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One thing that is very important to all parents is keeping the kids busy. Crafts are a great way to do it, but it can add up fast if you have to buy kits at the store all the time. However, you don't always have to buy kits if you have a resource for crafts you can do with things you have around the house.
Perhaps the best part of Little Kid Crafts is that it is targeted toward younger children. I mean crafts 3 year olds can do, and with a bit more help, even 2 year olds can do a lot of these projects. My daughter is currently 3-1/2, and loves to do crafts, but before I bought this book about the only thing I knew how to help her make was a macaroni necklace. Fun, but you can only do so many.
The book is organized by type of craft - recycling, paper plates, template crafts, handprints, paper bags, exploring and holidays. While you'll have to buy some supplies, most can be had fairly cheaply.
There are plenty of craft ideas in this book. The book itself is 201 pages, including the table of contents and forward. It also includes safety tips to make sure you remember to not let your child do things that aren't safe for them, such as not letting kids use hot glue.
General supplies you'll need for crafting with kids include construction paper, yarn, cheap paper plates, paper bags, glue, crayons, markers, tissue paper, scissors and stapler. There may be other supplies you'll need for the various projects, but these are generally good supplies to have for crafting projects in general.
Many of the projects will require a good bit of help from the parents. There are templates you can print out for some of the projects too, and have your child cut them out (supervised, of course!), then glue or staple them together.
My daughter and I have taken a "Reading & Writing Together" class, and doing crafts is something they strongly recommend. Crafts help to build find motor skills, which are vital to learning to write. They also encourage creativity. The crafts in this book can help you get past that creativity block and have fun with your young children.
Do Your Kids Need So Much Stuff?
Toys, toys everywhere, and not a place to take a step! Maybe it's time for a cleanup.
Keep your kids busy on wintery days
Stall the litany of boredom by planning for those days when playing outside isn't the best option.
"But it's not educational!"
Do all children's toys need to be utterly educational? What happened to fun?
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