Arts and crafts are not just for summer camp anymore. With a variety of supplies to work with, parents can help plan creative activities around their son's birthday theme. From pirates to a jungle safari, a well-planned party starts with a visit to a craft or hobby shop.
Stocking Your Craft Supply Area
Some of the most common items needed to make craft projects include: colored construction paper, pieces of felt or craft foam, leather cord, crayons, markers, paints, fabric paints, Popsicle sticks, white T-shirts, stencils, pin backs, buttons, feathers, flat glass marbles, stickers, soapbox cars, white glue in a bottle or glue sticks and safety scissors.
Perler beads, polymer clay, rolls of magnets and sports-related charms can also be used in lengthy activities. If time permits, children can make magnets, personalized buttons or necklaces to wear.
Easy Projects to Make in Under an Hour
Time is of the essence. With the cutting of the cake, serving the refreshments and opening presents, craft activities need to be quick, easy and fun. Here are a few ideas that take less than an hour:
Give each child his own white T-shirt. Provide them with a theme-appropriate stencil and fabric paints. Customized stencils are easy to make and require little effort to recreate in bulk. Place a piece of cardboard between the shirt to keep the colors from bleeding through. Tape down the stencils to keep them from sliding. Tell the boys to apply color to the stencil as they see fit. Set the shirts aside to dry before sending the children home with them.
Cut out different colors and shapes out of felt or craft foam. Give each child a bottle of white glue and allow him to personalize the pieces by adding buttons and googly eyes. Add a pin back and attach to the child's shirt.
Hand out a plastic smock to each child. Place a soapbox car next to each boy to decorate. Set up a station with paint, paintbrushes, stickers, glue, flat-glass marbles and comic strips. Tell the boys that they must complete the project at a given time in order to allow the cars to dry in time for them to compete in a race. Hand out medals or ribbons for first, second and third place.
Things to Remember
Some children get frustrated when creating a step-by-step project. Others might show a lack of interest and may complain that the activity is too young or feminine for them. For the sake of preventing an argument, find something else for these children to do. Have an extra adult available to supervise this second group of guests if at all possible.
Be patient. Explain each detail of the craft as you go along. Make the item with the children so that they can see how it is being done. Offer help to the boys that you see struggling. Pre-cutting items saves time by making things easier for the children to construct on their own.
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