Pipe Cleaner Play

There's something fun about the simple things.  I think in our keep-up-with-the-Pinterest-mamas world, we tend to forget that.

I saw a craft that I wanted to try out on my kids because I was thinking of taking it to share with other mamas & kiddos at a homeschool co op that's trying to get off the ground.

I wasn't terribly impressed with the original craft idea, but I'm glad I saw it, because it inspired me to do a little shopping.  (Not that it takes much to inspire me, unfortunately.)

In addition to the green pipe cleaners, or should I say, "chenille stems," I got a pack of rainbow pipe cleaners, too.

And after the craft flopped, the kids played with them.  Oh yeah.  That's the idea.

I need to remind myself that I'm not supposed to guide their every project.  That's creativity comes from free expression.

That's the beauty of homeschooling.  My kids don't have to make exactly the same craft as 30 other kids in their class are making.

They can find their own sweet spot.

Brianna did these, adding pom poms to the mix.

I should have used this as a tree in Hannah's diorama for her Tiger report at school.

Eli's got a guy, a leprechaun, a rainbow, and a pot of gold going here.  

For Katie, I set her to work poking beads on a pipe cleaner as a fine motor skills activity.

You know, one of those moments where I think she might struggle with something because of her hand differences?

Silly mommy.  Katie can do pretty much whatever she wants.

Although it's not a great picture, she *loved* the bracelets she made, and wore them for days.

Even Hannah made a couple, when she came home from school.  Notice the trays?  I don't remember which catalog I ordered them from, years ago, but these are similar.  We use them ALL the time.  For paint, for sorting, for all sorts of things.

Coming full circle, the big kids saw how much fun the girls were having with the pony beads and ended up spending a couple days creating with them while we did our read aloud time.

I know for me, we tend to have a lot of the open-ended play/craft supplies on hand.  It's a matter of getting them out, making them available to the kids, and then letting them take them in the direction they choose.

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