Building the Basic Craft Kit for Kids
By having certain crafts materials available that are safe and can be used pretty much without supervision,your kids are encouraged to respond to their creative impulses and turn to crafts to entertain themselves.
Once you've found the box you're going to use for your Kids Crafts Kit, decorate it together. Here are some ideas for things to put in it:
Crafty Clues
You'll need to establish some rules about when and where your kids can use their crafts materials. They may be allowed to craft only after the homework's done, or only on the kitchen table with newspaper put down first, for example. You may want to post the rules directly on their crafts box.
Crafty Clues
Paints may be okay for an older child to work with alone, but you may want to keep them out of the Kids Crafts Kit altogether if you know your child will make a mess with them. (Any craft material that causes a problem can be removed from your child's kit and placed in your Adult Kit.)
- Blank sketch books
- Scrapbooks
- Writing books
- Non-toxic glues (Aleene's has several different types)
- Tapes
- Scrap paper of all kinds
- Different kinds of papers (giftwrap, construction, watercolor, pastel, drawing, etc.)
- Stickers
- Fabric scraps
- Felt
- Elastic
- Buttons
- Yarns
- Stuffings, including beans
- Feathers
- Scissors
- Bells
- Beads
- String
- Empty spools
- Empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls
- Empty jars and cans
- Pipe cleaners
- Popsicle sticks
- Stiff cardboard
- Soap
- Wood pieces
- Sandpaper
- Natural materials such as shells, pebbles, and pine cones (collect these on walks and hikes)
- Wallpaper scraps
- Empty matchboxes
- Disposable pie plates
- Plastic trays
- Styrofoam trays
- Tins and containers
- Egg cartons
- Paper bags of all sizes
- Envelopes
- Small boxes
- Index cards, white and colored
- Art supplies like crayons, paints, colored pencils, and markers
- Regular pencils
- Rulers and templates
- Non-toxic clays and play doughs
- Rubber stamps and ink pads
- Non-toxic paints
- Paintbrushes
As you create projects, you'll think of other things to keep in the Kids Crafts Kit, but this list should get you started. Just have a few of each item on hand.
You may also want to keep a supply of newspapers near your crafts boxes for covering your work area.
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Crafts with Kids © 1998 by Georgene Lockwood. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit the Idiot's Guide web site or call 1-800-253-6476.
