From Renée Schwarz, one of the most creative moms we know, come these crafty ideas to help you afford your children the pride of saying, "I made it myself." All are simple and use easily accessible materials.

General Notes:

• Download the patterns (PDF format, requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader).
• Enlarge patterns photostatically to make grid of 2.5 cm (1-inch) squares.
• Protect work surface with plastic or newspaper.
• When gluing, clamp surfaces together with clothespins until dry. When painting, let dry between colours. When assembling and painting or colouring crafts, refer to illustrations.

Have on Hand:

• Bristol board
• Corrugated cardboard
• Acrylic paints in a variety of colours
• Artist's paintbrushes
• White craft glue
• Glue gun (for adult's use only)
• X-acto knife (for adult's use only), hole punch and scissors
• Permanent fine-tip markers in a variety of colours
• Pencil, ruler and compass
• Masking tape
• Clothespins
• Stiff white paper

• Egg-Carton Finger Puppets
  
• Pinwheel
  
• Recycled Monsters
  
• Critter Pin