!8: Used Craft Chinese Lantern: January 2012

!±8± Paper Crafts For Kids

Nimble fingers laced with emphatic colours are a sight to see. When that first color catches the eye of a little one, their pupils dilate; they wonder what is it that is so beautiful.

Working with colours is one of the indispensable subjects for kids craft activities. Besides paper, cane, clay, plastic and many other materials are used. Even sowing to evolve varied patterns on a plain cloth is an engaging craft activity.

Other paper craft activities for kids include making postal stamps, envelopes, wreaths in the shapes of stars, paper flowers like roses, lilies; potato face, Chinese lanterns, paper box, trees, leaves, pinwheel, family tree and more. Paper puppets are real entertainers and can be created of waste paper bags with faces drawn on them and with arms and limbs attached.

Here is how you can make a paper bag dog. Upturn the paper bag with its open end on the floor. Fold the ears of the bag. Cut out a dot for a nose, long loops as ears and a red tongue. Glue them to the paper bag and your puppet is ready. Slip in your hand into the paper bag and see your children enjoy the laughs.

Here's how to make a Chinese lantern. Take a sheet of paper and fold it vertically. Make a series of cuts leaving 2 inches from either end. Open the paper and join the edges with glue or staple pins. Make a 2 inch strip and fix it to the either ends of lantern on the top. This makes the handle of the lantern. Now make many such lanterns in different colours and string it together. Chinese lanterns are ready to light up your home.

Origami is a completely different form of paper craft. It is taught to older children who can form ideas on paper. In origami, one is first taught basic designs like rockets and chairs, slowly graduating to birds, animals, flowers and various other beautiful designs.

Colorful papers and their brilliant outcome attract children to learn more and more. The twists and turns of the paper engage little fingers and eyes to get more dramatic and enjoy every art created with utmost love.

Teachers are trained in India on how to deal with children, how to map their mind and encourage them to enhance their skills. Tutors teach children to create art with their little hands. But one needs loads of patience to get children started. To discontinue their incessant romping and get them seated at one place is easier said than done. Hence teachers and parents need utmost patience to teach children art.

But once they get a hang of it they love to churn out more. Thus teaching paper craft to children is a beautiful way to develop skills of younger minds at a ripe age. Not only does it give them ideas but also makes them creative in their regular way of life, knowing how to add fun in routine life.