Time, energy, mess … oh my. Oh yes!
My absolute favorite reasons for having littles do crafts is that it’s a fantastic tool for the kinesthetic and visual learners. They’ve heard a story. They’ve heard music. The aural learners are all set. But the hands-on and the I’ve-got-to-see-it crews need something more. Of course, there needs to be intention. You must remind the kiddos while they are doing the craft what it’s about, why they’re doing it. And then you need to inform parents so that they can engage with the littles as well.
Beyond the most important reason for crafts — including all learning styles when teaching about Jesus — there are also some practical fine motor skills that are enhanced by crafting. Let’s look into a few.
Painting
Whether finger painting or using a brush, painting helps develop fine motor skills, as well as hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness. Try using different mediums for paint and for brushes. You can paint with feathers, cotton balls, etc. An easy tip is to use close pins to hold your items like a paintbrush.
Threading
Threading beads builds precise muscle control later used in buttoning and writing. For beginners, start with large beads and pipe cleaners. The stiffness of the pipe cleaner helps it go through more easily. Next try yarn with tape around the end to form an aglet like on shoelaces. Pasta makes great “beads.” You can even dye them.
Cutting
The bilateral motion (fingers going different directions) of cutting is a great skill. Let beginners cut things like straws and ribbon, then move up to paper, then move into cutting shapes.
Tearing
Tearing is the precursor to cutting. This uses bilateral movement of both hands, which is a little easier than bilateral movement of fingers. Have them tear pieces for a mosaic. If you have a craft that calls for little pieces of tissue paper, use colored paper instead and let them tear it into pieces.
Tracing
Tracing letters and symbols is great for manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination.
Lacing
Lacing is similar to threading. Lacing builds finger strength and prepares them for activities like tying shoes.
Playdough
Poking, squishing, and molding develop finger strength and foster creativity. Try having them make characters from the Bible story. Playdough is a process craft. It’s more about doing it than what you end up with. It’s probably not something they will take home, but that doesn’t make it unimportant.
Craft time is not busy work. Craft time is a fun — and crucial — way to incorporate skill building and multiple learning styles into worship.
With summer coming up, here are some great crafting ideas for at home. These ought to keep you occupied for a while.
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