"The creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps people to resolve conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight.”

~www.arttherapy.org

The Gift of Expression

When you're a child, communication isn't always a walk in the park. Crafts can be a great way for children to learn to freely express there thoughts and feelings and can help to develop their imagination and creativity. There are a lot of fun ways to engage children in artistic activities. Reusing old materials can also bring environmental awareness into your child’s life. Here are some ideas for kid-friendly crafts. We'd love to hear yours, so send them along!

Old Sock Puppets

Take an old sock, add buttons, pipe cleaners, pom poms, googley eyes or whatever else you have handy. Provide a variety of materials and let your child choose freely. This is a great birthday or play date activity, because several sock puppets call for a serious a puppet show.

Egg Bugs

Egg cartons painted with brushes, stamps or finger and with pipe cleaner antennas make pretty neat bugs. Try different kinds, and for older children try mimicking actual insects. Is it ever too early for biology lessons?

Move over, Picasso; it's time to Scribble!

Scribbling with crayons or pencils is a great activity to help children develop their fine motor skills. Copying what they scribble can be a fun way to encourage them to continue exploring their capabilities. Provide free access to stickers to add to the design, and even toddlers can enjoy creating a materpiece while developing pre-writing and pincer-grip skills.

Finger Paint

Mix corn meal, cornstartch or flour with water to paint consistency, and add food colouring or spices for colour. Encourage painting with feet and bellies too for an all-over tactile experience.

Make stamps by cutting a potato in half and then cutting out shapes, or use sponges or rags for different textured designs.

Food Art
Gluing beans, rice, salt, oatmeal or other interestingly shaped objects to paper or canvas can be a great way for children to experience different textures.

Treasure Bottles
Use an old plastic bottle and let your child fill it with sand, seashells, water and other treasures found at the beach. Screw or glue the lid on and enjoy a mini underwater world.

The Idea Cup Runneth Over

What would happen if you provided your child with a large canvas or piece of paper and an endless supply of materials such as finger paints, pieces of coloured tape, glitter glue, stick-on pompoms, coloured paper, toothpicks, tiny stones, seashells, pasta, beads and anything else you have lying around? Hit the thrift store for an old canvas or the art store for poster board and find out.

If you have any kid-friendly craft ideas or pictures of your little darling's work of art, please email them along and we may post them here.