Customer Reviews

Kids Create! Art & Craft Experiences for 3- to 9-Year-Olds

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The craft instructions in this book are indeed easy, fun, cheap to do (etc) for kids. But the best part was the discussion in the back of the book on appropriate levels of creative projects for kids of different ages. It clearly outlined what attention span and dexterity level you should expect from kids of different ages. And it had useful advice for adults on how to make the project fun for kids; not just push the child to produce an "aesthetically ideal" finished project. That unanticipated inclusion in the book made it really stand out for me.

Very useful book for those responsible for keeping young children interested and involved with handicaft projects. Supplies are readily alvailable and at nominal cost. Instructons are clear and uncomplicated.

Kids Create! is an excellent collection that uses various mediums and can apply to children with varied artistic ability. I am a 6th grade art teacher, and I purchased the book after borrowing it from the library. There are too many wonderful ideas to let it slip away! My students especially love Carlson's collection of sculpting projects.

I bought this when my daughter was 3 years old (she's 7 now) and was enamored with all the projects in it. We did a couple of the crafts and then I stuck this on a shelf and forgot it for a while.

When my daughter turned 4 and we'd decided to home school, I pulled this out again. We've used it over and over since then and she has a blast! She will often pull the book out and ask to do projects in it. We've done some of the crafts as holiday decorations or as gifts, others themed to whatever unit study lessons we're working on (like Indian crafts during Thanksgiving, etc.), and still more just for fun. Dad even gets involved.

Themed activities are easy because some of the book is divided up by season. There are old "standby" crafts like shadow silhouettes and sponge art, as well as some fun ideas I hadn't seen before, like a "winter count" (drawing symbols on brown paper to make up a map of one's life, like the Indians used to do). Last spring during our "recycling" theme we made the windsock project, which uses an empty gallon ice cream container. (There's also a globe-making craft that would work well for Earth Day.) She had that windsock hanging outside our front door all year until we decorated for Halloween.

Another great thing about this book is the section for parents on the stages of a child's artistic development. I found that quite useful for working with my home schooler and knowing what to expect at certain ages.

The age range 3-9 is appropriate, basically because you can pick and choose between the varied complexity of the different crafts to fit your child's skill level each year--or simplify techniques and methods based on ability. I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for simple, fun, and inexpensive crafts to keep their little one busy all year long.

This book was good for holding the attention of both my 3 year old daughter and 10 year old son, I especially liked the clay projects and have incorporated my own spin on them for crafty ideas for decorations around the home from learning. Great if you are just starting out with your children doing arts & crafts.

This is an awsome book. With tons of things to make and create with your child. My daughter keeps picking out projects to do all the time and most of it is really cheap entertainment. If you love spending time and doing things with your kids this book is Great.
Billie-Jo

This is an excellent book to have as a reference regardless of your children's ages. It has wonderful recipes for doughs/paints/etc & lots of useful general info about crafting with kids. It also has lots of ideas for classic crafts- the kinds you did in school or VBS when you were a child before everything came in a kit from Oriental Express.

I am a preschool teacher and purchased this book to look for new and exciting projects to teach my class. I was VERY pleased to all the creative ideas this book contained.