By Tanya Pimental
Broken crayons make me sad. And this is why I buy them so often. I even take out the broken ones and keep them in their own box. I hate to throw them away and yet I am not quite sure what I should do with the ever growing box. Instant happiness for me is opening a new box of Crayola Crayons.
Before I had children, I was a closet colorer. I’d buy Barbie and Precious Moments coloring books just for myself. There is something therapeutic about coloring. It seems I have always had a need for a creative outlet. And in the last few years I have taken to more adult crafting but I still delight in an afternoon of coloring.
Imagine my excitement the first time I put together a craft box for my little ones. I delighted in filling a Rubbermaid storage box with all the wonderful things that would become works of art. Here is my must have list of all the great things needed for that afternoon of crafting. A box of supplies can be made for any age group and makes for a great gift!
- Crayons, all types are great to have on hand. I love the traditional ones. However, I really like these for younger kids because they don’t break and they are easy to hold – Crayola twistable crayons.
- Construction Paper
- Pom Poms
- Both glue sticks and old fashion school glue are useful
- Toddler Scissors
- Art smocks are great too. You can go simple or search for a custom one with the child’s name.
- Washable Paint rocks.
- These paint trays help keep from having too much paint out at once.
- Hole punch
- Tape, regular and double sided are good to have but I also love glue dots that serve as tape and easy for little fingers to use.
- Stickers, stickers, stickers
Aside from these store bought items, I love to use household items and reuse things for crafts. I like to keep these things in my stash: egg cartons, toilet paper holders, magazines for cutting things out, old ribbon and paper from presents, and even greeting cards. Sponges are great for stamping/painting. Anything that is recyclable could be cut out and reused for a craft!
My last bit of advice it to pick things up after the holidays for those random craft days or the following year. I also love to pick up ribbon and stickers in the dollar store or section at Target when I can. Keep your craft supplies stocked for those times that pop up and cry out to be filled with a craft project.
Lastly, you may have noted, I did not list glitter above. I have tried to incorporate glitter into our lives many times and each time it ends in quite a mess. My nearly 5-year-old daughter was recently crafting while her brother napped and I indulged her with a few tubes of glitter. She proceeded to dump a tube on her head and proclaimed, “I’m a piece of art work!” It is still stuck to parts of her scalp almost a month later.
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I am laughing at the glitter bit as we have had similar incidents… I will, say, however, putting glitter in homemade playdough works well. It doesn’t get everywhere and adds an extra element of sparkle and texture to the playdough. we particularly like it with snow dough.
Also, for those broken crayons. Make some new crayons with them. Here’s a description with pics of one of our adventures with doing so — a good craft in and of itself and also a nice way to make homemade gifts: http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-with-preschoolers-recycled-crayons.html
Haha great post!!
And I hate broken crayons as well, but melt them down to make new shapes and colors is so much fun! Like this: http://www.chicaandjo.com/2008/04/16/recycle-old-broken-crayons-into-fun-new-shapes/
Love both of these ideas for the crayons! Thank you!
I am a closet colorer too Tanya! And my kids are too old to want to do it with me again, so I have been known to color on my own and there’s nothing like the smell of a fresh new box of crayons! And they have to be Crayola, the store brand are not the same. I love the ideas for the broken crayons and now wish my kids were younger (but only for a minute) so that I could try this out with them. Maybe it will be a me project. Or I can bring over all those younger nieces and nephews I have and try it.