There is no shortage of places to go to find crafts for kids. Pinterest, anyone?? You can easily search there and find tons of things to do, from uber complicated to pretty simple. But it's also incredibly easy to get lost and overwhelmed by the plethora of posts. And really, how many of them are educational also? Some, yes, but many will just create more arts and crafts to clutter your home.
Kids like crafts though and we should still be giving them creative outlets during this time of quarantine. So let them do crafts with whatever you can find around the house. But let's also find some other ways to feed that creativity. Keep reading for some links to crafts.
In the meantime ...
Let's explore arts and culture!! The art teacher at my kids' school sent a link to Google's Arts & Culture site. WOW!! There are so many things to look at here. View art work and read about it while focusing in on details and learning about the artist too. I see Klimt, Van Gogh, Monet, and tons of other artists featured. You can also look at architecture (it uses Google's street view). I just looked at the London Bridge and the Milan Cathedral. There is so much more including videos, museum exhibits, virtual tours, facts about dinosaurs, the universe, etc. Definitely check it out and explore the diversity of art and culture in our world.
Want more art in the most Catholic location in the world? Check out the virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel available at the Vatican Museum website. After checking out the Sistine Chapel, click on the word Museums in the "crumb trail" above the window where you viewed the chapel. You'll be taken to a list of the various rooms and galleries. You can explore tons art work, some areas have virtual tours, some video, and some just links to follow to view parts of the rooms or the various pieces of art. Lots to explore!
The Louvre in Paris also has several virtual tours of their museum up. I discovered after exploring the ancient Egyptian exhibit that if you mouse over the various art and display cases you sometimes see an little "i" in a circle, click on it, and more information comes up about that particular pieces. It was very cool! The Egyptian exhibit was neat and there is a tour of the remains of the moats under the museum (it was once a castle).
All across the world museums are closed and are making virtual tours available. If you find a neat one, share it with us in the comments on this post. Whatever your kid may be studying in history, or art, or music, or almost any other subject, you can likely find a museum that has something available to help make that subject come to life for your child.
And now for the crafts!!
You may be familiar with Joann's Fabrics, a craft store around the country, including in Lexington. They are offering a variety of "craft at home" videos on their YouTube page that are worth checking out. According to the email I received from them recently you can order online and get things delivered right to your home. They also mentioned curb-side pick up but you may need to call to ask if that's an option in our area.
One of our homeschool members sent me a link to a website called I heart naptime. In addition to lots of food recipes, she has a section on Kids Crafts. Many are easy to do right in your home, hopefully with materials you have on hand. Several are also seasonal, but there is a wide variety of options. One I think looks pretty cool is this paper feather garland.
If you really want to get ambitious, Memoria Press (a Kentucky based company) has several art and craft items for sale on their website. I have the Junior Kindergarten Book of Crafts and used it a lot with the local co-op here last year. All the crafts in that book either go along with one of the read-aloud books for that age group or with a letter of the alphabet. There are several options for older students as well. Take a look at their Art, Music, & Enrichment section for all their offerings.
All the information here can keep you busy for months if not years. Explore museums, architecture, special exhibits, tour the Sistine Chapel, and try some crafts at home. Take a break from math and reading to be creative!!
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