Family And Community Day (September 28) in ACT is fast approaching. One of the concepts behind this holiday is that families enjoy leisure time and hobbies together.

But it can sometimes be challenging to find Family and Community Day activities that the entire family can enjoy. And just because you are not in the ACT doesn’t mean you can’t set aside some time on the weekend to do some activities together.

Art and craft projects can offer a great solution to the “what can we do as a family” dilemma. Despite its name, participants need not be particularly artistic or crafty to produce pleasing results. And many art and craft ideas can be modified to accommodate different sized groups and various age levels.

And coming up with art and craft ideas for kids for your own Family and Community Day event has ramifications beyond this holiday. Art and craft projects don’t just teach youngsters how to tap into their inner artist.

These projects also offer lessons in planning, patience, cooperation, and even eye-hand coordination.

Art and craft projects offer an introduction to a hobby that can be done in a variety of settings and with a number of different mediums. And even better, art and craft projects need not be an expensive hobby. Many project supplies can be acquired on an expedition to the local store. And adults may be surprised to find out how many necessary ingredients are already at hand in the kitchen cupboard.

Below are a couple of simple and inexpensive art and craft projects children and adults can do together to celebrate Family & Community Day in Australia. Adults are warned that projects usually go more smoothly and enjoyably with advance planning and preparation on their end.

Melt Art

Melt art has been around for a while, but it’s enjoying a resurgence in popularity thanks to the scrapbooking crowd.

Using mediums like embossing powder, they create raised art masterpieces for their books.

And while older children under strict supervision can certainly use embossing powder, you have an even better medium already at hand. What family doesn’t have a box or tub of used or broken crayons?

Give them a new lease on life by:

1. Remove paper from crayons and break them into small pieces.
2. Place the crayon pieces in the compartments of a silicon ice tray. Encourage the kids to be creative about mixing colours. This is a step even toddlers can participate in, and can serve as an unofficial colour lesson, as well.
3. Place the trays in the oven and bake at 120 degrees C or 250 degrees F for twenty minutes or until crayons are completely melted. ONLY adults should remove these trays from the oven as hot wax is being handled. Ice trays should be transferred to a refrigerator freezer compartment and allowed to cool for thirty minutes. Trays can then be removed and the “super crayons” can be popped from them and used to decorate.

Magnetic bookmarks

For this project, you’ll need heavy construction or cardstock paper, self adhesive magnets (which can be purchased at craft shops by the roll or in sheets) and scissors.

Assist the children with cutting the paper into strips. They can then decorate both sides of the strips with their “super crayons”. Then help the children attach a magnet (make sure they’re aligned to attract, not repel) to the inner bottom half of each side of the paper strip, now a magnetic bookmark.

To use it as a place marker, the recipient folds over the strip and connects the magnets. And the bookmarks should have recipients, for what is a better token of this holiday than a gift given by a loved one or neighbour?

What other art or craft projects do you think could be done with the whole family? Please share in the comments below.

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