Arts and Crafts are a great way to bond with kids, especially when the whole family get involved. These days kids (and parents too) are so consumed with technology that they often don’t even know what making crafts means. Crafts can be a great idea for family time, especially in the winter when we don’t go out so much. Here are some of the benefits and some ideas for your family ‘craft’ time.
Make a connection – If you are having trouble connecting with your child, try making some Monogrammed Note Cards with her. Find a fun craft like making handcrafted sea life bottle art that you know she will enjoy and block out some special time with her. Crafting together is an easy way to get one-on-one time with your kids and find out what’s going on in their minds.
Give emotional support – As you craft together, your child will probably be more willing to open up and talk to you about things that are on his mind. If there is something bothering your child and he opens up and shares his problem with you during your craft time, give him emotional support. Offer your advice and let him know that you are there for him, unconditionally.
Keep it light and fun – If you craft with your child specifically for the purpose of bonding with her, keep your craft time fun. Try not to obsess about how perfect she’s painting or getting the bead glued on just right. Keep your craft time relaxed.
Encourage and stay interested – Many adults suffer from low self-esteem as a direct result of their parents’ negative attitude towards them during [tag-tec]childhood[/tag-tec]. As you craft with your kids, be interested in what they’re doing. Kids love to share their artwork. Be encouraging and pay positive comments to your kid about their [tag-self]crafts[/tag-self]. Show them that you are interested in them.
Craft ideas for younger kids
Kids of all ages love to craft. If you have younger kids, here are some really fun craft ideas to try with them:
NOODLE ART
Give your kids a sheet of construction paper and a mound of dry macaroni noodles (any fun-shaped dry noodle will work for this craft). Let them draw a picture on their paper with a pencil or crayon first. Then glue around the outline of their picture with white school glue. Let them place their noodles on top of the glue to create a fun noodle art picture. If you’re looking for great projects like this one for you and your kids, there are a lot of great vendors to buy handmade crafts on Etsy from.
FINGER PAINTING
All kids love the messy feeling of finger painting. Put an old shirt or paper apron on your kid before giving them the paints. For an even less-messy clean-up, take your [tag-ice]kids[/tag-ice] outside and sit them under a tree in the cool shade to paint.
PLAYDOUGH ART
Another favorite of kids is play dough and clay. Lay newspaper on the floor and give your kids small tubs of their favorite-colored play dough. Encourage them to create sculptures with their fun dough.
SOCK PUPPET SHOW
Sock puppets are easy to make. Just glue on a pair of wiggle eyes and make a nose and mouth from felt. Then add a sprout of hair, made with colorful yarn. Make several of these sock puppets out of different sizes of socks and let your kids put on a sock puppet show for you.
PIPE CLEANER FUN
Buy a couple of packs of colorful pipe cleaners and let your kids create art with them. You will be amazed at what they can make from something this simple!
Great ideas for younger kids! Mine are older, and we are starting to bond over sports and other activity, but I remember doing things like simple crafting and art projects with them when they were littler. Just here via the Southern Fried carnival.
I think I suffer from lack of creativity! LOL! Thanks for all the great tips and for sharing this with the Carnival of Family Life.
Sounds like you are a great mom. You are so right about the importance of self-esteem, and childhood is when our self image is developed. Just following our kids around, doing what they want to do is a great way to teach them to lead.
Here from SFC.
Come on over to the Carnival of Family Life and read the other wonderful submissions. Thanks for participating!
My very talented and artsy seven year old would love you just for saying arts and crafts! She always amazes me with her artistic nature!
viaCFL
Absolutely agree, arts and craft activities and educational activities are a great bonding session that is both fun and has the side benefit of education stimulation. What can be more fun than arts and craft? 🙂