Crafting with children: Crafting is good for the development of your child

Crafts with children - It's fun for the kids, and it also promotes creativity, fine motor skills and concentration. This is a fun way for kids to get readyon later learning at school. Craft materials such as paper, beads, felt or clay are available in shops, but you can also find all kinds of things at home and in nature with which you can make small works of art.

Crafts promote creativity, fine motor skills and concentration.

Tip: When using materials you have collected/purchased yourself, make sure that there is no risk of injury from sharp objects and that they are non-toxic.

Why is crafting with children so important?

Through crafts, children learn to be creativedevelop ideas and put them into practice. The creative mind is trained. They are busy with one thing for a longer period of time, which promotes perseverance and concentration.

By handling the different objects, the coordination of the little fingers is trained. Motor skills, which are important for learning to write, are refined.

Moreover, it is fun and the little ones are finally proud of the results, their confidence in their own abilities increases.

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Crafts with children of different age groups

The skills are developed differently in different age groups at preschool age. A three-year-old child still needs support with hand movements, while a five-year-old child can do much more delicate work and can do a lot by himself.

What is done and with what must always be adapted to the capabilities of the children so as not to burden them too much. They would quickly lose the fun of it. Too little challenge, on the other hand, would lead to boredom.

VariousCutting shapes out of paper and making a collage by sticking them on a cardboard box is already possible at the age of three with child-appropriate scissors and a little help. The older the child gets, the more detailed the shapes and images eventually become.

The same applies to crafting with beads, clay, wool and objects from nature. So what is relevant - as long as it is suitable for children - is not so much the utensils, but the different ideas and results.

As an adult you should always think together with the child about what could be made from the different materials: Givesuggestions, but let the child live out his imagination and share his ideas. Then you can perform them together, where the child of course has to do everything he or she can do on his/her own. Support the child where help is still needed.

Skills vary not only with age, but also within age groups. But that's okay, because your child develops through playful learning while crafting.

Crafts: Materials from home and nature

There are all kinds of things in the household that children can use for crafts. You can make small figures from toilet paper rolls, you can make pictures and figures from wool scraps, empty boxes and tins are suitable for sticking colorful paper and other materials.

A walk together in nature comes both adults as children for the better. Here you can collect leaves, twigs, pine cones, fruits, empty snail shells and more. At home they can be used to make small figures or leaf figures on paperpaste, with which tables, walls or windows can be decorated.

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Crafts: A few craft ideas

Even the little ones can do this: they need a large sheet of paper, marbles and opaque or finger paint. The child can dip the marble in the colour of his or her choice and then roll it across the paper. This creates colorful line drawings that can then be hung in the house and make the child proud.

Small figures can be made from all objects. Chestnuts or pine conescan be decorated with small twigs and stones to make animals. Even toilet paper rolls are suitable. Smaller children still need some help here, but at the age of five they can already make a little owl, for example.

Potatoes, paint and paper or fabric are all you need to print potatoes. The little ones are not yet allowed to handle sharp objects. But if you cut the potato in half and cut different protruding shapes such as stars, rectangles, circles and triangles into it, any child can make creative drawings with the potato shapes and paint. Wrapping paper can also be made this way.

Children can let their imagination run wild with modeling clay. What comes out of it depends on the one hand on the possibilities and on the other hand on the creative ability. A little help and, if necessary, support with finer details helps the child.

Paintings can be made not only with paint, but also with glue. Children quickly learn to cut out a circle. Brush the paper with a glue stick and glue it onto paper to make a sun. You can also use shapes to create houses, trees and hills.

Tip: The youngest children can also tear the shapes out of the paper instead of cutting them out. And instead of paper, leaves, moss and twigs from nature can also be used.

There are many options. Wool scraps can become a person's hair that was previously made of paper or a roll of toilet paper, empty packagingcan be covered with snail shells and small stones to make decorative boxes. Small stones or beads are also ideal for decorating an object. Animal figures can be made into eyes, beads can be strung together into beautiful necklaces. The littlest ones can't do this yet, but with larger beads and a little help they learn quickly.

Through all these crafts, children explore their possibilities and learn. Fine motor skills become better coordinated and imagination more intense, and the progress can be seen in the ideas and results.

You can also choose to use a simple Paint by Numbers motif to order for a child. The numbers are already printed on the canvas. Grab the paint and paint you are ready to paint!

When you do crafts with children, an accident can always happen. You and the child's clothes can become stained with paint, as can the table and carpet. Cover the area in advance, dress yourself and the child in an apron or older clothes, and remove items that you don't want to get dirty from the craft area. Careful preparation is also useful to avoid having to take the scissors out of the drawer with wet paint and glue on your fingers. If this doneadults can enjoy craft time together just as much as the children.

Frequently asked questions

What promotes crafting?

What do children need for crafts?