Here is how crafty and artistic I am: not crafty and artistic. And so if you have been wondering to yourself, “Goodness, how DOES she do craft projects with FIVE children?,” the answer is “HA HA HA HA HA!”
Still, the children do like to do crafts, and so now and then I make an effort. I don’t have much patience with messes, and it’s best if nothing watery or painty or glittery can be spilled by a wandering toddler or careless older child. And I don’t want to spend much time on it, either. Here are a few crafts that have satisfied even my picky, reluctant nature:
We bought this pipe cleaners set for our 7-year-old. The book gives instructions for impressive-looking creations an older child can do mostly without help (some projects involve cutting pipe cleaners; the book suggests letting the child use a nail clipper). We gave William the book as a gift, and we bought four big packs of pipe cleaners for about $1.50 a pack at Target and Walmart so we had tons for everyone to use. Littlest kids may poke themselves, but even toddlers can twist and tangle a pipe cleaner into “a worm.”
Model Magic is lighter-weight and less crumbly and better-smelling than Play-Doh, and it dries more smoothly. Unfortunately, it’s also significantly more expensive. It’s an excellent thing to keep in mind for relatives who ask what your child might like for a birthday or holiday, especially if they’re the sort of relatives you would not want to send off looking for a Bionicle or a Bratz.
Crayola makes a product called Color Wonder, which writes ONLY on special paper and so can’t be used destructively, but it costs $OMG. I think the washable markers are nearly as low-mess, and the price is reasonable so I don’t have to FREAK OUT about every single page of coloring.
Fancy-edge scissors (what are they called? scrapbooking scissors?) require supervision, but with a stack of paper from the recycling bin they’re a whole craft. The mess they generate is astonishing but it cleans up faster and more easily than it seems like it will: have the kids stuff it all back into the recycling bin and you’re done.
I haaaaaaaate chalk—the powder on my fingers is hell’s talcum—but the kids love it and sidewalk chalk is a driveway craft with easy clean-up. Step one: put chalk back in bin. Step two: wait for rain.
I agree with all of these recommendations and would add Wikki Stix, which are a wax-covered yarn, to your list. Someone gave us a pack before we went on vacation this summer, and the kids played and played with them in the van. They do pick up carpet fuzz, etc, but then you just throw them away!
Nowheymama | September 23rd, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Oh… oh my GAWD. I HATE chalk, too. Do you also hate the feeling of wool? I also hate the feeling of WOOL. *shutter* Ah. Crafts. We recently made something from a library book that was really cute and super easy:
You’ll need 2 regular-size plastic cups, some masking tape, and a few colored permanent markers (red, black, blue, brown). Oh, and scissors.
Wrap masking tape around the bottom half of one cup a few times, giving you a fleshy-colored “canvas” on which to draw (you’ll do that in a sec). Cut a half dollar-size hole at the bottom of the other cup (not ON the bottom, but on the bottom half towards the actual bottom, where liquid would start to fill up if you were to pour yourself a scotch, which sounds really good right about now), turn the cup upside down and draw a child’s body underneath the hole, as if the hole were the head. Stack the cup with the hole over the cup with the tape. In the hole (on the masking tape), draw a face for the body, showing a feeling (ie, happy). Now turn the cup until that face is gone and draw another face, showing a different feeling (ie, sleepy). Repeat two more times (we did sad, happy, mad, and sleepy). Your kid can turn the cup around and around and watch the cup child go from mad to sleepy to happy to sad, and back again.
This sounds incredibly lame. My 2-year-old loved it, though.
Also, this isn’t a craft for kids, now that I think about it. It’s a craft for YOU to do FOR your kid. Psh.
SCOTCH…
Sara | September 23rd, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I’m the crafty mom and always the one to organize the crafts at parties -
One thing we did recently was this: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000032. It was supposed to look like fireworks for 4th of july but the red looked pink. oh well, it was cool.
My standby party craft- name bracelets. ball chain from hardware store + wire cutters to cut it to size (make it bigger so the beads slide a bit) + letter silver block beads + a couple of other beads if desired. yay!
Our other standby- we make them all year and give them away at xmas- is beaded picture frames. clear cd case (with inset popped out) + loads of elmers + beads (I limit to 2 or 3 colors so they are giftable). Prep the cd case by glue gunning magnets to the back (the side of the cd case with the sort of missing part of the hinge). Keep in mind a photo will go in the cd case so don’t get the glue and beads too close to the center. On front of the case put the glue along all four sides and just keep poking on the beads. Let dry and come back with more glue and seed beads to finish it off. It will not be straight but kind of organic from the beads - leaving you an cool shaped opening to view the photo.
Deanna | September 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
and for the super-duper low mess craft = magnadoodle! drawing and erasing and NO MESS! and then there is the bonus of laughing when the child asks YOU to draw something easy like… a bulldozer! At least he is happy with whatever blob i draw so he can draw the ‘pile of dirt’.
and it’s cleeeaaannn
Kate | September 25th, 2008 at 8:08 pm