Holiday Preview: Arts & Crafts

This craft activity kit enables kids and adults to create handmade bag tags, key chains and more. Shrinky Dinks is a shrinking plastic that users can draw on, color in, cut out, and bake in an oven to create all kinds of crafty items such as jewelry, bag tags, charms, magnets and ornaments.

This pair of zimbi shoes can be painted and erased again and again. The kit includes a pair of zimbi shoes, six waterproof paints, 32 magical erasing pads, two paint brushes and a mixing palette.

With the Eye Can Art kit, kids can draw a pastel picture or make a collage inside a frame, then melt a layer of wax and draw on top. This wax drawing kit contains everything needed to make two ready-to-hang encaustic artworks, along with easy-to-follow illustrated instructions.
Awards: 2010 A+ Education.com Award

This collection for kids who are just developing craft skills shows readers how to transform common household materials into costumes, puppets, toys, games and more. The book contains simple step-by-step instructions and photographs. "I Can Make That! consolidates the 5 books in the original I Can Make... series so this is the ultimate treasure trove of art ideas for crafty kids," Owlkids Marketing Associate Kendal Gerard told TDmonthly.

This pre-knit craft kit includes everything needed to make a 7" x 7" Purse Pal with a 30" strap. Simply attach the pre-made parts by stitching them up with yarn supplied. Leaving the top open and adding the strap turns this toy into a purse. Purse Pals are also available in Hamlet the Pig, Millard the Duck and Twitch the Rabbit versions. "It's a kid-friendly craft that spins off of the popular knitted and crocheted amigurumi trend. It allows kids to create their own toy, but doesn't require knitting or crocheting!" Lion Brand Marketing Communications Coordinator Lindsey Shaw told TDmonthly.

This deluxe play dough gift set, created by a preschool teacher, is American-made and non-toxic. The set includes three containers of Miss Brittany's Organic Preschool Fun Dough, a 100-percent organic toddler apron featuring the "Organically Awesome!" logo, a wood rolling pin, and four wooden shape stampers.

With this American-made kit, children can make potholders with 100-percent cotton loops custom made to fit sturdy metal Harrisville looms. The kit comes complete with materials in fresh, bright and vivid colors, and instructions for making six different potholders. Awards: Dr. Toy 100 Best Children's Product Gold Award; Oppenheim Best Toy Award; ASTRA Best Toy Award Finalist

Young artists can personalize this Hello Kitty bank using the included five paint colors and easy-to-follow instructions.

Snap together pink and white block parts to create a butterfly that can be attached to the LaQ Headband. The Kit includes one headband part and 35 LaQ parts. The Headband Part can also be used with block parts from other LaQ kits to create bunny ears, dog ears, a tiara, silly head pieces, or whatever you can imagine. "LaQ is a snap together construction toy completely unique in how the joint parts connect in various angles so that a child can create geometrical and spherical shapes from toy blocks," Mo Saeki, Overseas Division Manager for YOSHIRITSU CO., LTD, tells TDmonthly.

This easel is designed for smaller spaces or paper. It comes with a standard hardboard panel, and has optional acrylic, chalkboard and Write-n-Wipe panels. The maple frame is 46" high while the adjustable work panel measures 24" x 24".
Awards: GREENGUARD indoor air quality certified.

GLOB's do-it-yourself Paint Kit includes everything a child needs to be eco-creative. The paints are made from fruits, vegetables, flowers, spices and organic extracts. This kit contains six scented color packets that make paint when mixed with water. The packets include Lemon Verbena, Tangerine, Pomegranate, Plum Purple, Berry Blue and Basil Green. The kit also comes with six compostable jars with lids and two bamboo vegan brushes, all packaged in a rice paper pouch. "GLOB Natural Blends minimize manufacturing processes to reduce environmental impact," GLOB LLC Founder Ashley Phelps told TDmonthly.

Build your own robot from the pre-cut parts and decorate it how you imagine your pefect robot to be. The robot comes with a back-pack, little leg pockets and moving arms.

The Preschool Activity Pack for uses different textures to create activities.

These wooden stamps are available in two sizes. The large sized stamp measures 2 3/4 x 2 3/4. The medium sized stamp measures 1 1/2 x 2 3/4. Each size comes with 6 assorted designs.

With the Sumi-e Painting Kit, kids can paint in the Japanese style with watercolor ink, then stamp their creations with a hand-crafted symbol. The kit contains everything needed to make eight paintings and one scroll painting, along with enough extra ink to print dozens more. Easy-to-follow instructions are also included.
Awards: 2008 Parents Choice Award; 2009 Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal

This 74-minute DVD, featuring six artists with diverse talents and backgrounds, aims to inspire young viewers to make art. Activities use simple materials and techniques for projects including Found Object and 3D Sculptures, Self-Portrait Relief Prints, Abstract Art and Folk Art Paintings, Murals and Stained Glass.

This 18-piece Thanksgiving set includes eight Adorable Kinders Paper Dolls (four boys and four girls) and eight outfits (two Pilgrim Boy, two Pilgrim Girl, two Indian Boy and two Indian Girl), a glue stick and blunt-tip scissors. The dolls are made of durable, UV-coated card stock and come with a foot stand. They are perforated for easy removal and assembly.

With this kit, kids can paint their clogs and erase them to paint them again. The set comes with a pair of clogs, six waterproof paints, 32 erasing pads, two brushes and a mixing palette.

The Create-a-Clip craft kit has been stringently tested and is CPSCA certified. The clips, appliques and ribbons, as well as the glue and non-slip liner, have been custom designed by Kensey Lu. Each kit comes complete with eight stainless steel hairclips, 11 non-fraying ribbons, 10 stylish appliques, 20 Swarovski crystals, one bottle of non-toxic ribbon and crystal glue, eight non-slip liners for stay-put styling and one craft stick. Launch date: 2009.

Created by a preschool teacher, these play dough gift sets are eco-friendly, organic and American-made by hand.

Developed by an occupational therapist to improve hand strength and coordination, these stenciling activities are designed to teach the young learner to find the proper shape among similar shapes to develop visual discrimination and visual form constancy. Children will also learn to place the shapes in the correct orientation in order to strengthen visual spatial relationship and closure skills. Working with the stencil encourages good hand strength and bilateral coordination.

This pre-knit craft kit includes everything a child needs to make an Amigurumi Friend. Simply attach the pre-made parts, stuff them with fiberfill and stitch them up with yarn supplied. A customizable six-second message on a recordable sound module makes each semi-homemade stuffed animal unique. The kit is available in Coco the Dog, Blossom the Lamb, Rudy the Rectangle, Walle the Koala, Katie the Cat, and Pookie the Panda.

CfaftLace is flexible, durable plastic making it easy to work with. It can be used for making lanyards, jewelry and other children's crafts. The smooth texture allows it to stay in place with little effort, making it easier for children's hands to maneuver. The cool colors brighten up each design.
— This product is a best seller at Neely's in South L.A.

The Creative Caddie has an easy-to-clean Write-n-Wipe adjustable tabletop that can also be easily covered with paper (not included) for art projects. Kids can store supplies in the tray below or in optional bins that can be attached to the sides. The caddie accommodates a 24" paper roll and is available in 21" and 25" sizes.
Awards: GREENGUARD indoor air quality certified.

This kit comes with over 200 pieces, including 10 sturdy mask forms with elastic cords, double-stick tape, pompoms, jewels and fringed paper, plus ready-to-decorate cutouts of hats, glasses, funny lips and more.

Fun and practical, Tee Juice Broad Line markers let users make broad, bold strokes yet are soft to the touch. Kids can paint on fabric without the mess and hassle of paintbrushes and open bottles of paint.  Teens can use these markers to express themselves by writing messages or drawing images on t-shirts.  They are great for coloring in large blocks of color when using Fineliner or Medium Point Tee Juice Fabric Marking Pens. The markers come in eight colors, open stock and two boxed sets.

$3.99 (individual markers) and $14.99 (4 marker boxed set)

For birthday parties, classroom projects and even fund-raisers. The party pack comes with ten 1 lb. bags of different colored sand and 25 bottles with caps. The Sandtastik Colored Sand included in the Party Pack is blue, black, red, emerald green, mauve, orange, pink, light blue, white and yellow.