children

This is a guest post by Maggy at Red Ted Art. I think it's a lovely idea to make and create characters from children's books together, it brings them to life and enables children to have more interaction with the story.

Over at Red Ted Art , my son (Red Ted (2)) and I (Maggy (old)) do lots of crafts projects. Sometimes Pip Squeak (0) joins us. Usually we are inspired by books that we read - the tagline from another crafty mum being – story + art = great stART.

This couldn't be easier, children can do it. Take a common or garden terracotta pot (I bought mine from Wilkinson's for 29p and 49p) The paint I used was household emulsion for the kitchen/bathroom (I bought tester pots from Wilkinson's). Apply the paint, by dabbing with a sponge, this doesn't leave brush marks. Let the paint dry. I chose to decorate my pots with spots, I applied white paint with the end of a piece of doweling to give me the polka dot effect. Children might want to paint a pot for grandma, let them do it in their own style, it adds to the charm!

This is an Easter gift idea, an alternative to a chocolate egg. Children get lots of chocolate at Easter, this windowsill gardening is both fun and educational. From the website www.allfreecrafts.com download the instructions 'How to Make Cress Egg Heads' buy a packet of cress/mustard seeds and an egg cup. With skill and flair package them up! If you think this is too virtuous just pop a creme egg in the egg cup