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There are so many fun crafty books out there, and they make great gifts for creative kids or things to have on hand for down time during holiday breaks from school or while the turkey is cooking.
My daughter, who is 7, was really excited to play with (affiliate link ahead) Stuck on Fun: Play with Patterns, Sticker Tape & More by Jannie Ho.
This little activity book is just 36 pages long, but it’s packed full of fun for little ones.
It’s actually not really a book in any traditional sense. It includes heavy paperboard character shapes to punch out, ranging from robots to adorable animals to a three-eyed alien and a spaceship.
The other pages in the book are embellishments to add to the characters, such as patterned paper from which to trace clothes and shapes to put on the creatures and sticker tape you can trim to make other embellishments.
There are scenes printed in the book — a town, a living room, a circus, a planet’s surface — that you can play with your characters in front of, or the book suggests other uses for them such as adding to the front of a journal, making a birthday card or using as a gift tag or bookmark.
Trying Out Stuck on Fun
The girl chose a cute pink rabbit to embellish, and we actually used some of my scrapbook paper instead of the paper in the book to make the clothing.
She found some of the shapes a little tricky to trace and cut out, but that’s probably related to her skill level more than anything. With a parent’s help kids can make any of the items, and most of it kids with solid scissor skills could do on their own.
All you need aside from the book and possibly some more paper is scissors and glue and you’ve got a great rainy or snowy day or holiday activity. You could even do it in the car if you packed a glue stick.
The girl had a lot of fun with this one, and I definitely wanted to join in and make one of my own, too. The characters are cute and there are lots of options for embellishment without being overwhelming. This will make a great gift for any little one (say maybe ages 5 to 10, depending on the kid) on your list and will be fun for adults to play with alongside their kiddos.
About the Book: 36 pages, hardcover with spiral binding, published by Walter Foster Jr./Quarto Books, suggested retail $14.95
