Arts and crafts are largely a variety of activities that involves making things with your hands and can be considered a hobby. Schools may offer arts and crafts activities such as sewing or making things with different materials. Kids may also choose to take up classes outside of school and attempt projects at home.
These fun activities keep children engaged and allow for their imagination to expand. It also helps kids connect physically and socially.
5 Benefits of Arts and Crafts for Kids:
- Arts and crafts help develop children’s motor skills by engaging in projects that involve using their hands and fingers. It is through these movements that motor skills develop and improve muscle strength and better control. As children engage in a variety of different projects, their hand-eye coordination also increases over time with the use of pencils, paintbrushes or the moulding of clay. It is best to get them started at an early age as it can be of use to them in their daily life and even help them excel in sports later on.
- Arts and crafts increase dexterity and agility in children. Especially with practice, parents can expect their kids to pick up speed in different arts and crafts projects as they go along and evolve to be more artistic.
- Arts and crafts can boost a child’s self-esteem and allow them to feel they have accomplished something when the project is finished. It also gives them a sense of achievement when they are in control of creating an art piece all by themselves, which in turn build up their confidence.
- Arts and crafts allow children to encourage self-expression and can evoke feelings and emotions that we don’t see children portray daily. These hidden feelings can then be turned into something wonderfully positive as they create their work of art. Kids can also explore and share their feelings of self-expression by showing their family and friends how they feel as well as relating their future ambitions and goals even if they haven’t found the right words to express themselves verbally. Arts and crafts is a great medium that provides children with the platform to express those valid emotions.
- Arts and crafts help children be more social in all walks of life by interacting with their peers through mutual interests. This allows them to build new and strengthen existing friendships by connecting more deeply while having an appreciation for each other on a whole new level. It also helps with their communication skills as they attempt to articulate their creations. Projects done as a family also help bring them closer together and give parents a closer look and understanding into the psyche of their children and how they function socially.
Essential Arts and Crafts Supplies That Kids Should Have
It is always a good idea to stock up on supplies for whenever children have that sudden urge to create and let their imagination run wild and even when parents want to partake in a project together.
Although you don’t need to have every product available out there, some essentials are necessary if you plan on creating some affordable arts and crafts ideas.
- Crayons are a great way to start simple on any project. They are way less messy than some other options and just as fun to engage your child in some bright beautiful colours or drawings.
They can come in many options like gel or wax and even have beautiful patterns on the stem of the crayons to attract kids as young as toddlers from wanting to pick it up and use it immediately. There is also a string to peel away the paper when the crayon tip wears off just add that much more amusement when using crayons.
Gel crayons are also an exciting way to get more out of your drawing or colouring as you can add water and a paintbrush to now turn your work of art into a painting with watercolour effects. The plastic barrel lets you twist these crayons upwards. They are beautifully designed and can be accompanied by a colouring book.
Chunky triangle crayons are also a great fit for a child’s hands. These are ergonomically designed to do just that and won’t roll away at a drop of a hat. These crayons can be coloured on all sorts of materials and they even stand out on darker paper.
- Pens and Pencils for drawing and sketching are somewhat underappreciated as children tend to get more googly-eyed over the glitter or foam paint however they are just as, or even more utilised and essential as the next over the top item. Moreover, they are very affordable arts and crafts ideas that parents can build an activity around.
For instance, Graphite Mechanical Pencils come with thick lead and even a sharpener at the end. The stem of the pencil has an inspirational quote to lift spirits and refillable lead is also available to keep it sustainable.
- There is also a need for erasers when using pencils to rub away something you want to correct and start over. An interesting item is the Donut Scented Eraser that doubles as a puzzle piece as well as gives off the smell of vanilla accents. You may swap off the tops of the eraser heads to mix and match the mood of the day giving you multi-sensory fun every time you make a mistake.
There are also strawberry-scented erasers and ninja erasers for that cheeky design to stealthily erase those mistakes away.
Gel Pens come in neon, glitter and pastel colours for endless colouring fun and you can find everything you need in one set whether to accent, outline or colour in. These gel pens are also fruit-scented to awaken a child’s sense of smell when working on their project. The plastic case that carries the pens is portable, organised and reusable.
Scented Gel Pens have multi-coloured sherbert gel ink that is such a wonderful surprise for any child, visually or delightfully fruity smelling. The ink changes colour as you draw which is an added wonder to most kids. They can be used on any coloured surface and sketchbooks are also available as a noted accompaniment.
- Colouring Markers for colouring books are a great way to “paint” even for babies. They come in all different shapes and sizes from skinny, thick, washable or not. It is good to experiment with different types to achieve the desired effect and outcome. Colouring markers are also great for different surfaces such as leaves, rocks, pumpkins for Halloween or eggs for Easter.
Double-ended Markers have dual tips on each side with different widths to sketch, colour, draw and write as well as act as a highlighter in 8 beautiful, bright pastel colours.
The Rainbow Sparkle Glitter Markers are a great tool for art and school projects as well as making greeting cards. It enhances and provides a special look to any project for children to work on and comes in 15 distinct classic or pastel glitter colours.
Metallic Brush Markers have brush tip nibs that allow children to apply their works of art creatively on any surface. The metallic colours clean off easily with water for that mess-free project.
Mega Markers are the ultimate chunky and easy tool that fits right into a child’s tiny grasp. The triangle-shaped pointed tip allows kids to draw thick or thin lines and the vibrant colours are all washable.
- Water Colours and Brushes for painting are easy to use and pretty. They are also not messy if the water to paint ratio is supervised. They can be used for all kinds of craft projects and science experiments.
The Watercolour Paint Pods and Brush contain 36 bright colours to inspire children’s creative spirit while the Chroma Blends Watercolour Paint adds shimmer, shine and a metallic accent to all works of art. Try blending and mixing the 12 colours to create even more new colours. This set doubles as a paint palette and comes with a travel-friendly case so kids can transport it around easily.
The Watercolour Paint Pad suits most beginner artists as the acid-free heavy-duty art paper can withstand more than just paints. You can also paint sticks, gel crayons and watercolour pencils on this heavyweight, durable paper. This makes for a great starter kit.
As an accompaniment to any watercolour paint, a paintbrush set is also essential to create that work of art. The 7 brushes come in all shapes and sizes for use in every which way. They also feature nylon brushes for gradiated colours for that ombre effect. These brushes are easy to clean as well. All you have to do is wash off, blot dry and align them brush side up.
- Glitter Glue is a less messy option than other types of glue but an absolute must as it makes so many art and crafts projects look amazing as a result. The Rainbow Sparkle Glitter Glue come in 6 colours to add that extra oomph! to any surface or project. The Paster Glitter Glue comes with a brush to apply mini dots of dazzling glitter to DIY or any project that need that magical touch.
- Drawing or Craft Paper is perfect for making origami, sculptures or painting. For example, watercolour paper keeps the moisture from seeping through and holds up better than construction paper as kids tend to use more paint than needed on their arts and crafts projects.
Brown Kraft Paper Rolls are also great for covering surfaces that you do not want to dirty and can dually be used to do a big collaborative colouring design. Easel rolls are also great for large surface projects, using their bodies to work big. It can also be placed on an easel, a wall or the floor.
Construction paper usually comes in a package of rainbow colours and is great to have on hand whenever kids want to cut something up or draw on as well as create things with. They serve well as a multi-purpose supply.
Transparent paper can be used for all types of sun-catcher projects and stained-glass projects as well as collage. Coloured tissue paper can also be used for the same purposes including papier mache which you can glue onto anything or stick onto wet surfaces.
White art paper and sketchbooks are also a must as they can create art journals and are portable.
Some other types of paper are recycled cardboard or magazines like a used toilet or paper towel rolls, cereal boxes and egg cartons. They are free of charge and such a good way to teach children about recycling. They can be used to play pretend, construct and build homemade toys.
5 Creative Arts and Crafts Ideas
Ultimately, arts and crafts need not be expensive and children can still engage in these projects using their imagination and creativity.
- Colouring Books have a specific purpose however if we were to add some thought to an activity using either the Princesses and Fairies or Knights and Dragons Colouring Book.
- Drawing and Sketch Books can be made into greeting cards and teaches children to understand that there are more uses to one item. The Standing Sketchbook and Carry Along Sketchbook has some beautiful pictures that can be pasted onto art block paper and made into a meaningful Christmas or Birthday card. This allows them to match shapes that fall into the geometry of math and give them an early start into preschool.
- Glitter Glue Crafts can be simple enough art projects that children can attempt. It uses simple images from used colouring books that a few glitter glue colours can easily fill in, creating dazzling works of art and sparkly fun. This builds on their fine motor skills and coordination such as holding the glitter glue and applying it within the lines.
- Leaf Painting is a great way to get kids excited about arts and crafts. It combines the mixing of colours which is fun for a child to experiment with as well as hunting for leaves which includes exploration in nature. Children collect the leaves and print them in paint colours to make imprints on blank sketchbooks. This is a great way to build memories and it is also fun to journal the adventure about how the excursion went and how it made them feel. Colour sorting, learning about colours and matching allows for children to have better concentration.
- Toilet Roll Crafting can keep a child occupied for hours. It recycles old toilet rolls and with some other wastepaper, children can cut out shapes to make different characters or vehicles to play pretend and let their imagination run wild. This is best done with a group and improves communication with peers as well as allow kids to listen to step-by-step instructions carefully. This can develop their listening and verbal skills when they articulate themselves on what they are doing and what they have done. This can also be a long-term project done in a few sittings.
