Arts and Crafts
Arts and crafts allow children to express themselves, create gifts, and work their little fingers. It seems there is an endless supply of materials available, from nontoxic glue to paint, glitter, feathers, and paper. But parents can use homemade and more environmentally friendly arts and crafts materials that are just as fun as the glitzy products. Arts and crafts projects can be a perfect opportunity to experience and learn from nature while spending time together.
For example, homemade play dough can be made from ingredients common in any home. Just combine the following ingredients:
3 cups flour
½ cup salt
3 tablespoons oil
1 cup water
This mixture can be divided and tinted with food coloring. By making it at home, parents save a trip to the store. Homemade dough can also be used to make other crafts like furniture for a dough-filled dollhouse or game pieces.
Other more nature-oriented crafts include using treasures found in the yard or garden to make a collage or decorate a picture frame. Make a tape bracelet with the sticky side out and let your children inspect the yard for odds and ends they can stick to their wristband. It's a perfect opportunity learn about seeds, plants, and leaves.
What items are good for arts and crafts projects?
Cereal boxes can be used for a number of projects. They can be cut up and used to make picture frames or blocks. Children can decorate boxes with recycled items like milk-jug tops and scraps of paper. With a little ingenuity, wheels can be added to a box to make it a car — biodiesel or hybrid, of course.
Papier-mâché can be used to make bowls, plates, and even animals. It can also be crafted into personalized desktop accessories like pencil and notepaper holders or jewelry and trinket boxes. Just mix flour and water to form pasty glue, and use it to attach strips of newspaper over a model dish, balloon, or balled-up newspaper. It's likely more appropriate for older children with more patience, because it takes days to get to a point where the piece can be painted and decorated. It's a perfect project for long summer vacations or other breaks.
There are lot of activities in books and on the Internet that allow parents, teachers, and other caretakers to save money and the environment. EcoArt! by Laurie Carlson includes different art projects for kids three to nine years old and includes crafts made from nature. MaryAnn Kohl's Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids also gives parents and children ideas about how to incorporate nature into art projects.
