Mom Confession: I don’t do a lot of projects with my kids. We do a lot of outings to the library and the park, we read together, and we play games and puzzles, but kid crafting and projecting is not really my cup of tea. Kid projects often take so much effort on my part (both prep work and the actual execution), Peanut is usually only interested for about ten minutes, and I’m already so busy with my own projects that I have little interest in doing more projects with my kids.
However, Peanut looooves projects. So I’m trying to be a better mom and throw a crafting project into the mix every once in a while. We found out about TogetherBox a few months ago and signed up for three months of their boxes. They have been the highlight of Peanut’s month when they show up in the mail, and although they come with all kinds of activities (both indoor and outdoor), they always include several fun crafting projects that make Peanut die of happiness.
I’d love to know…are you a projecting mom? What kinds of projects do you do with your young kids?
I'm terrible at crafting with my little guy too! We'll have to check out these together boxes when he gets a little bigger!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
My little man made the same snowman at kindergarten last Christmas! He loves it 🙂
I generally hit up the Target Dollar bins for holiday crafts. My 5 year old thinks I'm the best when I come home with crafts that we can use as holiday decorations.
I'm pretty good when holidays come. Problem? I tend to do the same crafts each time. I'm trying to branch out a little. (e.g. For St. Patrick's Day: rainbow fruit loop necklaces, make clovers with handprints.) I have found that making a simple decoration for the house is good for me and the kids. A banner, something to hang over the table, window decorations out of construction paper.
I try and do at least one small craft a week with my little guy. My favorite resource for learning activities and crafts is teachingmama.org.
My recycle bin has been my go-to box for crafting. We used weird-shaped items and glued them together to make monsters, we glued toilet paper rolls to a tall cardboard box and made a marble run (super fun) I let my 3-year-old practice cutting up straws while my 1-year-old tried to put the cut up straws into old spice bottles, I give them pipe cleaners to thread into colanders, we used old cardboard boxes to make a "Thomas the train" to ride around in. We have made goofy-looking sock puppets. Today we are going to try painting old toilet paper rolls and somehow turn them into fish. Saw a tutorial online somewhere… maybe we will have to make some kind of fishing pole for them!
I don't like to buy a lot of materials for projects I just throw away anyway, so I try to use junk that is going to be thrown away eventually, like packing peanuts, we used those one day with toothpicks to make different shapes. Granted, I often don't look half as good as you do. 🙂
Cool! Thanks for the unusual ideas in the entertainment of children. However, I would try physical activities from my childhood, such as cycling or even fishing, if you have a boy. https://trykayak.com/best-kayak-paddle/ gives a huge number of reviews on children’s things for anglers, for example, the same children’s kayaks. My wife and I are trying this kind of occupation and are very pleased