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Make Some Awesome Fall Crafts with Kids and Add 4 Benefits

Crafts as in generally done, or crafts with kids has never been touted as an activity that is supposed to do more than keep kids busy, give them some fun and as some say add creativity to a child’s life.

Kids crafts however should do more than that, much more, actually.
When crafts are made with an educational art approach, there are 4 added benefits the children get.

It can take them into the academic realm by allowing them to think through problems.

It can make them take initiative really make them creative and raise their self esteem.

I can show you how to get kids to make a crafts, in this case a fall crafts that will encompass all of the benefits above.

If you take a look online, the majority of the crafts for kids are made up by adults.

Adults think of a cute idea, create it, get the materials, and have the children follow in step by step fashion.This creates what we call “copycat crafts”.

In order to have the kids make crafts that are full of good benefits they must jump in, not be nervous and do that activity without looking to that adult to tell them what to do.

We can’t get let the kids go crazy and do whatever they want. but there is a way to straddle both fences.

In arranging a crafts for the children your first responsibilty is to set the parameters of the activity. Will it be a fall, winter or holiday theme. Then, start thinking of the materials you can give the children that will suggest Fall. Let your mind wander to magnificient fall foliage, scenic mountain trails, baskets full of pumpkins.

Two very important or helpful things in this equation are Number one:To gather a lot of different pictures to hang up so that the children can get inspiration from these pictures and pick parts of the pictures that they want use in their craft.

Another good idea woould be to give the children a base piece to use in their artwork.

Choosing many widths and lengths of tree trunks as the focal point for a fall picture would make lot of sense in this case.

If you look at this Fall craft collage I give step by sep instruction on how to do a fall craft like this.

What happens is, children are free to think on their own without adult interference.

It is just when kids can work on their own without an overly rigid structure that they learn to take initiative
Their creativity, of course blooms because they are being allowed to create what they like.
As a result they feel great and their self worth shoots up.

If you are an early childhood teacher you may find another interesting crafts project in this style  called Fall projects for the preschool classroom.

The difference in what this type of crafts, or as I call it educational arts and crafts does for children is indescribable.

Kids crafts should not only be used to commemorate holidays, there is much more to be gained.

As children tend to love art, when adults look for activties to do with children, it is often crafts.
Kindergarten and nursery school teachers, doting grandmothers, loving aunts
give children crafts to do as a way of bonding with them which is often done in conjunction with the holidays

Everyone knows that kids love to color and paint and since it is really hard to get many children to concentrate for long periods of time on any activity, crafts is the perfect  way to fill that time.

Expectations of the children is the larger problem here. Children are unable to think of realistic looking crafts to make at very young ages so the adult just picks an adults model and has them copy that. I call this “copycat crafts”.

If you are a real traditional sort and have no problem with creating robots out of your children then go right ahead and keep doing these kinds of crafts. There are books and websites that are full of them
and finding all sorts of cute looking crafts projects will not be a problem at all.

Crafts that are copycat are very detrimental to kids and you should take a minute to hear why. You can also go download a free report  that will help you with all kid crafts by explaining to you in detail the pros and cons of copycat crafts and educational crafts.

If you think about it it makes alot of sense. Traditional arts and crafts can turn children into robots when they don’t let think for themselves as to the creation of their projects. I will give you an explanation why tradtional, old fashioned arts and crafts are not good for children.

It is a travesty to relegate art to the commemoration of holidays. It should be a fun time for the kids along with the skills that they should be gaining.

Creativity, independence, initiative, and self esteem should be just some of the by products of children’s crafts activities.

Children gain alot in their fine motor skills is what the crafts teachers will say. What they don’t even see is, that it is most probably the only positive thing about copycat crafts.

I have a great post for you that gives a great example of creativity in art by showing you how children can make a crafts activity of flowers using both methods.

Why is it then that adults tend to only get busy with crafts around holiday time.

Now that we know what we know, what do we do?
If you like the idea of adding more creativity to kids crafts you can check out  Educational arts and crafts which will give you lots of crafts for kids to do that are truly educational.

If you want to try doing educational crafts on your own, however, and not copycat crafts  then there 4 points  to keep in mind when choosing a crafts for your children.

1.    Does this activity allow for any problem solving?
2.Is there any thought that can be put into this project?
3.    Where’s the creativity here?
4.Will the children really feel that this project reflects their work?

If you keep these thoughts in mind when choosing crafts then not only will you be commemorating the holidays and spending quality time with your children but they also will be gaining vital skills

CD Craft: A CD Knick Knack Jar

This is a wonderful cd craft idea. One thing everyone tends to have too much of, are CDs. Even those who do not have extra CDs laying around their house can make this project, by using blank CDs available in stores. It’s a great place to put you keys, extra change, or anything else that creates clutter in your house.

Tools/Supples:

-1 CD
-oven
-oven mitts
-2 small bowls (shot glasses, and coffee mugs work well too)
-cookie sheet

Start by preheating the oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. The oven is the primary part of this project, and until it reaches its temperature, there isn’t much you can do except gather together your supplies. On a cookie sheet, lay out your bowl, shot glass, or coffee mug. Make sure that whatever you use to shape your CD is oven proof, and can survive several minutes in the oven.

Once the oven reaches 150 degrees, put on your oven mitts and carefully move the cookie sheet onto the top rack. Then put your CD on the top of your glass, cup or bowl and close your oven. The size of the CD makes it difficult to carry it to the oven on top of everything, without dropping it. If you can manage everything in one trip, than by all means do so.

For the following 3-5 minutes, do not walk away. You are waiting for the CD to melt, and depending on your oven, it may take only a few minutes or it may take over five minutes. You need to keep a close eye on everything. As soon as the CD begins to melt, remove it from the oven. To shape and mold your CD, you need to add something to the top. This is where you can use a slightly larger bowl, glass, etc. Move everything back to the oven for an additional minute, and then remove from the oven again.

If your CD still hasn’t shaped, or hasn’t melted into the bowl, add it back to the oven for 1-2 minutes at a time. It should look almost like melted glass if you follow the steps correctly. You may also need to push the CD down yourself into the glass, as certain things in the CD do not allow it to melt as easily as other products.

Allow the CD to cool for a few minutes before removing the bowls. The CD will still be warm enough to mold, so you can change the shape if you want. Just remember to wear the oven mitts when touching it because it will still be very warm.

The CD should cool completely in 45 minutes-one hour. Then you will have a cute, and unusual place to store you knick-knacks. I hope you enjoyed this cd craft idea.