Crafting with kids can take on so many forms and can depend entirely on the kids temperament, interest and, occasionally, gender.
How many times have you been amazed at how your little girl could quietly sit there placing beads on pipe cleaners? Turn around and hand that to your little boy and they may very likely take the place of boulders in the back of the dump truck or, even better, make excellent sounds as they get flung against the kitchen floor.
Crafting with every child is a different experience, but often there truly is a disparity between crafts for boys compared to girls.
Boys Craft Ideas:
Finger painting: Combine the desire to get dirty with color and texture and you’ve got a great crafting combination.
Glue blobs: What would be more fun than squeezing globs of glue onto wax paper? One the blobs are dried, he can
decorate them with markers and remove them from the wax paper so he has a collection of thingamamblobs!
Explore the outdoors: Most of us don’t think of digging in the dirt or going on a hike before starting a project, but what a great way to get them excited and use a little energy before starting a craft project (chances are you may be able to get a few extra minutes of craft time if the energy is out of their system). Gather leaves, sticks and rocks and then use them to create unique pictures or imaginary settings for toys. Glue leaves to paper or create stick houses!
Building with boxes: One of the most creative items we have around the house are boxes. Boxes can be used for anything! Gather boxes in a variety of sizes and shapes. Then have your little boy decorate them with markers and start building. They can be glued together to create buildings, cars, roads, spaceships or kept individually for an entire city!
Create collages: Hand your little guy a stack of old magazines (old car magazines, National Geographic or toy catalogs are great for kids) and a pair of child proof scissors and let them go to town. Some stages love destroying, so the act of using scissors is appealing to them, but also provides a purpose. Have them create a collage with the pictures they’ve cut out.
Rock and roll: There’s nothing like a noise maker to get a boy excited. Why not allow him to make his own and identify the levels of sound? Empty coffee cans and gather an assortment of objects (buttons, coins, magnets, rocks) to place inside. He can then place into the cans and guess which will be louder or quieter. He can test objects together and try variations they make allowing him to use listening skills to observe and compare the noises.
