Crafty Kids: A Summer Workshop Series

It’s no secret that we love so quality craft time around here! There is just something amazing about learning a new craft and creating with your own imagination and hands. I mean is there anything quiet as thrilling?

Ok, OK… I know I get a *TAD* excitable!

What can I say, projects and anything that causes me to use the creative side of my brain is just so much fun for me!

Teaching my peers has been something that has come easily to me. I have been teaching my friends how to do craft projects since I was in college – from DIY Halloween costumes to bid day gifts. But as all of my friends’ kids started to get old enough to be crafty, I have been introduced to a new group of students.

A new demographic for me!

And you guys. When I first started crafting with kids, I was NERVOUS. My very first experience being schooled on what it’s like to craft with kids was several years ago when I had offered to babysit our friends 3-year old while they took their baby to the doctor.

I didn’t have my studio at the time but I had an epic craft room at my house with every colorful craft supply known to man. I had a cute craft ready to go and snacks on hand. I had this in the bag.

That only lasted 5 Minutes!

My sweetly planned craft was put together to her liking and finished in record time. Abigail was ready to move onto the next thing. Ok, I could think on my toes….what’s next. I found another age-appropriate craft and we set out on this one. Two minutes later. Done.

This went on for the better part of two hours rummaging through my craft supplies to find something else to do. By the time her mom picked her up, she had a stack of crafts to take home, my craft room was a craftastrophe, I was exhausted, and she had been playing with fringe scissors that were definitely not age appropriate (I am sorry Leigh!!) for the last 20 minutes because I was TAPPED.OUT. and she had excitement and energy to spare!

After she left me and the dust cloud of glitter subsided, I took a 4 hour nap. Crafting with kids was too much for me!

Then came Bells Box Collective

When I opened my studio, I stuck to teaching what I knew…adults that followed my craft regimen and that I could calculate the outcome pretty well!

And we have a great time!

Over the last couple of years, I have gotten to watch as hundreds of people have walked through our doors to get creative with us. It has been so cool to watch the change in our community when they learn that they can MAKE something with their own two hands.

Kids are pretty inspiring!

But I kept going to back to when Abigail left me that day. For weeks after our glitter filled day, when I would see her we would talk about the crafts she made. She had so much enthusiasm and energy when she was thinking about crafts, what she could do next time and that just inspired me (ok she has that energy all the time!!)

She saw creativity through a different lens than I did and I kept coming back to that.

But kids are a whole new ball game…

I knew that if I wanted to start working with younger kids, I was going to have to approach things a little differently than I do with my older students who have longer attention spans and who are allowed to play with bigger tools!

So I started to do more research!

Over the past year, we have been introducing more and more workshops for kids and we have started hosting crafting birthday parties for kids. And I have to tell you. Even though I was so nervous for this (and please note, I still need huge naps after each of these events!) I have had the best time getting to craft with our younger students! With a few tweaks to how we typically manage and set up our workshops with adults, we have found a sweet spot for fun workshops for kids!

Just like the positive effects that our creative workshops have on us as adults, I have been watching as these activities build up self-confidence in these kids. Our activities encourage self-expression, promote socializing, and does a great job of strengthening their hand-eye coordination. When working with kids and crafts I have seen it ignite innovation and creativity.

And it ROCKS!

This is why we are so excited to launch our Crafty Kids Summer Series Workshops. This is our version of a summer camp where for kids over 7, parents will get to drop them off for an hour and a half full of crafting and creativity with their peers.

We have an awesome line up of workshops spread out over the course of the summer that we had so much fun coming up with. Our crafts are all designed to help bring out that sweet creativity that hangs out inside our younger kids, give them time away from tv and ipads to dive into creation and to make something that they get to take home with them for more entertainment after the class is over!

Plus we made sure these workshops were long enough for moms to get a great work out in, grab a mimosa with a pal, or a much needed uninteruppted pedicure!! So its a win–win!!

Our Agenda!

• June 18th- Bubble-Painting
• June 20th- DIY Beach Bags & Key Chains
• July 9th- T-Shirt Bracelets
• July 16th- DIY Birdhouse
• July 23rd- Dream-catchers
• July 30th-Stone Painting
• August 6th- DIY Bath Bombs
• August 13th- Rainforest Terrarium

We can not wait to see all of your kiddos in our studio this summer! You can grab your tickets here.

Happy Crafting!

Cory