Those who know me well know that there no sentence guaranteed to make me lose enthusiasm for a kid’s activity more than “and then they get to do a craft!”
Arrgh! Noooo!!!!! Not craft!!!
It’s not that I see no benefit in kids taking part in making things. I see plenty – for creativity, fine motor skills, just plain fun etc. It’s for my own selfish reasons that I despise it. I hate getting paint stains out of clothes, finding glitter in places glitter should never be, stopping kids from consuming play-dough and trying to find room on the fridge for the latest artwork. And I don’t think I’m so good at faking enthusiasm for it.
Why yes. I am aware that it’s not about me. And I may have some memories of my own mother grumbling about all the mess I left her to clean up from my own enthusiastic craft activities. And now it is me doing the grumbling. A circle of life thingy.
So I decided lately that I was going to do some craft activities with the kids that involve minimal mess and minimal fridge real estate, but lots of enjoyment for them. A fall-related craft, and an any-time-of-the-damn-year craft.
Glitter Pumpkins
- Buy mini pumpkins
- Buy glitter glue
- Put kids in the worst clothes they have. No, not those ones. Find worse ones, just in case.
- Set them up outside so your home doesn’t end up looking like it was designed by Liberace.
- Let them at it.
This was easy and they loved it. I didn’t think the mountains of glitter glue they applied were ever going to dry, but they eventually did. They didn’t even get as messy as I had expected and they were so proud of them. So little effort! And it isn’t even possible to put these on the fridge!
Clearly, “less is more” isn’t a concept they’ve grasped yet.
Mine is the tasteful and understated one. In case you were wondering.
Shell Hanging Ornament
- Buy packet of assorted shells and some yarn from Walmart.
- Contain shells in a bowl because they WILL roll to the 4 corners of the earth otherwise.
- Tie a knot in the end of a length of yarn.
- Assist 4 year old every now and then as she threads the yarn through the shells and beads because the yarn “is bending!” or the holes on some of the shells and beads are too small.
Besides the previously mentioned bendy yarn (really the issue was it was splitting at the ends as she tried to thread it through the holes in the shells and beads, some of which were a tad too small), which would be easy to fix next time by picking different materials, she loved it. And the bonus for me? Her creation goes outside! In a tree! No where near the fridge!
Look at it there, outside!
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I am an Aussie currently enjoying my time as a non-resident legal alien in the US. You can find me on Facebook and I have also just started lurking around Twitter and Instagram. Come lurk with me!
How fun! You actually managed to find crafts that go outside, so you won’t have to try to not frown at them every day! Seriously though, they look like they had a blast!
Craft that goes outside is the best kind!
I ow9uld have been happy to avoid making crafts throughout my life. I dabbled with making candles once, but it was an aberration. I’d rather write or take pictures than craft.
My mother is very in to craft – knitting, quilting etc….I never caught the bug!
Good to see them working with manual craft and enjoying it. I imagine it will get harder to get them interested once they discover an online world?