Kill Boredom With a Piece of Paper!

July 25, 2011

It’s too hot to go outside and play, and the kids are bored. Now what? Turn of the TV and video games, and drop by the library for books brimming with easy craft ideas to keep their hands and minds busy. There's no need to buy expensive supplies to get started with these projects.

Got paper? That’s all you need to get going with origami! Although special origami paper is nice, any paper can be used, including colorful junk mail. Make flowers, cats, boxes, birds, and more with the fully illustrated instructions in Origami: The Fun and Funky Art of Paper Folding by Thiranut Boonyadhistarn. A six-year-old could make some of these items with help, and even young teens would enjoy making the tiny paper crane earrings. If your children are young, you may have more success with Folding for Fun: Origami for Ages 4 and Up by Didier Boursin. With simpler projects, it is more suitable for ages 4 to 8.

If origami doesn’t exhaust your paper supply, try collaging. Grab a bottle of glue and create pictures from bits of paper. Even scissors are optional since you can just tear the paper into interesting shapes and glue them down to make anything from space aliens to sail boats. To open new creative horizons, collect acorns, sticks, leaves, bits of bark, feathers, and other items to invent nature collages. Or, simply raid the trash can for bottle lids, cardboard tubes, foam peanuts, wrappers, and other unique items to invent garbage collages. Ideas for these and other imaginative projects can be found in I Love to Collage! by Jennifer Lipsey.

Stop in and talk to our staff at the Oak Grove Branch. We will be glad to help you find these books and others like them on our shelves!

Debbie N.
Oak Gove Branch