Creative endeavours are good for everyone.  Children and adults alike. They stimulate curiosity and imagination.  Art is so much more than fun and games, it’s production, history, criticism, and aesthetics all rolled into one. And the term art encompasses painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, decorative arts, textiles, photography, installation, performing and literary arts too!

Our understanding of the world expands when we interact with art and our ability to communicate, solve problems, and show empathy towards others grows, too.  Children learn to appreciate and value artefacts from their own and other cultures when they understand how and why they were made.

So why not encourage arts and crafts before and after reading?  We think the combination supports on-going health, development and well-being of the whole person. You could say arts and crafts and books are a win-win-win combination!

Click on the book you love to find links to arts & crafts ideas designed especially for children and intended to be supervised by an adult.

Cynthia C. Huijgens uses the tagline art educator exploring write ideas.  She founded Idle Time Press in 2019 to merge her background as an art teacher and museum educator with her interest in writing children’s books.  She collaborates with other like-minded creatives to produce unique content that doesn’t follow conventional publishing norms, designed to encourage children to read and ponder. To learn more about Cynthia’s journey, visit cchuijgens.com

Have fun exploring your own arts and crafts and write ideas!