The Magical Arts & Crafts Box

This one is perhaps my favourite of the gifts I have given to children over the years. It allows for spontaneity, creativity, and organized chaos. It lets child-artists take charge and invent their own projects. It also provides the basics and some extras needed for more conventional projects that may arise. It is entirely gender-neutral; although there is a parental bias towards this being a "girls' gift", never underestimate the enthusiasm that boys will have with art when their imaginations are unleashed. Variety of materials and attention to personal preferences are key.

The concept: a wide variety of art and craft materials are assembled in a large bin, with smaller items organized in labeled smaller bins and/or freezer bags. A list of contents is taped inside the lid and can be crossed off as supplies are used in order to make a convenient list for replenishing.

Some of the items we've included in our various iterations of the craft box:
- construction paper
- freezer paper and/or finger painting paper
- a sketch book
- origami paper
- various colours of printer paper
- card stock, various colours
- tissue paper, various colours
- scissors
- glue
- string
- yarn
- ribbon
- small pieces of assorted fabric
- large felt squares of various colours
- watercolour paints
- tempera paints
- finger paints
- acrylic paints
- paint brushes of various thicknesses
- crayons
- pastels
- pencil crayons
- markers (age-appropriate)
- stencils
- glitter
- glitter glue
- cotton balls
- Styrofoam balls
- stickers, esp. plain, coloured geometric shapes
- play dough
- plasticene
- clay (air-dry)
- slime/goop
- beads
- googly eyes
- pom-poms
- small bells
- craft sticks (aka popsicle sticks) and other wooden shapes
- drinking straws
- texture tools for use with thicker paints and clays such as combs, extruders, plastic outline-style cookie cutters, a rolling dowel, a cutting tool, a play mat, etc.
- glitter sequins
- assorted buttons
- small sponges
- rubber stamps
- fun foam
- calligraphy marker or pen
- sketching pencils
- sticky tape
- double-sided tape
- magnetic strips
- pin backings
- jewellery cord and fastenings
- safety pins
- brass fasteners
- paper clips
- needle and thread
- balloons
- chenille stems (aka pipe cleaners)
- natural items such as polished rocks, shells and clean twigs
- craft wire
- knitting needles and/or crochet hook
- embroidery thread
- empty spools
- corks and cork sheets
- chalk and/or sidewalk chalk
- wooden clothes pegs
- velcro fasteners and/or snaps



The list could go on and on.
As important as the contents perhaps is the container in which you present the gift. Be sure to find one that is easy to open, holds a little more than you plan to give, and also isn't so deep that things are easily lost. Smaller, labeled bins holding the tinier pieces can fit inside the larger bin. Sectioned containers work well for this project.
For a preschooler, sticking to playdough with playdough tools, fingerpaints and paper, construction paper, over-sized beads, sidewalk chalk, safety scissors and washable crayons with large drawing paper might be a good choice; older children may wish for more specific items.

Recipes for homemade playdough, slime, goop, paper mache paste, fingerpaints and more can be found at the link below, and are a nice addition to the box.

llemonade.com/concoctions

Some craft ideas to get you started can be found here (but remember, the beauty of this box is the freedom to explore with the materials, so it's probably best to use this list sparingly!)

llemonade.com/crafts

If you have the opportunity to be there while the recipient uses his/her box, try and resist the urge to guide him/her. You may find you need a box of your own--and, well, why not?! Enjoy!

Birthdays

Each year I go a wee bit nuts planning elaborately themed birthday parties for my kids. We have had an Enchanted Forest party, a Scooby-Doo mystery, a pirate search for treasure, 2 train-themed parties, 2 Harry Potter themed parties, a canoeing/caving/camping party and an Amazing Race themed party,among others (I also do Halloween Parties some years). It is the place where my latent over-planning tendencies left over from teaching emerge!

This year one of my sons is having a movie marathon sleepover as he wants something less "pretendy". We may make waxen "Hands of Glory" to match the movies (Harry Potter again--this time #5 and #6). I will be setting up some more casual games and they will use them as desired. But I will still go nuts on the wizard food! Butterbeer, pumpkin juice, fire whiskey (gingerbeer I will make extra spicy somehow), chocolate frogs, a castle cake, wizard wand kebabs and/or chocolate fondue with breadstick wands and various candies they can roll the dipped wand in, etc. I think it would be a long time before we ran out of new ideas for the HP theme.

The youngest is going for a dragon theme, but is "allowing" me to add some of the medieval activities, such as building catapults and storming the castle. We will also be having a dragon-egg hunt, with paper mache dragon eggs filled with t-shirts which will determine the teams for the party games (red shirts vs. green shirts).
His castle cake will have a smaller (fire-breathing with dry ice effect) dragon climbing up the back. Pictures to follow, assuming it works!

About Lemonade

I began Lemonade nearly two years ago. I wanted to create a site for kids, but soon realized that it was more of a resource for parents and teachers.

It is an ecclectic site, with numerous pages including novel studies, party planning, kid concoctions (playdough, slime, etc.), recipes, science experiments, book recommendations, writing tips, make your own math manipulatives, history activities, crafts, off-line games, camping tips, instructions and recipes for dehydrating food, articles I've written about my own educational philosophy, and pretty much anything related to kids.

I have recently added a few printable activities and will consider adding more if they prove to be popular, or if someone makes some specific requests.

I am not  an expert page/site designer, and can sometimes miss the obvious. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Welcome

Well, I've resisted for a while, but here it is--my blog.


I plan to share some of the more interesting resources, observations and ideas I find as I go. Please feel free to share yours here too!

The Lemonade website is also on Twitter and Facebook. Be sure to check those out if they are your thing. I find Twitter to be a nearly overwhelming source of ideas and inspiration.

Lately I've been updating the website, adding a few pictures, cleaning up the descriptions and so forth. The newest additions are the crystals page http://greensim.com/lemonade/crystals and spring crafts http://greensim.com/lemonade/spring  The history page is also quite new.

If you have any comments at all about the site, page layout, etc. please let me know. Lemonade is a huge site with many pages. If you do not find what you are looking for, I would like to hear from you!