Arts and crafts presents!
Chris Countryman
I'm shopping for two upcoming birthdays--a 7-year-old neice and a
9-year-old nephew--who are both very artistic. Well, at least I think
so, I saw the seeds growing last time I saw them ... :)
I'm hoping this incredible group can come to my rescue: I'd really
like to get them presents that play to their talents and not another
video game, but I'm a little discouraged by the stuff I've seen in
Toys 'R' Us ... and I'm not sure if I should give art store art
supplies. They kind of require some experience/supervison on my
brother's part.
Can anyone recommend some good, innovative art toys or semi-open-ended
kits that might make nice presents? What kind of activities are good
for kids this age? I'd be more than willing to cobble something
together if I could make something my neice and nephew (and brother!)
could handle more or less "out of the box" ...
Any suggestions, hints, anecdotes, or cautionary tales much
appreciated,
Chris Countryman
Tracey
"Chris Countryman" <m...@chriscountryman.com> wrote in message
news:9edb1246.02082...@posting.google.com...
> Can anyone recommend some good, innovative art toys or semi-open-ended
> kits that might make nice presents? What kind of activities are good
> for kids this age? I'd be more than willing to cobble something
> together if I could make something my neice and nephew (and brother!)
> could handle more or less "out of the box" ...
A couple of years ago, when my nephews were about 5, 9 & 10 and my young
cousins were about 4& 10, I got a great idea for Christmas presents, and NOW
is the perfect time of year to shop for it at all the back to school sales.
I went out and bought each one of them a rubbermaid container with a snap on
lid and a handle that was big enough to hold sheets of paper flat on the
bottom. I then hit all the back to school sales and bought pens, pencils,
crayons, finger paints, hole punches, staplers, washable markers, scissors,
glue sticks, glitter glue, rulers, gel pens, tons of stickers, folders,
popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, yarn, newsprint, tracing paper, construction
paper, lined paper, colored copy paper, etc. I filled the boxes up with all
the goodies and gave them as Christmas gifts.
The kids absolutely loved them! The parents thought they were pretty great
too, since when it came time to do homework assignments there was no search
for supplies. The kids all used the supplies for quite a while and made
some really neat projects with their supplies. A couple of them went really
all out and decorated their boxes as well.
You might also throw a book of 'art projects' or 'easy puppets' or something
in there to inspire them if they need a little bit of direction.
I spent about $20 or $25. each on these boxes (including the Rubbermaids)
because I got everything at back to school time for next to nothing...and I
was much happier doing this tnan spending it on the 'movie related toy of
the week' like many of my relatives buy for gifts for the kids.
Tracey in CT
H Schinske
>I'm a little discouraged by the stuff I've seen in
>Toys 'R' Us ... and I'm not sure if I should give art store art
>supplies. They kind of require some experience/supervison on my
>brother's part.
Is there any kind of independent toy store in your area? They're generally much
better about stocking good art supplies for children. Sometimes office supply
places have a corner of art stuff, too.
Paints can be fiddly and messy and need a lot of supervision. Stuff that you
can grab any time without asking parents is handier -- really nice colored
pencils, pastels, that kind of thing. It might be a good idea to look at the
Hearth Song catalog ( http://www.hearthsong.com ) for ideas -- you may or may
not be able to find the same things locally, or perhaps it's easier to order
online anyway. Modeling beeswax (Stockmar is the brand I've seen) is very nice
and non-messy but takes some patience to get soft.
I looked up "waldorf children's catalog" on Google (I was trying to remember
the name of Hearth Song, and I knew they were Waldorf-inspired) and got lots of
hits -- you might try that for lots more ideas.
Friendship bracelets are big at this age -- you could get a book and assorted
embroidery floss, or there is probably a Klutz kit.
My eight-year-olds are just learning to use the sewing machine, but that
requires a lot of adult help. I have a toy one put away that I think is a
little easier and safer to run -- must see if that works for them (I have the
added complication of a younger brother who has to be kept out of the way).
Good art *storage* supplies are always appreciated, too.
--Helen
Louise
m...@chriscountryman.com (Chris Countryman) wrote:
>Hello everyone,
>
>I'm shopping for two upcoming birthdays--a 7-year-old neice and a
>9-year-old nephew--who are both very artistic. Well, at least I think
>so, I saw the seeds growing last time I saw them ... :)
>
>I'm hoping this incredible group can come to my rescue: I'd really
>like to get them presents that play to their talents and not another
>video game, but I'm a little discouraged by the stuff I've seen in
>Toys 'R' Us ... and I'm not sure if I should give art store art
>supplies. They kind of require some experience/supervison on my
>brother's part.
Hmmm. Not necessarily. One can never have too many sketch books -
art stores have really good books with thick paper and hard backs.
And sketching pencils. And markers. And pipe cleaners. Go look
around an art store; you might find other stuff too.
When I was broke, and trying to find good affordable Christmas
presents for the 7yo and 10yo who had just become part of my life, the
big sketch pads were a great success.
Louise
maxine in ri
My daughter is one of those who just can't stop creating. THis
sometimes means that I find record books with drawings on them, but
that's minor.
Her current favorite, and for the past many years, has been clay.
Playdough was a joy for her, and with some guidance (alway alway
always put newspaper down before using it, and put it away or it
will dry up) she was fine. Playdough however dries into a
crystaline form after a couple of years, so for permanancy, I would
look into the kind of clay that never dries (not Fimo or Sculpy or
their kin that require baking) and does not
require water. The bakable plastic clays are great for them to
work with, but require adult supervision for baking. I've seen
recommendations that you bake them in an old toaster oven that you
no longer use for food, and do it with plenty of ventilation. For
me, that's on the back porch with the door open. This stuff served
us well for a number of school projects as well: the "build a cell"
science project, and the "make a game to demonstrate the plot line
of a book they read as a class" project.
another present my daughter got a lot of use out of was a box with a
lid that she could keep her supplies in, and use as a surface while
riding in the car. We did a lot of long trips on weekends, so this
was a godsend to keep her from going nuts in the back seat.
maxine in ri
Rosalie B.
>Hello everyone,
>
>I'm shopping for two upcoming birthdays--a 7-year-old neice and a
>9-year-old nephew--who are both very artistic. Well, at least I think
>so, I saw the seeds growing last time I saw them ... :)
>
I've given my grandkids various art supplies from catalogs, and trying to
think of what they were I did a google search I couldn't find the catalogs
that I used, but I did find some interesting sites.
http://www.kidsart.com/store/index.htmlis apparently a site on teaching art
to kids - I haven't used it.
http://www.achildsdream.com/online_only.htm says it is Waldorf inspired
and so is http://www.naturalplay.com/
http://childparenting.miningco.com/library/picks/aatp101001.htm has a list
of the top 10 arts and crafts kids for children K-6 (and another list for
older ones that looks pretty interesting. THey say:
>A good arts and crafts kit for preschool and younger elementary children needs to have clear, simple instructions and easy idea-starters. Since parents often must help younger children with crafts, it helps when the project is one that parents can get into also!
http://grannymomstoybox.com/valorie/homemadeart.html lists homemade art
supplies for kids
grandma Rosalie
Laura E. Brooks
> >Toys 'R' Us ... and I'm not sure if I should give art store art
> >supplies. They kind of require some experience/supervison on my
> >brother's part.
My SIL gave my daughter "Shrinky Dinks" for her birthday one year, and they
were a huge hit. :-) Do you know what I'm talking about? They're sheets
of plastic that you can draw or trace on, cut out and then heat in the oven.
When they're heated, they shrink down and thicken and become hard. You can
put holes in them (pre-cooking) so that they can be worn as jewelry or
backpack decorations, etc.
The kids can pretty much do them on their own, until the last bit. They
have to be cooked in the oven for 30 seconds or something like that.
Laura
Scott Lindstrom
Speaking as a parent, the best suggestion so far was the
plastic bin to put everything into!
My kids love drawing (right now, DS is heavily into
making Pokemon cards with the other kids in the
neighborhood -- then they trade these homemade
cards just like the other ones!). Paper, crayons,
markers, colored pencils -- they love to get these.
I will also add scissors that cut patterns --
zigzags, scalloped edges, that sort of thing. I
don't think I've seen that suggestion yet. And
stamping paraphernalia.
scott, dd 9 and ds 6, all ready for school to start
on Monday!
--
Scott S. Lindstrom | A lawyer can be disbarred; Can
sco...@ssec.wisc.edu | a meteorologist be disgusted?
http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/homepage1.html
Jill
news:9edb1246.02082...@posting.google.com...
> kits that might make nice presents? What kind of activities are good
> for kids this age? I'd be more than willing to cobble something
> together if I could make something my neice and nephew (and brother!)
> could handle more or less "out of the box" ...
I've bought fun craft kits from www.creativitykits.com.
~ Jill
Robyn Kozierok
My kids like stuff for gluing -- you can generally find wooden and/or
foam shapes pretty cheaply. Add a couple of packs of googly eyes and
some white glue, and they're set for hours. Our local Dollar store stocks
colored popsicle sticks that are a big hit too.
Another thing my kids really enjoy is beads and gimp or gold thread to
string them on.
All of this stuff is easy to find at WalMart or (in the northeast) Ames or
whatever mega-discount-department stores you have near you.
Good luck,
--Robyn
Elizabeth M. Levin
For an inexpensive gift with some "oomph", consider one of the _Origami:
Fun with Paper Folding_ books for the older child. It's a series with many
of the traditional forms shown, and it also comes with a small pack of
larger origami paper (including the metallics and a simple print.) To
improve this gift, include a pack of big origami paper.
Aside from checking out your local bookstore, especially if there's a
children's bookstore nearby, I'd recommend stopping by a cloth store- they
sometimes have decent kits for beginning various crafts- sewing,
embroidery, etc.
--
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Penny Gaines
[snip]
> Aside from checking out your local bookstore, especially if there's a
> children's bookstore nearby, I'd recommend stopping by a cloth store-
> they sometimes have decent kits for beginning various crafts- sewing,
> embroidery, etc.
[snip]
Yes, include some ribbon in what you get.
Not knowing your niece and nephew, I would have thought a 7 and 9yo
don't need a lot of supervision, assuming they've been taught to
do their crafts on newspaper, or somewhere else that is easy to clean
up.
You should be able to find books of craft activities in your local
bookshop: look through that to find suggestions of what they could
use.
--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three
Chris Countryman
Thanks to eveyone for the stellar responses!
Chris