Crafts with Kids Drawings

r.nial.bradshaw

EG has recently fallen in love with crayons and markers.  She's finally discovered a love of coloring and drawing.  I'm honestly thrilled for her. It's such a good activity and one I know will bring her lots of joy through the years, not to mention quiet play time for mom.

Of course, at this stage her drawings are really more like scribbles, but I want to be prepared for when she becomes a more prolific drawer.  Here are a few ideas of what to do with those drawings:

1.  Send them to Operation Gratitude.  Some soldiers don't get a lot of mail, and Operation Gratitude goes above and beyond by sending a nice care package.  They include a letter in each package, and as you can see from the link, the soldier's love kids notes and drawings too.  Your little one may not be able to write a nice note, but a cute drawing or scribbles with a few words from mom works just as nicely!

2. Thank you Cards.  I love using EG's hand print on my thank you cards, and now that she's scribbling too, it's nice to have her fill in a bit on a regular card, or take one of her scribbles and mail it out.  Of course, you still have to do the writing, but I find the drawings and hand prints are really appreciated.  Plus you're teaching your little one to be thankful for what she's been given.  A good lesson that goes a LONG way!

3. Make 'adult art'.  This tutorial by SquashBlossom is great.  Using your kids scribbles to create an art piece of their bedroom or bathroom is a great idea.  Kudo's if yours comes out as nicely as hers did!

4. Give them another material.  It may be a touch messier, but the scribbles your child creates with pastels or charcoals will be very interesting.  It can really change the way you look at your child's art by giving them something slightly more artistic to work with than just crayons.

5. Make paper garlands. Scribble drawings can be great this time of year.  They are easily turned into snowflakes, paper garlands, or confetti for wrapping items.  It can be really cute to cut out a scribble in the shape of stars, etc, and use them to string around their room.

6. Make a changing gallery.  There are lots of ways to do this.  A string with clothespins, pants hangers, matching frames that are easy to take down, or these specially made frames that open from the front.  I've been thinking of adding something like this above EG's playspace.  It's something I don't have to worry about her destroying, and it's also something that will add a bit of color to the space.