Learnings – crafting project when my daughter was around 3.5 years.
Every school comes up with monthly or fortnight projects every now and then. In most cases parents take initiative and complete the project without involving kids !
Let’s discuss about the cons :
Cons of involving kids under age 6 in projects :
The entire experience is tiring
More mess is created.
End up creating something different than planned.
Let’s think in point for kids side, these projects are mainly provided to test the ability of kids.
Nowadays most of preschool do involve kids in all crafts where teachers tend to manage kids with less mess!! I always give VZ crayons, color pencils to play with. Play doh, kinetic sand, paint and water activities are available based on mood ( based on my stamina to manage mess and she should have energy – well feed)
When I involve her if she is hungry then “YES” we end up in tantrums and she will not allow me to clean up activity!!
Planned mess play activities / Involving kids in School Projects :
Always spread a big waste cloth for entire process , so it will be easy to clean.
Provide one color paint/ one playdoh color to avoid mix up.
Allow the entire project to grow their way – think in a way to build something on the mess.
Use stickers ; Dot sketches these will help to cover the mess which has created & kids can use these more easily !
With all these points in mind, being a holiday yesterday I involved her in her school Turkey feather project – for Thanksgiving. The entire process of involving her I went through all the Cons which I mentioned above but talking softly to toddler was working a lot ! Finally the big project was done in 2-3 hours with stuff available at home with preschooler involvement of 75% !!
She was running entire house with feather to take pics with the feather
