Crafts for Children

Reading is like a magic mirror. It lets us travel to distant locations, magical places, and mysterious lands. It let's us be a prince or a pauper, a frog or a lion. It makes us cry and it makes us laugh; it makes us fly way up in the sky or swim in the deepest of seas.

Books can also be a source of inspiration for simple craft ideas children of all ages can make. Let's explore some of these ideas.

Card-stock Bookmark Crafts

If you read a book, you need a bookmark. You may even want several bookmarks to match the type of book you are reading.
Bookmarks make also great gifts from children to their family and friends.

Materials needed
Card-stock (white or off-white will work best)
Coloring tools
Hole punch
Ribbon(s)
Stamps and ink pad, drawings, stickers
Clear contact paper
Scissors

This is a very simple craft that even a toddler can make.

Prepare bookmark size pieces of paper (or let the older children prepare them) you will then give the children to decorate.

Each child can stamp a picture on the bookmark and then color it. He can also choose to draw and color his own design or apply colorful and themed stickers. Suggest to them to create a bookmark to match the receiver (use sport pictures for a sport enthusiast) or to match the book (use animals for a book with animals as primary characters).

When the children are done decorating the bookmarks, help them laminate with the clear contact paper. Make sure to help the younger ones as this step can be tricky.

To finish, punch a hole at the top of the bookmark and let the children thread through a ribbon (or two combined) of their choice.

Book Ends Crafts

Even when using a book case, book ends serve their purpose rather nicely.

Materials needed (for younger children)
One set of book ends
Coloring book
Clear contact paper
Coloring utensils
Glue
Scissors

Let the children choose a design from a coloring book that will fit on the book end.
Once that is done, instruct them to color the pictures they have chosen.

At completion, if the children are old enough to handle scissors, have them cut the pictures and laminate it. If they are too young for this task, go ahead and complete it for them.

With pictures cut and laminated, the children are ready to glue them to the book ends.

Materials needed (for older children)
Two blocks of wood
A strip of wood ⅛" thick (twice as long as the height of the blocks)
Nails (screws are better for wood, but may be harder to use)
Hammer (screw driver if you choose the screws)
Sand-paper
Saw
Paint and brushes

Have the children draw and paint the two blocks of wood with a theme of their choice.
While the book ends dry, carefully supervise the children as they saw the strip of wood in half. Have them sand the ends to avoid a chance for splinters.

When the book ends are dry, have the children nail one strip of wood to the bottom of each. They can choose to keep the strips their natural color, or they can choose to paint them.

Most children love working with their hands. Take advantage of this time to help them create something that will last for a long time.