Crafts for Kids, the easy way.
My 3 younger boys, ages 8, 9 and 11 love hands on projects, make and do, art, and anything that makes a mess. I am forever looking for crafts for kids that require very little instruction, organisation, and input from me. I have lots of ideas but struggle with procuring all the necessary materials and supplies. I recently ordered 1 Ancient Far East Discovery Kit to have it on-hand when we got to that time in history. The website says the kit contains everything needed for one child for each project, so I ordered 2 Ancient Far East Additional Student Kits to be sure there was everything needed for 3 children.
I planned to keep this kit until we got to the relevant time in our history studies. Did it work that way? No! As soon as boys opened the box they wanted to start using it. Who wouldn’t? It looks so fun! So, who am I to stop them? Their mother, teacher, disciplinarian I hear you say? True, but if they are busy creating for an hour I’m having a cup of tea in peace. Win, win!
The kit has an actual preserved gray perch (fish) in it. Boys are vowing to keep those forever. We’ll see…
We started with the Kokeshi dolls. There is a CD with instructions and a little information about Kokeshi dolls. Each child gets two tiny wooden dolls to paint. This is a great idea. As soon as my boys saw them they wanted to make their own versions. I let them do one in a traditional style like in the instructions, and one of their own choosing. I insisted that they start by designing the doll on a piece of paper first, to get used to the small size they would need to draw the details. Then on to the doll. I let them do this on their own, no more orders from me. I would have liked them to do it slowly, with detail and care, but that’s not their style. They don’t care if it’s not perfectly painted, they just enjoy the doing. And they really enjoyed painting their dolls.
Modern day Kokeshi dolls.
After the dolls, since the paint was out, they went looking for other things to paint. Out came some pop sticks. They spent another hour painting sticks, then tried to sell then to me for 1 cent each!
This is a Christian kit. The website says: “This kit deals with cultures whose beliefs were false and in many cases very dark. We want to equip you and your children to apply a Biblical world view to these projects, so we have written mini Bible studies for each and every project in our kit!”
If you want to use this seculary discard the bible verses, Genesis DVD, and ‘What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs?’ booklet. If you are Young Earth Christian you might love those!
I think this kit is expensive, particularly if you need to add additional student kits, but so far I am not disappointed with my purchase.