The kids had some fun making paper creations, inspired by an idea they saw in a magazine we get. I’m guessing many, many families get the Family Fun Magazine.  We do too, and it’s always an exciting day when an issue shows up in our mailbox. I love how I can leave it around for the kids to pick up and read or flip through, without worry of what is lurking in the pages that they may come across. And they get right into it. Usually, the only influence that comes from the pages are inspiration and eagerness to try some new craft, with plans to put their own creative style into it, or some crazy snack, intending to re-invent the recipe and make it even healthier, or safer in our case, if it has peanuts or peanut butter.  More times than not, it kicks my kids crafty-side into high gear.  They LOVE to plan projects, parties, menus….you name it. I love that they have so much time to invest in creating, and planning, at their free- will!

I recall this past Sunday, as we we all climbing into the van after picking up some lumber (and {A’s} snake, unbeknownst to us, was breaking free at home), the kids were discussing how now they wanted to go here or there.  But {J} piped in….”Not me!  I just want to go home so I can make my bird!”  Home, is where we did go.  {J} wasted no time throwing off his shoes and getting RIGHT to work, gathering together most of the materials he needed, and following the directions on page 143 very carefully.  “I need that thing of paper clips in the laundry room” he shouted through the house, over and over.  He didn’t even much care when we all realized the snake was on the loose…somewhere in our home.

The great thing is….once his cool bird was done, {S} and {O} also wanted to make some.  Soon they got busy too, and it was a project we helped them finish on Monday morning, before school, no less.  The birds were quite a fancy flock when they were done.  Some even had nests to settle into!

I’d have liked all of these paper bird creations to stay and sit so pretty on my windowsill in the sunroom, as they are at the very beginning of this post.  But of course they didn’t….for even a 1/2 hour.  I  have seen them flying through the room, in the little hand of an upstretched little arm.  I have seen them perched on the school counters, watching us do our school work. I have seen them all over the place, and not always necessarily where they should be.

{A} was apparently inspired from the same issue, too, days before, and had been crafting in her room. She emerged from her room with a pretty little handful of the Technicolor Acorns, with plans, she said, to make LOTS more. They are just SO cute!  They’re a perfect addition to our seasonal altar table this Autumn.

She also made these fancy paper stars, which will also end up being some special touch to something or other.

Years ago, I used to think “Well why would we make that?  What will we do with it after?  It’ll just be more stuff around”.  But now, it’s that very kind of stuff around, here and there, that puts the smiles in my heart.  Because my children found a desire within themselves, to create it.  They put their heart and soul into it.  I see these things that were made with their imaginative minds, and marker covered, glue-sticky little hands, and I have flash-backs in my mind for days, of seeing them create them….with their tongue sticking out as the try so hard to cut on the lines….or asking for “just one more piece of paper, please” because they messed up and want to start again. It’s their undeniable need to create, and their determination to make their masterpiece just the way they want it, that makes these things so valuable in the end.  And trust me….they truly treasure what they work hard at making.  At least for a good little while. These little creations, whatever they may be, are part of their days, for many days.  The pride they carry at having made this or that, themselves, is priceless.   So now, when I see the scraps of paper all over the floor under the table, or the paint that got ON the table, once again, I just have to take it in with appreciation for a moment.  After all, it’s evidence that creativity was hard at work, once again, in our home.  And THEN I tell them to come clean it up : )

While they are still enjoying the September issue of Family Fun, I have confiscated the October issue that just came in the mail.  Not only do I think it may, possibly need a little pre-approval this Halloween month, but I am hoping for some inspiration myself, before the pages are tattered and worn, and marked with post-it notes, inspiring little people once again.