Georgene Lockwood - The Complete Idiots Guide to Crafts With Kids

As a child, I spent many hours with an elderly neighbor who loved to watch me draw. One day, she explained to me that everything in this world that was not created by nature was created by an artist, designer, or inventor. I realized that meant there must be a great many artists in this world. If they could change the world through their creations, then maybe I could, too.

So I learned to paint, draw, and create crafts, which allowed me to express feelings I had no words for. I began to make gifts to give to family members and learned that I could express my love through my creativity, and that unique objects held special value to others. I learned the meaning of business and the value of work and money by selling the crafts I made. In short, I learned to be an artist, and that has defined my life, my joys, and my relationships with others.

I have spent nearly 20 years sharing that joy and enthusiasm for art with elementary children. I teach visual arts at Herrera School for the Fine Arts in Phoenix, Arizona. Through my job, Ive learned that teaching the arts to children builds their self-confidence and communication skills.

When parents and teachers ask me how they can encourage their childrens and students art talents, I always tell them to spend time together creating art. Share the experience of trying to make something newand share the failure and the success of that attempt. Take pride in the original ideas your child creates.

As Georgene Lockwood wonderfully expresses in this book, we need to bond with the children in our lives and create a feeling of acceptance and love. Crafting is a fun way to capture your childs attention and can build a great foundation for communication. Crafting can also open the door to a lifelong hobby or a career for the children in your life. Most of all, crafting is fun for everyone.

This book is a treasure chest of ideas that can make creating crafts easy. Keep it handy, dog-ear the pages, and write comments about your experiences in the margins. Treat it as a road map to creating a special time with your child. Youll find plenty of projects for beginners, as well as ideas that will challenge the most experienced crafters.

Throughout, Georgene also describes how to organize your crafts supplies and how to create an atmosphere that encourages creative risk-taking. She discusses many new crafting materials and offers great ideas on how you can use them at home with your children. Best of all, she has included many Internet resources. There are many sites on the Internet where Webmasters (like me) can link you to craft lessons, craft supplies, and images of art objects from museums all over the world.

If you are determined to make a difference in your childs life and have a willingness to get messy and explore your own creativity, this book has all the information you need to succeed. And who knows? You might be inspiring a future artist, architect, designer, decorator, inventor, engineeror even an art teacher!

Bettie Lake

Visual Arts Teacher, Herrera School for the Fine Arts

Founder, The Art Teacher Connection (www.primenet.com/~arted)