Creative Christmas Day 14: Santa Treats

We are already on Day 14 of the Creative Christmas Countdown. My how time flies, it will be Christmas in no time!! I hope you have been enjoying this Virtual Advent Calendar brought to you by Creative With Kids, Red Ted Art and all those AMAZING 24 Kid bloggers. So many different and diverse ideas for you so far. Wonderful seeing them all coming together!

Today I have the pleasure of introducing fellow UK blogger Rainy Day Mum. Rainy Day Mum has two young children and knows all about how to keep small hands busy.. from activities, to crafts, she is a great resource for those with young children.

I particularly like her Day 14 Santa Treats post – all about creating amazing childhood memories!

Visit Rainy Day Mum now.

 Tip of The Day:

Do you have a “reluctant” crafter? Firstly, if your child doesn’t like crafting, that is ok!!! All children are different with different interests… But if you do want to give it a go “one more time” here are some tips:

1) Lower your expectations – if you get them to enjoy 5 minutes worth of crafting then that is 5 minutes worth of success. Keep the elements of the project short.

2) Try seeing which part of crafting the child enjoys – e.g. they may like the paper mache bit of this dinosaur or the may like the painting. And let them do just that bit they like doing.

3) Try a range of activities –  from beads, to stickers, to sewing, to painting, to cutting, to playdough, to constructing, to junk modelling.

4) Get someone else to craft with them – many a reluctant crafter is quite happy to get stuck in with Grandpa or at school versus with mum (however disappointing that may be!).

5) You do the craft. Don’t invite them to join in… but see if they come over and are curious about what you are doing. Wait for them to ask to have a go.

6) Don’t suggest to craft when there is something better on offer – e.g. a ride on Daddy’s back, a game of football in the garden etc…. 

Remember to go to Creative With Kids for Day 15 tomorrow. We will have Mama Smiles keeping you entertained with her Christmassy Activity!