Craft Gossip

The largest independent craft review site since 2007

Let them decide.

by

Melted Crayon Heart SuncatcherMy mother has sewn, crocheted, knitted, and done practically everything else her entire life. When I was young, she tried to get me interested in crafting, but it just wasn’t my thing. I remember when she tried to teach me to crochet, it wasn’t a pretty sight! It just wasn’t my time. Now, I love to craft, though I still can’t crochet! My daughter, on the other hand, loves to make things. Her very favorite thing to do is to draw and she is very talented if I do say so myself. I guess what I’m trying to say is introduce new things to your children. Show them that there are many creative outlets and help them find the one they enjoy the most. They may be like me, Lord help them, and not discover the joys of crafting till later in life, or they may be like my daughter and want to learn how to do something new all the time.

Why don’t you start off with this easy project. (This project is recommended for children ages 4 and up. Parental supervision is required because of the use of an iron.)

 

Here’s what you need:

  •  Wax Paper
  • Crayons
  •  a pencil sharpener
  •  scissors
  •  ribbon
  •  a hold punch
  •  an iron
  •  2 brown paper bags

Tear off a piece of wax paper about a foot long and place it on top of a brown paper bag. Let you child peel the papers off of the crayons and then “sharpen” them with the pencil sharpener over the wax paper. These are the shavings that will create their sun-catcher. Make sure the shavings don’t pile up too high because it makes it difficult to iron. When your child has a look he likes, place another piece of wax paper over the shavings. Now you should lightly press over the bag with your warm iron. Peek to see how well the shavings are melting to determine if you need to turn the heat up on your iron.

Once the paper has cooled to the touch, with safety scissors, let your child cut out shapes like hearts, stars, crosses, you get the idea. You may want to trace the shapes and allow your youngster to cut along the lines. The final step is to punch a hole at the top, thread the ribbon through, and hang your child’s work of art in a sunny window. His face will light up when he sees how proud you are of him. Don’t forget to make one for Grandma!

Read These Next

Have you read?

Reflecting on the Past Year with Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

  • Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
  • NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
  • Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
  • The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]