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3 fun projects to make with your kids (even if you're not super crafty)
We get it. Not everyone thinks of themselves as a crafty person. We could tell you that we believe everyone is capable of making cool stuff with their hands. But it's easy to forget that when the only things you have time to stitch are loose buttons, and the last time you wielded scissors and paper was to wrap a quickie birthday gift.
The good news is: kids are an excellent excuse to rediscover your inner crafter. And if your artistic skills aren't exactly top-notch, they're a pretty forgiving audience.
Time spent on handicrafts allows children to bond with mums and dads, aunts and uncles, grandies, godparents, and other significant adults and kids in their lives. It encourages fine motor skills and patience, and can help them express their feelings, too.
Also - it's just plain fun. So we've gathered three of our favourite almost-guaranteed-not-to-fail projects to inspire some quality craft time with the kiddos in your life.
Crazy Cake Hats By Dawn Tan
These zany hats combine crafting, dressing up and at least the idea of baking, so what's not to love? Cobbled together from lots of craft stash staples like cardboard, pom poms and felt, the colourful hats can be as simple or as complicated as you like, with shapes, colours, textures and glitz.
Lay out all the fun materials on newspaper or old sheets before you start, then get stuck in with cutting and gluing and giggling. Make suggestions, if you like, for your child's project, and also give them space and time to come up with their own solutions. You could even craft your own matching big-kid version to wear around the house.
Once the glue has dried, carry on the fun with a hat parade or some make-believe storytelling adventures.
Flower Balloons
Kids under eight shouldn't be left unsupervised while blowing up balloons, but anyone over that age (including parents who don't rate their crafting skills) will fall in love with this simple project.
All you need to do is blow up some balloons - leftovers from your last party will do - then supervise them being tied together with fishing line and secured with a bit of masking tape. Once completed, your kids' flower balloons can become decorations, toys, props for some kind of fun floral dance, enormous jewels for dress-ups or any number of wondrous things.
With minimal fuss and really just a few big breaths, you'll be the coolest and most talented parent/nanna/fake auntie around.
Mini Monsters By Sayraphim
With a little bit of felt and a tiny bit of sewing know-how - literally threading a needle and straight hand-stitching - you and your kiddo can create some friendly monster pals next time you feel like a Saturday arvo on the couch. (Just don't lose any sharp things in among the sofa cushions. This is an important safety tip.)
Compete to stitch up the funniest or scariest or silliest-looking monsters you can imagine, then give them names and play around with them. You could also stitch on a brooch back to turn your kids' monster into a badge for their jumper or school bag. Or make some extra ones and gift them to friends.
