Through the years I’ve done more crafts with my kids than I can remember. I’ve always loved getting them things that we could do together. Some of our projects turned into fantastic Christmas gifts and others were just fun projects that afforded us precious bonding time.
We’ve done paintings and paper art, clay models and bead work. We’ve built horse stables and bird feeders and so much more.
Clay Projects For Kids
It’s well known throughout our family that ours is a house that loves crafts. Between aunts and nieces they’ve made sure that my kids never run out of cool new crafts to do.
One Christmas, my sister in law sent the kids some model clay kits. Things have come a long way in the modeling clay world since I was a child.
The kits had fantastic instructions on how to make a dog, a cat and even a hamster.
And there was also a second set of glow in the dark clay. Glow in the dark clay naturally couldn’t be anything other than mysterious creatures!!
The kits included a full photographic guide and step by step detailed instructions that are fairly simple even for a 8-9 year old to follow on their own. They did however have very eager to help parents at hand.
My niece came over and joined in the fun, while my husband and son did what boys do best…they improvised. They turned an ordinary hamster into an extraordinary warrior, complete with shield and spear. Nibbles was to be the brave Knight’s name.
When my father-in-law became ill the following year, Nibbles was to become very special. We flew to Canada to visit Dad in the hospital and spend Christmas with our Canadian family. Eventually, we had to return home, but my son decided to give his favorite Nibbles to his grandpa. Because after all, Nibbles was a warrior just like Gramps. And so Nibbles stayed on duty beside my father-in-laws’ hospital bed. It was a special memory for my son and our last Christmas with Dad.
Nothing can replace those precious moments that we spent doing things with our kids. It’s often in those fun filled, unintentional moments that the most important lessons are learned. These lessons will tell them they are loved and valued and special. Nothing says those things like time spent doing things with them that brings them joy.
Building memories with your kids is one thing that you’ll never look back on and regret.
And now that I have a new generation of young great-nieces and nephews coming around, there’s sure to be more cool craft projects that we can enjoy together.
Excellent and so very true Lily. Thank you for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed it Brenda. It’s always nice to hear from you. 😀