Our kids love creating and dabbling in all sorts of crafts - and I enjoy planning them too ;) . While moving through our Nature Study curriculum week-by-week, which is organized by seasons, I scour Pinterest for fun craft ideas that I think the girls are capable of completing. Lately the two older girls are eager to tackle counting and phonogram worksheets related to our topic of the week (I will write more concerning our Nature Study curriculum another time).
The hardest challenge with crafts - especially the glueing and painting variety - is finding a place for them all to dry. I've balanced them on books, spread them over the kitchen table, and placed on windowsills. Recently, we were gifted with a standing drying rack. It has wheels! Easily assembling it, I found the perfect spot where the girls can quickly access it.
Once their masterpieces are fully dried, I display them in two main spaces: our wall hanging area and around our clock by the kitchen table.
I enjoy the simplicity of our hanging display, which my mom found for us for free, since I can easily attach their current artwork in front of any existing ones.
Once two or three are hanging in one spot (one in front of the other), I carve out time to remove their older pieces and place them in their Nature Binder.
Nature Study Note Book
The area around our clock by the dinning room table, is unique because it also displays our weekly items: a song, hand-rhyme, poem, art work, and any other needed references such as an anatomy diagram or pictures of common animals or flowers. The goal is to review each item every morning while having breakfast. This does not happened often since lately the girls have been engrossed in our morning reading: A story (or two) from The Children's Book of Virtues and a story (or two) from our 365 Bible Stories and Prayers book - this is not my favorite Bible version as I find they over simplify stories which can often lead to missing important facts. My favorite is the Egermeier's Bible Story Book and The Jesus Storybook Bible, which we are currently reading at bed time.
Light a candle before breakfast. It will remind you to complete your desired new habit or routine. Once that is accomplished, then you can blow it out.
Some weeks we have a plethora of projects, while others we barely complete one. It's fun to observe the girls when they are absorbed in their art - even if it's something I haven't prepared. If one of them specifically asks for a specific craft item – stickers, paint, or sewing – I oblige and watch their creative minds go to work!
