Crafts for Lazy Parents: Cubism for Kids

I have spent the last 10 minutes debating how I want to start this post, because I can't decide if the line I really want to use will be as funny to you all as it is to me:

I'm no Picasso.

(Because Cubism, get it?)

But for this craft, that really doesn't matter. I mean, sure, Cubism was the first abstract style of modern art and it was developed by the actual Picasso (and Georges Braque, but no one ever jokes about not being a Braque). And yeah, the actual paintings are quite complex.

But the goal of crafts for lazy parents is to get kids learning and crafting with a minimum of parental work, not to turn kids into world famous artists. Or even art history professors.

Here's the part where I suggest books. Do you have to read the books first? No, but it helps if the kids have heard/read them at some point. Do you have to buy the books from the links I provide? No, of course not, what kind of fascist do you think I am?

Now, for the craft. First, have your kid draw two large faces:

(I believe we've already covered the fact that I'm not an artist. Ahem.Also, the project looks cooler if the faces are colored in, but I was in a hurry.)

Encourage him/her to add details like eyebrows and nose rings. Crayons, markers and colored pencils all work for this; choose the one that your kiddo likes best to maximize drawing time. But don't let your darling get too attached to the portraits, because next your going to cut them into squares. 

The size of the squares is up to you and/or your child's patience. The older the kid, the smaller the squares can be. These are going to be the "cubes" that your kiddo "paints" with for the final step. The final picture is a mash up of both portraits:

I would let kids move the different squares around and try out new arrangements before handing over the glue stick. Depending on your kid's enthusiasm level, you can let him/her make up to three different collages from the two portraits. 

In actual Cubism, the artists also looked for other shapes found in nature, so you could extend this project by have them mash up two house drawings by cutting them into rectangles, or mash up to trees by cutting them into triangles. 

Crafts for Lazy Parents: Mural Time

I once saw a craft - for children, mind you - that involved painter's tape, chalk, stencils and living room walls. I think I started to break out into hives just looking at it. But it did get me thinking about how much my kids love drawing on vertical surfaces. In addition to all the wall "art", some of which is still on display from their toddler years, they also love to use their chalk on our back fence. And our brick wall.

So I taped poster sized paper to the wall and handed over the crayons.

I don't know why, but this occupied them for an hour. Every time I change the paper (which isn't as often as I should), they get excited about drawing on the wall all over again. Soon I'm going to get butcher paper and see if they'll actually work together on something, but the individual sheets have been great for giving each kid his or her own space.

Sure, the drawings aren't as pretty as the ones I saw in the fancy mural craft. But I didn't have to spend five hours on them, either. It probably took less than 10 minutes to tape the papers to the wall. So that's 10 minutes for an hour of kid entertainment. . .my favorite kind of craft.

Crafts for Lazy Parents: Toothpick Structures

I would love to take credit for this, but the truth is that I read about it somewhere. I just can't remember where. I also think I simplified it, because I can't believe they would publish anything so simple in a magazine. Anyway, Toothpick Structures are one of my favorite crafts to have my kids do.

My effort includes giving each kid a paper plate, opening the bags of marshmallows and giving each kid some toothpicks. Remembering to buy the marshmallows is probably the most challenging aspect of the craft.

The kids attach the toothpicks to the marshmallows to make structures.

This is my contribution.

As you can see, you can do much cooler things than cubes.

This was originally two different structures. 

Hugmonkey has been doing this activity since he was 3, but if your kids are the kind to put stuff up their noses or stab each other with toothpicks, you might want to wait until 5 or 6. Ironflower is 8 going on 18 and she still loves to make them. So if you need to entertain kids of many ages, this craft could work. I found it especially helpful on kindergarten play dates, it was a good way to get them to sit still and calm down for a little while.

I would suggest starting with small marshmallows and plain toothpicks. When they seem in danger of getting bored with the craft, then you can start buying marshmallows of different sizes and toothpicks of different colors.

Also, the marshmallows can double as a snack in a pinch. The only issue is storing the finished projects, which I've solved by sticking a few in a display case and taking photos of the rest.

Crafts for Lazy Parents: Make a Caddy

If you're one of those people who enjoys doing multi-step crafts with your children, where you have to do things like use x-acto knives and craft paper, bless your heart. Maybe you're a frustrated artist. Maybe you like doing everything for your children. Maybe you don't like crafts that look like they were made by actual children. Maybe you drink a lot of wine at nap time.

You may have guessed that I am not one of those people.

I'm not much of a free-range parent, except when it comes to crafting. Then I believe the less parental influence, the better. I see my job as providing material and encouragement, not using a hot glue gun or cutting out 100 shapes or tracing patterns or what have you. This is not solely because I am lazy, but because I believe it's pretty easy to squelch creativity. And I would like my kids to be creative. Which, I've been told by many of their teachers, they are.

Behold, the secret to raising creative kids:

The caddy. 

My kids have access to markers, crayons, pencils, glue and paper at all times. Admittedly, this has worked better since Hugmonkey grew out of the draw on the walls phase, but hopefully you're better at supervising your young children than I was. The easy access makes craft time something than can do anytime, not just when I feel like it. Plus, this way they can mix media and clean up after themselves much easier. 

I actually stole the whole concept from my classroom teaching days, where each table grouping shared pencils, glue sticks and crayons (most of my students couldn't afford to bring in supplies of their own). I had tried tubs and pencil boxes with my own kids, but nothing seemed to work the way I wanted it to. Until I remembered the caddies. Luckily, we had decorated some at Ironflower's 4th birthday party and I'd held onto to them. 

So honestly, instead of searching for the perfect craft and spending hours prepping for it, just put a caddy together and let your kids decorate it with stickers. Then hand over the paper and watch the creativity flow. The results might not be pin-worthy, but your kids will learn a lot more. 

We got our caddies from a birthday party, but I'm thinking of ordering these from Amazon so I can have more: