We’ve often been asked by well-meaning parents, for DIY kits for children which don’t involve ‘messy’ glue. Well, there’s a lot to be said for making messes with glue! In this article, we talk about all the points below.
- Develop Problem-Solving Skills
- Enhance Creativity
- Improve Motor Skills
- Boost Self-Confidence
- Bond with Friends & Family
- Reduce Screen Time
- Enable Real Long Term Happiness
- Nurture Patience
1. Develop Problem-Solving Skills
Crafting with glue is not just about making a mess—it’s about fostering critical thinking and skill development in children. When kids get their hands sticky with glue, they are engaging in a sensory experience that stimulates their brains and enhances their fine motor skills. Crafting encourages learning as children engage in working with different textures and materials. It helps them understand cause and effect, practice problem-solving skills, and learn through trial and error. Glue encourages problem-solving as children figure out how to piece together different materials. It sparks imagination as they envision what they can create with just a few simple supplies and some adhesive. The kid who builds a paper ship today may well go on to engineer steel ships and bridges, tomorrow!
2. Enhance Creativity
It helps to introduce a child to the world of craft and paper-engineering, through close-ended DIY Papercraft kits. They start with following instructions to build something specific… but in the process they embark on a journey of experimenting and creating something unique. Free-style crafting with glue enhances creativity by allowing kids to explore their imagination and think outside the box.
3. Improve Motor Skills
Of course, the fine motor skills required to handle glue bottles, squeeze them, and stick pieces together help in developing hand-eye coordination and dexterity in children. Children with special needs, like autistic kids or kids with Down’s syndrome, have loved our Paper Craft kits and enjoyed assembling them, spending ours of focussed time, while having fun.
4. Boost Self-confidence
When kids see their creations come to life almost magically, through crafting with glue, it boosts their confidence levels. They feel a sense of accomplishment that can positively impact their self-esteem.
5. Bond with Friends and Family
Making something together be a great way for families to bond. Spending quality time together on creative projects fosters communication, collaboration, and creates lasting memories that strengthen family relationships.
6. Reduce Screen Time
And coming to one of the most important reasons why paper craft can be a go-to activity for kids… let’s talk about the devil of our era… (drumroll) Screen Time! As parents today, most of us struggle to get our children to spend more time off the iPad, TV, or Mobile Phone. It’s a never-ending battle. An interesting craft project can occupy a kid for hours, even on rainy days!
7. Enable Real Long-term Happiness
Some may argue that Video Games are great for brain development, too… and they may be. But we are talking about something bigger, something that contributes to long-term happiness in life: the ability to deal with failure. While video games have ‘restart’ buttons and multiple virtual lives, craft has a physicality that encourages children to be more sensitive to materials and processes, to plan ahead to execute their projects. And if they make a mistake or spoil the material they are using, children are forced to accept their failure, overcome it and start anew. THIS is the icing on the cake. Real lasting happiness is not built only upon successes; it is built on taking the good with the bad, enjoying the successes and the failures as part of the journey.
8. Nurture Patience
Glue takes time to dry… plants take time to grow… all good things take time to come to fruit. That jewel called ‘Patience’ is a rare quality, especially in our age of instant gratification. Using glue to build things is a direct way to build patience and dedication in children.
At Sky Goodies we have made a bunch of DIY kits specifically aimed at children, on the subject of animals. The ‘DIY Mini Friends’ series is a great way for children above 5/6 years to enjoy craft on their own or with an adult… and learn lots of cool facts about the animals they make, too! Our ‘DIY Endangered Wildlife Series’, ‘Pet Animal Series’ and ‘Prehistoric Wildlife Series’ are sprinkled with interesting nuggets of information about nature and our world. And of course, after enjoying the process of making the animals, kids can play with them, dreaming up stories and letting their imagination run wild!
So, the next time you cringe at the thought of craft supplies and glue all over your table, remember that you’re not just cleaning up a mess—you’re supporting your child’s cognitive growth and creative expression.
Oh, and by the way, craft is not just fun for children! Adults can relax, enjoy a mindful activity as a break from stress and really heal their inner child by making things and having fun.
