Craft with Little Ones

I've been really enjoying experimenting with different crafts at Playgroup - and it's great to hear mums saying that since they've had a go at different crafts with the group, they've started including more craft in their weekly or daily routine. Today we had a go at stamping - you can buy quite cheap stamps from Two-Dollar Shops, or even the supermarket sometimes, with designs that little people enjoy, like simple trucks, aeroplanes, boats, helicopters; I found some little round ones that are particularly easy to hold, with small animals and flowers on them. you can make your own too - I wanted stamps of people, so bought a sheet of thick foam and one of thin foam, and a bottle of foam glue (normal glue eats foam). I cut the human shape out of the thin foam, glued it to a square of thick foam, and presto - a simple, washable and reusable stamp. We covered the table with cheap plastic tablecloth (from Lombards - they sell it in cheerful coloured pieces, or on rolls, which I love since we go through a fair bit) gave each child a big piece of butchers' paper, and let them go wild with non-toxic, washable paint. Using a stamp helps develop a whole range of skills - fine motor skills as they practice positioning the stamp, and try to get it the way up they want and as they practice using different amounts of pressure for different effects. Children learn about liquid and colour as they see what happens when they use a lot of paint or a little bit, cover the whole stamp or part of it, mix colours on the stamp, or print one colour over another. I remember when I was little being frustrated that my drawings didn't come out looking the way I wanted; using stamps (and stencils too) seemed like magic to me!