Life

Irish mum encourages families to get crafty

Whether you’re stuck for ideas for the fast-approaching summer holidays or our all-too-frequent rainy days, fear not: help is at hand. Co Wicklow mum Ali Coghlan encourages parents to make some lasting memories with their kids with some simple, fun and inexpensive crafts, writes Jenny Lee

Transform some old toilet tubes into gorgeous dolly puppets. One of the many projects in Ali Coghlan's book Get Crafty
Transform some old toilet tubes into gorgeous dolly puppets. One of the many projects in Ali Coghlan's book Get Crafty Transform some old toilet tubes into gorgeous dolly puppets. One of the many projects in Ali Coghlan's book Get Crafty

IN TODAY'S busy world, Co Wicklow mum-of-three Ali Coghlan is encouraging parents to spend quality time with their kids and turn everyday objects into fun and creative crafts.

From rainy day boredom-busters to making your own toys, Ali provides a wealth of ideas to inspire creativity in your little ones in her new book Get Crafty. There are activities for a wide-range of ages, from recipes for making salt dough, jelly playdough and DIY chalk to creating pirate hats, princess crowns, superhero masks, party piñatas, shell necklaces and dolls houses.

As well as first-hand experience with her children Harry, Nicole and Juliet, former TV production worker Ali has tried out many of her ideas over the past 10 years in her children's party business Craftea Parties.

She recalls that making arts and crafts were part of her life as a child growing up near Brittas Bay beach.

"As children we spent hours outside gathering flowers and leaves to make our magic potions, passed fun time on the beach collecting shells to paint, and dug into my mum's wardrobe to find something we could use to make wonderful DIY Halloween costumes with. Toilet roll tubes magically turned into Christmas tree decorations and personally-made birthday cards were always a treasured gift for the grannies and grandads.

She now takes her own children to the beach to collect stones, shells and sticks and save them for arts and crafts at home.

"Now that I have children, it's easy to appreciate the natural creativity and vast imagination of every child and, in this diverse world where there are so many challenges, I feel it is important to harness this creativity as fully as we can".

There are many benefits of doing arts and crafts with your kids. As well as having fun, crafts can be used as a tool to teach children numbers, colours and letters, encourage problem solving and help children build self-esteem and express feelings without words.

If art class at school is just a distant memory for you, Ali stresses that doing arts and crafts with your kids is not something to be frightened of. Get Crafty provides simple step-by-step guides to fun and inexpensive crafts, using many recycled materials from your home, garden or seashore.

"Remember that this is quality time together. Try to avoid doing other things that might distract from the moment. Forget the washing and the cleaning. Most importantly, be present and enjoy the time you have together," she advises.

Ali also emphasises the need to encourage children and not be tempted to correct their efforts.

"Kids have such wild imaginations; if they want to paint the sky yellow instead of blue, encourage them. There is no right way. Does it really matter if the arms are in place of the feet and the head is too big for the body? Just sit back and see how creative the little people can be."

MAKE A KITE

Paper kite-making is a great summertime activity. Transform those simple cards and straws into a colourful kite, go outside and watch it fly.

What you need: straws, card, glue, tissue paper, pompoms, clear fishing wire, scissors, stapler, pen or pencil

1. Glue one and a half straws vertically to a piece of card. We used paper straws but you can also use plastic straws.

2. Glue one straw at a right angle across the first straw at the centre point.

3. Draw the outline of a kite shape around the straws with a ruler.

4. Cut out the shape of your kite.

5. String pompoms onto clear fishing wire 1 metre long and staple the wire onto the bottom of the kite.

DOLLY PUPPETS

Transform some old toilet roll tubes into gorgeous dolly puppets. You can make as many as you like and put on a fun puppet show for all the family.

What you need: toilet roll tubes, white paint, paintbrush, googly eyes, markers, coloured wool, lolly sticks, super glue, ribbon, scissors

1. Begin by super gluing a lolly stick to the bottom inside of each toilet roll tube and leave to dry.

2. Paint your toilet roll tubes and lolly sticks white and leave to dry.

3. To make the hair, wrap the wool about fifteen times around another toilet roll tube. Slide it off the tube and, holding it firmly at the top, cut the hair at the bottom. Trim to the length you want for your dolly.

4. Glue the hair to the top of the dolly’s head.

5. Stick on two googly eyes and draw on other facial features with your markers.

6. Use markers to draw on the dolly’s clothes and decorate with ribbon or any other stickers you like.

Get Crafty by Ali Coghlan is out now, published by Mercier Press.