Tuesday 3 November 2009

Crafting with Children

I am thinking about introducing a weekly crafting with Children Showcase.  Something that we can all partake in with our little ones.



I love crafting and art with the boys and often find that it is so much easier if I have something planned and prepared.  I often hear from people that they dont do painting, gluing or craft and art with children at home as they dont like the mess.

Now mess can be an issue, but you can minimise it and also with the right tools you can make life much easier.

Firstly an art smock is a definite must.  I made the boys from one of MadDads old work shirts.  I ripped off the collar and cut off the sleeves and they wear them backwards. 

Other things that are really worth keeping an eye out for are:

Oilcloth tablecloths or even plastic party tablecloths for both the table and the floor.
Newspaper
Paint brushes (Lidl do a great range that is really inexpensive)
Roll of paper (Ikea do one and a holder too)
Disposable cups and paper plates are great for paint and water
Glitter Glue and glitter shakers (Tesco and Early Learning Centre)

I pick up loads of our craft and art stuff from Poundland, which is great for confetti (sequins), paper and stickers.  The Works is great for construction paper, foam shapes and craft packs (with feathers, lolly sticks and pompoms in).  Home Bargains has been great for things like plain aprons to print on and beads.  I get a lot of my paint from Baker Ross on line, its sister company is Yellow Moon and it will give a proportion of sales to your school.

So back to the craft challenge, this week is Bonfire Night, so I thought we would base it on that. 

1) Scratch art.  Give your child a piece of paper and some wax crayons and get them to colour in all the paper.  You can help younger children do this.  The softer the crayons the easier it will be.  Large blocks of colour are great for this.  Once the page is covered you then go over the colour with a black crayon.  They need to do this quite hard and try to make sure as much of the colour is covered as possible.



(please forgive the poor quality picture and colouring, this was mostly done by MaxiMad on a tray whilst I was in bed)


Then the "magic" starts.  Using a pen lid, blunt pencil or lolly stick you scratch the black crayon away leaving the wonderful colours behind.

2) Cardboard rockets.  Very simple you can use toilet rolls or kitchen towel rolls and paint them or colour them with crayons or felt and then glue on sequins.  You can use wool or tissue to make the tails.  If you dont have any cardboard tubes then use rolled up paper, which can be easier for younger children, as they can do the colouring and gluing before it is rolled in to a tube.




3) Chalk firework picture.  You will need black construction paper (89p form the works) and some chalks and basically make a firework picture, you can add glitter if you want and smudge the chalk for effect too.



Now this is where you come in.  I will do a McLinky thing (once I figure out how) and you can link you beautiful creations each week.  Now one thing to remember is that this is supposed to be fun for all, dont impose your ideals on to your children, let their creativity and images come out.


14 comments:

Floss said...

Hi - thanks so much for popping over to my blog and leaving a comment; it really makes my day to hear from someone who liked a post enought to comment on it.

I like your craft suggestions - we have some wonderful Bonfire Night craft ideas in books, which the boys tried when they were younger. They are now very resistant to my suggestions about craft, but this is no loss, as they are now very innovative on their own - the sometimes stressful times I spent crafting with them when they were little clearly paid off! Recently they have made Nintendo DS covers, started cross-stitch and constructed a medieval siege engine!

If you have good ideas for children at Advent (which I bet you do!) please keep an eye open for my posts the next few Sundays, as I will be setting up an Advent blogging event where great ideas will be appreciated!

Unknown said...

Those are wonderful suggestions. My children have all grown, but I will pass them on to my daughter for her little girl! Suzie. xxx

dottycookie said...

That's a really good idea. I'll see whether I can convince the smalls to join in.

Emma Herian said...

Brilliant idea, my boys are always creating - if theres a bit of cellotape around and recycling bits and bobs, well the world is their oyster!
Emx

Angela said...

What lovely ideas. If we try any of them I'll let you know with pics, but not sure if Little Miss A will grasp the scratch art just yet at 2.

Littlemummy said...

This is a great idea, I'm looking out for some christmas craft inspiration.

Jen Walshaw said...

Advent and christmas are next on my list. I love doing crafts and creative things with the children. They are so much fun once you learn to relax - it is only mess afterall

The wife of bold said...

Brilliant! I love poundland and home brgains too - i get all the craft stuff from there, it's soo cheap compared to elc. I can't wait to read all about your advent ideas x

Dan said...

I used to do scratch pictures when I was a kid. Going to have to get out the crayons and have another go.

skirts and wellies said...

Crafts are always welcome. In addition to two little boys I have a Beaver troop as well. Any fun craft ideas to help us in the drizzly winter months is welcome.

BadPenny said...

great stuff - love the chalk one .

I used to let the kids get naked to paint & then pop them in the bath !

You are resting aren't you ?

Kelly said...

L love this idea, I will have to bookmark the posts so that I have something to come back to when Piran is a bit bigger.

Local Girl said...

Brilliant idea! I'll be joining in :)

Las Vegas UK Mums said...

Great ideas, thanks for sharing. Was looking for some Bonfire Night crafts and found you - look forward to future ideas for the kiddies!

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