PART 2 OF THE “ENJOY CRAFT TIME WITH KIDS WITHOUT LOSING YOUR MIND” SERIES
Whether you’re home schooling, babysitting, or simply providing non computerized activities to help kids fill a rainy Saturday, here’s an Art teacher tool you can really use! My Kid’s Arts and Crafts Activity Planner Printable will help make your kid’s Art and Craft activities go far beyond the simplistic. What’s more, you’ll know the skill you’re teaching that’s disguised in all the fun!
It’s no secret that kids LOVE Art Class! It’s also no big secret that Art teachers make it all look “so easy.” Every week, those talented people lead kids to produce charming work they’re proud to bring home and hang on the fridge or frame for the wall. Every week, their students learn new techniques and skills and are given a solid foundation that will serve them well through life.
This article will give you easy and highly usable tips to help you make artsy/craftsy fun time with your kids fun for you too!
THE KID’S ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITY PLANNER PRINTABLE
In Part 1 of this series, Enjoy Craft Time With Kids Without Losing Your Mind, I introduced the Kid’s Arts and Crafts Activity Planner Printable. I gave you easy steps on how to use it to help make Craft or Art time lots of fun.
In this article, I’ll tell you lots more about it.
8 PAGES YOU CAN REALLY USE
As you can see from the above image, the Planner has 8 pages to it. It starts with a colorful cover page. Put either your name on it or your child’s name. You could keep the papers together with a paper clip or punch holes into it and keep it in a binder so you’ve always got it at hand.
The techniques on the planner pages guide you to start with the gathering of art ideas in general. Then, it shows you how to use those ideas specifically. It gently guides you through the Arts and Crafts activity planning process and helps you keep things straight. You’ll find that it’s easy to use and you’ll be happy to have a place to put all the ideas you’ll quickly accumulate.
ORGANIZATION IS THE KEY!
STEP ONE: TO ENJOY CRAFT TIME WITH KIDS, FIND AGE APPROPRIATE AND APPEALING ACTIVITIES
Before you can enjoy an activity, you have to choose an activity. How do you choose one that ensures your kids will enjoy it?
First, consider the age(s) of your child(ren). Figure out what their ability level is. Ask yourself what they are interested in. Next, pay attention to what they talk about the most. Also consider what they tell you they like the best. Figure out what skill you want them to learn. Once you’ve brought those things to mind, start your search.
THE POSSIBLE ACTIVITIES PAGE – HOW TO KEEP TRACK:
This page is where you’ll list possible activities. It’s a place for you to gather your ideas. As you search for interesting projects online, in library books, in craft stores, or at rummage sales, use this page to make note of what you found.
The column on the left is the place for the name of the activity you found that you’d like to do.
The column on the right is where you’ll make notes as to where you found it. You can write the name of the website, book, magazine, etc you found it in so you can come back to it easily.
As a backup, you can bookmark it on your computer or phone. If you’re like me however, both of my computers are full of files and bookmarks. It’s almost as difficult to find the articles where I saved them as it was to discover them originally.
Print as many copies of this page as you wish for you’re sure to find lots of fun things to do!
STEP TWO: TO ENJOY CRAFT TIME WITH KIDS, DECIDE WHERE YOU’RE HEADED
It’s likely that you’ve easily found LOTS of great ideas during your online search and want to simply jump in and play. Wait a minute though! You’ve got one main thing to decide. In order to stay organized, and keep your sanity, you have to decide what project you’ll play with and when.
Ask yourself, “What do I want my kids to experience and learn during each month? What will the focus be? Will it be holidays, seasons of the year, religious dates? Do I decide to make it revolve around birthdays or other commemorative anniversaries? Will we focus on a particular interest such as bugs, flowers, stars, camping, dinosaurs, or another of the thousands of possible things? Use this page to gather your thoughts and help you decide.
STEP THREE: TO ENJOY CRAFT TIME WITH KIDS, DECIDE WHEN YOU’LL GET THERE
By now, you’ve decided what to focus on for each month. If you teach an art lesson once a week, you’ll need 4 lessons that fit into each focus. For example, if your focus for the month is Dinosaurs, you’ll need 4 different activities about dinosaurs, one for each week.
THE WEEKLY FOCUS PAGE
Use the Weekly Focus page to plan for those activities. The planner has these pages in both horizontal and vertical formatting. Choose the one you like best. Print one of these pages for each week. If you have an art or craft project for your kids every day of the week, fill one in project for each day. If you only do an art project every Tuesday, for example, use the rest of the spaces to plan activities in other areas of interest that you’d like to do on those days.
STEP FOUR: TO ENJOY CRAFT TIME WITH KIDS, ASSIGN A DATE AND TIME FOR EACH PROJECT
This step is lots of fun and where you’ll shine organizationally. The Activity Planner Project Page is one of my favorites and I hope it’ll be yours too.
THE KIDS ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITY PLANNER PROJECT PAGE
This page is just the BEST thing and I bet you’ll be really happy to use it. Print one of these pages for each project you entered onto the the Weekly Focus Page in the last step.
FIRST, FILL IN THE DATE
At the top right, where it says, “We’ll Make this On ______,” fill in the intended date. This is very helpful for keeping the pages in chronological order so, be sure to fill it in. If you drop your sheaf of papers, it’ll help you put them into order again quickly.
THEN, FILL IN THE SECTIONS
In the section on the left that’s titled “Our Fun Project” write the name and description of the project you’ll do. You can then make note of where you originally found it or attach a printout of the project directions that you got from a website or copied from a book. If you don’t have that, make a simple outline or list of the steps to take in order to complete the project.
At the right hand side of the page, you’ll find a box that says, “We’ll Need These Tools and Materials.” Go back and look at the project you originally found. List the tools you’ll need such as pens, rulers, scissors, glue, etc. After that, list the materials you’ll need. If, for example, you were making a bumble bee from construction paper, you’d list construction paper – yellow, black, and white. You’d also list black pipe cleaners for antenna, etc. Then, you’d list the tools you’d need.
SKILLS? WHAT SKILLS?
At the bottom of the page there is valuable territory called “We’ll Learn These Skills.” Make note of which skills you’ll focus on during the lesson so you’ll remember to talk about it while the kids are working. In essence, explain why you are bothering to teach this lesson, make this craft, or do this art activity.
For example, in the bumble bee project I pretended we were going to make, the skills could be color recognition and naming, tracing around shapes, controlling the hand while cutting the shapes out, using glue cleanly and only in small amounts, etc.
Figuring this out beyond the basic, “To Have Fun,” will boost your confidence. you’ll know not only what you’re doing but why you’re doing it. You will help your child progress and not simply use the same technique over and over again just to fill time.
BONUS PAGES -THE SEASONAL FOCUS PAGE AND THE HOLIDAY FOCUS PAGE
Use these pages to further clarify your notes and become even more organized.
AND, THERE YOU HAVE IT!
Grab your Kids Arts and Crafts Activity Planner Printable (available for FREE here on Flowerdance Studio). In the space for each day’s art activity, schedule one of the projects. If a project will take more time than you’ve allowed, schedule it to continue on the next day. After you write the name of the project, make a quick list of the needed tools and supplies. You could even take a basket and put the materials inside. You’ll be ready to go.
Keep all your pages in a 3 ring binder so they’ll be in one place and remain in order. You may want to place the weekly focus pages followed by all the project pages for that week in chronological order.
WHAT DO I DO NEXT?
Congratulations! You’ve finished your planning and are now ready to teach.
When you’re setting your art/craft area up, turn to the project page for that date. Once quick glace will tell you what you need. Bring only those items to the table and begin the lesson.
Know that it is VERY common to have forgotten to note a needed supply or tool during the planning state. If you are in the middle of a lesson and need something, go get it and be sure to write it down on the project page. The next time you teach this lesson, you’ll know to grab that item too.
Think of how good you’ll feel to know you’ve become this organized! Since you’ve done your homework, your playtime/class time will be highly enjoyable You’ll be able to have fun with your kids instead of frantically trying to find a project only after you really need it. You’ll be prepared and able to enjoy the company of your kids. You won’t have to frantically dig through the internet AFTER your child has become bored and started acting up.
HERE’S WHERE TO FIND ALL THE INFORMATION!
In Part One of Enjoy Craft Time With Kids Without Losing Your Mind, I show the basics of how to use the Craft Fun for Kids Activity Planner Printable.
In Part Three, Make an Art and Craft Kit for Kids, I’ll show you how easy it is to make an Art/Craft Kit for each of your children so they have their own tools at hand. Do this and you’ll experience fewer disagreements, fewer arguments and far less squabbling.
In Part Four of Enjoy Craft Time With Kids Without Losing Your Mind, I’ll show you how to easily set up an arts and crafts area for your little ones! (COMING SOON)
GET THE KIDS ARTS AND CRAFTS ACTIVITY PLANNER PRINTABLE HERE!
If you want to grab this Craft Activity Planner printable for free, here’s how! Use the form below to become a subscriber to Flowerdance Studio. Then, check your email and confirm that you meant to subscribe! Upon confirmation you’ll receive a subscriber only password that will give you instant access to my Freebie Library. There, you’ll find this printable in easy to print PDF form. Just look for Design #015 and click the oval button. The PDF will pop right up and you can easily print it. Be sure to save it to your computer for later!
Once in the Freebie Library, you’ll also find many other printables that all lead to creative fun! Best of all, all of these printables are totally FREE for my subscribers!
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CRAFT FUN FOR KIDS?
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