Dec 23 2008
Tools Of the Trade Tuesday
I have been wracking my brain today trying to think of a tool that I use to pass along, and I wasn’t having much luck. The Monsters are in overdrive. Christmas is in sight, there are shiny things and cookies and candy and presents to tempt them. It’s cold and rainy outside so they are stuck inside. School has been out since Friday and so they are stuck inside with people they are related to (heaven forbid). The house is getting noisy. Toys are getting boring. TV is getting irritating. Loud Monsters are not at all conducive to blog writing and they have been getting louder by the hour.
Like most kids the Monsters love to cut and color and glue things, but coloring books only hold their attention for so long. We made paper chains and snowflakes the other day to decorate the house and windows with and that kept them occupied for a better part of the day so I decided to see what sorts of paper crafts I could find online and I stumbled over this pair of sites:
The Toymaker (click Free Toys at the center of the menu) has ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL free printables paper toys and crafts. Simple toys with an old feel and beautiful illustrations. I am in love with this site.
Robert Sabuda has some great pop ups that older kids can make. D (12) and S (10) worked on these with very little help from me at all. F (7) and C(5) colored and then did some of the cutting, and then the older two put them together. We used printer paper as a pattern and transferred the images onto construction paper for a couple. These might make great gifts as well.
These have kept the Monsters occupied, and low and behold I found a tool of the trade too!
