Phew craft done...I'm exhausted!!

So, the goal I set is to have at least one project completed a week...but I feel absolutely no pressure from the parents as they understand my philosophy that's it's often the journey the kids learn more from...and some journey's have not ended up so pretty;). I really love craft time; for the joy the kids have doing it....but boy is it exhausting!!! "I want to go next" "No, me"! ( I like to make it a one on one activity that I pull them aside for and let them take their time and enjoy ). Trust me, I let them make a mess...that's the fun part (of course, no throwing paint or anything). But, of course, when your focus is with one...somebody else is into something that they shouldn't be. Any tips?

If the craft requires you to be there one on one then the child isn't old enough to apppreciate the craft.

Try dividing the group by age/ability and having the one group at the table for art while the other group has freeplay. Maybe even alternate days.

Have the whole group at the table with crayons and paper. Have 1-2 at a time doing the craft. Limit the amount of time per person. Yes they might be having fun but in fairness to the others they need to have less amount of fun but get to do it every couple days rather than too long all at once so that others miss out.

I used to do art in the playroom at the table - which only has two chairs and admit it was stressful cause everyone wanted to come...so now I do it in the kitchen after a snack or meal since they are already 'there' and everyone gets a turn at the same time ... as a result sometimes the ones old enough to be 'at the table' will sit and paint for 45 minutes or an hour and it is calm and quiet and well not stressful at all as often I am standing at the counter on my laptop :o or if the babe is up as well I can do something 'one on one' that is age appropriate to him - so maybe some 'no mess fingerpainting' in the bag or a sensory in his high chair or just some fidget toys for him to sit and explore while they are there painting in the same room .... when they are done we clean up any mess as a 'group' and than move on to the next stage of our day - usually outside time.

I set my children up with different activities around the table and right now I have 3 in booster chairs age 2 and under, then 2 four year olds, so there are many weeks when only the oldest 2 or 3 children are taking home a finished craft. Once everyone has something to play with, like a puzzle or scissors for cutting practice or crayons, then I go around the table one by one and help them create our main craft (1/week usually) which always matches my theme for the week.

Don't strive for fancy, go for simple and let the children create however they like. Sometimes their craft looks nothing like you thought it should, but it's still their craft. For the babies, I like to give them a styrofoam ball or paper or small paper box and squirt some fingerpaints on it here and there in little blobs and let them feel the textures with their hands and see what is happening with the colours. That's how I start out the little ones learning about painting. For colouring I use tape on the top and bottom of their page right onto their booster tables. My playdo is a homemade recipe with koolaid to make it smell nice but I don't worry if a tiny bit goes in their mouth that way.

Experiment with different things that make your life EASIER!