How to schedule creative activities for children

Life is busy, isn’t it? There’s the house to manage, the family to feed, the dog to walk, the children to entertain and you have to squeeze in work too.

One of the first things to fall by the wayside can be creative activities with your child, either because they are too messy, or they take too long to set-up. We’ve come up with some ideas for you to try, to help you build art and craft activities into your weekly routine.

Keep the chain going

This idea is really simple:

1. Print out a calendar (a year to a page view). Stick the calendar on a prominent wall. This is a good source for printable calendars is one-page-per-year calendar
2. You’ll then need a red marker to cross off every art and craft session you plan.

The idea is to keep the chain of red crosses, unbroken. If your art and craft time each week is going to be on a Saturday morning after breakfast, keep crossing out that day, after the activity each week. By focusing on keeping the chain going, you forget about the end result. As the saying goes, ‘inch by inch, it’s a cinch’.

Plan around a regular activity

This idea is about fixing your activity to something you do every day or every week, such as brushing your teeth or having lunch. If you tag your new activity onto something that you consistently do, you’ll have a regular reminder of what happens next. This helps you build a routine around your existing routine.

Being realistic – it’s likely that planned days will be missed – it doesn’t mean you have to give up on your regular craft slot. Just get back into it, even if you miss out on two months. The idea is to pick up where you left off. Even if you enjoy ten art and craft sessions more that year, because of following these tips, we think it’s worth it. Wouldn’t your child would agree?

Keep it clean

If you’re keen to keep the clean-up rapid, but want to do some painting use paint coats or splash suits and use things like these fab paint sticks or chubbies. Painting onto objects may also help contain the mess, such as these airplane kits. All these things are available from The Creation Station Store.

Invest in classes

We don’t like to waste money, so the idea being, if we pay for activities we value, it’s booked in and there is more chance that it will actually happen. Plus, we get to have fun and make friends at the same time too. Oh, and someone else does the cleaning up.

So even if life is busy, spending the time to plan regular arts and crafts helps you to inspire your children, develop their imagination and build happy memories together. It’s a win-win situation.

If you’re thinking of joining a Creation Station class, we’ve some exciting news. Every two months we train a new team of franchisees as we expand the classes available across the UK. We are delighted to announce new classes starting in the following areas:

Dulwich, London – Pornthida Crookes

Welcome to Pornthida, who will be running Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station Dulwich Facebook page

Dorchester, Dorset – Georgie Moore

Welcome to Georgie, who will be running Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Create Club, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station Dorchester Facebook page

Beccles, Suffolk – Kirsty Tatum

Welcome to Kirsty who will Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station Beccles Facebook page

South Ayrshire – Sarah Codling

Welcome to Sarah who will be Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station South Ayrshire Facebook page

Walmley, West Midlands – Emma Carter

Welcome to Emma, who will be running Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Create Club, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station Walmley, West Midlands Facebook page

Bathgate, West Lothian – Kelly McEwan

Welcome to Kelly, who will be running Baby Discover, Little Explorer, Tiny Treasures, Family Fun and local events in the area. The Creation Station Bathgate, West Lothian Facebook page

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How To Make A Children’s Crafty Hedgehog

If you’re a fan of Mrs Tiggywinkle, then this will spike your interest. Create your own little hedgehog friends. You could even recreate the International Hedgehog Olympic Games – (Yes this really does exist) Use in either role play or as a decoration. What will your child name theirs?

Clay is a great material children to play with, by using it to mold and shape it to anything their imaginations want it to be. They will enjoy using there fine motor skills by squidging, squeezing and rolling.

How To Make A Crafty Hedgehog: 

The materials we have used to create the hedgehog are as follows:

Please note that the links below take you to The Creation Station store where you can buy the products.

• Scissors
• Clay
• Pipe Cleaners
• Wiggle Eyes

Fun Jokes:

Q: What are two hedgehogs called?

A:  A prickly pair.

Q: What do hedgehogs like for supper?

A: Prickled onions.

Follow our blog for more exciting activity ideas to do at home, to help inspire your child.

To buy the products used in this video and many more, please visit our store.

We would love to see your happy hedgehogs. Please upload images with #creationstation to our Facebook page or Twitter page for your chance to win monthly goodies.

Visit your local creation station for hands-on inspirational and award-winning classes, birthday parties, and local events.

If you have enjoyed the video clip, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more fun and creative Creation Station “How To” videos.

Here’s to inspiring futures.

Your Creation Station team.

If we can help with an enquiry you have, please drop us an email:team@thecreationstation.co.uk

Secrets from Steven Spielberg – how to help your child to grow up happy and fulfilled.

As our children grow and reach milestones in their lives – their first birthday, starting nursery or school. We can’t help wondering – what will our children be when they grow up?

A doctor? A dancer? A dairy farmer?

Will they marry?

Will they be happy with their lot?

Or not?

Sometimes our children know from an early age what they are destined to do with their lives – just like Steven Spielberg – who made his first film at just twelve years old. For many people it can be a long, frustrating struggle, trying to figure out what to do with their life.

Some of us never discover our niche.

Never find true love.

Never build up the confidence to do what makes us happy.

And that is mighty sad.

So as a parent or carer, how can you help your children answer life’s big questions for themselves?

In a world where children constantly get told what to do by their parents, teachers, siblings and peers, carving out time for children to follow their intuition, is essential to them discovering future happiness.

As someone who has found incredible success following his intuition all his life, Steven Spielberg agrees:

“I’ve always said to my kids, the hardest thing to listen to is – your instincts, your human personal intuition – always whispers, it never shouts. It’s very hard to hear. So you have to, every day of your life, be ready to hear what whispers in your ear.”

Age sixteen, Spielberg was staying with family in California over summer break. Even at that age, he knew he wanted to direct films, so during a bus tour of Universal Studios he slipped out and hid in the toilets until the tour had moved on. After half an hour, Spielberg crept out and began to explore the studios, alone. Through the course of his adventure, he happened upon the Universal Studios Librarian. Impressed by Steven’s story, he issued him a three-day pass, which inspired Spielberg to chance his arm, at getting in without a pass for the proceeding weeks. He did it – he followed his instincts and discovered a place that to Spielberg, “felt more like home to me than my own house.”

Many Creation Station Franchise owners report back to us how they have found running classes, so much more fulfilling than their previous jobs.

 So how do you help your child develop their gut instinct, especially if it’s such a significant factor in finding happiness in life? Well, we’ve come up with three practical ways for your kids to practice and experience using their intuition.

1. Meditation

Steven Spielberg believes in the benefits of meditation. In fact, as a thirty-four-year-old director, he said, “I’m hoping in future to have more time for meditation, which I think will help my movie making.”

 Practising making space for quiet time, when children can be calm and experience the voice inside them, prepares them for the times in their life when they desperately need to connect to their intuition.

 There’s plenty of kid’s meditation books and recordings to choose from, however, we like A Handful of Quiet by Thich Nhat Hanh and The Children’s Mediations – In My Heart, a recording by Gitte Winter Graugaard.

2. Acknowledge your child’s feelings

This one is simple, but deceptively difficult to pull off.

The trick is to acknowledge the child’s feelings, even if you don’t agree with them. A child’s feelings are the source of his or her gut instinct, so tread carefully with your words.

This is the best explanation we’ve found on how to acknowledge feelings: betweenparentandchild.com

3. Exploratory arts and crafts

Creativity is about following your gut instinct towards what peaks your curiosity.

What colour do I make if I mix all the colours together?

 What happens if I use more glitter?

 Can I use the dog’s tail as a paint brush?

 Practising arts and crafts at home or joining in the fun at Creation Station classes, parties or events, helps develop these essential instincts.

 The Creation Station’s philosophy is all about giving the child freedom to find their own way. We’re not prescriptive, we provide the materials, the time and space. You provide the intuition and the imagination. Our classes start in September for the autumn term. If you’d like to find out more, go to our Facebook page and post your postcode and the age of your child and we’ll let you know where you’ll find your closest class.

 So think of it this way. The next time your children engage in arts and crafts, practice meditation or have their feelings acknowledged, you’re developing in them an internal compass that whispers, “trust your feelings.” And that’s important, because one day, these instincts will be responsible for navigating them through life’s big questions, to finding a life that makes them happy and fulfilled.

 

If we can match your child with a Creation Station class, throw a fantastic arty party for your little one, or enhance your event (wedding or festival) then get in touch.

 

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