Making a Craft Box
For most children, they can while away many an hour if they have some arts and crafts to hand. It can be a great tool for parents to use when they just need a few hours of quiet play. However, if they’re running to you every few minutes asking where there’s a new piece of paper, or where’s their felt/glue/glitter, etc., it defeats the purpose.
Crafts that need adult involvement should be kept separate. You want this box to be a tool you can pull out when you need some time.
That’s where a well thought out craft box is worth its weight in gold. It takes little bit of thought and time to put together but once it is you’ll be forever grateful you did.
What’s the Point of a Craft Box?
Instead of having to scramble around the looking for sharpened pencils, tape, etc., a craft box has everything they need to be creative. It can be accessed quickly and everything is in one place.
What Should I Put in the Craft Box?
The craft box should be age appropriate and only contain items that you are happy for the child to use by themselves. As a general rule you want to avoid anything too messy such as paint, pots of glitter, etc. You want to avoid including any activities that needs adult involvement. There’s a time and a place for these types of activities – when you have time to help them and also time to clean up the mess the tsunami has left behind!
Age Appropriate Ideas
Here are a few ideas of things to include and avoid in boxes tailored for different age groups.
For all age groups – paper and card, washable pens, washi tape, stickers
Very young children – don’t include small, fiddly items. Washi tape is great as they can tear it and stick it on the page instead of having to cut. No scissors. washable pens and crayons are a better than pencils. Colouring pages are a great addition too.
Seven and over – By this age they have a bit more dexterity so. Stickers and self adhesive items are still a great option. Paper scissors with a rounded edge should be fine for most children from this age. You could add a glue stick and pictures from magazines.
This age group love making things, so toilet rolls, scraps of wrapping paper, shiny paper, yogurt pots, etc. are all good. Don’t throw away off cuts of twine and ribbon as they’re great to use creatively. All kids love glitter, but a pot of loose glitter is a cleaning nightmare!! You can great foam, self adhesive, glitter stickers in different shapes and the alphabet.
Where Should I Keep the Box?
The whole point of the craft box is to keep the kids entertained in a fairly self sufficient way. The craft box only contains items that your happy for them to use independently so keep the box within easy reach of the child. If they can take the box out by themselves then they can put it back too.
What About Messy Crafts?
Messy play is fantastic. Kids love it – the messier the better! But when you’re in the middle of making dinner and have the house spotless for the in-laws coming round, it’s not the best time to take out the messy crafts. Keep paint, loose glitter, scissors, pva glue, slime kits, etc, separate. Let the kids know they are free to take the craft box out when they want but the messy crafts need to be taken out by an adult when it’s an appropriate time.
Mix It Up.
Change up what’s inside the box to keep it fun and interesting. Don’t just plonk everything in ad over fill the box. Change it up with the seasons. Keep it fun.
