Having a dedicated craft station at home is a great way to encourage imagination, creativity and independence in your child. While creating fun DIY projects, kids are also honing skills like decision making, curiosity, and focus.
You don’t need an elaborate station to get kids’ creativity flowing, all you need is a fully stocked and organised setup. Officeworks has provided a play by play on how to set up your kids first craft station and empower them to never stop creating.
How to build your craft station
The setup
Find a place in your home that can act as a dedicated space for your child’s craft set up. This could be a permanent set up in the corner of a playroom, or if you’re tight on space a mobile station. We suggest using a compact table and a bright, kid-friendly chair that can easily be tucked away under a desk or table when art time is over. The benefit of a mobile station is it can be moved around to suit your day, such as taking it outside when the sun is out.
The storage
A great way to organise your craft station is by using storage drawers.
It’s important that accessibility is a key focus when setting up your storage drawers. Make sure that all safe materials are within reach for your little ones, so they are able to practice independence by grabbing their tools themselves and letting their imagination run free. The draws can also be used to enforce the idea that everything has a place. Label your storage so that all items have a clear, dedicated spot that help your child develop an autonomous pack up routine.
The basics
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to stock your station. The basic supplies all craft activities need are pretty simple and easy to find. As long as you have a cutting tool, an adhesive, markers and some sort of foundation you should be good to go.
This list is a good place to get started for your essential craft station tool kit:
- A sketchbook
- Coloured paper
- Coloured pencils
- Markers
- Glue stick
- Crayons
- Paint
- Age appropriate scissors
The add-ons
Once you have the necessities covered, you can get a bit more creative with what additional materials you choose to stock in your station.
Here is a list of go-to materials that will add a little bit more fun to your kid’s crafts, allowing them to play with textures and colours.
- Pipe cleaners
- Glitter pens/paints
- Gems
- Pom poms
- Stickers/stamps
- Felt
- Crepe paper
- Popsicle sticks
- Googly eyes
- Feathers
- Play dough
The clean up
It’s important that you allow your children to make without being scared of creating a mess. Acknowledge that it’s unavoidable and let them know that you’re ok with it, as long as they clean up after themselves. This will give them the opportunity to take risks, get inventive and solve problems, while also getting them to take responsibility for their space.
The joy of a craft station is that the aftermath of any chaos created will be isolated to one area. There are also some really easy ways to minimise the mess, such as putting down a mat that’s easy to wipe down and making sure an art smock is always put on before starting any crafty task.
