 “Green Crafts for Children,” by Emma Hardy, is a great book to inspire creativity in any adult or child. In a time of nature-deficit disorder and a growing disconnect between parents and children (thanks to TV, video games, the internet, iPods, and other electronics), this book might just be one of the best things you could do to get in touch with your child, and have fun, too.
This is just one of the many books that offer an instructional guide to making crafts out of recycled, reused, or old materials. It even offers projects that require things found in nature, like sticks, leaves, or flowers. It’s a seemingly novel idea, but with our landfills overflowing and our homes filled with clutter, creating green crafts with your children can do a lot. It helps the environment both by reducing the stress on landfills and by not buying new materials which take energy to produce. It can also de-clutter your home and bring you closer to your children.
“Green Crafts for Children” is a great starting point toward environmental action and bonding with your children. Many parents start with a hike to find supplies to make the crafts found in this book. You could even take your children to a park to find certain supplies. The sky and your imagination are the limit.
This book is ideal for any gender and age. Many of the crafts found in the book would be perfect for a birthday party, since eco-friendly birthday parties are all the rage. You could even request that party guests bring certain things from home, like pinecones or rocks, so that each child can participate in the process.
Hardy’s book is divided into four chapters, each focusing on a different organic medium. The first chapter, salt dough, uses a simple mixture of flour, water, and salt to make everything from beads to decorations. The paper chapter uses paper in more creative ways than many would think were possible, creating bowls, dollhouses, and masks. The natural treasure chapter is a favorite of many parents and kids, because it uses items from nature like shells, pinecones, stones, and leaves. In this chapter, craft projects are highlighted that include making boats, animals, and board games. The final chapter focuses on fabric and wool, using scraps of old fabric or clothes to make puppets, jewelry, and more.
This book is highly recommended. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what to do with some glue and materials lying around the house, but Hardy’s guidance takes the guesswork out of crafting. As an added bonus, you can spend some quality time with your kids and unplug them from the digital world.
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