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kelleyg19
11-20-2012, 08:09 AM
I have a little girl who is 4 years old that is always wanting to do crafts and they have to be big crafts or she doesn't like the end result. I find it hard every day to do a big craft as I also have a 16 month old boy and a 2 year old girl.
Any suggestions on crafts that are easy but "big" to satisfy the 4 year old but that the little ones can do as well.
I have Xmas crafts all lined up for the start of December but till then I need some more ideas.
Thanks

apples and bananas
11-20-2012, 08:35 AM
My little ones like paper bag puppets. They stick stickers to decorate the clothes and googly eyes etc.

I have also done a full size trace of a childs body and taped it to the wall for them to colour and decorate. They love it and it takes them a while because there's so much to colour.

Wonderwiper
11-20-2012, 08:40 AM
Love the full size body picture!! I have also done large paintings, drawings with roll paper. Once we made a large castle out of cardboard boxes. Each little child got to decorate a turret(paper towel roll) while my 4 year old dkb did the main box and he was ' in charge' of putting the castle together. It stayed at my house for us all to share but all the parents got to come in to see it!

bright sparks
11-20-2012, 09:54 AM
Why not do a big craft that can be done over the course of the week. For example over the Xmas period.... On a Monday have her draw and paint a really big Xmas Tree on packing paper, or a roll of paper. The little ones could have smaller ones already drawn by you and they can just paint them any which way. Then each day, she can make a simple decoration from paper doilies, dollar store supplies etc, etc and then by the end of the week once they are all dry she can decorate her tree and take a huge craft home. Your younger ones can just decorate with glue and glitter and xmas confetti mix. To make the crafts last longer, you could try to get the girl to slow down and concentrate on things like keeping in the lines etc and if she finishes before the others then let her help them. You could get really creative this way. I love doing crafts with older kids but meeting the needs of a varied aged group has its challenges.

Good Luck and enjoy:)

Momof4
11-20-2012, 04:26 PM
I have a 4 year old girl who is always asking to colour or make a puzzle or play with the pompoms because I taught her how to sort them into an ice cube tray by sizes and colours. Today she collected pinecones and little bits of evergreen and leaves at the park and when we got back I handed her the glue and a piece of cardstock and she was happy. You don't have to do a big craft all the time, get this little one some stick on games from the dollar store, paper dolls she can dress, lots of little things that she can do on her own while you are busy. Children have to learn to amuse themselves while at daycare because we can't always be at their beck and call when we are so busy.

gcj
11-20-2012, 07:58 PM
I find a non-directive or free-for-all craft good for that age.....and easy for you since she always wants to do it and you have younger ones to worry about. Put out all kinds of supplies and she makes whatever she wants. It's up to her what the end result is! No rules. No instructions. Let the imagination run wild!

Sparkle glue is awesome, too!

Inspired by Reggio
11-20-2012, 08:29 PM
Yup GJC that is my approach as well - open ended recycled materials and adhesives, paint or what not and do your own thing ... sometime it will bring them the whole week to finish something that way first building and than decorting things :)

Also find having the reusable medium explorations helps ...put out paint and 10 laminated pages and they can paint as long as they want.

playfelt
11-21-2012, 08:40 AM
For a less messy than paint version you can draw/colour with crayon on a plastic surface and then rub off with a dry paper towel. I have done workbooks that way. I laminate the pages twice just to be sure. You can find easy mazes that work well and saves a ton of paper since once they have drawn a line it is used so this way they can do it over and over.

A magnadoodle serves the same purpose of over and over as does a chalkboard although messier than a magnadoodle.

I like the idea of paper dolls for this age group. Make it something big enough that you can copy the clothes and print them off. There are sites on the web - think makingfriends is a good one. Then laminate the dolls and put peel and stick craft foam on the back then cut out. That will make them more sturdy. Let the kids colour the clothes themselves and make their own box of dress up items. If the doll is large enough - consider resizing before printing, they can add stuff to their creations like lace and buttons, etc. Whenever she wants to craft just hand her another half page of clothes to decorate and cut out and then let her play with her new creations.

Samantha33
01-31-2014, 01:21 PM
I do a little craft every morn. with my little 4 yr. old dcg before any one else arrives. We only have app. 20 min. but that's all they take. Later when the others arrive, her craft is done and I can concentrate on the other smaller children one at time. I find doing them one at a time is more doable. While I'm busy with one child the other children are playing. Not always always how I do it but usually. I buy preschool craft books from Mailbox. I have three of them that are pretty darn amazing when it comes to easy crafts.