The Knit Kit

Here they are! The Knit Kits we gave to R's 7 and 8 year old cousins. One of her cousins had requested a craft kit and R11 wanted to make her own. We decided to make one for both of the girls.

A whole box of fun with yarn

R11 did all the labels and illustrations- cute stuff1

The finished apron with the markers and the directions.

Here are the directions for the pom pom maker- she personalized them with the girls' names.

Knitting instructions and size 8 needles

More yarn with a crochet hook. I also included a sheet with online directions for regular crocheting and knitting- I put the links for You Tube videos on there.

Here are some other ideas for yarn fun- including links for finger crocheting and knitting.

Yarn needles, a homemade loom, and directions on how to use the loom to make a bookmark.

We put in a list of the contents and a spool knitter which has its own instructions.

I had to show this close up of the weaving instructions- R11 did a great job on drawing pictures and showing the girls how to do something. She did a lot of work on these.

Stacked and ready for transport- these kits were Maryland bound and have reached their destinations.

The kits were received well although, R11 really wanted to spend some time showing the girls how to use the things inside and that did not work out as well as she would have liked. She wanted to be sure they understood what to do with everything. But the receiver of the doll apron decorated it right up and I'll share the result with you. I hope the girls enjoy the kits as they get to know the contents better. R11 luvs yarn...LUVS it. She was hoping to pass along some yarn joy.

Great job R!

Crafty Things

Want a peak at what R9 has stashed in her art center? These are the result of a few years of collecting.

The Sculpey Station- this box is full of Sculpey

We have Pack O Fun magazine stacked up in one crate.

And craft book kits from American Girl and Klutz

And the scrapbooking box

And the original art box which has lots of doodads in it for girly crafting

Markers, crayons, and colored pencils with the to go bag

The shelf in her closet next to her art center holds her hand sewing kits.

As you can see she is clearly outfitted for the long haul. I love to see her at work! And she has done a great job of keeping it neat and clean all week.

Paper Fashions

R9 loves to paper craft. I think I mentioned that. In fact, we both do. I have a real thing for papers and ribbons. Truly. She really loves to just cut out clothing free-hand to put on her drawings so when I noticed this Klutz Paper Fashions book I picked it up for a closer look. I knew she would love it. So, she used some of her birthday money to buy it and has been non-stop creating ever since.

She has some careful technique for putting bling on her outfits. That's a bead under the pencil point that she is getting glue on.

Then she applies it to her fashion item.

Check out the work in progress. Such fine detail.

She has many stencils to choose from.

And the book comes with these cute metal hangers.

Just a portion of the many outfits she has made. She also has a mannequin she lets wear them. I love the pleated skirt and cardigan with many buttons.

Klutz also makes a Fancy Fashions book and refills of paper and hangers for the original book. I know which item she'll be getting with the rest of her birthday money.

Play Dough

J3 loves his play dough! He plays at least once a day. Everyday he has a workbox full of play dough fun. We have a lot of play dough tools. A lot. Every once in a while I rotate the tools so we don't have them all out at once. Recently, I went through the tools and the play doh in our boxes in the craft closet and I got rid of old play doh and switched out some tools. That was productive!

I pulled out the alphabet shapes that you can use with play doughs. What a great preschool item! I bought these at Discount School Supply, but they no longer have them. I know that craft stores sell the Wilson cookie cutters in large bins that have letters in them. We have those too for use in the kitchen of course.

I love the mat. I only wish it had all the letters on it. We had a grand time making the letters and talking about them. This will be nice to have on hand as J3 plays with his favorite play dough.

For inquiring minds, no I do not make my own play dough. I have done it and to be honest I don't like the texture and Play Doh is so inexpensive it doesn't seem worth the time and effort.

I Caught the Bug...

Have you seen the cute felt patterns at Buggabugs? She has some cute stuff on there. Lots of folks at FIAR have been using these in the workboxes.

We'll see how this pattern goes, but I'm interested in the grocery patterns and the veggie patterns- the veggies would be so nice for our gardening unit.

I'll be sure to post some updates as we get this project rolling. Felt food seems to be all the rage. R8 and I think this is a really cute project for a 4-H Fair entry this summer. Yes?

Choices for Art

So, I pulled some things from our art library to share with you. E10 and R8 are old enough to assign something from this collection for an item in their boxes. R8 particularly likes to dabble in different projects and lately I've given her free reign with certain media. A lot of times I will choose something and do it as a family. Sometimes it relates to our unit study and sometimes it does not.

Five in a Row has many wonderful art projects in its manuals that we do. However, sometimes I like to add do our experience with another project. Right now since we are doing a unit on Exploration, I will pick some fun things just to stretch our wings.

The Usborne Art Treasury has projects in it that mimic the masters. We did the project based on Starry Night by Van Gogh.

This is one of my favorites- Storybook Art. The premise of the book is to study children's book illustrators and their style and to try out a project based on their technique. It has many FIAR titles in it and the ones we have tried have been a total hit. You may remember we did one from Owl Moon this winter.

Anything by MaryAnn Kohl is a fun deal. We haven't done anything from this book yet, but I picked it up at the last library sale.

Primary Art has projects in it for elementary aged kids. I grabbed this up when our local daycare supplier was going out of business. I do miss that store. It was a great bonus for homeschoolers.

Here is another of my favorites- Discovering Great Artists. Just like others it allows you to study a famous art master and try out a project from his/her style.

This book and it's twin, What Shall I Do Now? are combined volumes of smaller books in the Usborne collection. There are some independent projects in here for kids. You could have them choose up a project or pick one for them to do.

Can you tell I love Usborne books? Before you marvel at my wealth, please understand I typically hold one book show a year and convince my family and friends of the awesome value of an Usborne book and from that I reap the rewards in lots of books for little cash. My secret is out. Run, don't walk to your nearest Usborne consultant and book a show! Invite your friends. Order books. Be happy. Oh and this book? Is another combined volume, but there are tons of ideas and techniques and projects in here.

I picked this up for a $1 at a consignment shop back home. What a find! Art and Craft experiences for 3 to 9 yr olds?? That suits us almost perfectly right now!

The Little Hands Art Book was one of the first in my ever growing collection. You can find lots of hands on projects for toddlers and preschoolers in here. Great for a box if you ask me!

These are some of my favorite art titles from Usborne. They have individual projects on each page or double page. You can collage, crayon, count, draw people, paint with watercolors. Each project is listed out step by step and older kids could do this independently.

Some of you may be thinking these are super titles, but so what. Well let me share a few details with you.

How would I plan this for a box activity?

I would choose the project from a book and then prepare the materials needed for the project I've chosen. Then I can add the book with a post it note on what page and project to do. Also, in the box will be the materials necessary to get the job done.

In my preschool post I talk about how children should be doing some form of art or creativity on a daily basis. We certainly have the resources to make that happen. Until now though, it wasn't as easy to plan out and have ready as it is now.

Also keep in mind that we have two places for craft storage: one is in the craft closet which holds art paper and then up higher paints and other things that I don't want to have for access without permission. The other is a little craft center where the kids can pull out whenever and be creative. I expect I will only have to pull out materials that aren't normally out without asking. Paints I would reserve for when I'm there or just give instructions to that effect on the sticky note.

Shopping Information:

Other than ordering directly from Usborne and finding these gems at used book sales, you can find most of these titles through Amazon, Rainbow Resource, and a book store retail chain like Barnes and Noble and Borders.

Crafty Box Ideas

We have quite a collection of craft books. R8 would particularly love to see one of these in her boxes one day. I pick these kinds of books up at book sales and consignment shops. Of course I buy some new through Usborne or the bookstore.

Here we have a few American Girl craft books, the Usborne Rainy Day card set, and some lettering books

I really used to love these Usborne craft book ideas. So many themes and we've used them in our Adventure Boxes.

Holiday Usborne craft books

I'm planning on putting this type of activity in the boxes a few times a week. R8 really loves to craft. We also get Pack O Fun Magazine which would be fun to add to a box on occasion.