Crafting with Kids

By Renee S. Kaas

August 2010

Every fall I take a leisurely stroll down memory lane, remembering the excitement I felt as a child when my mom and I prepared for a new year at school. Oh the anticipation of new friends, new teachers, and new experiences! Shopping trips to get new clothes and supplies were at the top of our to-do list. The crisp air and the crunchy leaves had to be experienced to be believed and are neatly tucked away to be paraded before my eyes with every other fond childhood memory. As our children came along, my husband and I tried to recreated those fond memories and more.

We created one such memory by encouraging our children to express themselves through arts and crafts. One of the first “MOMMY” moments I remember was propping each of my infants up in their high chair with a crayon clutched in a chubby little fist and taping a piece of paper on the tray. The hope was that eventually the crayon and the paper would meet more than just briefly. Sorry to say, the paper rarely stayed for long and I thought I would wear right through that tray cleaning off the crayon ‘drawings’ each day.

We progressed to the hallway wall, a nice long stretch of smooth surface that our second son, Peter, adopted as his own canvas. It didn’t matter that I allowed him to help me clean it everyday. It didn’t discourage this budding artist a bit. My husband Ron, in an effort to address this need, built our sons a table of their own that was low to the ground and long enough to create monsters on or at least monster projects. He also built an easel for them with a chalkboard on one side and a flat board on the other with clips to hold paper in place. This suddenly became the key to successfully managing their materials and their projects.

Our oldest son, Travis, has always been organized and neat, even as a child. However, this gave him a specific place to set aside his supplies and have them at his finger tips whenever he needed them. For Peter, it created peace out of chaos. As the years progressed, we had the opportunity to experiment with many different organizational techniques. Many were useful and made their stay at our home permanent. Others were more transient and lasted for only a season.

Determine your needs according to the specific situation at your house. It is different for each of us. How much space do you have available? How many children do you have? Do you want them with you or in their own space?
Purchase basic arts and crafts supplies and a way to organize them and store them. We have an incredible children’s section at each Roberts Crafts store. Plan for age appropriate crafts. There are paints, brushes, paper, scissors, tape, glue sticks or glue, clay and tools to sculpt with, pencils, crayons, markers, felt, glitter, chenille stems, pom poms, wiggly eyes, beads, projects and project books, and many, many more items to fulfill every need. We have chalkboard paint and artist’s clipboards. Scrapbooking supplies to help preserve memories or to use in crafting are found in abundance in their own special section. Our stores are like a wonderland!
“Everything has a place and everything in its place”. Dedicate a place for your crafting and your supplies. We have all sizes of boxes and containers to organize with at Roberts. You may want to keep your items in a box or two and take them out to craft with your children at the kitchen table or have a whole room that is set up for them to craft in. Remember, the key is to have a place that is pre-determined so the children know where it is and can go there as the need arises. Help them to replace their tools and consumable materials back where they belong when they are finished.

Prepare ahead to have all the items available for a craft you want to work on together. Expect accidents so consider covering the table, chairs, and floor for a messy craft. We sell child sized aprons at Roberts, too. Encourage participation. If they are sitting watching you make a craft they do not feel connected to the project. Allow them to learn through doing. Guide them and direct them but don’t do it for them. Make the craft age appropriate. If your child loses interest or doesn’t want to finish it, set it aside for another day. If you want them to enjoy arts and crafts, don’t rush them or push them too hard. FUN SHOULD NOT BE WORK! Praise your child often. Just because you had a lion project in mind when you started, don’t stifle their creativity when they make theirs a ladybug instead. I mean really, do we actually KNOW chickens don’t have purple feet? Their self confidence will soar. Don’t make the perfect project to show them how it should look. Let them explore all the possibilities and see what they come up with. Allow them to march to their own drummer. And never, I mean it Mom, never say, “What is that supposed to be?” Your child is only listening for your love, approval, and recognition. They will be more than glad to tell you all about their project. There is nothing that compares to the feeling of completing something you have made with your very own hands!
Then just when you think you have it all figured out, along comes child number three, Sam, who doesn’t have the time of day for painting or drawing but . . . “crafting with wood, that’s what REAL boys do!”
Remember CRAFTING WITH KIDS IS FUN.

Come visit us a Roberts Arts and Crafts where a world of possibilities opens up!