10 essential gifts for a creative child - Pssst Santa, over here….
Creativity is not just for Christmas!
Use this essential gift guide to buy things that will nurture creativity all year round. First off i’m imagining the children have access to scissors and a glue stick. If they haven’t then this is a list of 12 things….
Number One - A Glue Gun
Plus free reign over the recycling box. Or a big stash of cardboard to experiment with. Or both.
Of course being age appropriate is important. I’m talking here about a Cool Melt Glue Gun, the difference is quite important. A cool melt glue gun can still be hot to touch, but more of an ouch than a burn. It needs consideration, but it can be used safely. I know 5 yr olds who would not be without theirs.
A glue gun opens a whole new world of building. Joining things - especially cardboard, but of course the list is pretty endless - without the frustration of constant collapse. Plus the irritation of imagination being hampered by the wrong tools. Take a squiz at a video we made about glue gun techniques HERE
Number Two - A Recipe for Playdoh
And then let them cook it themselves (supervise as little as possible).
HERE is my favourite play doh recipe. It does need some cooking and it requires cream of tartar, which I buy in the supermarket in a tub (not sachets, waaaay too expensive). They are next to the baking powder.
I’m not the first person to share this recipe, nor the first to say why not add a few drops of essential oils, some fresh herbs, bio-glitter, or colour. Not even the first person to say you could use Marker Pens to add colour to plain dough. But this is where Number Three - Water Based Markers comes in. You can create your own colours, build up strength or depth of colour, decide on new names for colours. Then of course just build, sculpt and play with the play doh.
Number Three - Water Based Markers.
For colouring.
We use these. The colour keeps on coming, they don’t smell and they’re not permanent. You can use them on card, leather, play doh….. and the lids can stay off for up to three days without them drying up. But do put the lids back on eh.
Number Four - Beautiful Oops
“When you think you have made a mistake, think of it as an opportunity to make something beautiful'“
So, more age appropriate judgement needed - But I love a children’s book with the perfect message, and lots of older children do too - they just might not own up to it. If you don’t know it yet, do have a look - it might be just the gift you’re after…
Number Five - Their Own Space
Theirs. That they can always use. Whenever they want.
A drawer (accessible), shelf (reachable), desk, nook, corner, under the stairs - a trolley like this can hold so much stuff if you can find a spot for it.
It doesn’t need to be huge, but it does need to be theirs. And incase I haven’t made it clear enough, they need to know that it’s theirs to access whenever they feel like it. They don’t always need to be making a masterpiece either, just feeling free to make.
A little area to exhibit their work here would be magic. Could you add a simple washing line with pegs, or make a pegboard together like Ricky from Art Ninja.
Oh and they must clean up too, so do make sure the bin and a recycling pot are available too - this is nearly as important as the spot itself.
Otherwise they might end up in a workshop like mine - absolutely FULL, ready to play in, with very little inclination to tidy up - and they won’t want that ; )
Number Six - Think and Make Like an Artist
Winner: Children’s Trade 9-16 Years category, British Book Design & Production Awards
This brilliant book is one of the Thames & Hudson stable of exciting and unique books about art, craft and making. There are ideas of things to make - ice sculptures and paintings with legs, dancing robots and 3D chilli con carne - but its the ways of thinking that it introduces that I particularly like. Have a squizz….
'Sumptuous pictures, enticing illustrations … and a general feeling that what you are dealing with is considered, has integrity, and is educational in the very best way'
Association of Illustrators
Number Seven - Inktense Blocks or Lyra Aquacolour Crayons
Now I know this picture is a bit of a riot. But it’s a riot of colour too and thats what i’m talking about. Both of these products - Inktense and Aquacolour - work without water, and they are smooth and intense. But with water. They reach another level of apply-able. The smoothness and the intensity of colour is turned right up to eleven, and they can be used with hands - no brushes needed. Try them alongside black marker pens on fabric scraps, or use them with stamp blocks to create wrapping paper. Just dip them in water and watch them glide….
Number Eight - Paper. A Massive Amount of Paper.
I mean a whole ream of plain white printer paper. A box full of coloured A4. A stack of newsprint (the cheapest plain paper for all that practising).
And never tell them not to waste it. Any using is useful. Fold, tear, draw lines, make holes, scribble, splat and cut. Then recycle. Or use the pieces for collage. Or card making. Choose the best bits to use again as wallpaper, or clothes, or a background for new drawings.
Number Nine - Masking Tape
Masking tape is the best- write on it, draw on it, paint on it, even use it to stick stuff with! Create your own washi tape by building designs on it and using it to create patterns or lay it down, paint on top, then remove it. And buy it from a big hardware shop, in bulk.
Number Ten - Fabric
A box of fabric - perhaps include a pack of sewing needles and some thread?
Not a neatly folded boxful but a rummage-able, explorable, cut-into-pieces-able box full of as many offcuts and bits of fabric as you can find. If they grow out of a t-shirt or a pair of socks, could they cut them up or paint on them perhaps? Add them to the box, and let them know they’re free to use anything in it - BUT NOTHING ELSE IS TO BE CUT UP!
Finally of course, give them access to our VIDEOS - we’ll help them with basic but essential skills to take their building and making to the next level.
So maybe there are more than ten essential things for a creative child. And perhaps everything is age appropriate, needs a bit of explanation or supervision. Or you might not even actually want to give these things away once you have them in your own hands. So buy yourself a glue gun too. Do it. And then buy one of our Crafternoon Packs to start you and your child off on this creative journey.