Creativity kits are toys that help you find and develop your child’s artistic abilities and skills. They form taste, develop fine motor skills, coordination of movements, imagination and spatial thinking. Working with a set, a child learns to concentrate and plan his or her activities. Such toys develop assiduity, which improves a child’s growth.
Unlike other developmental toys, kits for creativity allow the child to create their own original “product” and give a child the joy of creativity. The resulting little “masterpiece” will decorate the interior of the room or become a good gift for relatives and friends. Working with the kits, your child will acquire knowledge of the properties of objects, get acquainted with the masterpieces of art from all over the world, and expand his or her horizons.
Creativity kits include materials (plastic, plaster, fabrics, etc.), tools, and instructions for working with them (schemes, samples). Often such kits have frames that give the picture, mural, embossing a complete look.
Types of kits for creativity
Choosing a set for creativity, you should be guided primarily by the preferences of the child. All the variety of kits can be reduced to three main groups:
- painting – drawing, creating stained glass, frescoes, and engravings (develops visual perception, sense of color);
- sculpture – modeling, creation of plaster models (develops tactile perception, spatial thinking);
- needlework – decorating, applique, creation of children’s ornaments, paper figures, knitting, embroidery, sewing, burning, embossing (develops fine motor skills).
For drawing – the sets contain paper or a coloring book, paints (including fluorescent – glow-in-the-dark), pencils, felt-tip pens, and crayons. More complicated kits contain items that require painting (figurines of fairy tale characters, plates, vases). Oil paint-by-number kits are even more complicated, but allow you to create a painting that looks like the work of real artists.
For decorating – in their composition resemble the previous ones, but also includes a mosaic, beads, glitter, colored varnish, and other elements. With these kits, your child will learn to decorate various household items, such as a candle holder or a casket.
To create stained glass windows – complete with a plastic template with a drawing on it and special paints. There are also sets for stained glass windows, consisting of drawings, glued to the glass or tile. If necessary, these “stained glass windows” can be easily peeled off. Kits for creating stained glass are suitable for children who already know the basics of drawing.
To create a mural consists of a three-layer cardboard base (drawing/template-adhesive-protective film) and colored quartz sand. To obtain an image, it is necessary to peel off the protective film from each section of the base and fill it with sand of the appropriate color (the reference point is the picture on the kit’s package).
To create engravings – include a dark plastic or dense paper base and a darning rod (scraper). In the process of engraving, a child scratches a lighter color (often gold or silver) on an existing outline. Such a set requires special attention and diligence, but it develops neat handwriting.
Applique sets usually consist of colored paper and glue. More complicated kits contain paper of different textures and additional materials for creating a 3D applique. Instead of glue, these kits have double-sided adhesive tape (tape).
For modeling – complete with ordinary or fluorescent plasticine, templates, samples for modeling, various tools (such as stacks, syringes for squeezing), and forms. Kits may also include kinetic sand, clay, colorful salt dough, and innovative plastic mass. Some kits are equipped with a children’s electric potter’s wheel.
To create plaster crafts – contain plaster, paints, and molds for casting (for example, figures of fairy tale characters or photo frames). Such kits are relevant for older children, as the resulting plaster product is very fragile and can easily break.
For sawing with a jigsaw – consists of a jigsaw, jigsaw files, plywood sheets with patterns, sandpaper, and other items.
For burning out – includes an electric burner with interchangeable nozzles and plywood sheets with patterns.
For embossing – contain metal workpiece, drawing, wooden sticks with a blunt and sharp end.
For creating children’s jewelry – include a variety of beads and beads, needle and thread, with which you can create a necklace or bracelet. More complicated kits allow you to create intricate pieces of cord, beads, and accessories.
To create figures from paper (kirigami, origami) – consist of several kinds of colored paper, cardboard base, template, tassel, glue, thread and needle, and other tools.
For knitting – consist of various slitting and circular looms, plastic needles, hooks, balls of thread.
For embroidery – contain a base for embroidery, needle, colored threads, beads.
For making cosmetics (varnish, soap, perfume) – have different sets:
- For nail polish – contain nail polishes, decorative stones or markers for art painting, stone fixers;
- For soap – consist of soap base, dyes, perfumes, molds, and other accessories;
- For perfumes – include perfume base, measuring cup, funnel, spatula, bottles, and other items.
For creating decorative candles – contain wick, gel, cups, colored sand, and other items.
Purpose of the kits
There are kits for creativity, such as drawing or creating murals, equally interesting for both boys and girls. However, you can identify some types of kits that are suitable only for boys or exclusively for girls.
- For boys – sets for molding, sawing with a jigsaw, burning, embossing, kits for creating engravings, plaster crafts.
- For girls – kits for making jewelry, cosmetics, knitting, embroidery.
Recommended age of the child
Most of the art kits are designed for children from 3 years old because creating an image or figure requires independence and skills. A child should have an idea of the end result of their work.
That’s why you should buy sets according to your child’s developmental level and age (age group is usually indicated on the packaging of the product), and then gradually complicate them. If there is no corresponding labeling, it is worth consulting a retailer.
General recommendations for different age groups:
- 1-2 years – drawing sets with harmless and easily washed off water-based finger paints and mats; sculpting sets (kits without additional tools);
- 3 years – kits for applique and decorating;
- 4 years – kits for simple children’s decorations, kits for drawing (with coloring books);
- 5-6 years – kits for creating more complex decorations, kits for drawing (with plates, vases, and figures for painting), kits for creating murals.
- 7-8 years – kits for the creation of figures from paper, candles, soap, spirits, kits for the creation of stained glass, engravings, plaster crafts. Kits for drawing with oil paints by numbers, kits for knitting and embroidery will also be actual;
- 10 years and older – all sets of a variety of materials and tools, posing more complex tasks for a child.
Important: if a set for creativity has not interested the child, just set it aside for a while, because children’s interests change very quickly.
Items in the kit
All items in the set (including tools) should be made of environmentally friendly substances, as a child can always try something to taste. Some tools, such as a needle or a dagger, can be harmful to a child’s health. So working with them requires caution and adult supervision.
Tips for purchase
- It is necessary to buy kits in specialized stores. It is better to choose a product of famous brands that guarantee the high quality of their products.
- Before buying a set, pay attention to the presence of a quality certificate for the product (the key point – the safety of the material for the child).
- In the beginning, it is worth buying simple sets for drawing or modeling, so that the child gets acquainted with these types of art and masters the simplest skills. Let your child learn to color pictures or mold simple shapes (such as balls). Then you can move on to more complex sets.
