Crafts + 4 Year Old

These two websites have given me many great ideas for crafts to do with my 4 year old son...

http://artfulparent.typepad.com/
http://www.filthwizardry.com/

I'm not nearly as crafty as those moms but at least they get me started in the right direction = )

Make a chain. Cut green and red construction paper into strips and form a chain.

String some wooden beads to create a garland.

Make a snowman from a tube sock. Fill with rice or beans, dividing into thirds use rubber bands or string to secure. Now it should look like 3 balls stacked on each other. Fold over the top to make it look like a hat. Draw on a face, or use felt shapes. Tie a strip of cloth around the neck for a scarf.

Collect some pine cones and let them sit inside and dry out for a few days. Cover with glue and sprinkle with glitter. Tie a ribbon on the end, and it becomes an ornament.

Make a bird feeder, by covering a pine cone with peanut butter and rolling in bird seed.

Cover a small table with a cheap plastic table cloth and spray a few large globs of shaving cream in the center. Using hands and fingers, start drawing. It's a good way to teach letters.

Check out family fun magazine for some great ideas.

Just glue and make things with whatever you have at home!
I did crafts with my kids to various degrees, since they were Toddlers.

I have on hand: glue, glitter, pom-pom, popsicle sticks, paper plates, construction paper, stickers, socks, cardboard, egg cartons, boxes, beads, crayons, fabric scraps, felt, etc. Anything, can be a craft item.
Just make stuff. It does not have to be a "literal" object. It can just be something from the imagination. That is the 'creative' process.

My kids, just make things up! And make their own creations. That is a "craft" too. And part of the fun and self-expression.

Three words for 4 year olds:
Self Stick Foamies!

familyfun.com is great resource.
We did Santa Hands. Draw a hand on white felt, turn it upside down. Thumb and top is the santa hat with will be red felt glued on top, put a pom pom or cotton ball on the tip of the thumb. Then puffy paint the face and the fingers are the beard.

Anything can be a craft at that age, and it's great to let them explore their own creative ideas as well as doing structured crafts. We gave up on structured crafts (as cute as they are) because my oldest always wanted to do what "she wanted to do" with it...very sweetly, I might add. She's a doll.

So we have lots of boxes filled with EVERYTHING...material, felt, pom poms, jingle bells, markers, glitter, glue, crayons, paint, every kind of paper imaginable, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, feathers, beads, googly eyes, styrofoam falls, ribbons, rubber bands, that plastic stuff that looks like a grid that you can cut and yarn together (can't think of the name!!...but my Grandma made us a whole set of Barbie furniture out of it...) yarn, cardboard, stickers, stamps...oh, and that's just the start of it. I honestly have tubs full of craft supplies (organized into smaller boxes inside) and she's allowed to use whatever she wants.

My problem is not knowing what to do with all the stuff she creates. I don't want to throw any of it out...but it takes up a LOT of space. :)

Familyfun.com, makingfriends.com, family corner.com, kaboose, look at the websites for the makers of elmers, crayola or plaid brands. just some thoughts of things/places to look for ideas. There are lot of things to do with tracing the hands. stencils are good..... making a big cookie or cake and decorating it with sprinkles or food colors by painting it. Check out the websites it will get you going. Oriental trading has inexpensive things that are kits to make..

my 4 year old loves to use the scissors and the glue stick the most, so cutting pictures from magazines (or right now the holiday circulars in the mail!) and glues them onto colored construction paper. I just brought home (from work)some packing peanuts, and we made snowmen, they turned out cute! Also puppets out of small paper bags. The ideas can be endless. I always see a craft opportunity with the "junk" laying around, lol... have fun! :)

I just did a Christmas craft with my 4 year old and 7 year old. I had them cut out Christmas trees and glue them onto a paper plate. Then they decorated them by using glitter glue, glue and little plastic gems, I cut out some Christmas ribbon for them to glue on. They looked so cute. Then they each drew some gifts on the plate. They're hanging on my front door.

They both love doing collages. Cut out some pictures from magazines. I have different envelopes with different stuff (animals, transportation, babies/kids, food).

coffee filter snowflakes, coffee filter angels, coffee filter christmas trees

Yeah, my 4 year old pretty much loves any craft I present her with! Self stick foamies and stickers are good and inexpensive. She loves to cut up scraps of paper and glue them to other paper, she loves to paint or do stamps, she likes to bead bracelets and she loves to cook and bake. Family Fun is a good website, I've never heard of Pinterest, but it sounds interesting. Also, if you go and look at the pre-made craft stuff you can get inspired to do it yourself with things you have at home, especially if it's only for 1-2 kids. I like to browse Oriental Trading Co. crafts and see what I can do myself. I do buy their kits sometimes too and they are usually really great and easy to use.

I've found it's fun at any age to let your child get creative on or with something they wouldn't normally be aloud to do..such as something on their wall, on their dresser, toy chest, their closet walls, such things as that.it's important to let them know that it's a special thing you're doing and just for fun and as long as they respect that then you can continue to have fun like this. Obviously you don't want to buy things that are permanent, but the beauty in that too is that you can wash it off, and when she's ready for a new look, you can have fun all over again :)