I love doing Arts and Crafts with my kids and for the most
part they love it too, but our activities don’t always go to plan. When you are
dealing with three kids under the age of 6, there is plenty of potential for
tears, tantrums, spillages and wreckages along the way.
part they love it too, but our activities don’t always go to plan. When you are
dealing with three kids under the age of 6, there is plenty of potential for
tears, tantrums, spillages and wreckages along the way.
Last week we got the “Making Box” out. I like to keep a ready supply of empty boxes,
tubes, bottle tops, tinfoil etc as they are great for up-cycling into something new. On this occasion we wanted to make
“Treasure Boxes”. My boys in particular
have inherited my hoarding and collecting obsession as they forever need
something to store their various collections in.
tubes, bottle tops, tinfoil etc as they are great for up-cycling into something new. On this occasion we wanted to make
“Treasure Boxes”. My boys in particular
have inherited my hoarding and collecting obsession as they forever need
something to store their various collections in.
This activity began badly as my 4 and 6 year old sons
started to argue who got to use the solitary tea bag box, even though there
were lots of other suitable boxes to choose from. Note to self; make sure you
don’t add something to the “Making Box” until you have at least three of
them! Whilst refereeing this particular
incident, my 2 year old had managed to get hold of the glitter tube, which I
thought I had put safely out of her reach. She d had great fun sprinkling it
all over the table and the floor, whilst I was emptying out the current tea bag
box to placate the two boys.
started to argue who got to use the solitary tea bag box, even though there
were lots of other suitable boxes to choose from. Note to self; make sure you
don’t add something to the “Making Box” until you have at least three of
them! Whilst refereeing this particular
incident, my 2 year old had managed to get hold of the glitter tube, which I
thought I had put safely out of her reach. She d had great fun sprinkling it
all over the table and the floor, whilst I was emptying out the current tea bag
box to placate the two boys.
Once the boys were happy again and my toddler was distracted
with a piece of shiny tin foil, I thought we were back on track with our
activity. But then my 4 year old started to cry hysterically as the bottle tops
he wanted to stick onto this “Treasure Box” wouldn’t stick properly with the glue that he was using. I tried to offer my help, but the more I
tried to help, the more he cried, as he wanted to do it himself like his big
brother was. In the end I managed to
persuade him that using double sided sticky tape was a great way to stick the
bottle tops on, but only after his brother did this on his craft as well.
with a piece of shiny tin foil, I thought we were back on track with our
activity. But then my 4 year old started to cry hysterically as the bottle tops
he wanted to stick onto this “Treasure Box” wouldn’t stick properly with the glue that he was using. I tried to offer my help, but the more I
tried to help, the more he cried, as he wanted to do it himself like his big
brother was. In the end I managed to
persuade him that using double sided sticky tape was a great way to stick the
bottle tops on, but only after his brother did this on his craft as well.
My toddler was getting quite bored with this whole activity
by now. She had been happy for a few
minutes scrunching up the tin foil, but then she started to rub it over the
table, knocking my 6 year olds “Treasure Box” onto the floor and it promptly
collapsed. In the end we had to abandon the activity and I settled them down in
front of some cartoons with a drink and a biscuit, whilst I tidied up. We’ll just have to try this again another
day.
by now. She had been happy for a few
minutes scrunching up the tin foil, but then she started to rub it over the
table, knocking my 6 year olds “Treasure Box” onto the floor and it promptly
collapsed. In the end we had to abandon the activity and I settled them down in
front of some cartoons with a drink and a biscuit, whilst I tidied up. We’ll just have to try this again another
day.
This was a particularly bad experience and generally things
run much more smoothly. That’s not to
say that I don’t have to intercept paint brushes or crayons from my toddler on
a regular basis, as she makes a dash for the wall with them. And I do spend a
far bit of time mopping up spillages because one of them has knocked the water
pot all over someone’s painting, but this is all part of doing arts and crafts.
In between these incidents we have so much fun making and creating things
together. As long as the good experiences continue to out number the bad and my
kids continue to enjoy arts and crafts as much as I do, then we will keep on
making for as long as we can.
I love the idea of having a making box; one of my favourite things about my first school when I was little was the massive box we had filled with cardboard things for cutting and sticking!
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Sometimes the simple things you already have are all you need to create something really special x