Summer holidays are fast approaching and what a perfect time to engage in arts and craft activities with your children.
Arts and crafts activities are an integral part of children’s development in early years. The skills gained from participating in arts and crafts activities during the early years of a child’s life are invaluable throughout their lives. Arts and crafts cover a wide range of activities and there are fun and exciting arts and crafts activities for different aged and ability children.
Research shows that the left side of the brain is mainly used for logical and analytical tasks whereas the right side is used for emotional and creative activities. During a child’s school life, activities can often lack to provide tasks that help to improve the right side of the brain. This is why arts and craft activities are so important both in school and at home.
Activities centred around arts and crafts can help to improve skills such as hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills, as well as benefitting children’s self-esteem and social skills.
Here at ELF, we believe art and craft activities for children can be hugely beneficial to children, so we have created a list of fun arts and craft activities for you to try.
Glitter Jars
Glitter jars are a perfect sensory toy for children. Designed to relax and soothe, the patterns created by the swirling glitter, food colouring and water combined are ideal for calming down a child.
Glitter jars can also be used as time out timers by placing jars in a time out area, shaking them and telling children that they are only allowed to leave the time out area once all of the glitter has resettled.
You will need:
- A jar or plastic bottle
- A jug of warm water
- Glitter glue
- Food colouring
- Coloured glitter
How to make a Glitter Jar:
1. Fill the jar or bottle to about half way with warm water.
2. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of glitter glue and stir until it is combined with the warm water.
3. Add 3-5 drops of food colouring and stir.
4. Add the glitter! You can add different amounts of glitter based on personal preference.
5. Top the rest of the jar up with warm water leaving about 2cm room from the top to allow space for the mixture to move when shaken.
6. Secure the lid tightly so contents does not leak.
Bagel Bird Feeder
Bird feeders are an ideal way for children to learn about wildlife and different species of birds. These bagel bird feeders are a great craft for kids to make as they can watch birds enjoy their creation and even the smallest of children will feel successful when the only thing left is the string.
This arts and craft activity will help little children gain strength by working on their fine motor skills by spreading the peanut butter on to the bagel and pressing it into the seed.
You will need:
- Half a bagel
- Peanut Butter
- Bird Seed
- String
How to make a bagel bird feeder:
1. With your child, take the bagel and cover it with approximately 2 tablespoons on peanut butter. This will allow the bird seed to stick to the bagel.
2. Take the bagel and press it into the bird seed. It may be a good idea to lay bird seed onto a plate to minimise mess during this step.
3. Tie the string through the hole in the bagel to allow for hanging the bagel.
4. Choose a spot to hang your bagel bird feeder and enjoy bird-watching with your children whilst birds eat away at the bagel!
Button Bracelets
Making button bracelets is a great arts and craft activity for children. Whether they want to make bracelets for themselves or create a handmade gift for friends or family members, this simple craft activity will be a hit with children!
These bracelets make great gifts for Mother’s Day, Christmas or friends’ birthdays and is a great activity for improving fine motor skills through threading and sewing.
You will need:
- Thin piece of elastic as the base of the bracelet (string can also be used)
- An assortment of buttons
- A pair of scissors
How to make a button bracelet:
1. Cut a piece of elastic or string to the approximate size of your wrist, leaving about 10cm extra space to allow for the bracelet to be tied up.
2. Take the piece of elastic or string and weave it through the buttons, coming up from underneath the button, crossing over the top, and exiting back down again on the other side of the button. This will ensure the buttons sit nicely and the bracelet is comfortable when worn.
3. Once you have threaded enough buttons to the length of your bracelet, tie the two ends of elastic or string together to finish your bracelet off.
Arts and craft activities can sometimes be messy so why not minimise mess by using one of our Arts Storage Kinderbox with Trays? This art storage unit is ideal for holding all classroom art supplies within schools, pre-schools and nurseries and they are easy to move from classroom to classroom if required. The kinderboxes boast plenty of room for storing different sized art supplies.
At Early Learning Furniture, we are experts in early years’ education resources including classroom furniture, school dining furniture and school play equipment. For more information about our products please contact us or call us on 01733 511121.
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