Help with kids crafts!

[5 Little Monkeys]

We love art around here!! It's such a great way to entertain them while teaching them fine motor skills and it really brightens up our daycare space!

In an ECE course, I was taught that art is when we supply the kids with materials and let them go to town!! This is their chance to let their creativity go and they can do what they like (within reason of course lol) and crafts are when there is an end result in mind. When I first started my hdc, I didn't do many crafts because it was so ingrained in me that crafts were bad (seriously, the centres I worked in NEVER did crafts!!) However, I now do crafts for special occasions and for the occasional letter of the week craft. The footprints and handprints tend to be reserved for presents to the parents but every now and than we do paint our hands and feet for the sensory aspect.

Things we like to do here are....

*paint....I give them a paper plate or pie tin of paint. Things we use to paint with are brushes, fingers, sponges, cars, food,toothbrushes, marbles (I put a piece of paper in a pringles can and marbles dipped in paint and they shake the can)

*glue...for the younger kids I put glue all over their paper and for the older ones they get a bit of glue in a plastic dish with a spreader. Things they like to glue with are pom poms, googly eyes, feathers, random pieces of cut up paper, flower petals, random assorted pieces of shapes and animals, etc

*stickers are a big hit! They can place stickers on paper all day long if I'd let them lol

*glitter....I HATE glitter but every now and then I will bring it out. I put it in white glue and let them spread that around and I have some in a salt shaker that they can dump on their paper and glue. We also have glitter paint that they really like.

* bingo dabbers, markers, crayons and chalk are also things they like. I give them a black piece of paper when we do the chalk. I also have a chalkboard for just random play and they take turns

If I ever need a creative nudge (which is often, I am not creative on my own lol) I just check out pinterest!! Have fun

[AmandaKDT]

I tell parents at our intro meeting that alot of what I do is about the process, not the product. I do very few "crafts", as opposed to sensory art experiences. But I do take pictures of the kids doing their art or sensory stuff and email it to the parents.

I, too, will do the handprint stuff only occasionally when it is meant as a present for the parent, it is way too much work for me - alot of the time the "crafts" are 3/4 adult and 1/4 kid participation.

I really wouldn't worry about the parents getting a cute craft that "looks like something". You are there to care for the kids and provide learning experiences for the kids. They are developing all kinds of skills while smearing that brown paint on the paper.

[bright sparks]

I tell parents at our intro meeting that alot of what I do is about the process, not the product. I do very few "crafts", as opposed to sensory art experiences. But I do take pictures of the kids doing their art or sensory stuff and email it to the parents.

I, too, will do the handprint stuff only occasionally when it is meant as a present for the parent, it is way too much work for me - alot of the time the "crafts" are 3/4 adult and 1/4 kid participation.

I really wouldn't worry about the parents getting a cute craft that "looks like something". You are there to care for the kids and provide learning experiences for the kids. They are developing all kinds of skills while smearing that brown paint on the paper.

I do a lot of sensory activities too. I always tell the parents that they will never have a picture or craft sent home that was done by me. That Ladybug may look like something otherworldly, but it will be their child's work. I agree it's the process not the end product.