Customer Reviews

Crafting Fun: 101 Things to Make and Do with Kids

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While thumbing through this book for the first time, I breathed a great sigh of relief. Crafting Fun makes me feel warm, happy, and craft-competent, while many of my other craft books make me feel unprepared, incompetent, and often frustrated. Now that I have found this book, I have put away all of my craft books from the Waldorf tradition (The Children's Year: Seasonal Crafts and Clothes (Festivals (Hawthorn Press)), All Year Round (Lifeways), Crafts through the Year, etc.) Never again will I struggle to make a teeny tiny delicate tissue paper angel while my child looks on, uninvolved. Never again will I search for obscure items such as kite paper and split straws.

Crafting Fun is filled with simple, lovely, do-able craft projects, many of which I remember from my own childhood. Your children will be able to do the projects themselves, rather than stand back and watch you do them. Just this December, my 5-1/2-year-old and I have made popcorn and cranberry garlands, tinsel stars with pipe cleaners, construction paper garlands, a lovely ice picture with leaves and berries in a pie pan, and pinecone treats for birds. We didn't have to buy a thing, other than the cranberries; everything else we had on hand. There are many, many more winter projects to choose from, and we are looking forward to all of the wonderful ideas from other seasons, as well.

Some of the projects in this book may have you thinking, "I don't need a book for that!" And yet that is the beauty of this book: All of the great ideas you remember are here, in one nicely spiral-bound book, along with project ideas you may not quite remember, as well as many others. The projects are presented simply enough that you will be able to turn the book over to your children to read to themselves in a few years. I know my children will grow up having fond memories of warm moments shared doing projects from this book. I've given this book as a gift, to the great delight of the recipients. Highly recommended.

Rainy days or any kind of days for that matter, can be fun days to work on crafts. A book that utilizes many useful throwaway materials makes crafting not only inexpensive, but also environmentally friendly. There is a list of "useful throwaways" in the front that you can gather and set aside for when you want to craft. This list is especially helpful for teachers on a budget who would like their students to craft, but don't have enough money to supply and entire classroom. There is a list of basic equipment that has common items like pencils and scissors to things like a vegetable peeler. Naturally safety is stressed and those needing adult assistance are clearly labeled. Crafts are listed by season and there are some surefire winners in this book!

Autumn

Waxed Paper Leaves

Apple Print T-Shirts

Paper Bag Book Cover

Apple Candle Holder

Scarecrow

Paper Jack-O'-Lantern

Simple Halloween Mask

Tin Can Lanterns

Halloween Silhouette

Cut-Outs

Spooky Cheesecloth Ghosts

Handkerchief Ghosts

Glitter Pumpkins

Pumpkin Seed Necklace

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

Corn Husk Cornucopia

Pinecone Turkey

Thanksgiving Place Card

The First Thanksgiving

Toss-and-Catch Toy

Autumn Leaf Collecting

Skeleton Leaf Prints

U.S. State Tree Chart

Winter

Snow Globe

Bend-Up Christmas Tree

Holiday Doorbell

Cut-Paper Garland

Paper Chain

Orange Pomander

Apple Pomander

Spiral Ornament

Tinsel Stars

Rolled Beeswax Candles

Beeswax Cut-Outs

Paper Snowflakes

Popcorn-and-Cranberry Garland

Perfect Popcorn

Ornament Cards

Wassail Bowl

Evergreen Door Decoration

Sparkly 3-D Christmas Tree

Glitter Pinecones

Christmas Card Holder

Greeting Card Garland

Holiday Tree for Birds

Hanging Baskets

Pinecone Treats

Outdoor Ice Picture

New Year's Eve Pi'ata

New Year's Party Favors

Valentine Envelope Cards

Invisible Ink

Rubber Stamp Hearts

Quick-Thinking Valentines

Valentine Carrier

Spring

Kits That Really Fly

Kite-Flying Tips

Paper Sled Kite

Reading the Wind

Two-Stick Diamond Kite

Coloring Eggs

Natural Dyes

Blowing Eggs

Sponge-Painted Eggs

Eggshell Garden

Rose Petal Beads

Rose Water

Homemade Soup

Mother's Day Potato Print Card

Handmade Paper

Accordion Fold-Out Cards

Tussie-Mussie

Language of Flowers

Papeir-Máché Pins

Simple Sewing

Needle Case

Summer

Firefly Lantern

Spider Web Collecting

Pressed Flowers

Daisy Chain

Dandelion Bracelet

Make a Wish

U.S. State Flower Chart

Collecting State Flowers

Paper Glider

Parachute

Quick Slingshot

Pinwheel

Dangle Bead Bookmark

Big Bubbles

Bubble Wands

Bubble Cone

Bubble Art

Five-Pointed Star

4th of July Confetti Blower

Paper Hat

Quill Pen

Feather Collecting

Feather Journal

Directions

Magnetic Compass

Paper Drinking Cup

Seashell Candles

Treasure Jar

Summer Travel Scrapbook

More Fun with Scrapbooks

Drawstring Field Bag

Animal Tracking Casting

Campfire Stories

Toasting Marshmallows

Back-Yard Camping

The instructions are clear, concise and easy to follow. This is a marvelous book that will provide hours and hours of fun and is well worth the asking price! Just read down the list and you'll be convinced.

Many crafting books for children are complicated - the parent ends up doing the project. Not so with Crafting Fun - each activity requires only a few items, yet produces something functional and beautiful.

And the book is lovely to look at! I often find myself flipping through the colorful pages, daydreaming about something to do next.

I think this book is best used with children ages six and up, although many of the activities could be adapted for younger children.

My daughters, ages 8 and 6 could not put this book down. We loved the way it is organized by seasons and the fact you don't have to raid a crafts store to do many of the projects. One of our favorites had us all in the park gathering Autumn leaves and making waxed leaves at home. The book is also beautifully illustrated and designed so would make a great gift. I highly recommend this wonderful book.

I really love this book. So many things bring me back to my childhood and it let's me share them with my preschool children very easily. As a new season comes before me, I glance through this book to remind myself of coming projects to do with them.

The book is a work of art in itself. Beautiful illustrations throughout make it a nice gift to give to friends(who are also teachers and parents).

It's a book to keep for a lifetime.

Seems like something you would have done in the 50's. The stuff is pretty easy to make but kinda outdated. Wish I would have looked into it more.

I should have just checked the reviews for this one. That list of the activities from the other review? Use it, and Google. More than half of the activities in this book are common-sense things I remember from my childhood, and all of them can be found on the internet - for free. Just search by season, or for kids crafts, or use the previously mentioned list. Don't waste your money.

I love this book! The stress-free projects are fun to make and they don't have to be perfectly executed to look great. My daughter and I are working our way through the seasons--love the Spooky Cheesecloth Ghosts--and enjoying every minute. She's 12 now and those minutes of fun are precious indeed. Thank you for giving us another way to connect.

I found some good ideas in this book. That is why I could give it 2 stars.

At the same time, I found the author to be lazy. Twenty seconds of research would have told her what the state flower of Colorado is.

I was shocked to see the Colorado State Flower listed as Rocky Mountain.

Oh my.

If the author did not know, then she should have gotten her fingers busy and typed in a search engine "Colorado State Flower"

Our state flower is not a Rocky Mountain. The rockies are part of our state and are mountains, yes children they really are mountains, Rocky Mountain is not a flower.

The Colorado State Flower is the blue columbine. A beautiful flower that even in photos looks great. In person they can take a persons breath away.

Since this was such an obvious mistake, it shows either she did not care enough to look it up, or the people she hired did not care, or they all are not "smarter than a fifth grader."

And when an author shows such lack of research, all of the twenty seconds of it, I cannot really give her ideas any backing. I would imagine that she is/was too busy to make a name for herself, than to really get her facts correct.

Also, the use of essence oil on the skin can be dangerous. When she tells children to put a drop on their fingers,I see an adult that cannot see how easily a child can be hurt. (Rose Petal Beads)

I do not know about other adults, but I do know around here, we cannot let our children go off and look for spider webs. (Spider Web Collecting)

How the author can call this a safe idea is beyond me.

What if the child found a brown recluse web? How about a black widow?

This book was put together not for the childrens' benefit, but so that the author and her publishers could rake in some dough. And not the type of dough the children can make something special from.

I am so grateful I checked this out from the library and did not pay my good, hard earned money for it.