1) Art Classes
Creating a Masterpiece comes highly recommended by Simply Charlotte Mason. My son and I stopped by their booth at FPEA this past May and signed up for a free class. It was amazing how much he was able to accomplish by following the video instruction. He really enjoyed the class.  We will probably wait another year or two before diving into this program but I wanted to share it here in case anyone was looking for more formal art instruction for their children or themselves.  Projects are organized by level and come with supply lists directly linked to Dick Blick for easy supply gathering!

If you need something shorter, check out a 9 week online course like “Studying Under the Masters” from Jeanne Oliver.

2) Watercolor Brush Pens
These pens are such a treat!

3) A Sketch Kit

4) A Paper Quilling Kit

5) A Brush Lettering Kit

6) A big pack of blank canvases in multiple sizes
7) If you are looking for one big kit that includes many different mediums, this looks like a good deal!

8) Here is a list of our favorite places to stock up on art supplies. We love Stockmar Beeswax and Modeling Clay, they are certainly more expensive than Crayola and Play Doh but their quality is superior and they last far, far longer. We are still using our crayons from last year and they are in great condition!

Bella Luna Toys,  Imagine Childhood,  Palumba, and Paper Scissors Stone 

9) Beautiful Craft boards FROM JENNIFER (Note: We are so excited that this family-owned small business is thriving! They are doing so well that many items in their shop will not be ready in time for Christmas even though they are working round the clock to complete their orders)

 

10) Crayon Holder

 

 

 

For the Little Chef in Your Life

1. Our FAVORITE cooking club for kiddos~ Raddish Kids. We eagerly await our new boxes each month. Each box comes with a new tool, grocery list, patch, kitchen project and 3 beautifully laminated recipes that feature a recipe, culinary skill training and geography or history about the recipe.  Dietary substitutions are available as well.

 

2)  A great children’s knife to work with! You can find additional finger guards here

3) When they are still too small to navigate a larger cooking area, these small electric skillets are perfect for children’s kitchen areas. For more information on establishing an easily accessible kitchen area for small children I highly recommend scouring the blog Our Montessori Life. 
4) Speaking of easily accessible for children, I have seen such benefit in making sure my children have access to the tools they need to navigate our home and life together. Child-sized tools have made a great difference in our home in encouraging children to be as independent as possible in their cooking, cleaning and life skills. One fantastic resource for finding child-sized tool of all kids is a company called For Small Hands. Check them out! We really love their tableware and bakeware!

5) Our favorite cookbooks for Kids: Honest Pretzels and Pretend Soup

6) Encourage your chef to branch out into gardening! Check out the Abundant Garden Curriculum 

7) A Child’s Apron that uses velcro instead of ties! Etsy has many to choose from like these adorable ones from Courtesy and Grace.

8) A Fruit Snack Making Kit

9) An easy peasy apple peeler thats fun to look at and use!

10) Spice up Taco Tuesdays

 

Our next gift guide: Babes, Tots and Homegrown Preschoolers will be out soon! 🙂