The Mom I Want to Be

If your children are frequently bored like most, you can provide hours of entertainment, fun and creativity with a craft box that you make yourself. Craft boxes contain assorted materials your child can use to make anything he can imagine and the things your child can imagine are usually things you would never think of yourself. Having a box of goodies that a child can just dig into whenever he feels bored is a great way to inspire creative thinking and get kids occupying themselves. If you keep your box well stocked you can provide more fun than any gizmo with lights and batteries ever will. Creating your craft box is a project in itself that you can do with your children, letting them add their own ideas for its ingredients.

 

To make a craft box, you’ll need to start with a box. Rubbermaid tote boxes are great for craft boxes, they range in sizes from small to humongous and are stackable, washable and durable. Let your child help decorate the box if you like with cut outs of felt, glued on sequins or anything else you can imagine. Paint on your childs name to make it personal, this is a great gift idea if you have a lot of kids in the family! Make sure your box is big enough to accommodate a large variety of different sized items that you will be filling it with. One way to do a craft box is to have many smaller boxes, using one box for each item, like buttons, clay, beads, etc. You can draw the name of the items on the side of the box with markers or use labels for easy locating when your child is ready to do a project. You could even keep the smaller boxes inside one big box!

 

Now that you have a box, you will want to fill it up with all kinds of goodies that you might have around the house or can find at your local craft supply store. Some great ideas for your box are buttons, beads, felt, pom poms, yarn, pipe cleaners, artificial flowers, Styrofoam pieces, wooden cut outs, clay, etc. Some basic things you will want to provide also are glue, paints, tape, crayons, paint brushes, markers and anything else your child could use to pull his masterpiece together. Dont forget to throw in some old newspapers to remind your child to protect the furniture when he decides to open the craft box.

 

Your child will probably be able to think of endless crafts to make with his new tool box, but if you need to get him started, try these ideas:

 

Silly masks: Use cut out felt and string to make masks your child can tie around his head, decorate with sequins, feathers, etc.

 

Wall hanging: Starting with a square of felt, have your child create a scene, gluing on shapes and smaller objects, then attach a string to two ends of the top to hang on the wall.

 

Pom pom animals: See how many different animals your child can create using pom poms and pipe cleaners for arms and legs.

 

Youll get many hours of quiet from your craft box, I guarantee it!