There is a reason why I love (need) to stock up on books in our homeschool. Homeschooling for us is really more reasons to read, read, and read!! I cannot make things from scratch (and that includes baked goodies and curriculum). If we can just read all day and call it school, that is heaven (on earth)! But sometimes, my throat also gets hurt. My coughing fits start. Those are just some of the signs that I should rest from reading aloud even for a few minutes.
That is when I try to channel my inner Pinterest. “Try” is the key word. I cannot sew. I cannot draw. But if my child is happy and engaged for a long period of time (30 minutes is a winner), I call craft time a success! Here are easy activities and crafts to do at home that you can check out with your family.
- For science, we investigated why the wind blows and made a pinwheel! The science book we had already had a pinwheel template—just cut it—and we were all set! Cutting and assembling the pinwheel was easy peasy. Pinwheel templates are also readily available online.
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- Just Google the pinwheel template, and the work has been done for you!
- You simply need a push pin and pencil with eraser on top (to stick the pinwheel on).
- For extra craft points, color the blank pinwheel template using whatever art material you have at home—crayons, colored pencils, or paints.
Do you ever wonder what makes the wind blow?
- You know there is that season when many people make costumes? Our family is not that big on the holiday, but it gave us a time frame to make a silly costume. Remember, I cannot sew. So…
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- Make a mask out of cardstock. I just used the covers of old notebooks.
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- Punch holes at the sides to insert rubber bands. This is so you can insert around the ears.
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- Decorate the mask using ribbons or whatever stuff you have lying around the house—pieces of colored paper, aluminum foil, etc. Glue is your friend.
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- There you have it! A mean, ol’ lookin’ mask.
- My mother-in-law has a lot, A LOT of beads lying around. There are many things you can do with them. For the little girls, a jewelry project is wonderful. String some together and tadah! But what about for the little boys? We made an abacus!!
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- Get an empty shoebox.
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- Punch holes at the top and bottom.
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- String ten beads at a time and knot them on the shoebox like a guitar. Four stringed beads would make a basic abacus. Crafts + math = another winner!!
- Here is a DIY that I am excited about, not because it is the coolest but because I finally made a successful one from when I was a young girl: homemade clay. At first I thought, mixing oil and flour—sounds messy to me. But during the process, I found it was very easy to do. Not Martha Stewart but getting there. We had so much fun making and using it! My kid loves making this so much because it is really amazing to make a plaything from stuff in the kitchen (and yet so simple to accomplish)!
Ingredients
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (or whatever cooking oil you have)
• ½ cup water
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- Mix the above ingredients in a bowl.
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- If the mixture is too sticky, add more flour. If it is too crumbly, add more oil.
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- Then play! And store in the refrigerator afterwards.
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- Pro-tip: Add food coloring to the mixture, and your homemade clay can give Play-Doh a run for its money.
Learning Benefits From Doing Crafts at Home
What I learned from our craft time was that our children value our time with them more than the extravagance of the output. Remember, because you love each other and give them your most precious gift (your time), to your child you are the best in everything you do. And that bonding and relationship is actually worth more than the activity being picture-perfect.
I also just realized something. The fact that I enjoy making decorative thingamajigs (the uncomplicated act of cutting and pasting included) already makes me crafty. I am just not Pinterest-perfect, but who cares, right? The most important customer is your child. To all other “non-crafty” moms and dads, we can do this!
Written by Katherine Tanyu
Aside from God, her family, homeschooling (and books!), Katherine's love lies in stationeries. She and her husband manages growing stationery brands ForestmillⓇ and PrevailedⓇ in the Philippines. She is also the community moderator of a Facebook group for Office and School Supplies Wholesalers.
"Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).