How to Make a Thrifted Children's Craft Stash Basket

Like many parents out there we are thinking about how to survive the summer with our children. For Waldorf Parents most of us will not be using television, movies, video games, iphones, ipods or any other electronic devices to entertain our children. This means we have got to get creative in keeping the children from getting bored. We have a small yard and many neighbors close by which makes playing outside far more challenging than our semi rural property up on Bainbridge.

After our Memorial Day party I realized what a lovely setting our covered patio makes. It would could be the perfect outdoor craft studio for the children. I'm thinking a craft table, chairs, a little cot to read on, a small book case and of course craft supplies. I began to collect Thrifted Craft Supplies since the beginning of June.

I found these little sticks at the Sebastopol Flea Market for 50¢ and the little rulers were 25¢ for the three.

These blank masks also came from the Seb Flea Market.  25¢ for each pack.

I thought the children might enjoy this graph paper to make maps in or design treasure hunts. 50¢

Keiran picked these fall alphabet stickers for 50¢ The bag of shells were the same price.

These beeswax candle kits were a bargain at $1 each. This should keep the children busy for awhile.

I'm planning to build more into our basket, perhaps having a few baskets to choose from. We could have easily popped into a Craft store and bought all of these supplies but I prefer to see what I can discover at garage sales and thrift stores. I'm trying to keep all of our craft supplies under $1.00 to fit into our Frugal goals. 

Here are other items to look for while thrifting for your Craft Stash Basket:

• sea glass
• wooden blocks
• wooden pencils
• drawing paper
• yarn
• knitting needles
• Sheep's Wool (my friend picked up a large bag of wool from our local Thrift Craft Store)
• scissors
• card kits
• stencil supplies
• rubber stamps
• crayons
• wine corks
• bottle caps
• fabric
• glitter
• craft books (Sunset has some lovely ones from the 1960's and 1970's)
• Glass bottles
  
• empty wooden spools
• wool sweaters to felt
• stickers
• glue sticks
• ribbonette

Next Tuesday after school is out, I'm going to sit down with my calendar, the children, local events calendar, local farms info book and plan out our summer week by week.

What type of summer activities are you planning?

Comments

[Van]

Ah-ha, that's what I should do with my recently thrifted baskets- craft supply holders! You found a lot of craft goodies! This summer I'll be painting house & furniture and nesting when I'm not out and about exploring beautiful (sweltering) Florida!

[Shara]

Great ideas! I've been collecting some crafting things as well for my kids--you've inspired me to get it all together, thanks.

[Deb]

Selena, I think this is a lovely idea. This would also be great for those of us who are grandmothers and have our grandchildren spending time with us this summer.

[kristen]

What fun items! Will your kids often go and choose things from the basket?

I'd love to know more about what your daily routine is with your children during the summer. Since we homeschool, and our days during the school year are pretty tightly scheduled, I always panic a bit at the beginning of summer, worrying about what I will have to keep them busy...especially as they get older. Havalah, who is now 8, seems little less likely to go and help herself to the craft closet. I'd LOVE to help her find a renewed interest in this!

[Selena Cate]

Ill probably do a mix of relaxing days and organized days. I do believe that summer should be pretty laid back compared to the school year. We tend not to do a lot of camps but instead lounge around at home. Ill make sure to do a post on our schedule and I hope to hear from others what they are planning to do. Im going to have the baskets available to the children unless I see them going overboard and trying to use everything the first day of summer :-)
xoxo
Selena

[Stephanie Ganger]

I love how you are going to use your patio.

My summer plans with my children are going to include as many hikes to the beauty around us as possible. We live within a half hour of at least 2 different falls with very different hikes to get to them. Would love to teach them canoeing as well but that requires a canoe. Which is on my wishlist for yardsales.

[Tracy (The Wardrobe Wanderer)]

This is fabulous! Quite inspiring :D

[Angie]

I love this idea Selena! I am thinking I will poke around my craft room and see what I can glean for my 3 year old daughter's craft basket, then hit the garage sales. I hadn't clicked over from my feed reader for awhile- I did today and there are Blueberry Muffin and Huckleberry Pie in your header How cute :).

I keep seeing that adorable font that you used on your photos that says "Summer 2010 Craft Basket" could you tell me the name of the font? I can't find it and it is driving me bonkers!

[Shannon]

Neat idea! I bet I have a ton of stuff upstairs already that I could make one with too.

[Sarah]

Keeping my girls active during the summer is a challenge. My intention is to get them out in the woods or on the water every day. It will require me doing it too. If I let them, they would stay in bed until noon every day and then sit, read, and eat.

[melina bee]

hello; not a parent, and this question is not snarky, purely curious. Having babysat and worked with children in the past, I am wondering how long your kids would stay occupied with a craft basket like this? I ask b/c I noticed how demanding the needs for entertainment have been with some of the kids I've worked with even from different backgrounds, with more privileged kids begging for more tv or video games and the less so wanting you to read to them or actively play for hours (literally). It made me wonder how can a parent keep their kids occupied without a boob tube but still get anything else done? Wondering if an educational background like Waldorf influences a child's ability to remain engaged independently/minimally supervised?

[Selena Cate]

What a great question Melina. Well Im sad to admit I do hear the words Im bored from my children at times. I remind them that we send them to a Waldorf school so that we wouldnt hear those words. LOL I then make a suggestion such as how about doing a huge chalk drawing of California and then I see my daughters eyes light up to the challenge. Since the children were in parent tot, they have experienced the gift of oral stories. Although they have seen some tv in the past, a year and a half ago we cut it out completely. (except for a rare dancing cat you-tube video) For the most part they have been able to develop their brains to visualize far more than your average public school child. With so many oral stories and far less tv, they can let their imaginations develop in a different way.

I found this online that describes it well: The Waldorf philosophy views education as an art, so each
subject, be it arithmetic, biology or English, is presented in a living
way that speaks to the childs developmental stage. Each subject is presented
through direct experience and is usually augmented with art, poetry, music,
drama and movement. The teacher’s aim is to draw out the children’s inherent
capacities by creating an atmosphere in the classroom that fills the children
with interest, wonder and enthusiasm.

My 8 year old currently loves to draw. He will spend an hour at our craft table working on art. He also loves to dig and will spend a lot of time in the side garden digging up the dirt, playing with the dirt and hiding things in the dirt. These are more simple types of play but one that keeps him entertained. My 10 year old recently learned to really read (in January) and now has her nose in a book most of the time. When she isnt reading, shes nesting in her room, doing art or roller blading outside. I think our Craft Basket will be one that they will go do a lot at first and then it will eventually just be a part of their summer day as they move around from intakes of energy to outtakes of energy. They kind of naturally ebb and flow. It is hard to get work done but mostly because I find it harder to focus and concentrate when they ask me questions or want something to eat. But I should be able to get an hour here or an hour there to work freely. I plan to blog in the morning when they are still asleep. I hope that answers some of your questions. xoxo Selena

[Jane]

I no longer have young children at home but I take a hint from my mother who never used the tv to entertain my kids when she watched them over the summer. She was big into the craft idea. A big hit was covering scraps of wood (trivet size) with tiles picked up at a garage sale. I still have several and the kids now in their late 20's still talk about crafts with their grandmother. The other very big hit was dollar store bingo. Mom filled a large box with items from garage sales and dollar stores. The kids then played bingo with the winner picking from the trunk. The bingo games got more involved so they would last a good long while but Mom always stopped the game before the kids got bored so it never got old. Another great idea that I use with my nieces is altering clothing from thrift stores. Spend a few minutes reading New Dress A Day-she gave her self $365 to make a new outfit for every day. Her alteration ideas are inspiring http://newdressaday.wordpress.com/
It is never too early to add sewing skills to your children's crafting. Think of the costume making possabilities!

[Adventures In Babywearing]

I knew I was saving wine corks for something! I have a dresser in our dining room with three drawers filled for crafts, but I need to organize it, and add some new goodies. Thank you so much for the inspiration and great ideas!

Steph

[Angie]

Found the font! Pupcat! :)

[kathleen barker]

This is a great idea,I usually have odd bits of stuff lying around from my sewing,crafting etc that we use when my grandchildren visit but I'll get organised and collect lots of stuff in a container so it's all in one place.
I'll hit the charity shops today and see what I can find
PS
I love your blog