Creative Toys for Girls Ages 9 and Up – Unlocking Imagination Promotes Life Balance

September 20, 2021 0 Comments

There is only one craft kit book!

Shrink & Links Jewelry Set from Kiltz. We love this set! There are many craft sets, but there is only one craft set BOOK!

This craft book contains several beautifully illustrated children’s pages with step-by-step instructions for each type of craft. The back of the book is approximately ½ inch thick and is a built-in storage area for all supplies that are included in the set. How convenient that this book includes so much of the equipment you need to bring your designs to life!

Difficult parts challenging older kids

You will need to help your child use the oven. Your child should use the oven under the supervision of a responsible adult. You will need some extra supplies like scissors, permanent felt, and colored pencils (be careful not to use watercolor). Water-colored washable supplies will melt and run in the heat and lift off the plastic.

Washable supplies will melt and heat up and lift off the plastic.

Faber-Castell colored pencils work best with shrinkage and links

We used the elegant pencils from my little artist: Faber-Castell, just a minimalist pack of 24 colors was enough for these art projects. Faber-Castells are professional quality artist pencils and provide vivid colors that work well with the Shrink and Link plastic set.

A craft set offering endless variety

My kids loved this! The best part is that you can make jewelry, pendants, and even small photo frames. The book contains the necklace chain, “S” hooks and string and other supplies you may need to decorate unique creations. There are enough supplies for the reruns. Hence, the storage space at the back of the book to keep your emerging artist organized.

This set contains very small parts that can be harmful if swallowed. Therefore, this is not recommended for young children who are still putting things in their mouths.

After making the creations

The fun doesn’t just stop after making the art. Your child can make frames to hold beautiful pictures or play with the figurines, as the “S” hooks provide moving parts. If you’re really creative, you can even glue sticky magnetic stripes to turn them into fridge magnets.

My kids wore this set during the pandemic shutdown and shared their creations as art projects with their teachers through Zoom!

I was amazed at the quality of this set and even more amazed by the bold colors and professional look that Faber-Castell pencils added to these works of art. I highly recommend this game to friends and family for personal use or gifts. Even better is that it can be used and shared more than once – there are plenty of supplies in the box for another day or for siblings to participate.

My daughter used Shrink and Link to make a mermaid

My daughter used the Shrink and Link jewelry kit to make this mermaid ornament. She used Faber-Castell pencils to achieve bold, vibrant colors and make her creation pop!

My daughter used the Shrink and Link jewelry kit to make this mermaid ornament. She used Faber-Castell pencils to achieve bold, vibrant colors and make her creation pop!

Shrink and Link Dancer

Here one of my daughters shows the ballerina ornament she made. You can see the “Shrink” and see the size of the finished product to scale.
Here one of my daughters shows the ballerina ornament she made. You can see the “Shrink” and see the size of the finished product to scale.

Why cutting, coloring and detailing is important

You may be wondering why a craft set is an educational toy for older children. Don’t they just color and draw easily when given supplies?

Yes, there is drawing and then there is creation!

Creation unlocks a lot of potential in each and every child. Our imagination and ability to feel emotions are the only intuitive abilities that make us uniquely human.

Cutting and coloring work on gross and fine motor coordination and are of more benefit than might seem obvious. As your child concentrates on the fun, practicing with scissors to follow a definite line or shape, he is strengthening his fingers and hand muscles.

This skill translates to other daily tasks you never knew about! For example, opening a thermos when you are not there to help. The twisting action to open the lids of thermos and flasks is a practical example of how the muscles of the gross and fine motor hands work. Drawing and creating helps develop those practical skills.

The coordination of the muscles of the hand and the eyes also facilitates the neater writing ability, as their skills are indirectly honored. If you think about your own children, I’m sure you can find examples of their writing from kindergarten or first grade and how it has changed to become much more readable by third grade, for example.

Let your child learn to STOP! Activate the imagination and relax

Children also have the best imaginations! Imagination tends to deteriorate as we age and assume more adult responsibilities and stresses. Imagination is an innate gift that all children should be encouraged to maximize! Teachers have told me that in more than 20 years of careers in education, children’s imaginations have never been more limited than in recent years. You may be wondering, why is this happening? How could children have been more imaginative 20 years ago than they are now?

Although there can be many reasons, the most obvious speculations indicate much more screen time than ever. Although it is fun and entertaining, you are providing all the images easily, without passively encouraging them.

In my opinion, children also tend to be busier than ever with extracurricular activities. Parents have a tight schedule for their children with sports, dance, languages, cultural / religious studies, and even additional tutoring that occurs outside of school hours. In addition to a full academic day, many elementary school children rush through 1-2 or 3 after-school activities, workshops, or courses, and are expected to eat, bathe, and get enough sleep to start the day anew. following.

There seems to be increasing social pressure to maximize academic achievement while maximizing physical and social performance without ever valuing the child’s ability to learn to STOP.

Learning to find balance is more important to us than not doing everything. Letting children be children is important to us. We see no benefit in forcing a child to be as busy as an adult’s schedule. That kind of prioritization can come with time.

A child needs to learn what amuses him. Without any pressure, they deserve to play freely, as a means to unwind from a rigorous academic day in a busy class with lots of noise and distraction, while learning reading, writing and math. For developing brains, this is a big task!

Arts, crafts and creation provide children with an outlet to relieve stress and learn what makes them feel good, what is fun for them. Stimulate the brain’s reward pathways in a positive and healthy way.

This content reflects the personal views of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and belief and should not be substituted for unbiased advice or facts on legal, political or personal matters.

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