Projects for boys

[kristijoy]

Hi gals! I'm starting to look for art projects to do with my son this year. He's 7 now (almost 8) and is really ready to move beyond the cute little preschool construction paper and paper plate crafts and he hates painting!. I would like to find some real projects that we could do together that would also teach him some skills.

Any one have ideas or pinterest boards with ideas?

I found a few things that looked interesting on pinterest like making clay bowls with leaf imprints, glass beaded wind chimes, hammering your own geo board. My DH does have some power tools (so I might get brave and attempt to use a few of those).

Any other 'boy' ideas?

[luckyme]

Have you ever made paper? It's fun:
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/fun_n_game...per_making.pdf
(You can also buy kits for it.)

Making a bird feeder is also kid-friendly:
http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeed...ird-Feeder.htm

[Misty Cato]

Does he not like using paint at all or is it just that he doesn't want to sit and paint a picture?

I plan to do these with my boy this summer.



Both my boy and girl loved doing these.



Also look for science or model projects. These won't feel so 'crafty'.

[MamaBee]

Here are two books that my son used in his homeschool group... both the boys and girls loved these sessions:

a good book to teach the fundamentals of drawing:
http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Childr...ords=teach+art

another good book on teaching about different type of artists and they have projects for each style:
Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning

[MommaTrish]

I don't think any craft can be limited to just boys or just girls.
Some crafts my two older boys enjoy:
making stuff with oven bake clay
making books
designing and sewing little plush toys
making toy houses from popsicle sticks
creating brown paper bag puppets
making paper dolls
any sort of messy science type project
paper mache anything
making masks

And lots more, but I'm typing this on the kindle in bed and my arm's starting to hurt, lol

[IntenseMagic]

I love these ideas. My 8 year old definitely needs something to do besides Minecraft :/ I am going to keep an eye on this thread

[kristijoy]

Originally Posted by Misty Cato

Does he not like using paint at all or is it just that he doesn't want to sit and paint a picture?

I think the main reason he doesn't like to 'paint' is because it's messy!!! He does not like to get dirty. I have succeeded in painting with liquid watercolors in little pots with him. It's more contained and less of the goopy thing going on!

These are great ideas! Love the little monsters!

[kristijoy]

Great ideas gals! Here's my pinboard I've been storing things in. http://www.pinterest.com/kristijoyful/crafts-kids/

[kristijoy]

Here's a couple 'woodworking' ideas I found:

This would be great for learning to use a drill press:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/79516749645306812/


And here's a nice article on introducing your kids to 'real' tools:
http://www.familyhandyman.com/tools/diy-for-kids#step3

[melissakay143]

Here are a few he might enjoy:

Shrinky dinks

If he likes minecraft there are printables he can make all the characters into 3D people / monsters or whatever those things are

He can build telescopes
To see the start and moon

Make his own crayons (crayola)

Sidewalk chalk

Air brushing (my son loves this)

Clay making- although there is paint involved.

Tie die shirts

Puffy paint shirts (and printables)

I spy games

Hope any of this helps!!



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[maryinaz]

My boys loved making stuff with Perler beads. They started with patterns and then would design their own. I use one for a coaster at work. They hung them on their bulletin board and we even put magnets on the back and sent some to Grandma.

Pixelated pics are easy to design from so he could easily do that with Minecraft.

*sigh* now they are too old for anything like that...