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What Shall We Do Today? 60 Creative crafty projects for kids with projects by Catherine Woram

Posted by dulwichmum on Thu 28 October 2010

Name of product: What Shall We Do Today? 60 Creative crafty projects for kids with projects by Catherine Woram – Ryland Peters and Small

Price: £12.99

The blurb: “For children, the experience of creating is every bit as important as the end result. Making, baking and growing will fire their imaginations and offers an inspiring alternative to endless hours spent in front of the computer or TV screen. What Shall We Do Today? is packed with more than 60 colourful, fun and imaginative projects by Catherine Woram, designed especially for boys and girls aged between three and 12 years. The book is arranged by season, and each section is crammed full of ideas for fun crafts, great gifts and pretty decorations to keep children busy during the long summer days and rainy afternoons alike. Every project can be completed using readily available materials and in five or fewer steps – just follow the step-by-step instructions and you can’t go wrong!”

First impressions: The book looks not only child friendly but wipe clean too (trust me it is a requirement for any book that will be exposed to my poppets and baking, making or digging at the same time). The book and cover have large, bold writing, instructions and picture cues for each activity. It is divided into seasons and the activities relating to each season are followed by templates and stockists to perfect the activities

Pros: The format of the book makes it not only child friendly (your poppets if as skilled as mine will be able to look through and select their desired activity and use the ‘What you will need’ box to check off their list from my overstocked craft chest. Ah what a fabulous parent I am (bats eyelashes)! The layout by season is great and makes this book inspiring even for those rare events when an overworked father becomes begrudgingly involved. This book really does encouraged the shared experience of creating and is enough to inspire children to turn the TV off, put the DS down and get involved. The activities are simple and the resources required are not too demanding, meaning that there is always an activty you can ~~hand over to your aupair~~ share without hours of shopping or pre-planning

Cons: It is really hard not to remove the paint brush from a poppets hand a do a few modifications, touch up their not quite perfect enough items or give them a quick debrief to highlight what they could do better next time. I understand that it is supposed to be about sharing the experience of creating, building their confidence and stimulating discussion but I am still convinced there is always a place for constructive feedback – why waste a valuable learning opportunity?

Value for money:. Great value for money, with 60 ideas for £12.99 it will have you sprinting to the local craft shop for supplies (okay maybe mustering a speed walk at least).

Dulwichmum verdict: