Craft-Phobic? Don’t Be. Rediscover the Creativity in You and Your Kid

Believe it or not, until recently, I considered myself “creatively challenged!”

Yet, I’ve worked extensively in the craft industry for almost 20 years. I started by not knowing how to make a bow. I couldn’t find a bow maker that worked, so I decided to invent one. My years of marketing and distributing “The Bowdabra,” allowed me to slowly get my feet wet and start crafting. My experiences combined with my psychology background, enlightened me regarding how important crafts are for kids. I therefore, founded the non-profit Crafters 4 Kids, with the goal of helping parents create simply and inexpensively with their children.  

Silly as it may sound, with all of my craft industry experience, it is now at 48 years old, that I finally believe that I am creative!  

Now that I’m fully tapped into my creative mojo, my ultimate goal is to help parents help their children develop their creativity, encouraging them to think outside the box, both creatively, and also in life! After all, we are all creative! We just have to allow ourselves to believe in our creativity and explore it!  

It incredibly common to walk into a craft store to pick up one item, become so overwhelmed, that you want to run out of the store. This is why I dedicate myself to promoting crafts to kids and moms (parents) who consider themselves  “craft Phobic.”  My goal with this blog is to help guide you through simple crafts and ideas for fun and creative family time.

Our children are technologically savvy, but, with arts and crafts programs being dropped from schools, it is much more important for parents to find time to start creating or crafting with their children.  

A simple first step is to schedule a craft night, similar to a game night, but everyone wins! You’ll be amazed how much fun everyone will have and how craft nights will become a regular family event.  

I have a small room that my 10 year old nephew says, "is like a whole Michaels store packed into one Aisle." I have yet to find a tween or teen who doesn’t want to stay for hours and create!!  

I love crafting with kids because I know how it builds self-esteem! Crafting also fosters the ability to think beyond the norm, allowing creation without boundaries.  

It is important to let children go wild with whatever items they find! Whether it is a rock or a water bottle, the process ends up being amazing for kids and parents alike!  It's very cool when you just give your child some items, and basically say, "Go to town!" They come up with awesome creations that are exceptionally more creative than I see with adults, because children don't have preconceived limitations. They don’t worry about coloring in the lines.  

We all might be a bit scared of trying to “create,” but we are all creative and just need to let loose and realize that if the designer clothing photographed in Vogue is “brilliant, artistic, etc.,” then, Hello!, we can all be creative if we believe in our own creativity, and foster this creativity in our children!  

Along the way, I’ll be inviting your teens and tweens to send me their projects that we can share with other moms for great craft projects that everyone can do!