Keeping Children Occupied During the Chill of Winter

During the winter it can be difficult to keep kids busy, doing fun projects. Mostly because it gets boring doing the same things over and over. There are so many resources that are available online for new projects if you know where to find them. Whether it's for an upcoming birthday or visit to a relative's house, homemade presents leave a lasting impression, especially when they come from children.

Try to think of something that the recipient can actually use rather than just display. Some homemade ideas include picture frames, magnets, T-shirts, personalized organizers, key chains. You can use almost anything lying around your house to make fun gifts. You can decorate an old CD case or a piece of cardboard to be a unique picture frame. A timeless gift idea is to make a personalized pen/pencil holder using a tin can.

Keep the recipient's hobbies and interests in mind. A few other ideas for craft store finds: You can make a beaded key chain; buy small wooden shapes, paint them or decorate them with other supplies, and glue a small magnet strip on the back.

A great way to wrap a homemade gift is with homemade wrapping paper. You should start out with a large piece of paper (like butcher paper) and some paint. Make prints on the paper with handprints, footprints, cookie cutters, sponge shapes, or your own homemade potatoe stamps.

You can also decorate large paper with pictures cut out of magazines; or you can "write" special messages by cutting words and letters out of magazines or newspapers. You can also decorate plain paper bags or boxes using these same techniques.

For something a little more creative, pick an unusual item to wrap the gift in. Of course, the item you pick will depend on the size of your gift. It would be a fun surprise to find a gift wrapped in a decorated oatmeal container, tissue boxes, candy boxes, corn dog boxes, gladware, or a tissue wrapped toilet tissue roll? The possibilities are endless!

Adult supervision can be extremely important if the age of the child or children is under 10 years of age, and depending on the type of craft being made. For all ages of children, an adult should be nearby in case there is a problem or the child wants some help. It is always a good idea to make sure that all tools that are being used are as safe as possible and that if there are tools that can harm a child, that the parent or adult is participating in the craft project.

I haven't met a kid yet who isn't excited about making gifts for someone special! If the adults helping the kids are excited the kids will be excited too.

There are many ways to search for crafts, you can search by age, season, quick and easy, and classroom.

Here are some ideas:

Animal Lovers Valentine

Bead Bunnies

Crayon Hearts

Kaboose has a ton of great kids crafts and projects

Here are some great places to buy crafts supplies online:

Save up to 70% off closeout craft supplies at the CreateForLess Clearance Sale. Quantities are limited - shop today!

Clearance @ JoAnn.com!

Tags: kids crafts, arts and crafts, children's crafts, craft projects, craft ideas

[tag-self]craft projects[/tag-self], [tag-self]craft ideas[/tag-self], [tag-self]arts and crafts[/tag-self]

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Family Crafts, Kid Crafts