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Working with children on developing their hand strength, tracing and coordination there are only so many times we can do arts and crafts type activities with plain old crayons and markers before I am met with some serious resistance. So my goal is always to find ways to encourage children to develop these skills, so they don’t even know it. Especially by the end of the school year!

Recently we have been using some of the 3D sparkling paints from the Creativity for Kids 3D Paint Activity Kit, which is recommended for children ages 6 and up. There are so many different ideas included in this kit, we’ve had a great time at school redecorating the windows to our room!

Included in this kit are 10 different colors of 3D paint (including 1 silver and 1 black outlining paint), 30 or more patterns to trace, 2 plastic paint sleeves, gemstones, googly eyes, glue, ribbon, cord, a trinket box, craft sticks, green chenille stems, glitter gel and craft glue.  I know many people think arts and crafts kits are more for little girls, but to be honest with you I used this at school with mostly boys.  Granted I didn’t have them making flowers and decorating the trinket box with gemstones, but the tracing patterns were pretty universal, so they had a great time using the paint to make window art.

For the Window Art, place  a plastic sleeve over one of the pages of tracing patterns. Outline the pattern in either silver or black, then let it dry for at least 30 minutes.  Once dry, squeeze the paint into the outline to finish off the design. Let it dry, then remove it from the plastic and it will adhere to a window.

We worked in a small group of 2, and each child could have their own outlining paint and plastic sheet covering. Only issue was that they had to wait their turn if they wanted to use a pattern that was on the same template. However, if I had planned ahead, the kids could have drawn their own designs, or I could have made extra copies of the templates and this would have not been an issue!

Included in the box are directions to also use this paint to make jewelry, design a trinket box, make suncatchers and create 3D sculptured designs like a horse, ice cream cone, and flower.  The instructions included in these kits are pretty easy to read as an adult, but I would definitely use this kit initially with your child if they are insistent on doing some of the more challenging 3D designs. Initially it was hard for most of the children to coordinate squeezing the paint while tracing along the line at the same time using even pressure. When they are finished you might want to make sure their outlines are even so that after they fill in the colors and let it dry, it can easily be removed from the plastic.

Parents always ask me for suggestions of kids’ crafts they can complete over the summer so they won’t regress in the areas of hand strength and writing. Before you go into mommy mode, worrying about the mess that it might make, set up a plastic tablecloth outside on a picnic table in the shade, and rest assured knowing that your children will be using many of the skills they have learned in school that require following directions, step by step planning, creativity, and control to have a little fun along the way.

Check out my other Creativity for Kids posts:

Create Your Own Enchanted Storybook

Diva Puppies

2 Winners Will Receive Their Own Creativity for Kids 3D Paint Kits!

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Creativity for Kids, a Fabell Castell company, provided this kit free to facilitate a review. The opinions are my own.