As a parent, it’s not always easy to come up with some crafts ideas for your kid. Do you feel like you are just not the creative type and you struggle to find something fun and enrichment? It is true that some people just have a knack for finding or even inventing craft ideas. But if it is not your case, the good news is that your creativity can be improved! There are many ways to make it easier to come up with a craft idea that will fit your skills and your kid needs!
Lay Aside Any Perfectionism
Locking yourself into thinking there is only one right way to do something makes every decision harder. Regardless of your skills, there are always many suitable craft ideas out there. Don’t worry about picking the wrong one! Just take into consideration the age and skill levels of the kids involved, then your choice will be appropriate.
Consider Your Budget
When choosing a craft idea, you’ll come across some more expensive: a perfect prepackaged kit to make a fun foam picture frame; a beautiful art case; an amazing all-in-one home decor bundle; … Those may be a good fit once in a while, but if your budget is tight or you want to craft on a regular basis, that may not be the best in the long run. It’s often easy to do almost exactly the same project by just looking at the craft kit components and buying the same materials at your favourite discount store. You may have to do some preparation, like cutting out shapes ahead of time, or at least making cardboard patterns for the kids to use in cutting out their own. The savings will be worth it, however.
Gather the Essential Materials
Kid crafts supplies can run into money, but even on a budget there are many possibilities. Here are the essentials to keep it handy:
- Various types of colored paper: construction paper, plain typing paper, card stock;
- Crayons: wax, wood, felt, watercolor;
- Safe scissors;
- Glue.
Other materials kids can craft with include recycled junk and found objects. By recycled junk, I’m referring to empty boxes, old magazines, cardboard from packaging, plastic containers, and even tin cans. If you let kids craft with tin cans, however, you need to make sure the open edge of the can doesn’t have any sharp edges. Simply file these off or squeeze them flat with a pair of pliers. Also, it may be interesting to collect various objects while walking around the house or during a trip to the park. Found objects may look like leaves, twigs, rocks, flowers, branches and other natural items a child might find. Any or all of these items can be used in an original kid crafts.
Let Ideas Spring From Other Ideas
An aspect of creativity that the non-creative types don’t realize is that ideas spring from other ideas. That is, if you look over a book or website of craft ideas, maybe none of them will appeal to you, but if you let them, they will spark an idea for a similar project. Use what you can and change what you must in the craft directions. For instance, the craft may have a slogan to be written across the front. If you need to change the slogan to fit your own needs, it’s perfectly OK. For instance, the pictured project might say “Girls rock!” You can change that to “He is the Rock!” if that meets your VBS needs better.
One of the most fun and popular kid crafts is making a collage. Kids can glue anything down when making a collage. Use heavy paper for the background, and then let the creativity begin! For an extra challenge, a collage can be built around a theme, like food, animals, or babies. Old magazines can be searched for just the right pictures, which can be cut out and glued to the background. Older children might wish to cut out details from magazine pictures and reassemble them in new and interesting ways. They might cut out interesting words and headlines and add them as well. Younger one can include in their collages pasta, beans, Popsicle sticks, leaves, and many other materials.
Do It as Is or Change It Your Way
A final suggestion is to realize that you don’t have to change the instructions or create something new to have a good craft idea for kid use. Feel free to follow the instructions to the letter if that works better for you. The kids will have a great time either way. Just pick a craft idea, for kid creativity beats adult creativity every time! The kids will make it creative, even if you have doubts about your own ability in this area.
I hope that these tips will spark some creativity in your family! With little preparation on your side, you’ll probably never hear those familiar words: “I’m bored!” coming from the mouth of your child again! If so, then you’ll be ready to keep them busy by providing your kids with some crafts materials and boredom will be a thing of the past. Now, it’s your turn to have a knack for finding or even inventing craft ideas!
