How to Come up With Art and Craft Ideas for Kids
Are you a camp director or Sunday School teacher looking for art and craft ideas for kids? Or perhaps you are you responsible for children’s group activities at a club. Maybe you feel as though you are not creative, and struggle with the idea of coming up with craft projects. It is true that there are some people that just have a knack for finding or even inventing craft ideas, but your creativity can be improved. And there are ways to make it easier to find a craft idea.
Firstly, forget about being a perfectionist. Thinking that there is only one right way to do something makes every decision harder.
Regardless of the children’s program you are helping with, there are always many suitable craft ideas out there. Don't worry about picking the wrong one! If you've taken into consideration the age and skill levels of the kids involved, your choice will be adequate.
Next, consider your budget. When choosing a craft idea for kid’s programs, you need to be aware that some of them can be expensive. Prepackaged kits may be affordable for a few kids, but if you need to cater for a whole group of kids, these kits might end up costing too much.
Here’s a tip – it's often quite easy to get almost the same result by just looking at the craft kit components and buying the same materials in bulk at the discount store. You may have to do some preparation, like cutting out shapes ahead of time, or at least making cardboard patterns for the kids to use in cutting out their own. The savings will be worth it.
Another consideration is that, despite what some people like to think, boys and girls tend to like different sorts of crafts! If the craft seems a little girlish, don't use it at boys' camp. Stick with lace-up leather billfolds, Indian artifacts, dinosaur art, and similar projects.
Girls tend to like beads and anything that's pink or purple. If the camp or gathering is unisex, keep the art and craft for kids on the boyish side and provide some pink materials to keep the girls happy.
An aspect of creativity that non-creative people don’t realize is that ideas often come from other ideas. For example, if you look at a book or website of craft ideas, maybe none of them will appeal to you, but if you let them, they can spark an idea for a similar project. Use what you can and change what you must in the craft instructions.
And finally, you don't have to change the instructions or create something new to have good art and craft ideas for kids to use. Follow instructions to the letter if that works best for you but at the end of the day it’s the kid’s creativity that will shine – kids creativity beats adult’s every time. They will have a great time either way. Just pick a craft idea and the kids will make it creative….. whatever you think about your own ability.
If you are tired of searching for good craft ideas I recommend an e-book 365 Easy Step-by-Step Kid Crafts by Alexandra Martinez - that's one craft idea for kids every day of the year. It includes all the holiday seasons, covers all age groups and provides tips and tricks to make sure your craft idea is appropriate for the intended group. Good luck with your crafting ideas.
Also visit Arts and Crafts for Kids for bordom buster ideas look here.
My special thanks to my young friend Megan Chiang for her fine artwork on this page.
Christmas: Halloween