Recently Tomas bought Maggie the most thoughtful book. As she says, "Daddy always knows just what to get me!"

The book is called The Elements of Pop-up by David A. Carter and James Diaz.

It is FULL of detailed explanations and samples of how to make any and every pop-up element a child (or her Dad) could imagine. I think it’s pretty funny that every time I’m out of the way I’m likely to find some bits and pieces later on that they’ve worked on together.

The nature scene above is one of hers, and the turkey below is his. I just love the details and thought she puts into her work  — him, too, but this blog is about kids’ crafts I can so easily imagine the story that went through her mind as she created this idyllic scene. I wonder if her bunny had a name, or if he visited the playful fishies often?

Maggie gets very upset with me when I haul out the recycling because in it she sees endless possibilities, countless projects just waiting to happen. One of her favorites is Marching Band. Brothers get recruited as workers or audience members, and if they’re really lucky, they get to march as well. She makes all the instruments: maracas, shakers, tambourines, drums, bottle flutes, and guitars.

To make her Box Guitar all you need is a box, some rubber bands, tape or a stapler, and an empty paper-towl roll.

1. Cut out a square(ish) on the front of the box, and a hole big enough for the roll at on end.
2. Tape or staple rubber bands across the open section on the front. They should be pretty taught.
3. Stick the tube in at the end and tape to secure it.
4. Strum!

I was surprised at how well this worked, while not exactly the most musical of sounds, it definitely made different pitched plinks and plunks when strummed.

Next time, I’m thinking I’ll break out the tempera paints, and glitter glue so she can properly decorate her oeuvre, and make it her own (dub Tim Gunn voice-over here). As is this photo feels a bit too much like product placement for me . At least this time, she chose a soda bottle for her flute instead of the usual wine or beer

Sometimes I have a little debate with myself; is it better to let creativity be completely self-directed, or better to give guidance?

Sadly, I always end up with the same unsatisfactory response of "both" — I’m the same with the nature/nurture debate.

This character is a creation by my boy (aka Mohawk Dude). He helped himself to the elements from our craft cabinet (a buffet), and spent a good bit of time getting this Just Right. I love that he labeled all the parts, and drew in the ear canals as he’d been taught at Disney’s California Adventure.

[Please excuse the poor quality of today's photo. I couldn't find my camera, so grabbed the kids' and clearly must have clicked on something I shouldn't have to make it so blurry]

I’ve been wanting to experiment with paper maché for a while now and made the mistake of mentioning my interest to the kids the other day. It should be noted that my kids are not the ones you want to mention stuff to in an off-hand way if you aren’t ready to take action. They JUMPED at the idea.

“Mom! We have everything we need, don’t we?!”

Well, yeah, but…

Miss M instantly knew exactly what she wanted to make and how she was going to make it.

So. Out came the balloons. I hate blowing up balloons. I’m always scared they’ll pop on me, and I can never tie them right. It’s an in-born failing of mine. Shockingly, I prevailed & managed to blow up three & actually tied them off without too many tears of frustration.

Next up was the fun part. We cut & shred a bunch of old papers. Saved me a trip down to the recycling bin. We then covered the table with more paper to protect it from inevitable spills. (like that worked…)

The last supply we needed was paste. I haven’t done paper maché anything since the first grade and I vaguely remembered dipping paper into a water/glue concoction, so that’s what I made, just mixing one part craft glue to two parts water. I have no idea if that was the “right” thing to do, but it worked out ok. Usually, I’ll have read up on a project before diving in, at least enough to know what’s involved.

It took a surprisingly looooonnnnnggg time to cover our balloons in paper. Very wet paper, I might add.

{This is the part that you might want to skip}

I set our masterpieces in process out on the balcony to dry. We live in Northern California where winter = rain. I’m sure you see where this is going. The balloons came back in the next morning to spend another 24 hours drying indoors with me chasing the baby every time he got close enough to them to say “Boo!”

Today they were finally dry enough to attach fins. I’m hoping this project ends soon. It’s stressing me out.

The kids were very quiet after breakfast this morning. Almost too quiet. In fact, so serene was my household that I actually enjoyed a second cup of coffee while it was hot.

If I were a thinking person, I might have worried a bit. Luckily, the olders were using those incredibly creative minds of theirs to do sweet things.

My Man B busied himself practicing piano (with headphones on!), and writing thank you notes to our incredibly generous friends who gave him their keyboard, along with all the widgets, and whosits needed to make it play.

Miss M created this family of magnetic paper dolls. All of the parts are interchangeable, and she has plans to make accessories for them all — books, shoes, bags, ribbons.  I had a roll of magnetic tape lying around which she cut sections off of to stick to the backs. Now we have a lovely, and ever-changing tableau on the fridge.