It can be difficult for parents and teachers to come up with productive activities for their elementary school aged kids. Most kids would rather be outside or watching a favorite movie than inside doing classwork. If you have struggled to find great activities for your young child you are not alone. It is hard to think like an elementary school kid–to think of what would excite them or interest them. One thing that many teachers find helps their children to become excited about a school project is creativity. If you can rely on the creative side of a child’s personality you will always have an interested group of kids. This is partly because creativity allows each child a degree of control that they otherwise would not have. Kids have their every move watched and controlled by adults. They yearn for just a little autonomy so that they can make some of their own decisions. Although it is best not to give young kids too much control over their lives, there is little doubt that creative control is a great thing to give a child. Coloring crafts are a great way to get kids to express themselves. If you can also turn these crafts into personalized gifts you have hit two home runs with one swing. Described below are some of my favorite coloring craft gifts for elementary school children.
1. Gift cards for Mother’s and Father’s day. One of the best ways to show appreciation for a parent is to give them a special card on Father or Mother’s day. I recommend that you have the children draw some sort of picture to express the way they feel about their parents. Then have them color the picture with bright colors and designs. The finished product should also include some sort of message written to each parent.
2. Random gift cards to other students. I find that a classroom is much more cohesive if the students express nice things to each other every once and a while. Although not all students will want to do this, it is not a bad idea to require them to find something nice to say every once and a while. Elementary school can be a difficult time for children on an emotional and social level. A little note from a classmate can make the difference between a good and bad year for a child. Have the students color a pretty picture for each other. Have them include some sort of message that states something nice about the other person. This produces an especially nice effect when the card comes randomly, at a time when no other students are writing cards to each other.
3. Holiday cards. Holiday cards are fun because kids usually get really excited for holiday time. Each holiday also has distinct colors that can be used to create fun gift card for friends or family. Have each student design a card for their favorite holiday that includes appropriate holiday colors. For students who celebrate less traditional holidays make sure to include them as well. If you don’t know much about certain religious holdays and the colors associated with it do some research.
These are just a few of many ideas for coloring craft gift cards. You can see that a gift card could be created for any number of reasons besides those described here. Let your class be creative and make their own gift cards for birthdays or special days. You will be amazed by the creativity of elementary school children.
