\n<\/div>\n
\nI love doing Arts and Crafts with my kids and for the most
\npart they love it too, but our activities don\u2019t always go to plan. When you are
\ndealing with three kids under the age of 6, there is plenty of potential for
\ntears, tantrums, spillages and wreckages along the way.<\/div>\n
\npart they love it too, but our activities don\u2019t always go to plan. When you are
\ndealing with three kids under the age of 6, there is plenty of potential for
\ntears, tantrums, spillages and wreckages along the way.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLast week we got the \u201cMaking Box\u201d out. <\/span>I like to keep a ready supply of empty boxes,
\ntubes, bottle tops, tinfoil etc as they are great for up-cycling into something new. <\/span>On this occasion we wanted to make
\n\u201cTreasure Boxes\u201d. <\/span>My boys in particular
\nhave inherited my hoarding and collecting obsession as they forever need
\nsomething to store their various collections in.<\/div>\n
\ntubes, bottle tops, tinfoil etc as they are great for up-cycling into something new. <\/span>On this occasion we wanted to make
\n\u201cTreasure Boxes\u201d. <\/span>My boys in particular
\nhave inherited my hoarding and collecting obsession as they forever need
\nsomething to store their various collections in.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThis activity began badly as my 4 and 6 year old sons
\nstarted to argue who got to use the solitary tea bag box, even though there
\nwere lots of other suitable boxes to choose from. Note to self; make sure you
\ndon\u2019t add something to the \u201cMaking Box\u201d until you have at least three of
\nthem! <\/span>Whilst refereeing this particular
\nincident, my 2 year old had managed to get hold of the glitter tube, which I
\nthought I had put safely out of her reach. She d had great fun sprinkling it
\nall over the table and the floor, whilst I was emptying out the current tea bag
\nbox to placate the two boys.<\/div>\n
\nstarted to argue who got to use the solitary tea bag box, even though there
\nwere lots of other suitable boxes to choose from. Note to self; make sure you
\ndon\u2019t add something to the \u201cMaking Box\u201d until you have at least three of
\nthem! <\/span>Whilst refereeing this particular
\nincident, my 2 year old had managed to get hold of the glitter tube, which I
\nthought I had put safely out of her reach. She d had great fun sprinkling it
\nall over the table and the floor, whilst I was emptying out the current tea bag
\nbox to placate the two boys.<\/div>\n
\n
\n![](\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-jOXrRWzjPnc\/U3kH8mHRIjI\/AAAAAAAAAEk\/saILWBrAAsw\/s1600\/may+083.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nOnce the boys were happy again and my toddler was distracted
\nwith a piece of shiny tin foil, I thought we were back on track with our
\nactivity. But then my 4 year old started to cry hysterically as the bottle tops
\nhe wanted to stick onto this \u201cTreasure Box\u201d wouldn\u2019t stick <\/span>properly with the glue that he was using. <\/span>I tried to offer my help, but the more I
\ntried to help, the more he cried, as he wanted to do it himself like his big
\nbrother was. <\/span>In the end I managed to
\npersuade him that using double sided sticky tape was a great way to stick the
\nbottle tops on, but only after his brother did this on his craft as well.<\/div>\n
\nwith a piece of shiny tin foil, I thought we were back on track with our
\nactivity. But then my 4 year old started to cry hysterically as the bottle tops
\nhe wanted to stick onto this \u201cTreasure Box\u201d wouldn\u2019t stick <\/span>properly with the glue that he was using. <\/span>I tried to offer my help, but the more I
\ntried to help, the more he cried, as he wanted to do it himself like his big
\nbrother was. <\/span>In the end I managed to
\npersuade him that using double sided sticky tape was a great way to stick the
\nbottle tops on, but only after his brother did this on his craft as well.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMy toddler was getting quite bored with this whole activity
\nby now. <\/span>She had been happy for a few
\nminutes scrunching up the tin foil, but then she started to rub it over the
\ntable, knocking my 6 year olds \u201cTreasure Box\u201d onto the floor and it promptly
\ncollapsed. In the end we had to abandon the activity and I settled them down in
\nfront of some cartoons with a drink and a biscuit, whilst I tidied up. <\/span>We\u2019ll just have to try this again another
\nday.<\/p>\n
\nby now. <\/span>She had been happy for a few
\nminutes scrunching up the tin foil, but then she started to rub it over the
\ntable, knocking my 6 year olds \u201cTreasure Box\u201d onto the floor and it promptly
\ncollapsed. In the end we had to abandon the activity and I settled them down in
\nfront of some cartoons with a drink and a biscuit, whilst I tidied up. <\/span>We\u2019ll just have to try this again another
\nday.<\/p>\n
<\/a> <\/a>
\n This was a particularly bad experience and generally things
\nrun much more smoothly. <\/span>That\u2019s not to
\nsay that I don\u2019t have to intercept paint brushes or crayons from my toddler on
\na regular basis, as she makes a dash for the wall with them. And I do spend a
\nfar bit of time mopping up spillages because one of them has knocked the water
\npot all over someone\u2019s painting, but this is all part of doing arts and crafts.
\nIn between these incidents we have so much fun making and creating things
\ntogether. As long as the good experiences continue to out number the bad and my
\nkids continue to enjoy arts and crafts as much as I do, then we will keep on
\nmaking for as long as we can.<\/div>\n
![<\/a>\n This was a particularly bad experience and generally things\nrun much more smoothly. <\/span>That\u2019s not to\nsay that I don\u2019t have to intercept paint brushes or crayons from my toddler on\na regular basis, as she makes a dash for the wall with them. And I do spend a\nfar bit of time mopping up spillages because one of them has knocked the water\npot all over someone\u2019s painting, but this is all part of doing arts and crafts.\nIn between these incidents we have so much fun making and creating things\ntogether. As long as the good experiences continue to out number the bad and my\nkids continue to enjoy arts and crafts as much as I do, then we will keep on\nmaking for as long as we can.<\/div>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/a><\/div>\n What arts and crafts disasters have you had?<\/p><\/div>\n](\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-K_di2ChQPoE\/U3kIECjDmeI\/AAAAAAAAAEs\/38lm83EDjDc\/s1600\/may3+028.jpg\"){kind=link}