Whether you make your own or you buy one, it's always a good idea to have as many of your arts and craft materials in one place. The Chadwick Ultimate Activity Kit gives you a great start. It comes in an A3 plastic case for easy transporting. Because it is A3 size you can also use it to keep your art work safe. If you make your own
craft activity kit it's always best to start with an A3 size carrying case as A4 size probably would not be big enough.
The most important item in the kit is something to create upon – either paper or card – or better still a combination of both paper and card. As well as plain white it's always a good idea to have a mixture of colours as these will add contrast to your children's craft ideas.
Colouring pens are probably the next most important thing so that your children can draw out what they want. Stencils are also useful, especially if your child isn't that artistic. With a bit of practice and patience, stencils allow any child to create beautiful shapes.
Plastic scissors are also useful for your child to cut the coloured paper and card up, but even better would be pre-cut gummed shapes and stickers. You can get animal shapes or simple geometric shapes. Your children can add a third dimension to their art works by building up the shapes on top of each other.
Of course glue is vital for the things most children like best – buttons, stars and sequins. Along with pipe cleaners these can make a good art work great. Bits of tissue paper or crepe paper can really look good as well. Working with small fiddly objects can really improve your child's concentration.
Once you have the basics, you can go even further by adding things like pom poms, holographic paper and fluorescent shapes. Foil stickers and metallic card can also work wonders. Foam shapes are also great for three dimensional works of art.
As well as normal art works for display, your children could create their own cards. It's easy to find blank cards and envelopes. Just one reminder – make sure you have bigger envelopes if your child is making a 3D card. You also need to watch out for postage in the UK as prices have gone up for anything that's thicker than 5mm.
Once you have a craft activity kit, you can use it at home to store all your art and craft materials in one place. If your children know where they should store something they are more likely to tidy up after themselves. It's always useful to keep packets, especially for the small items, such as sequins and stars as they will get lost easily.
The activity kit can also be used on journeys and away from home. Because it's lightweight it's easy to carry about. On a journey, it will make time fly by. If you're in an unfamiliar place, it's always useful to rely on a craft activity kit to entertain your children, especially if the weather turns against you. Even at home, your children will have hours of fun if it's raining outside, and it's much easier to have everything in one place.
Here is a list of some of the best items to have in a Craft Activity Kit:
A3 Plastic Carrying case
Coloured Paper
Coloured Card
White Paper
White Card
Colouring Pens
Stickers and Pre-gummed Shapes
Stencils
Plastic Scissors
Glue
Pipe Cleaners
Buttons
Sequins
Stars
Pom Poms
Felt Shapes
Tissue Paper
Crepe Paper
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