My Book of Easy Crafts

Excellent craft book for children!I just discovered the Kumon books for children this summer, and I am so glad I did. My son has loved them! There are books of mazes, books for cutting, books to learn numbers, books to tell time, books to color, and books to make easy and amazing crafts! EASY CRAFTS is meant by Kumon to be a book for 4-6 year old children. The sequel book, AMAZING CRAFTS, is meant for children 5-7 years old. I own them both, and I can say that the crafts are no easier in EASY CRAFTS, and that my son is 8 years old and still needs an adult to help him with some of the projects. So don’t expect to give this to your child and have him work alone to have success with all the projects, for some require things done in a certain order step by step exactly to turn out right. These projects are truly AMAZING!!! Kumon prints them on sturdy paper, in bright colors, using nice graphics; not babyish, yet cute and fun. I am so so weary of today’s idea that everything made for children must have disturbingly deformed, cartoon-like, unrealistic artwork. Cover art on the covers of the Kumon books in no way relates to the art style inside. The art is child friendly, pleasing, colorful, and simple.To use this book, the child needs to know how to cut fairly precicely, fold carefully, and know how to use glue neatly. These are skills you can teach your child in other Kumon books BEFORE having your child do EASY CRAFTS. The books by Kumon: Let’s Fold, Let’s Cut Paper, Let’s Sticker and Paste are good preparation books for a child to learn the skills needed to make EASY CRAFTS. I have reviewed all the “Let’s…” books here on Amazon. They are great little books as well!Okay, be sure to give your child GOOD scissors for cutting, and glue that is easy to use; a good glue stick or a glue pen. Then enjoy some time sitting with your child as he makes some wonderful things such as: Surfing Animals (a simple project that involves only cutting and folding, and my son loves to have surf races across the dining room table—you blow gently for the animals to zip along!), a long long snake, leaping frogs, flying hippo and pig, a spinning alien, a bobble head dog, a walking robot (your fingers make him do the walking!), a clapping cat, a flapping chicken (very clever and one of my favorites!), a barking dog, a biting alligator (special fold techniques make the toys “move”),a buzzing bee popping out of a flower, a very clever toy that spins called “space travel” (one of my son’s favorites), and then assorted paper animals that stand such as a giraffe, elephant, turtle, bunny, and paper jewelry such as watches and rings. There are 40 crafts in all. Projects do range from easy to more difficult; there are some the child could have success with alone. Many of these projects are nice for a child who is sick in bed and needs something to do to occupy his time while being still. This book would make a great get well gift or a birthday gift for any child even up to age 10. An older child could enjoy making the paper toys for or with a younger sibling. All in all, an EXCELLENT book that every child should have the opportunity to enjoy. I am so glad for Kumon’s efforts to publish these beautiful and fun books for children! I don’t know how anyone would be disappointed with this book! Enjoy!