For those of us out there with children, we know that finding them things to properly occupy their time is a part-time job, in and of itself. With more and more technology coming into play, one of the easiest options is to put them to use, as they are as convenient as informative. As we find ourselves doing, more than we care to admit, we plant in front of us, a screen of some sort – TV, computer, tablet, and smartphone – to receive education, entertainment, commerce, etc.
So, why would we not do the same for our children? In attempting to limit screen time for anyone, which is a prudent measure, we must look elsewhere, but not far, to find healthy alternatives. The internet is comprised of websites containing information on just about anything and, all you must do is research to find a new pastime for your kids. Arts and Crafts ideas for kids are abundant, with learning courses across many websites and platforms, as well as, physical learning centers/meeting places.
The purpose of this piece is to get you acquainted with how easy it is to learn a new art or craft or revive an old one to pass on to your children. Doing anything with your children increases the chances that what is being done will be retained and, possibly, engrained in them for future use, in whatever capacity.
By creating something using their hands, your kids will be provided a different type of hands-on skills, resulting from the type of learning one would receive from non-digital means; that being the case for all of existence, prior to the invention of the internet. With that, let’s dive in and become familiar with the world of online Arts and Crafts.
Online Learning and Instructing
One of the most comprehensive and all-encompassing websites, having arts and crafts ideas for kids, is www.craftsy.com. This site offers both free and paid classes in many arts and crafts niches including: art, cooking/baking, cake decorating, knitting, sewing, and quilting.
The art category, being the largest and spanning many mediums, holds everything from sketching, painting, drawing, penciling, coloring, and mixed material artistry, with over 200 different courses pertaining to topics, sources, locations, mediums and techniques used.
There are even some courses on 3D like paper jewelry and wooden figure manufacturing. When scanning the website, you’ll notice that signing up if free, you are given a week’s worth of learning for free, as first-time user, and many of the courses are discounted on a revolving schedule. In fact, often the website offers fifty percent off of all purchases.
There are courses available ranging from twenty dollars to several hundred, depending on the depth of learning, and are taught by industry experts. Each course is delivered on a digital/video platform with support on either a home computer/laptop or mobile device. You can jump from one course in painting, for example, to one about decorating a cake for Halloween, so as to not skip a beat when it comes to your children’s changes of attention, which regularly can and does happen.
Once purchased, you are able to learn at your own pace, allowing you to take the time to involve your kids through the entire process, to help them with replicating it in the future. Obviously, there are some crafts which require a parent’s presence until the child reaches a certain age, such as cooking, baking, and crafts which have accompanying tools.
But, that just means that you’ll be spending quality time with your kid(s), interacting both in front of a screen and hand-in-hand, to learn how to enjoyably create crafts of all kinds, as well as lasting memories. Your kids will then have those skills in place to perpetuate, without the need for more learning, unless chosen.
One Stop Shopping too?
So you’ve signed up for a couple of courses through www.craftsy.com? Or, you’ve simply ran out of supplies to keep the crafting already learned going? No problem. At Craftsy.com, you can not only learn arts and crafts ideas but purchase related supplies from there as well. The site primarily offers crafting supplies in the realms of baking/cake decorating, yarns/fabrics and sewing/quilting/knitting tools.
So, if you are wanting to take a course in one of the other arts, you will have to acquire your paints, brushes, etc. from another source. One of the best features offered are project kits. These are designed to focus you crafting interest onto pre-determined, optional subjects/styles/themes, to first teach you the mechanics of whichever art or craft you are learning about.
From the kits, you’ll receive detailed instructions and patterns to use, which help you learn the right way before tailoring your craft in the direction you, and your kids, want it to go. If your kids come to like a particular pattern of kit, then your options can stem from there, using the same template, or, after mastering a craft, it can blossom outside that framework, being fostered by you and your kid’s creativity.
Themes, Topics and Seasonal Options
Project themes range from modern to classic, simple to detailed, and are based on industry and customer trends, as well as important holidays and times of the year. As such things are ever-changing, this site is able to provide a wide variety of themes, for various lengths of time; some are so popular and well-known that they will never go out of style. Theme variations can also be based on color schemes, geometric patterns, various mediums, supplies and tools, etc.
As you know your children’s personalities the best, www.craftsy.com will help you hone down your ideas based on what they gravitate towards. The easy to surf website and knowledgeable support staff and instructors can help you determine what may be the best place to start, when dealing with a first time artist or crafter; whether that is you or your children.
As said, the changing topics carrying with them fresh looks at arts and/or crafts you and your children are already familiar with to keep your creativity satisfied and lasting. With the change of seasons comes the many, official holidays. Each of those holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. have their own, very distinct themes which the website overlays across the board, giving you more options to maintain those themes while infusing your kid’s creativity.
Is it Worth my Time Versus a Typical Class?
Typical learning center arts and crafts classes are out there but, their schedules are limited by location, instructor preference and, if you miss the one you’re seeking, it may be a while before another one rolls around. The craftsy.com platform allows for you to learn, and teach your children, at your own pace and to start, stop or pick up where you left off, on any of the purchased courses.
This is beneficial for several reasons: that well-known classroom setting where one student takes up the entire time with only their questions being answered, and you having completely different ones not being heard in the time allotted; if you or your kid’s taste’s change, the current course seems too much for them to learn at present, or a refresher in a previously taken course is wanted.
In taking care to detail each course thoroughly, and which supplies are required, www.craftsy.com help you and your kids shoot straight to the fun part, creating arts and crafts by hand, as a family unit.
The point is, deciding to take the time to learn, then teach, a creative outlet for you and your children is a fantastic one. It’s a good thing to have your kids learn that everything done does not have to be through a computer/digital/technological means.
However, using an online platform to create physical pieces of art, is a match made for you and your family’s benefit. It’s one of the best and easiest ways to become educated and, the fact that your knowledge and skills, being passed on to your kids, will create stronger, more lasting connections between you, your family and each of your creative pathways.
Also, anyway that you can, with craftsy.com’s help, make this learning not seem like schoolwork, then your kids will begin to see that as well, causing them to want to do it more, not less. This is the type of journey that anyone can, and should, enjoy as it is embarked upon for the right reasons; bettering your children.