravaganza is to set up a craft “bento” box that can be tailored to your child’s interests. You can check out a post I wrote about this eons ago here. The general idea is to have a craft box, bag, suitcase, or other container filled with all the materials your child could want to create with. To keep things fresh, you can change out crayons and marking tools, add play dough, switch the stickers, etc. every other week or so.
Not sure you want to set up a craft kit just yet? Here’s an easy craft with pizazz using materials you may already have on hand; coffee filters, washable markers, and a squirt bottle or paintbrush, and water. Set the coffee filters out on a tray and invite your kiddo to apply marker marks all over the filter then add water using either a wet paintbrush or small spray bottle. Watch the colors blend and blur. Once the filters dry (they dry quite quickly) you can turn them into butterflies, snowflakes, a mobile, and more!
If glitter is your nemesis make magazine page confetti or add salt to paint projects, both can be vacuumed and work those fine motor skills for the young uns’ (a hole punch work for the magazine confetti, and pinching fingers to add the salt).
Hide the glue and use glue sticks with kiddos under 5, they will squeeze every last drop of what you give them and they will squeeze it over the same spot over and over again…tape is fun but you might be stuck being the tape dispenser with a preschool-aged child, use office labels instead. Inexpensive, colorful, and sticky, your kiddo can use them as tape or for decoration. Stickers are fun too and you can always add a ballpoint pen or fine tip markers to encourage your kiddos to make/decorate their own from the office labels.
Speaking of stickers, a sticker maker is a fun gadget for kiddos 8 and up…this is my go-to and it’s pretty budget friendly. Add craft paper, and paper punches and you have an instant sticker factory!
Children from age 4 to around 6 really love the idea of letters. Set up a writing station with pens, paper and all the usual crafty suspects along with a box of envelopes. You will be amazed at how quickly they use every single envelope, but you’ll be more amazed at how long they were occupied by their whimsy. Add office labels or homemade stickers to use as stamps and turn it into a lesson for snail-mail (I LOVE snail-mail!).
TP tubes, egg cartons, cupcake liners, scrap cardboard cut into smaller (but not tiny) pieces, and tape for your primary kiddos lend themselves to an infinite number of building and engineering projects. I have come across a number of such structures in the preschool class that the children would use for weeks so do not be afraid of extending these materials to your younger children just remember, tape turns YOU into a tape dispenser.
That’s it. Set out supplies and step back while your child creates their craftiest best while you enjoy our winter break!
SO much fun! Thank you, Jessica, for all the great tips!!
Readers, we hope this excites (and calms!) you to know it’s doable even if you consider yourself not crafty! Enjoy and we hope you find some time to play over the holiday break!
4 thoughts on “Crafting for the Uncrafty”
This is incredible! Wish I’d had this when my kids were littles (though they’d still probably enjoy it now…) Love the craft bento box idea. 🙂 Thank you, Jessica!
Jessica, you always have the BEST ideas! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Office labels is a great idea. I have been a tape dispenser for three years now!
Nice job.Well done