KIDS CRAFTS | Suite101.com

Spending time creating with the kids is a wonderful opportunity to share quality time, and it allows the children (and the adults!) to tap into their creativity as well. It is time well-spent, and these times are what memories are made of. And who knows, perhaps you will learn some new crafting techniques by sharing this time with your child. But more importantly, your child will gain knowledge, build skills, and fuel his creativity by sharing crafting time with you.

There are several crafts that you can do with the kids, depending on how much of a mess you are willing to deal with, your choice of medium, and depending on whatever holiday you choose to base your craft around. A favorite in my house is sewing crafts. To make a cute little bean bag, simply take felt, a length of contrasting yarn, and using a needle just sharp enough to pierce the felt. Cut two identical shapes, in the same color or contrasting colors, and sew them together with the yarn. To embellish them, use tacky glue to attach buttons or shiny sequins. The children like giving these as little gifts, or perhaps would enjoy making a collection of them for themselves. For more kids' sewing ideas, try this site: http://www.makestuff.com/sewing_card.html . Don't forget that stitching on plastic canvas is a good craft for children as well. I have fond memories of stitching things using plastic canvas when I was young, and it helped me branch out into several other crafts, many of which I still do today.

Another activity that kids enjoy is a combination of cooking and crafting. It is very gratifying for kids to make their own concoctions, such as fingerpaint or play clay, and then to use it afterwards. This way they experience the project from start to finish. I think you will find these sites helpful: http://freeweb.pdq.net/headstrong/slime.... http://soar.berkeley.edu/recipes/kids/gu... http://www.melborponsti.com/speirs/craft... and http://members.aol.com/MISSolgita/recipi... Don't forget to add bright colors, glitter and whatever else may tickle your fancy! These recipes are quite simple, typically using few ingredients. Remember to supervise your children when using heat, as many of the play clays require cooking. The end result will bring many hours of fun to your child, and they help boost self-esteem, as your child will feel that "I did it myself" burst of pride with every use!

Another craft that kids enjoy is beading. It is a very versatile medium, and can be used in a variety of ways as their experience grows. Try using pipe cleaners at first to thread them on, which is very simple for little fingers to handle. Use a red pipe cleaner, and thread it with red, white and/or green tri-beads to form a simple heart or candy cane to hang on your Christmas tree or to tie onto a gift. Kids also enjoy making a variety of characters using beading wire and pony beads in a variety of colors. Here are some nice sites to browse: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1080/... http://icandream.com/, and http://www.auntie.com/cnm/craftzine/geck... These sites range from the simple to more complex for older kids.

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