Crafting With KidsI imagine that your children are like mine in their curiousity and interest in crafting. Mine often ask to play with my scrapbooking / crafting supplies and tools. And like many crafters, I enjoy creating with my kids. In addition to simply spending time with them, while crafting they learn a variety of skills: following instructions in an orderly way to complete a project; fine motor skills; math skills in measuring; communication over the course of the activity; problem solving and of course, crafting encourages creativity! Sometimes we craft to make things for special occasions or holidays but more often we do so just for fun. We create the usual cards and scrapbook pages, but their favorites are usually other items like games, room décor, and things they can actually use in their playtime. So look through your stash of Fiskars Brands tools because there are so many ways you can use them to make creative and fun projects with your kids! To make the most of your crafting time with your kids, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
Who doesn’t remember this paper crafted game from back when you were in elementary school? Instead of making one from the usual notebook paper, let your kids use double sided patterned paper. The 12x12 size is easy to work with and durable enough even for small hands. While we made this sample, we found that the Tool Taxi makes a handy creasing tool. Once you’ve completed the body of the fortune teller, dress it up with punches and scrapbook embellishments. And the next time you need a quick craft or party favor, have them create a fortune teller. Flip it upside down and fill it with candy as extra treat!
My kids LOVE Fiskars Squeeze Punches! Other punches are difficult for their small hands to manipulate, but the easy squeeze action of Fiskars makes paper piecing projects a breeze. And with the variety of shapes offered we can create just about anything! These days, door hangers are a favorite craft in our house. For this one, we cut and punched some basic shapes to create a fun little car and traffic light.
Masks are another relatively easy craft you can make for a special occasion or everyday play. Cloud 9 Designs beautiful
Felt is a kid friendly material we frequently enjoy using for crafts in our home. My children love to read and will often make bookmarks from scraps which is what we did for these felt bookmark projects. One of the things learned was to use the tools we have in ways other than originally intended. For example, the Circle Shape Template is a great tool to use in tracing circle patterns on the back of felt. It was especially helpful on the flower bookmark since it had a variety of circle sizes. So, pull out those Shape Templates and let your children use them to trace shapes on paper and other materials when they’re creating their masterpieces. We also used the Easy Squeeze Glue Gun on these projects as well, such as when we were dressing the our bookworm. It works well on so many surfaces including fabric/felt. Again, I love that we don’t have to worry about burned little fingers and the Gun makes for easy application and is quick to dry.
By Patti Milazzo « Back to General |
