Got an Arts and Crafts Kid? Try a Rourke Book

My dad used to call my sister “Miss Fingers,” because she was always touching things. I now know that she was a tactile learner – driven by curiosity and the desire to understand and experience objects up close and in person.

Today she is a renaissance woman of many talents: school teacher, mother, tennis whiz, quilter, seamstress, great cook, scrapbooker and home decorator extraordinaire.

My youngest daughter takes after her creative aunt. When she was really little, I would have my “Miss Fingers” roll up her hands in the front of her shirt, when we walked through stores with lots of breakables. She just could not resist “looking at” all the pretty things with her busy little digits.

She now spends her free time cutting, pasting, gluing, stringing and knitting things together. Her collages cover her bedroom walls, and her friends have been the recipients of homemade cards, picture frames, scarves, jewelry and one-of-a-kind posters.

If you have a child with a hunger for hobbies, check out the craft series by Big Universe’s partner, Rourke Publishing. Written by Tracy Maurer, these well-illustrated books are aimed at the Grade 3-6 crowd. Following the directions for each project strengthens reading comprehension skills and vocabulary – while fostering artistic creativity.

• “Paper Crafts with Pizzazz”
• “Scrapbook Starters”
• “Fabulous Fashion Crafts”
•  “Rock Your Room with Crafts”
• “Fingernail Art”
•  “Cupcakes, Cookies and Cakes”

Paula Willey of the Baltimore County Public Library in Towson, Md., reviewed this series for the November 2009 issue of School Library Journal. Here is what she had to say:

“The crafts in these cheery books are not too hard, but not so simple as to be boring, and are made with a minimum of specialty supplies. Lively, upbeat covers feature photos of regular girls with big smiles. Inside, the subject of each book is first put into context and then illustrated with seven to eight crafts. There is an emphasis on safety and on getting permission and on responsibility. Many projects incorporate reuse of household items that might otherwise be discarded (worn-out jeans, buttons, jars, newspapers).”

 Rourke Publishing also offers an “Explore and Draw” series, which would have been up my other daughter’s alley when she was younger – a combination of reading and sketching! Titles include:

• “Horses”       
• “Dinosaurs”
• “Cars”
• “Monster Trucks”
•  “Spacecrafts”
• “Wizards, Witches and Dragons”
•  “Airplanes”
• “Knights and Castles”

Update: (Sept. 24, 2010) While exploring online, I found another superb crafts book by Kathy Ross, a teacher and nursery school program director with more than 30 years of experience on the front lines. “Crafts for Kids Who are Learning About Weather” caught my eye because Jan Barger’s illustrations are simply darling. The pair also has written a crafts book titled “Crafts for Kids Who are Learning About Community Workers.” Ross has several dozen additional crafts book titles under her belt with other illustrators.

Update: (Oct. 4, 2010) Big Universe has added the book “Crafty Kids ” to its online library shelf. Written by Char Benjamin, this Teacher Created Materials book helps early readers expand their vocabulary and explore mathematical principles (patterns) in a tangible way – making crafts for a school sale.

Update: (March 10, 2011) It’s National Craft Month, and I found a good article by Sherri Osborn at About.com with loads of craft tutorial links to explore with your children.