Something From Nothing

It was the glitzy box that caught my eye just as it was supposed to do. I'd run in the store for a few things and ended up in the aisle loaded with all sorts of craft kits for kids. I was surprised to see so many kits designed to stir a child's imagination. I was also taken back by memories of doing funstuff when I was growing up in the country and doing projects with my child ren when they were young. But aside from the kits I bought my daughters to make pot holders out of loops on a grid and those bags full of colorful plastic crystals which they used to fill-in wired shapes the best their little fingers could and when ready I'd put them in the oven to bake with the end result being a pretty flower or butterfly or rainbow suncatcher-the rest of whatever was created was purely out of what nature provided-with a little help from crayons and glue made from flour and water when in a pinch. Most of the time imaginations were stirred by what was around.

Rocks were always great fun to paint or glue or use in masterful designs. Adhere some grass for hair and you could make a family with twig feet and arms. Old boards-minus the rusty nails-provided unique surfaces on which to draw or paint. Cutting and folding pieces of paper to make little books was always fun as was cutting construction paper into strips and making paper chains. Sometimes the strips would have an added crayon design; sometimes they didn't. Collecting shells down along the creek and then drying them out in the sun was a favorite thing to do as was painting them and sometimes adding them to a collage on wood or paper of stones and moss and pinecones and stuff.

Probably the most fun for my own children took place at an old camp where we'd spend time during the summer when they were young. There was a perfect spot where the water was shallow; where right under the surface was a huge bed of clay. Walking around in the water-feeling with their feet-once that clay was discovered they'd scoop it up and put it on a board. When satisfied they'd found enough of the gooey mud they'd shape the clay into all sorts of creations and then let the sun be the oven to bake their creations to pefection. Once dried, they'd paint their masterpieces. I did buy ModPodge back then. Decoupaging stones and clay was always fun as was doing the same to little jars which then made cute little flower vases or places to keep secret treasures.

It doesn't take a kit to ignite a child's imagination. Just take a look around and you'll discover how you can make something from nothing and have alot of fun doing so! It's a great way to create memories that last a lifetime.

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